I can't undestand all the hatred for Paris on MN

[2026IsMyYear]

Just that really - i just don't recognise the Paris that people post about on here!

I have been many many times & spent a month there not too long ago

I adore it & would happily consider living there.

So much to see & do, so much history & beauty

I am obsessed with modernism & early 20th century literary history. There are amazing museums, galleries & libraries. Love the flea markets & clothes & shoe shops.

Great food & wine!

I've never found it smelly (certainly no worse than major UK cities) & i have never felt intimidated or been followed etc

I am now in my 50s & a v seasoned savvy traveller & I've been visiting Paris since i was 20.

I adore it but often feel like an outlier here!

I just don't feel that about Dublin at all. I love it!

I llike Paris. I like that it's French and it looks like I expect it to. I'm less keen on London but maybe because it's many years since I have visited as a tourist. Dublin I also like but it's surprisingly small.

I love Paris. Wonderful museums, shops and fleamarkets. However I avoid the tourist places having visited them all in past trips. I love sitting in the cafes. People can be a bit grumpy even when like me you speak fluent French.

I love cities that MN hates.
Paris
London
New York

And find the cities that MNetters rave about to be completely overrated:
Barcelona
Budapest
Copenhagen

I was bored senseless in Dublin.

Pleasant enough place, I just need more.

I loathe Paris, but I also dislike London and have no desire to visit NY.

I think a lot of it comes down to whether you are a city person or not and I am not.

I go to Paris for the culture but I really hate everything in between. Same with London, but London beats Paris on culture except the Louvre, that wins hands down. If I could helicopter and in and out to there I would be happy!

Some people just hate everything.

Btw, Dublin is expensive but it's not dirty or full of pickpockets. If that's your experience, you are doing it wrong. Also, the best of Ireland is outside of Dublin.

Dublin is a bit grubby and grey looking though the weather doesn't help. And there are addicts everywhere, it can be a bit intimidating. I do agree that the best of Ireland is outside Dublin though West Cork is the best.

I think you’re romanticising it, in the way many people do New York, London or Rome. It’s a grubby city like any other. They’re all a bit edgy, gritty, dirty, filled with pockets of poverty etc. Some feel nicer and safer to walk around than others imo.

My dad is French and hates Paris in the way lots of Brits hate London. I’ve been numerous times over the years but the last time I went I almost got mugged on the tube. Whilst not really scared, it put me a bit on edge and I haven’t really wanted to return.

I also find Parisians rude, probably in the same way Londoners can be but because most visit there it means people think all French people are like that and they’re not.

The best of France is outside Paris as well though, the best of Italy outside Rome, best of UK outside London. You could say it about most countries.

We have just been it's stunning. I had forgotten how dense with stunning old buildings it it. Everyone was so helpful and kind esp the bus drivers !
Id go every few months if euro star was cheaper

Never seen any hatred. J’aime Paris!

Exactly!!!

My only criticism is the lack of London cab type taxi.
The taxi we got was ridiculously expensive and a proper taxi outside gare du nord

I once asked for UK holiday recommendations on here. I used to live in Paris and love the place, nice and grotty bits. I got recommended a Haven holiday park then called a snob for saying that was my idea of hell! I ate lunch at one once when the coast park went through it, and I'm certain it's not for me. I take all travel recommendations with a pinch of salt now.

Yeah, I've come to the conclusion that I just disagree with most of Mumsnetters about travel.

<whisper> I don't think Puerto Pollensa in Mallorca is all that. It just didn't seem anything special when we went, was just 'meh'. There are plenty of nicer places in the Balearics.

I also despair when people seem to think Spain is just a huge collection of all inclusive hotels where people go to lay by the pool drinking only getting up to go fight over chips at the buffet. The cities, museums, galleries, ancient ruins, history, villages, nature, mountains, hiking, cycling, water sports etc barely get an acknowledgement.

I'm ambivalent about Paris, it's quite nice, but I've not really spent that much time there and I do plan to go again. I spent a couple of days just wandering around alone when I went with DP who was working there, it never felt unsafe or 'grubbier' than any large city.

I just think that a lot of people don't get out much and have limited experience. I went to another European capital city and people both IRL and online made out like I would be mugged the second I walked out of the main railway station, but it wasn't like that at all, despite me arriving at dusk and walking nearly a mile to my hotel on my own.

I was meeting a colleague at the hotel and she nearly lost her mind because I stopped for a drink at a bar on the way and didn't text her by the time she thought I should arrive so she was convinced I'd been kidnapped 'as it was so dangerous on the walk to the hotel', which wasn't my impression at all, I walked through one of those studenty 'cafe culture' areas where people were at pavement bars and on their apartment doorsteps just enjoying the cool evenings at the end of a hot day so to me it felt really safe.

I can't understand all the hatred for Paris on MN

Half of the internet exists for people to play status games inside their own heads. There’s nowt to be gained from being someone who likes obviously nice things, but there’s a tiny bit of imaginary kudos to be scraped from being the Person Who Hates Paris.

Thats what those posters are chasing. I suggest we bow to them and accept them as our superiors.

Paris is fine, not my favourite French city by a long shot but it isn't a crime infested hellhole (the guys who hang around outide the Gare du Nord are a pain in the bum though).

Paris is OK, it’s the French people that are intolerable.

Well, they’ve got that one wrong, then, as they appear to be a vocal majority on Mn, like posters who confuse ‘introversion’ with ‘misanthropy’ and pride themselves on never answering the door.

Ah good point. That means we’re near the event horizon where the kudos lies in liking only the lamest things about Paris. Personally what I love the most is taking le Metro straight to the Eiffel Tower, pulling my camera from my fanny pack, and grabbing a selfie where I’m taller than the tower!!!!!

What about an Emily in Paris-themed tour wearing a pink beret? And defying the love locks ban and clamping a padlock inscribed PARIS JE T’AIME on the Pont des Arts?

Haven’t seen much hate on here tbh, so YABU.

You are also being disingenuous to say that Parisians aren’t rude to visitors to the city. They’re notoriously (and almost proudly!) rude!! I find it quite funny.

Love Paris and Dublin - each to their own.

This is one of the few topics where I agree with the mumsnet majority.

It's absolutely awful. I can't think of a single thing I like about it and my being English endures I'm spoken to and treated like utter crap. I've never known a country that expects tourists in it's capital to speak the local language.

I don’t hate it. My aunt lives and works for herself there and loves it (she’s English). There are some scummy and dirty places though, I saw rats in one open popular park (forget the name). However London can be similar in terms of areas and locals. And other big cities too. I have found some Parisians to be openly very rude in the past. Helps a lot if you attempt at least some French though. Which I do. Was almost fluent at one stage (not now).