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!

Who's "they"?

I was in Paris last year and had a lovely time. In fact the people were friendlier than the last time I went in 2005.

As for Dublin, I live just outside the county line but lived there for years. It's gorgeous if you know where to go. If you arrive into O'Connell Street off the Aircoach I can see why you would be disappointed.

If it's any consolation, I was freaking out about how hard it seemed to be to get tickets for Notre Dame, but in the end we just turned up early (without a ticket) and joined the queue, which moved extremely fast.

I love Paris but found buying metro tickets very frustrating. I wish you could just tap your bank card.

So, let me get this clear. Some young French men- who happened to be black- tried to mug you. And because of this "multiculturalism is a failure", according to you.

So....do you consider all black people to be criminals? Or simply more likely to be criminals than white people?

Sorry, but I don't think there's anywhere in the world you could travel without running the risk of meeting black people. Perhaps you should stay home and never go out....ever again. I think that works out best for all of us, to be honest.

I am off to Paris for 5 days in June .. by myself.
i am incredibly excited.
I just love it! Wandering around the streets, coffee and wine, lovely lunches outside. Beautiful parks and galleries. People watching. The pastries . There is nowhere better.

It’s the Russian bots - the ones who spread all the stories of bed bugs in Paris hotels.

No, otherwise I would have said British. I equally didn't mean Danish.

Racism

Here
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5517106-to-have-found-certain-parts-of-paris-edgy

Sure

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5517106-to-have-found-certain-parts-of-paris-edgy

Sure

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5517106-to-have-found-certain-parts-of-paris-edgy

Have you been recently?? It’s filthy, has a massive drug problem, is SO expensive that locals are priced out of everything, and you’ll hear more American accents than Irish. It’s a dump at the moment, and overpriced dump that desperately needs to be sorted out.

"I suppose just posting to see if any dog behaviour experts could help me understand what went wrong here"

Oh OP! 😅 You'll get dog behaviour experts in AIBU....not all of them qualified, knowledgeable or even fond of dogs though 😂

In all seriousness thiugh this sounded harmless but if your gut feeling was telling you something was up then you were right to listen to it. Sounds like it was bad manners than agression though. I know the feeling of thinking "am I mis reading this situation here?"

wrong thread (how did that happen on a page refresh?!)

but seeing as I'm here now - actually I agree with PPs that Paris is a very far cry from its marketed version that it has somehow enjoyed for decades. I think the scales are falling from people's eyes now

That’s reassuring! I heard someone say similar for the Eiffel Tower. Seems no way around it for the Catacombs however. We went 25 yrs ago on a whim 😂 As DS should enjoy it I will be poised with laptop and alarm set for 7 days before.
Yes the metro seems to have changed as well, no more paper tickets: I think we’ll do this easy card thing and load up a few journeys.

Beautiful city. Would love to live there.

People rude and public places and public transport have a strong smell of body odour and unwashed clothes

You’re the one entering their space, and not greeting would be as rude as not saying please or thank you.

Likewise. I lived there a couple of years ago and it was fabulous. The pavements were hosed with water every morning, every cafe and restaurant was fab, the buildings were the prettiest I've ever seen, I never felt unsafe and used to cycle round a lot and use the metro. It was awesome.

It’s fine by yourself if you take all the tourist tips. Do as you would in any other big city. I did it in April but met up with friends from USA after the terror bombings. Stayed Eiffel Tower region in a cheap air b n b. Planning on going soon and staying in a hotel next time.

Without any doubt, 99 times out of a hundred you could replace the phrase "I felt unsafe in that area" with "There were a lot of young black or brown men hanging around".

I love Paris. My husband is often there for work, so for years I’ve been going pretty regularly.

We might no longer do much of the regular tourist stuff, but we know the hidden gem restaurants and brasseries, the loveliest walks and parks, the best lookout spots and museums.

We’ve never experienced anything but politeness and courtesy from locals.

If you go on Eurostar, they will sell you an easy card loaded with 2 journeys at the buffet to start you off. We got those, and it turned out to be all we needed as nearly everything we wanted to do was within walking distance of where we were staying (it was lovely weather so walking 30 minutes or so was preferable to using the metro).

In real life I only know one person who didn't like Paris. On MN though at least once a year there's a thread about disappointed/hated holidays/places and Paris features frequently.

I spent quite a lot of time there in my younger days, worked there for a bit and had friends there. I loved it. Must go back.