Despite our international desire to imagine that this is a city where pigeons stay in the parks and the waiters occasionally burst into song, Paris can be a harsh place. It has its share of social problems: crime, filth, inequality, and -- our special treat for the visitors -- not-so-friendly locals. Parisians are constantly breaking new scientific ground when it comes to being unaccommodating and even disdainful towards foreigners. If you do not speak French, you can look forward to stumbling through many uncomfortable, labored conversations with people who resent your very existence. The service industry, too, is notorious for treating tourists like something they recently scraped from the bottom of their shoes.This is generally a response to arrogance: people who refuse to make any attempt to speak French will undoubtedly find themselves ignored. Or at least that was our experience. Perhaps if one is credulous (or stupid) enough to truly believe, for example, that 'the waiters occasionally burst into song', Paris might be a rather disappointing destination. For most, though, this isn't so.
A compendium of perspicacious reportage and a weblog about all things pertaining to politics, news and intergalactic agriculture; weblog of Alistair Murray.
Suffering from 'Paris Syndrome'
Symptoms, both psychological and physical, experienced by first time visitors who feel that the City of Light doesn't conform to their expectations: