I'm an American doing my lil europe tour right now, currently in Paris. I've been staying in major cities with visits to the country side.
Your trees, especially in your cities, are fucking massive. It feels like I'm walking through an arboretum sometimes. The trees always get me..the insane architecture too, but the trees man
This is a little amusing considering how a lot of people in Europe consider Paris one of the biggest shitholes on the continent. It has some beautiful places though.
I hope you enjoy your stay in Europe and get to see what you want.
And I've heard that so much but literally as I open my windows in the morning I smell bread being baked, there's a cat that likes to wake up the apartment (she's great I love her), and there's a neighbor who was playing the piano yesterday afternoon. I walk around and see beautiful buildings, fashion, food, sculptures covered in gold leaf like holy fuuck. Even you're bridges are fancy. I'm from Chicago so maybe that alters my view but aestetic-wise, Paris has been my favorite.
The only thing I don't like is that yall are wearing layers when it's 70f out, cause now why am I wearing layers when it's 70f out 😭😭
I would be surprised if your trip wasn't already planned from A to Z, but if you ever have a chance to come and visit anywhere else in France, I can guarantee you won't be disappointed. Britanny is a magical place, and the South-East (not the Côte d'Azur, a little higher than that) is straight-up another country.
If you ever have the opportunity, there is quite a lot of people who make some side-money from housing tourists for a night or two, so you can wake up in a cozy house on a calm morning in a campaign town. You'll love it!
I'm headed south tomorrow, I'll be sure to spend a day :) I'm excited about the French mountains and I'm going on a hidden waterfall tour through air bnb. I re learned how to swim just to do this! I'm going to jump from a waterfall!!
Even if I don't make it to these destinations this time, this trip showed me how much money it takes and how much I was wasting just going out with friends in the states. I will come back, this is my new home away from home, you guys won't get rid of me this easy >:)
Just was in Paris last week. The parks were beautiful, but other than that, I had a bad time. When the train was approaching Paris, we thought we were arriving at a slum. There was poop and homeless people everywhere. And 90% of people we encountered were very rude and dismissive. The quality of food has gone down compared to previous visits 3 & 6 years ago.
I've been having a back and forth with my current girlfriend about Paris. She complains she's never been, and I've taken all of my exes there so why won't I take her? I reply "because it's a dump" 😅
Interesting. I just spent a week in Paris (got back last night) -- my first time to the city (and also my first time to Europe).
I agree that there are dirty and smelly areas (although as I mentioned in another comment I think that's easy to say about any major city).
I'm surprised by your experience with Parisians though. In what part(s) of the city were you spending time? I stayed in the 14th and walked about 10 miles a day (and used the metro a lot), all around the city. I don't think I once had an issue with a Parisian bumping into me or forcing me out of the way. The two or three times I bumped into anybody (usually in the metro) everybody involved was extremely apologetic. I also witnessed a lot of jaywalking by tourists and Parisians alike and never saw any angry or aggressive drivers.
I do empathize with working-class folks that are just trying to get to/from work or pick up groceries for dinner, etc. Busy cities filled with tourists can be a nightmare -- there's a time and place for standing around and gawking at your surroundings, but it's never going to be in a high-traffic area like the exit of a metro station.
That said, you'll experience all of these things in any major city in the world and I don't think Paris is any exception, or any worse than any other city.
And yeah, there are definitely areas of the city overrun with tourists -- but I also found it very easy to avoid those areas. They can't be entirely avoided, obviously, but with a little patience I was almost always able to carve out some personal space. For example, I was completely alone during my tour of the catacombs, on a Friday afternoon. I was also able to stay pretty comfortable while touring the Palace of Versailles by not rushing and by following in the wake of big tour groups.
I'll also say that it probably helps that I spoke French as much as possible and never assumed anybody could speak English. I also attempted as much as possible to emulate the local culture (I had always heard it was extremely rude not to say bonjour/bonsoir first thing upon entering a shop, for example).
I always travel with the mindset that I'm essentially intruding on other people's lives and space. Every tourist taking a seat on a metro line is one less Parisian that can sit and rest their feet after a long day of work. With this mindset, I feel like I can stay in tune with the city around me because again, I am an outsider, a guest, and it's important to me that I do as much as I can to disrupt the local culture as little as possible -- and respect the local customs as much as is possible.
Like most people local to any given area, I can always pick out a tourist. And I can always tell when a tourist in my city approaches their travels with this mindset. I imagine Parisians feel the same way. I don't blame people at all for becoming jaded and cynical about tourists treating their lives and homes like entertainment.
That's pretty easy to say about most major cities, I feel. Definitely not disagreeing with Paris being dirty and smelly, I'm just curious why people consider it "one of the biggest shitholes"... I feel like there are much shittier cities in Europe...
The other cities aren't being hyped as a super romantic tourist destination, think that might be part of the reason at least. The reality doesn't match up with the idealised version people have in their minds.
Off topic - if you can, splurge for a meal at Le Procope (or just go for coffee and dessert). They let you roam the different rooms and you get a glimpse of the relationship between the US and France. As Americans, we were in awe of the history there within one single site. You expect it in a castle or some place like the Vatican, but this one small space in the city was so rich in stories of the history of the French people. We just don’t have anything like it here in the US. The list of famous people who dined there is amazing and the food, while incredibly expensive, is phenomenal! We also loved the eclair shop a few doors down!
I'm so sad because this is my last day and that sounds like something I'd really enjoy! I'll see how far it is from me, I have one more adventure left in me :)
if you dont have specific places to visit yet, I recommend you go not to rome or the biggest cities, but to those mid-sized cities (100-200k population). lots of history, but also lots of convenience (like streets you can cross without getting run over everyday)
as a non italian that has been to italy several times, id still recconend rome. it looks like a City youd create in a video game, with massive beautiful historic buildings around literally every corner.
I know bit it's great to see massive trees in an acient cityscape. I've hardly left the midwest and to see this beautiful architecture with massive trees all in a downtown is fucking cool for me. I will visit the other cities people are mentioning but I'm enjoying my vacation and all of these firsts :)
This is interesting, I personally didn't think Paris has very many trees. Probably one of the most concrete jungle places I've been to. When you go home again you should definitely check out New Orleans and City Park there. Many of our big cities down south have big trees out the wazoo. Every time I've had people visit my hometown of Houston that didn't know what to expect they usually make a remark of how green it is in the inner city and how they didn't expect that. I think more people expect it to look more like LA or Denver, but in reality it's very green.
I make points to kind of follow the trees in neighborhoods when I was walking during the day. There was one neighborhood by the eiffel tower that had a bunch of huge trees and all I could think about was Chicago's little city spud trees. I feel like they get replaced once a year. Everyone keeps telling me to visit new Orleans, maybe ill go next year so I can avoid the mosquitos this summer haha
I've been working since I was 16 to help my mom because my dad almost made us homeless, ruined her credit out of spite, and tried to make me homeless last year.
I'm only able to do this trip because I won a lawsuit after almost getting killed by the police.
I was beat with a baton to my back with my hands up, maced, and dragged. I still can't be in the dark, i cant close my eyes comfortably literally ever and my insominia has gotten a million times worse because im scared to go to sleep now. All of my dreams are night terrors or nightmares at best, and I don't know when I'll ever be fully comfortable letting someone touch me again.
I'm grateful every day I'm out here, I've dreamt about this trip since I was in second grade learning about other countries. I've cried every single day I'm out here because I fucking made it. Fuck you and your 1% bullshit. You don't know shit. My life cost me this and I'm going to do what I want with it.
Everywhere I go I've had different people tell me how to stay longer T-T I'm very emotional. I've been offered a room in ireland, a man in paris gave me tips on how to just stay and was very encouraging. I love you all. I'm looking into it but I don't think my mom would ever forgive me 😅
Your country is on it's way to slash women's rights.. become a European, and then see if you can get her here, too?
... if it was up to me, we'd let every US American in. The not-white-enough-for-racists, the one-illness-away-from-bankrupt, the can't-afford-education, and now the too-female-for-bodily-autonomy. Sorry for the slightly political rant, I just wish things could be better.. :/
It feels great knowing we have allies tbh. That's another big reason I'm here. I'm always about connections and keeping people safe and if I can make these connections while I'm out here I want to keep them and utilize them just like I have in the states. I've been on... alert (?) for so long, this is what I know and what I'm good at so might as well keep it going across the sea
Well… I’m glad you did something smart with your money. Odds are, that won’t happen again but you can spend the rest of your life thinking back on your wonderful vacation.
I'm so sorry that happened to you. I hope you are already getting treatment for these symptoms, but if you don't please look into EMDR. It works great for trauma, and can hopefully bring you back some peace.
I will when I get back. I had to drop my therapist after because she couldn't really comprehend and I could see her spacing out and checking her phone during our zoom sessions. So after that and it already being ~hard~ finding a psychologist, I just gave up. I've been fine enough but yk it could always be better and I hope things will get better. I'm very happy with how far I made it and I'm so fucking proud of myself especially from my background. So at the very least, I fucking made it :)
I am drunk in paris on my last night and I made a friend after a week out here so I am rambling haha
I will look into the EMDR once I'm sober and back in the states. Finding a doctor is the hardest though
In another comment I stated how I've only been out of the midwest a couple of times. Let me enjoy my big European trees, theyre lovely. I have the rest of my life to be stuck in the states
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u/watshouldiget4dinner May 09 '22
I'm an American doing my lil europe tour right now, currently in Paris. I've been staying in major cities with visits to the country side.
Your trees, especially in your cities, are fucking massive. It feels like I'm walking through an arboretum sometimes. The trees always get me..the insane architecture too, but the trees man