The TRUTH About Paris | My BAD Experience as a Solo Female Traveler in Paris
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ม.ค. 2023
- #paris #solotravel #travel
If you’re planning a trip to Paris, watch this video first. This is my true (mostly negative) experience taking a solo trip to Paris. Watch for tips, guidance, and everything you need to know about the most hyped city in the world. I wish I knew these things before I went…
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Not me watching this while I’m packing for my first solotrip to Paris 😂
How was your trip? 😂
I'm so sorry to hear that after years of dreaming of Paris you had such a negative experience. I just traveled to Paris and had an absolutely wonderful time. I watched a plethora of videos on where to stay, eat, and how to save money, maybe, that gave me a different experience.
Me too Donna, I’m there for the 5th time next month, first time solo. I’ve learnt to be polite ‘Bonjour’, ‘Merci’, try French to get by or Google Translate or Parlez-vous anglais? Act conservatively, be a little assertive when needed (rarely). Cheers from 🇦🇺
@@AnneMB955Maybe she went on a budget the struggles
I agree...very good research before booking is vital. I also know many that have been and had an amzing time!
Of course you had a bad experience! Not only were you ill-prepared but you went there with pre-conceived notions! Research and preparation are the number one and two most important things for travel, especially solo travel.
I'm British, and honestly Europeans generally just don't like American Tourists (or Canadian for that matter) because of a reputation for being loud / obnoxious. I hate to tell you that, but at least from what I've heard, that's the truth.
The culture is so different in Europe to North America and that needs to be respected. You need to keep in mind that you are a visitor, and locals are going to prioritise themselves over tourists most of the time. Tourism might be great for their economy, but they still don't seem to like us (: Eg: walking towards people on the street, don't expect them to move away from you - you should both move away from each other. Be the kind one even if someone else isn't (apart from those disgusting men lol, you need to be rude to them 😅)
Paris Syndrome is 100% real and it SUCKS! I hope you have a better experience in other European cities, sending good vibes from London ❤
I so understand, Emma. I’ll be there solo in 2 weeks and doing lots to prepare including looking at the culture differences. This will be my 5th solo trip in my lifetime (3 times in the US) and my 5th time in France. Only had wonderful experiences. Cheers from 🇦🇺
I love Americans. Have travelled there 6 times from Australia and appreciated their down to earth, inquisitive, caring natures. Maybe in Paris this could be misconstrued as being too friendly or too familiar?? What do you think? Would go to France and US again in a heartbeat. Cheers from 🇦🇺
Europeans , specially french, tends to imagine Americans as Srupid, ignorant, conservative, racists, war mongers, superficial/ blingbling..
Thank you for sharing this, and will help me think about it.
All the best.
Did you not prepare at all??? You could have found your metro directions before and you would have known you need an adapter plug.
besides finding a cheap place to stay at, she clearly did not prepare at all, pretty much the basic instagram tourist doing Paris, quite sad actually but i can't blame her.
But pretty much everything concerning the actual touristing that did upset her could have been avoided, i'm not saying it's easy to navigate paris and the suburbs but millions of people do it on a daily basis.
I understand that she did not feel safe, that's a real problem and i'm sorry for her, probably mostly because of the social mishaps that happened, but you should not confuse that with actual security. No matter what i'd say that paris is not a very nice place to visit, especially in the summer.
And please do keep in mind that if you visit paris you've not visited france in any way, shape or form, don't be surprised to hear that most french people don't like paris at all.
Right, did you not prepared at all?
I could not stop asking this same question! This is the worst kind of solo FEMALE traveler! Keep yourself safe and prepared by doing research!
Most of the time, you get the experiences you project.
I Googled ‘Paris solo travel’ and yours popped up first. Thought I’d get some positive pointers as I’m there in 13 days. I feel so sad that your experience was negative. Please don’t give up. Paris can be wonderful.
This will be my 5th time in Paris, 1978, 2000, 2018, 2019 and now 2023 (not a once in a lifetime experience) and each time has been better and better. Perhaps next time travel with a friend/partner? My daughter and I visited in 2018 and LOVED it. We walked everywhere and happened across so many magical places.
The Metro was a lifesaver when with my not so mobile hubby in 2019. Just need to understand the process. This time I’ll purchase the Navigo Easy card and add 10 tickets (billets dix)
Yes, studying French at school (6 years here) helps especially to understand the structure/grammar. Parisians appreciate us having a go. Before we open our mouths they know we’re not French. Put yourself in their shoes.
As a Melburnian, the biggest city in my country, I need to exercise patience with tourists who don’t know the city’s intricacies.
Please reconsider Paris, it might be 20 years, like me with a family.
Cheers from 🇦🇺
Been to Paris 3x.
Love the architecture but I agree with everything you said. Plus my wallet got pickpocketed 😭... most of the people there are mean for no reason too.
I live in Switzerland but I'm Asian. Be extra careful since they tend to target Asians more when it comes to pick pocket! (At museums, metro etc.)
I think it's good to go once.
Just be prepared!
I’m so sorry you had a bad experience, especially since you were so excited about this trip. A lot of this does seem like a lack of prep/research and expecting France (not Europe - Europe is so diverse and not one size fits all) to be like Canada when cultures are so different and city planning is so different too. Remember that Paris is a very touristy city but people live there too and a lot of the frustration (which i don’t defend) comes from tourists expecting Parisians to bend over backwards for them instead of trying to learn about the culture, language… before visiting.
I agree, a majority of this seems like poor planning to me. Everyone knows July is peak tourist season, stuff like Bastille day is happening, you're going to be stuck with long queues everywhere. Researching beforehand would have given information about the heatwaves and the lack of AC.
Eurostar... if you book in advance it's cheap. I thought it was common knowledge that the price goes up massively if you book close to the time.
Buy an adapter before leaving!
Loads of TH-cam videos say that staying inside the city is safer, never stay in the external neighbourhoods. (Interestingly, this doesn't really apply to London but I digress - that very much depends on which part of London you are in.)
As for creepy men, yes that certainly sucks and it freaks me out as well as a solo female. But I do live in London and over the years have perfected the fast walk/no eye contact/do not touch me aura, which has worked so far.
Agree 100%
Giving a seat to someone struggling with luggage = bending over backwards? lol
Briana, I just came back from Paris and also had a terrible experience. It was my first non-work related trip traveling solo from NYC. Most waiters were rude and racist to me. A man took my seat in the train and another closed a door on me after I said merci to him. I realized many Parisians don’t speak English. The security lady at the airport harassed me and singled me out for being Asian (leaving alone the white couple and a black lady). The sights were all underwhelming. I really wanted to like Paris but it’s all marketing.
Oh nooo, I'm so sorry you had this experience! But it's true, they are SO rude and it definitely is all marketing, which is so sad because so many people have such high expectations of the city!! I've travelled solo to a few other European cities and have had a much better experience. I hope this doesn't discourage you, and if you travel solo elsewhere, I'm 99% sure you'll have a more positive time!! 💕
Thanks Briana. It’s nice to see I am not alone in my Paris experience. Will try to give solo travel another chance at some point 💕
@@elizabethwu1992 Hello ! Je suis entièrement d'accord avec vous. I’m french but not parisienne 😅 Et les parisiens sont très hautains and they are really rude people. Ils ne s'excusent pas et vous poussent dans les rues... So sorry for your bad experience in Paris this is awful 😢 Mais ça ne m'étonne pas vraiment malheureusement. Juste pour vous dire que tous les français ne sont pas comme cela et heureusement 😊 Si un jour vous revenez en France essayez plutôt le le Sud "South of France" people in the South are more kind and polite. Désolé pour ce mélange de français et d'anglais. I read, i understand english but i’m very bad when it come to writing or speaking i’m making manyyy faults. But i love english and i’m trying to improved it. Come visited others country in Europe you will love it ! Like Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal... ❤
@@cassandracleret170 Bonjour Cassandra, I love that descriptor haughty. After all we are visiting their country/city. Cheers from 🇦🇺
@@elizabethwu1992 try Spain Elizabeth. Especially as you mentioned the racial dynamics. As a lone black woman I've been to Spain so many times and always enjoy and never have issues
Love from London 💛
when we travel we have to prepared it a lottt to be ready for everything and have a perfect travelling time ! i am someone that prepared everything in advance a lot and watch everything possible on youtube, read on google, ask people around etc and like that everything goes well everytime i travel alone ! travelling alone its an art, specially for a women alone ! and i will add that yes, parisian people have a bad reputation for their personalities haha but its not everyone but yeah, i know :P big cities are more like that , im from quebec and a lot of french people are here and they are really nice person ! but bad people stay on our mind more because it affect us and we think more about the bad than the good, its an human things
Hello Stephanie,
I'm Parisian by birth and have lived most of my life in Paris.
What tourists like her don’t understand is that Paris is a small capital, but the most visited city in the world.
The French people you meet in Paris are primarily suburbanites who come there daily to work.
I worked for around ten years in the ninth arrondissement, very close to Galeries Lafayette, an extremely touristy district.
Every day, you're invaded by tourists who stagnate on the sidewalks, stopping every two seconds to take a photo or look at a shop window.
At first, you're patient.
But after a few years, you find it more and more difficult to bear it.
You arrive late for work or miss your train home because you can’t move forward. It’s super stressful.
Moreover, you are exhausted from your working day, but cannot sit on public transport because tourists are everywhere with shopping bags and suitcases.
When they have to ask you a question, they speak to you directly in English, without even saying “Bonjour” or “S'il-vous-plait.” And they don't even wonder if you master the language. At this time, I was similar to A1 level in English (now it's better, lol). And yes, I saw in their eyes they thought I understood very well what they asked me and deduced I was deliberately not understanding.
However, the truth is that I often had a lot of difficulty answering them because I didn't exactly understand their question or did not have the necessary vocabulary.
I could see that they were a little annoyed by my attitude, which, in turn, made me more hasty because it stressed me out.
So when it’s ten times a day, again, we have less and less desire to respond.
Have a pleasant day,
I have been in Paris twice. My experience was beyond amazing, I stayed at a 4 stars hotel in Champs Elyse in 2012 & there was air conditioner!The metro was very helpful & fast .
Sorry that you have bad experience.
I am going next year for a week. I'll defintely be staying in a very good hotel in the centre. I know so many who had an amazing experience
The title isn't good. It's not "The TRUTH About Paris" but YOUR truth about Paris. A truth is always subjective. Only reality is concrete. What you experience isn't what all tourists experience. If it were, Paris would not be the most visited city in the world. So, try again, but this time, start with the good basis.
Pour la partie sur la tour eiffel je suis d'accord que c'est rempli de monde en permanence ! Mais par contre je ne suis pas d'accord pour le reste, je ne voulais pas monter dedans et je suis française et j'ai fini par le faire en Septembre 2022 et c'était super ! La vue était magnifique, je ne regrette pas de l'avoir fait juste monter tous ses escaliers c'était affreux 😂 Mais il faut le faire au moins une fois pour la vue 😊 Je veux dire dans n'importe quel pays avec des monuments connus c'est remplis de touristes mais on les fait quand même parce que c'est incontournable. Comme New York qui est rempli en permanence de monde partout et bien c'est pareil 😅 Après pour tout le reste de vôtre vidéo je suis d'accord avec ce que vous dites ahaha Mais les monuments, l'architecture sont superbes à Paris ça je ne peut pas le nier.
That was such good info Brianna, maybe when I go there I'll book a tour and go in the off-season. BTW, your experience reminded me of a story a girl (she was a stewardess) told me, she was in some store and a man just came up to her and spit on her! And this was for no reason at all! A complete stranger. Now after hearing your story about how rude they are I'm not at all surprised. I'll exercise a lot of caution when I go there.
If you got food on the Eurostar then you paid for an expensive ticket … 200 was about what i paid and nobody was serving food.
no night clubs?
Paris was absolutely trash imo, I was stuck in the big roundabout for like 30 minutes
That's because you need to learn how to drive first!
@@adrianamartins5479 😅
You must have been to a different city! I have been to Paris multiple times and EVERYTHING is amazing.
I'm European and I know Paris and the French culture very well. The French are cultivated, very polite and they appreciate good manners. Last summer I was there for a month and loved it. I can't wait to go back! There's a trend in the internet where people say awful things about Paris. In the beginning, I would feel sad and mad because it was all lies and inaccuracies, how could people say that? Were they being paid to do it? Were they taking money to say negative things about Paris so they would be able to afford their life styles without working? I was really pissed when I noticed this trend, but now I say you keep spreading the lies, the less people go to Paris, the more I will enjoy it with less crowds of tourists who can't appreciate that amazing city.
Please, do us all a favor and don't go back to Paris. There are a lot of people who appreciate the city and deserve to enjoy it without the crowds.
I was gonna buy my ticket but after watching this video, I'm changing my destination
Thats crazy! Her experience is not yours!
😅😋troll
😂
Brianna,bravo~ you create dwell ~ want more views?-🔥
U talk A LOT! Just get to the point!!!
She got to the point if you just listen you’d know
Who can stand listen to her?@@christinebourlioufas1336