Ranting Lily: Fear and Loathing in Paris

Paris is renowned in this world for many things: Fine cuisine, great wine, beautiful fashion, and a city that is one of the top destinations in the world. No doubt – Paris can be very exciting. I was lucky enough to go to Paris a few years back. Walking around the streets and passing by monuments that I’d only read about or seen in a movie was like a dream. Tasting all that legendary food and wine is an experience that I will take with me always.

Some people plan a lifetime to go to Paris. And who can blame them? It’s where you’ll find The Louvre, The Eiffel Tower. Paris is the home of that patisserie down the corner from your hotel with the awesome chocolate croissants. Sacre Coeur. Left Bank. Notre Dame. Crepes soaked in Grand Marnier at the Place du Concorde. Printemps. Champs Elysees. A small town square filled with local artists in Montmatre. It’s the City of Dreams. And you’ll have a good time.

If you’re French. If you’re not…well, as they say c’est la vie!

The best food, wine, and tourist attractions in the world can’t take away from something that Paris (and mind you ONLY Paris) is infamous for: Their distaste for foreigners.

I know, I know…that “rudeness” they’re known for is just a myth. It’s just us Ugly Americans overreacting, right? WRONG. Parisians still hate everyone (Some would say they hate themselves!). This point was recently brought to light as several cases of the Paris Syndrome were diagnosed among Japanese tourists. The syndrome is characterized by irrational and paranoid behavior exhibited by Japanese men and women who had recently visited or lived in France.

How can you hate the same people who brought you Hello Kitty?

While you can’t make a generalization about an entire population, I can tell you that the “Parisian Snub” is something that I have personally witnessed in my lifetime! And please note – I said “witnessed” not “experienced.”

When I visited Paris, not knowing the language was a big handicap. This being a business trip, I didn’t want to embarrass myself or my company – so I inquired about how bad off I would be linguistically. One of our liaisons in Paris had communicated to me that a concerted attempt at simple French phrases would probably do. So, I made sure my team and I learned some simple phrases (a.k.a. “Survival French”) to at least show that we were making an attempt. It’s a beautiful language and I thought we did fairly well at pronunciation. And I love words…this would work out fine.

I thought it would be fine. That is until we emerged from our Metro stop and had to navigate our way through the 14th District. Imagine four Americans of varying age, backgrounds, and ethnicities standing around trying to figure out how to get out of a street – which on the map – looked like it crossed seven different streets other than the one we were looking for. Finally, one of the guys in the group decided to take some initiative and asked for directions.

Ignore for a moment that there is an actual male asking for directions. Let me tell you about my co-worker “Greg.” Now, Greg was the furthest thing from a bad guy you could think of. Very easy going and courteous sort of fellow. The kind you take home to Mom and Dad. So, imagine my surprise as smiling Greg made attempt after attempt to get some help by asking "Pouvez-vous m'aider s'il vous plait?”

Well…we eventually ended up finding where we needed to go…on our own and on time. But I have never really shaken off that look Greg gave me as he stumbled back over to us at the street corner.

I know this may sound a bit narrow-minded and perhaps bordering on jingoistic, but WTF is France’s problem? The world over – including many Americans – fawns over what you have offered to the world culture. Sure…we’ll make a surrender joke every once in awhile…but that’s beside the point! Your country has MILLIONS of fans who are willing to save and spend their hard earned money to visit you. Thousands of high school students in my state alone spend four years learning your language! For Pete’s sake...you used to like us! You gave a statue to put in New York harbor that was meant to welcome foreigners to our shores!

Look Paris…we hate the same cochons pompeux as you do! Why do you think a good chunk of the population agrees with your country about our President? You can’t keep giving out the directions, “Turn left and keep going until you reach Switzerland.”

For a city that’s known for its love…you sure don’t give a lot of it back.