Life in Paris: Reality vs Media Myths

Another sensible vlog: thank you

Hi

Having begun watching vlogs about Paris, I was unfortunate enough to stumble upon a few who had nothing good to say about Paris. Later I learned that because bad news sells, it's an easy way to get views by complaining about Paris and listing anything or everything that might be less than perfect.

Before my first trip to Paris, I was hyper paranoid about not being able to speak French. So, I studied up to try making myself a functional speaker. While knowing some basics helped (and I believe was appreciated) yes, most people just switched to English but most did so with none of the attitude the media claims exists. In subsequent visits, there's zero paranoia and just an eagerness to see more of a country that hardly moved the needle before my first visit.

Thanks for the video! I'm German and I have been to France several times. After a long pause for family reasons my husband and I visited France again this year in october. We are not big city people and didn't go to Paris, but made a roadtrip from the Vosges/Alscace, Bourg-en-Bresse, Arles…to the Aude region visiting a lot of not so well known places, eating a lot of of good food. We enjoyed it very much and the difference between France then and now is that a lot of people working in hotels and restaurants wanted to speak English with me, although my French is not that bad and the second thing is that driving is much more relaxed now, esp. on country roads (and traffic circles everywhere). I hope that I can come back next year. Love going to France, great food, great landscapes and most people are very polite and friendly.

My only fear of visiting Paris is that I'll see nothing but tourists. I made note of La Chapelle, Chateau Rouge and Barbes – 3 areas I'll definitely visit if I go back to Paris. Merci pour le video.

Commenting for algorithm because my spouse and I love your videos 💙

The myth that “nobody speaks English” couldn’t be farther from the truth. Just returned from a week in Paris and in every restaurant we visited, every museum, every boutique in Le Bon Marche, in the Le Grande Epicerie, even getting hot chocolate at a kiosk in Luxembourg Gardens, we greeted people in French and we were asked if we prefer English and had no communication issues at all. We were even able to speak to people in Spanish and Portuguese. We found people to be extremely friendly, engaging and helpful and on more than one occasion I got into a random discussion about NBA basketball. My wife commented that in the US, especially in the service industry, people are much more condescending and entitled than what we experienced in Paris.
As for the myth Paris isn’t safe, at no point at all in any area we visited, did we feel uncomfortable or unsafe. Riding the Metro late at night or walking deserted streets in the 13th where we stayed, we never felt threatened at all. It is so much safer than so many other places we’ve visited or lived in.

Such aa good informative video thank you …. I will never be put off visiting anywhere in France and certainly not PARIS ❤🤍💙

A European friend told me the difference between France and Italy is that when the Italians say they don’t speak or understand English they are being truthful.