Do you see Paris as a place on its own when you think of France? Could and would you want to live there?
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My friends in France are quick to remind visitors that you shouldn't judge France by Paris. Beautiful as it is, people tend to be tense there and the pace of life is faster. Someone told me a joke about how drivers leave their cars in neutral because they know that a harried fellow Parisoner may just force their way into a parking space by jostling other cars!?

I'm sure I'd visit Paris, but I wouldn't live there. I like having farm animals, and most cities in the US don't allow them. Maybe they do in Paris, I don't know.

I think a lot of people have romantisized visions of what Paris is like, not realizing that it's a major city with its own problems.

This is very true, sometime it helps, and sometime it just gives an illusion of it. I guess it depends on how one wants to portray it :\

One friend of mine went to visit France and then came home complaining about litter and graffiti. I guess she was envisioning an immaculate city.

Wow...well I guess that's what happen when you only watch movies or touristic videos of France :D

I love Paris though, especially in the morning. People say its dirty etc but IMO London is twice as dirty as Paris. I found the people to be friendly and the atmosphere was great.
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haha, yeah, i have yet to visit paris--or any part of france--and honestly, i've known paris just based on books, videos, movies and tourism ads. so you could imagine how i see paris in my head. at least i'm glad i'm learning more from you guys so that i could unlearn the misconceptions molded by media. :)

but i guess these misconceptions are a good thing on french citizens' part since their tourism is surely booming.

I just find it so odd that people say that Paris is dirty. It's a city, and people live here. Maybe it's not as clean as Amsterdam or something, but... it's not any dirtier than most European cities.

I wonder where people come up with this. The other day, an American friend was worrying about how dangerous a city Madrid is, and I was speechless. It's much safter there than in just about ANY American city.
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One thing I've never thought of Paris as being is dirty! I guess if you're walking around Monmartre early in the morning, it might look that way, but not any of the other neighborhoods that I frequent.

I could certainly be happy living in Paris ...it's the most walkable international city I know!

I would hope you're not making a hasty generalization there, they aren't very nice and to perpetuate them is not too helpful, aside from the fact the topic is Paris.

At any rate people tend to use information they see or hear to make up their ideas so it makes perfect sense that someone might be a little surprised if all they know are tourist advertisements.

I know I wouldn't want to live in Paris though, too big for my taste.