I visited Paris quite a bit in the 80’s. I found many of the Parisians to be needlessly rude. I was attempting to speak French, but that didn’t seem to matter.
You are correct in that tourists can be rude, but we were not rude.
Some say that the French got their noses out of joint BECAUSE they were the center of law and culture, but those days are past.
Outside of Paris, I found French people to be more friendly, though still quite reserved.
I would still recommend visiting the country, as it is so interesting.
Well, I sympathize, and I understand that of course you weren’t rude, but look at the bigger picture - if you had experienced an onslaught of abusive rudeness from, say, New Yorkers, being drunk and rowdy and vulgar in your town for decades, and then I, a New Yorker came along and was perfectly nice - and mystified and hurt by your grumpiness - do you see what I mean? After decades of garbage, one clean thing can’t make a difference.
And even though Paris may no longer be the world capital of art, the fact that it was for so long, and until so recently, is the reason that modern art - painting, dance, literature even came into existence, and is the source and reason for any art we have today. So it can’t be dismissed as “that was last year”, because just as Greek philosophy of democracy is the source and reason of Western civilization, and continues in it, the Parisian contribution to modern culture lives on in our culture, and our culture would not exist had Paris not been there.