[sionnsar]

Paris is probably somewhere near the bottom of my “Places To See” list. I suppose if I had the opportunity to go, I would, but I wouldn’t instigate it.

LoM has roots in Paris. She visited the house where her great-grandfather was raised - and from a quite unrelated situation, her other native language is Parisian French. I have yet to encounter the infamous Parisian or even French rudeness on my two visits (Lyon and Paris), even when LoM wasn't there. We (and I alone) experienced situations where a local, seeing we were (or I was) a bit lost, obviously American, jumped in to help.

And even where chance bar/bouchon conversations went to the then-coming invasion of Iraq, they were quite polite.

My personal experience says the French are getting a bit of a bad rap.

And LoM and I ARE going to return to Paris. The cathedrals alone are worth it...

[Monkey Face]

I always save my opinions of a place until I have the opportunity to see it first hand.

I was never excited about going to NYC, but when I had the opportunity, I went, and opened my mind about what I would see and do there. As a result, it was a much more pleasant experience than I thought it would be, including riding the subways alone.

[Kolokotronis]

Ah, Paris! One of my favorite cities on the planet! I always stay at a little hotel on the Left Bank by the Pont St. Michel.