France for 3 weeks

Seems like this is how I feel when visiting Los Angeles…

Hi, I’m really surprised at your overall feel of France, but I appreciate you sharing your impressions of it, including your favorites & least favorites. I enjoy Paris a lot. When contrasted with some of the other locations in France (Loire Valley, French Riviera, eastern France), I also had a bit of that “greater appreciation for the cities outside Paris”. I am probably heading back to France next year which will include many cities - some favorites, some new & will devote time in Paris, too.

For the taxi in Paris to the airport, I just asked my hotel to reserve a taxi for us when we were leaving last December. There were no issues, the price was what I expected and had been quoted - all good.

Which countries have been your favorite to visit?

@phil - oh yes Los Angeles is dreadful and overrated and I live here 🤣

I've been to China for 3 months, Germany, England, Scotland, Wales and Japan (road tripping to get off the beaten path except in China). So far Japan is honestly at the top of my list along with Scotland. I have many places I'd like to visit though in the world (as vacation time allows of course).

Hmm I decided the people who love Paris are people who don't go out to
see other places in France which are much nicer.

I do agree with this, I don't get the fascination with Paris, but I'll be going back at some point to try again.

I'm curious, do you feel if you would have spent more time in one location that you may have enjoyed your trip more? We spent a week in Dordogne in the Fall of 2024 and Id say that was a good start. We've made basic plans for Normandy but no date set and so far we've got 2 weeks planned and could easily add a 3rd.

oh yes Los Angeles is dreadful and overrated and I live here

Maybe you need to be a tourist to appreciate LA. It was our default location when we had no better place to go for a quick, cheap trip. As a tourist we also have the luxury of avoiding rush hour and only visiting the 'pretty' places. Sadly the US as a whole is off our list for the next few years.

Regarding Toulouse..

I don't know which places you're referring to when you mention Central Square and Main Street; those aren't French names. And above all, you were given bad advice by staying at the Firstname Hotel. I always make a point of advising people not to go to the area around the train station where that hotel is located.

That said, to be honest, I found Los Angeles much uglier and dirtier than Toulouse, and generally unsafe.

We've been all over France. Lille, Amiens, Arras, Verdun, Alsace area, Champagne area, Loire twice, Burgundy, Normandy, Brittany, Bordeaux, Bordeaux City, Dordogne, Basque France, and more places to go yet. We love France. We've been to many, many places in France yet, we love Paris.

We've been to many of the big cities in Europe. We tend to like most places we go to and I'm not sure if we are not discerning or perhaps I've done so much research that we do not end up in places we don't like.

We liked Paris more than Madrid, Zurich, Warsaw or London. Not that we disliked Madrid, Warsaw or London, we liked them, but they didn't speak to us as much as Paris. I will say that Zurich did not speak to us at all, but we were there a short time. I put Paris right up there with the other large European cities that we've visited and absolutely loved--Munich, Barcelona, Sevilla, Lisbon, Porto, Rome, Venice, Budapest, Vienna, Krakow, Vienna, Prague.

Much of Europe is just crowded. A person needs to develop some "tricks" if they'd really like to visit busy cities. For example, in Venice, we didn't stay by St. Mark's and we're up and out be 7am. For other places, it helps to be there overnight and visit late and early in the day. Mont St Michel was gorgeous at the golden hour, I have the most beautiful pictures of the abbey with sheep in the foreground and beautiful lighting. We were back early in the morning and up to the abbey by opening.

Outside of Europe, we tend to avoid a lot of time in large cities. But, if its a large city with a lot of character, I'm all in--Sydney, Melbourne, Wellington, San Francisco, Boston, Washington DC, Chicago, St. Louis, New Orleans, Seattle. Don't love Los Angeles, I've enjoyed a few trips to NYC, though no great need to go back.

We've never used a taxi or driver service in Paris, or elsewhere in France, we've always rented a car or used public transportation. I really like RER B from Paris airport. I love to walk in the towns I visit, as much as possible. Paris has a great metro. I will admit to being a bit of a cheapskate, but I do travel a lot, up to about 3 months of the year, so I need to economize. But, I also, just like to be with the locals, and I guess other tourists.

@jo yes 💯 Los Angeles is far more ghetto than anything I saw anywhere in France. Or well anywhere I've traveled. Just some observations though. Toulouse had less "drug-zombies" but still had some. I chose FirstName due to location near the station.

To be specific: Jean Jaures (which to me is a main street) which leads to the old city and Capitole. (which is a square when you stand in it).

I think that mythical big cities such as Paris are so crowded that unless you have to add to your bucket list, you should look for other places that are not mainstream. As a Native PNW person I like my Seashore, Snow topped Volcanos and deep green Forests. The Parks do get too crowded. Traveling far from home is loosing it's charm. The advice to not stay in Hotels near Big City Train Stations rings true around the World. It seems that the unhoused who seek solace haunt these places. Hopefully, society will start to help remedy this situation. Seattle is trying to make things better for the FICA Games. IMO most of the Locals, except for the young peeps, will avoid Downtown during that time. But hopefully the Fans will support all the Downtown merchants and bars and cafes as they are trying really hard to Welcome people from around the world.