Over-rated?

A recent survey by a travel site found Paris to be the most over-rated city in Europe. And tourism has fallen drastically this year due to the economy. So now Paris is trying to win back tourists with a smile.

It's been years since we went to Paris. My overall impression of Paris then was that it was a beautiful but dirty city. People take their dogs every where but don't clean up after them. (And so far everything I've seen about the city leads me to believe that it's still this way in 2009). I found that absolutely disgusting. It's quite hard to enjoy the view when you have to constantly watch where you step! London was that way the first few times I visited, but since then people have learned to pick up after their pets and it's much nicer.

But it is truly a beautiful city. The Louvre is absolutely a splendid building from the exterior (well, except for the garish glass pyramid out by the entrance, lol) and spectacular on the inside. It's been many things through the years, once a fortress protecting the city and most notably the palace of Louis XIV. After the French Revolution the Louvre was dedicated to becoming a monument to the arts and science and the museum was born. I could have wandered there all day, between looking at the art on display and the architectural details of the building itself (Unfortunately we were with my in-laws and my f-i-l had a bad hip at the time so our trip was much shorter than I'd have preferred).

As to the French themselves, I honestly didn't get the rude vibe that so many people associate with the French. Well, except maybe at the chemists when I stopped in for cold tablets. But the restaurants and the hotel we stayed at had friendly people. One little restaurant all but dragged us in off the street they were so happy to see us, lol. We didn't do a lot of shopping, so I can't speak for most of the shops ;)

And oh my, but the bakeries are to die for! Everywhere we went there was a bakery on the corner with mouth-watering treats in the windows. The pastries we were offered for breakfast were absolutely lovely and the bread! Yum! Strangely though, I think other than the bread and cheese, none of us ate a "typical" French meal. Picky eaters all us of, so no snails for us, lol.

Would I go again? Yes, someday I would love to go with my daughter. I'll be the one on the ground holding my breath as she gets too close to the railing on the Eiffel Tower, and waves at me lol.