As you can see from the picture – I’ve just been to Paris. I thought an image of a pigeon and the Eiffel tower were about as Paris-y as it gets. But did I just rock up, take the picture and go? I did not. I stood there for a good 15 minutes waiting for the feathered rat to stop cleaning its own backside.
It’s that sort of courtesy that I was bracing myself for – previous trips to Paris (last time approx 12 years ago) left me expecting condescending service, that whole pretense of not understanding my poor but not totally useless French…
I couldn’t have been more wrong. Everyone was charming – the hotel staff couldn’t do enough for us, waiters and waitresses brought what I had asked for (and let’s face it, over a decade of not using a language rarely improves it) and people in shops were friendly and helpful.* So now there’s absolutely nothing to dislike about Paris. Apart from the pigeons of course.
*In the spirit of full disclosure – the Charles De Gaulle United check-in and ground staff were as surly as ever but I wouldn’t hold that against Paris specifically.