An Australian traveler has criticized Paris for being one of the most ‘difficult’ destinations for tourists after a ‘nightmare’ experience in the City of Lights.
Brittany visited the busy European city last July with a group of friends, and despite the setting being beautifully scenic, she suffered a string of bad luck.
The Sydney resident experienced the theft of her purse, cash and ID within an hour of leaving the airport, and things only escalated from there.
Brittany and her friends said they also had to fend off unwanted advances from several Parisian men – including dealing with the consequences of being “sprayed” with a water pistol and honking from passing cars.
The Australian women also couldn’t get around to the ‘strange’ bottled water in France, complaining that the drink tasted shockingly ‘milky’ and ‘creamy’.
An Australian traveler has criticized Paris for being one of the ‘toughest’ destinations for tourists after a ‘nightmare’ experience in the City of Lights
Brittany has made a video documenting her experience and sharing details of her unfortunate journey.
“This is not to deter anyone from going, Paris is so beautiful and it’s all part of the experience, but I would have done things differently if I knew how my trip would go,” she said.
The Sydney woman had a “bad feeling” as soon as she got off the plane and couldn’t shake the thought that something terrible was about to happen.
She immediately gave her passport to her best friend to stay safe and carry on despite the stress.
“We had booked an Airbnb but didn’t realize we were sharing it with other travelers,” said Britt. “It was an instant ‘no’ from us because we didn’t have it to ourselves and we panicked.
“I was frantically looking for hotels in the area but it was so hard to find a place – Paris is so busy and July was a peak period,” she added.
Brittany visited the busy European city last July with a group of friends, and despite the setting being beautifully scenic, she suffered a string of bad luck
The group finally found a place after “calling every hotel in Paris” – only for Britt to have her purse stolen in the process.
“I haven’t realized it for so long,” she said. “I started to realize how sketchy the streets were, but I was so nervous about the Airbnb that I didn’t realize I was missing a bag until after riding the Uber.
“I automatically blamed the Uber driver for being so rude to us from the start and helping us load all our luggage into the car.
“But I called the owner of the Airbnb, who then went downstairs and found the bag completely torn – ID stolen, cards stolen, money taken – they even took my glasses and my makeup.”
Britt was thankful that her passport was still safe in her best friend’s bag.
“Make sure you only have zipped bags with you and hold them tight,” she said.
The Australian women also struggled with French men invading their personal space.
“Don’t get me started on French men,” she said. “I was harassed so many times in Paris. They don’t understand that ‘no’ means no.’
Britt shared that Bastille Day was the worst in terms of harassment as it was one of the busiest days in the city.
“Every car with a man in it stopped and beeped at us and started yelling things — they called us beautiful in French and tried to get us into the car,” she said.
“One guy got so offended that I turned him down that he sprayed me with a water pistol,” Britt added.
Another of Britt’s complaints had to do with the bottled water in Paris.
“The bottled water tasted very milky and creamy,” she said. “Australian bottled water tastes so great and fresh – but in Europe, especially Paris, it tasted so weird.”
“We realized this because every time we started drinking water, our stomachs started hurting.”
Many were shocked by Britt’s bad experience and shared their own stories.
“Oh my god, this is just awful,” said one woman. “Paris is my dream and this scares me.”
“People in Paris really are that rude,” wrote another.
A third advised: ‘Theft and pickpocketing are really that bad in Paris – you have to watch your surroundings and belongings at all times.’