Paris, France. Hailed as one of the most amazing cities in the world and somewhere you absolutely have to visit during your lifetime.

Having gone to Disneyland over a decade ago without venturing into the city, I felt I should check it out, so I chose it as the destination for my second solo trip. A decision which I kinda regret.

Confession: Paris isn’t that great.

I’ll try to not be super negative about the city because most of it is beautiful and I can understand why people flock to it, but I think it's overrated and highly romanticised.

Sainte Chapelle, the highlight of my trip

I stayed in Alfortville, which is 20 mins outside the hustle and bustle of the capital.
I chose to stay here A) because I'm a light sleeper and B) I vowed not to do anything touristy.
But that didn't last long as I wasn't sure on what else to do tbh, so I went to a few of the sights (Eiffel, Notre Dame, Champs-Élysées) and had some tasty crepés.

I have a thing about dirt and I’m rarely without something antibacterial. Again, I don’t mean to generalise the whole city, but 80% of where I visited was in dire need of a good Febreeze, ESPECIALLY the subways which all possessed the fragrance of public toilets (sorry, but it's true.)
I was quite shocked and it was one of the main reasons why I didn’t enjoy my time there.

I love a diverse city, so that’s always a win and the people I came across were very polite.
It was cold, rained almost daily and snowed on my last two days, which might have slightly contributed to me not enjoying it as much, but I doubt I would’ve loved the city if it was 30°C. People have said to me that Paris is best explored with people, but I went to Lisbon alone and had an amazing time, sooo 🤷🏾‍♀️


Paris is really pretty at night and I took some decent photos, but overall, I left feeling very underwhelmed and have no plans to return anytime soon.

Have you been to Paris? Do you think I'm being totes rude or nah?