Aggressive vendors and other Paris, France Warning Or Danger Tips

For the most part, my visits throughout Paris were safe, fun, and enjoyable, although the aggressive vendors certainly had their appearances. They were not so much a danger than an annoyance.

Wherever tourists conglomerate in and around Paris, you can expect some aggressive vendors. Being in a large group with fellow tourists (a tour group, a school group) will automatically flag you as a target for these vendors. If you speak English (or are overheard speaking English), this is even more true.

While I don't recall being bothered by vendors around the museums or the Eiffel Tower, I do remember the throngs of vendors selling all sorts of useless junk at the plaza outside of Centre Pompidou and at the entrance to Versailles.

The vendors around Versailles would run up to us and bother us trying to sell us things like toys and cheap jewelry. You really couldn't walk from the parking lot to the entrance without a fury of sales pitches! However, if you just walk by them and ignore them, you can get away without a hassle.

The vendors outside of the Centre Pompidou were much more annoying. They'd see some of us standing around and would walk up to us, put their arm around one of our shoulders while trying to entice us to buy whatever it was that they were holding.

When they spoke to us, they'd ask right off if we spoke English. One girl who was tired of these vendors had a little bit of fun and pretended she didn't speak English. When they spoke to her in French, she also shook her head. She then started to make funny sounds at them, mimicking a fake language, to which the vendors exclaimed,

"You! You speak no language!"

At least it got rid of the aggressive vendors for a while!

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This is a little friendly warning to all of you first-time travellers to Paris. Paris has many monuments throughout the city, many of them are arches. Many tourists mistake these arches for the Arc de Triomphe. There's only one Arc de Triomphe in Paris, don't mistake the others!

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