If you are a young, single, female traveling along in Paris, keep an eye out near all the major tourist areas (ie, Tour Eiffel, Louvre, **MONT MATRE**, Arch de Triomph, Sacre Coeur, etc).
Obviously this is common sense, right? Well, I'm sure you know about the saying that Europeans don't value "personal space" the way Americans do, which I'm totally aware of. I grew up in NY so I'm not exactly "street naive," however, I was totally not prepared for Paris. Everytime I started to get CLOSE (not even there!) to a major sight, like Tour Eiffel, some guy would start talking to me.
When I told him I had to go, trying to skirt this guy, he would try to say bye by first hugging me, then kissing my cheeks, then trying to go for my mouth, all the while his hands trying to go elsewhere. I screamed for help, but all the police did was to tell the guy to go away. They did nothing! In my 4 day/3 night stay in Paris, this happened to me at the very least 8 times.
Essential phrases: 1) Laissez moi tranquille!=Leave me alone 2) Fichez moi la pas=Go away 3) Je suis occupe= I'm busy and ***4) Je suis marrie. I'm so sad to say I used these 4 phrases more than I was able to practice my "Bonjours" or "Comment allez vous".
But seriously ladies, if you are traveling alone, play down your looks, look unfriendly (?), and watch who you respond to when men ask "are you american?". It'll save you from unwanted physical contact or worst. But don't let this stop you from seeing Paris.
Although I may have had a terrible time in Paris, I still desperately want to go back...most likely with some large, lumbering, intimidating-looking guy wearing a police uniform, but still. It's a gorgeous city and I only wish I had gotten pictures of all the sites I had visited, rather than worrying about who might try to talk to me next. I just hope my opinions of men haven't been scarred by this experience. :-P
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on Apr 16, 2005
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