
Paris syndrome - ejr
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_syndrome
======
bellerocky
Seems like a variant of culture shock[1] which has similar characteristics.
The difference being the degree of anxiety experienced seems to be
particularly acute for a minority of Japanese tourists in Paris.

Anthropologists and ethnographers are trained in, and can experience severe
culture shock since their goal is often immersion to learn more about a
culture. Panic attacks in severe cases of culture shock are not uncommon, one
of my professors did a stint in Spain and lost it when she saw a slaughtered
pig being carried through a market place. She described being short of breath,
and other classic symptoms of a panic attack.

Another instance I know of is a Japanese American female anthropologist being
immersed into Japanese culture while staying as a guest at a family. She found
herself panicking at the supermarket. After nearly a year there, dressed in
"homewear" with a stroller and the family's children looking to buy food to
make for the night's dinner, in the midst of the crushing social obligations
she had such an identity crisis right then and there that she abandoned ship
and moved in with a friend she knew in Tokyo. She still finished her book,
which is really good.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_shock](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_shock)

~~~
new299
What's the name of the book?

~~~
bellerocky
The name of the book is "Crafting Selves" by Dorinne Kondo

[http://www.amazon.com/Crafting-Selves-Discourses-Identity-
Wo...](http://www.amazon.com/Crafting-Selves-Discourses-Identity-
Workplace/dp/0226450449)

------
Udo
I never perceived Paris as a particularly welcoming or friendly city, and I
imagine few people do. All the things you read about the Gallic Shrug and
general rudeness are absolutely true there, but I found you can have amazing
fun if you just choose to be entertained by it instead. In the end, it all
boils down to the fact that in Paris, nobody will help you with anything. On
the other hand, it's mostly a city where you don't actually need a lot of help
to get by. If you can manage to blend in and not care about strangers, it's
quite a fun place.

The article itself portrays very well that Paris syndrome is probably not real
(in a statistical sense). There is a big number of tourists in the city at any
given moment, some of them will statistically snap during their stay. I do
like the theory that disillusionment and added stress contribute to the
timing, though - especially if the trip was expensive.

Since the article mentions it, Jerusalem syndrome is similar but qualitatively
different. Many people who go there are not just tourists. I'd wager that for
over 90% of travelers there the city has some kind of religious significance.
They are essentially pilgrims. And you'd _have to be_ to want to go there: the
city itself is a dirty, oppressive mess filled with scary people and shady
salesmen.

Combining these factors, it wouldn't surprise me if the incidence of Jerusalem
syndrome was much higher than Paris, mostly due to the clientele but also the
city itself.

Now Stendhal syndrome is more interesting: it's a generalized description of
these kind of psychotic breaks, though they are mostly understood to be a
little bit more benign than Jerusalem syndrome. By definition, these effects
are attributed to exposure of a susceptible individual to an object of great
personal importance, such as a piece of art. In this context, the same pattern
of breakdowns has been studied with tourists who snap while visiting Florence.

~~~
contingencies
_in Paris, nobody will help you with anything_

This is absolutely untrue. My French is sub-intermediate, I've been perhaps
five times, and I've never had a bad experience. Plenty of people have been
super friendly and I've had great conversations with people just hanging
around on the street waiting for a store to open or having a break from
walking.

Perhaps the core of the problem here is that many people who visit Paris are
not well traveled and have only limited empathy for the seen-it-all-
before-99-times-a-day locals.

I mean, if I was busy and had a job to do, and by fate alone simply happened
to be near some generic tourist attraction or other, and had whiney
American/English/Russian/Chinese tourists come and ask me where the closest
_vegan restaurant_ or _crossfit gym_ was ten times an hour like clockwork, I'd
also get to the point of shrugging.

This is the same genre of people who, when you ask them where they are from,
answer "America", because they're honestly unaware that it's _blatantly_
obvious to everyone else and the interlocutor was curious about city or state.

We can put it down to cultural discontinuities. They are a blessing we should
_revel in them while we can_ , because it seems that all roads lead to generic
globalized interactions in a minority of languages with increasingly
unsophisticated speakers and reduced cultural appreciation.

~~~
demallien
No, Paris is objectively bad for this - even _French_ tourists from other
regions will say so. Even _Parisians_ will say so. That said, it is an error
to attribute it to any racial characteristics, as French people outside of
Paris (and to a lesser extent Marseille) are absolutely lovely and welcoming.

It's more a case of the stress of living in a big city, and in that respect
mirrors the reputations that New York and London have in their own country (it
always makes me chuckle to hear Americans complaining about how abrupt New
Yorkers are, as a non-American I consider the baseline of friendliness of
Americans to be so high that even the lower than average New Yorker still
rates high on the friendliness scale in a global sense).

~~~
Mikeb85
Many of the tourists that go to Paris are what I'd categorize as 'ugly'. To
the point that by the end of my trip, I just bluntly told people I don't speak
English.

If you realize that people in Paris have lives (not unlike New York), and
don't accost everyone you see for directions to X before looking at a map, and
you actually introduce yourself when talking to a local, you'll have a great
time.

And while I speak French, I also spent a lot of time with my sister speaking
English, and the language used didn't seem to matter. If you can drop the
tourist mentality, just go, hang out in cafés, and actually experience the
culture and Paris lifestyle, you'll find Parisians are perfectly nice people,
possibly a little busy, and the attitude stems more from dealing with hordes
of people that come from foreign places who apparently can't be bothered to
learn manners...

And another thing I've noticed, we have some tourist spots here (Canada),
namely the rocky mountains and national parks, and Japanese tourists will come
in hordes, on buses, taking pictures of everything and not really interacting
with anyone else. That's a recipe for disappointment...

~~~
demallien
No, Parisians suck. They will tell you that themselves if you ask. I say this
as someone that has been living in Paris since 2003, so I think I have a
pretty good handle in the city.

------
GazNewt
4 day visit with wife in 2010. Paris for me :

Groups of women with clipboards surrounding you trying to pick pocket when you
hold the clipboard.

The horrible wedding ring women and the blokes that are always nearby.

The wrist bracelet creeps. Don't let them grab your wrist, they won't let go
unless you pay (saw this happen).

Tricked by "helpful" man who gave us fake tickets in exchange for real money.
I know. Naive.

These sets of cunts really pissed me off. I was glad to get back to to UK I
felt safer, I didn't get the impression the police in Paris were tackling the
issue.

Otherwise very nice and I should go again a bit wiser (just said that for a
balanced post).

~~~
raverbashing
Yes, these are awful (and not only in Paris)

And the police are not tackling them, but not being naive is a good advice
anywhere.

Keep off the tourist path and you'll have a much greater time.

~~~
GazNewt
It's hard to keep off the tourist path on the first visit to Paris with an
innocent child-like wife! Next time though I'll enjoy it and put more effort
into finding the best places to go.

~~~
raverbashing
Yes, I understand. Yes, "you have to see the Eiffel tower" (I did that as
well)

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josai
Paris-fetishization isn't limited to the japanese. In other asian countries
paris is also put on a pedestal as some sort of cultural and fashion peak of
civilisation. Just a few weeks ago I was talking to a thai girl who excitedly
told me that her lifelong dream was to go to paris - it's so built up there;
marketing, films, the setting for drama, and yet some locals seem to lack the
context to apply the same sort of reality checks they'd naturally apply to
marketing treatment of something more familiar.

Paris is a lovely city, in parts, but the "media hologram" builds it up as
more than that - it's a utopia, the birthplace of romance and art, a
lifestyle. And maybe it is, but not the theme park portrayed in the media. So
I found myself wondering what that girl really expects if she ever does make
it there, and whether reality would match up to her dream.

~~~
po
Right, like the Paris replica ghost city they built in China. It captures
people's imagination as the perfect cultural city:

[http://www.nextventured.com/2013/china-fake-
paris/](http://www.nextventured.com/2013/china-fake-paris/)

~~~
w1ntermute
It's not just Paris. They also built a Manhattan replica ghost city:
[http://www.marketplace.org/topics/world/chinas-
hangover/chin...](http://www.marketplace.org/topics/world/chinas-
hangover/china-replica-manhattan-loses-its-luster)

------
bsaul
Fun story : i used to live near the "moulin rouge". Every time i walked to the
subway station, from which you can see the moulin rouge, i could see the face
of tourists as they climbed up the stairs : first they were a bit surprised
because they didn't seem to see it. Then, as they walked up a bit more i could
see their face decompose as they realize that that small red stuff stuck
between a giant coca cola ad and an old building was actualy the moulin rouge.

~~~
diego_moita
Went to Paris last month. As I left the Blanche metro station that was my
reaction. Just turned back and went elsewhere.

But, still, your town is one of the most wonderful cities in the world. From
the places I visited I would tie it at the top with Venice.

------
shubb
I wonder if there is an ironic mirror syndrome, for Americans who grew up on
Japanese media, working as English teachers in Tokyo. Symptoms include a
sudden need to acquire custom bingo cards.

~~~
nemo1618
relevant: [http://i.imgur.com/2LvD6jv.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/2LvD6jv.jpg)

------
bussiere
I'am french and from paris. Yes it's true that paris can have some awful side,
but there is some beautiful side too. I'am fond of urbex so i've discovered
some place that even parisian don't know. And i know a lot of place in paris
restaurant pub. If you want to have a good travel take a guide or contact
someone local who can give you some tips. I always do that when i go to
foreign country. Generaly i visit the local hackerspace and i ask my contacts
in other undergrounds if they know someone or some place. Or i contact some
people from the undergrounds that i know for advice. Exemple : There s burner
everywhere in the world.

~~~
contingencies
I think burners are not likely to be averse to strange mental states and are
therefore significantly less likely to collapse in a sulking heap realizing
their entire life to date in <home country> with its immense <economic/social>
pressure has been a <well-choreographed cubicle waltz/waste of time/linguistic
desert> and they should have just left... or that they can't order food.

------
pasbesoin
It's hardly fully representative, either, but for a bit of contrast, one can
watch the recent series "Engrenages" (English title: "Spiral").

------
ZenoArrow
I've never been to Tokyo, but I've always wanted to, and I wonder if I'll
experience a variant of Paris Syndrome if I do... I expect I will, the Tokyo I
hope for is some sort of geek paradise, filled with surprising cultural
artifacts, but modern culture is so global now I wonder how much surprise will
be left.

~~~
aluhut
When I went there for the first time it was a kind of opposite Paris Syndrome.
"Tokyo Syndrome". I expected more of a Cyberpunk city. It still was but it was
the absolutely clean and working version of it. Everything I've heard of or
seen was really there also. All the small streets, those weird shops, strange
food, unbelievably different people. I had the feeling that the Japanese are
what people thing of Germans. Everything is working so well. The view was
stunning. I went to the hotel where they filmed Lost in Translation and it was
even BETTER. OK now I really sound like a guy who dresses in furry
costumes...but believe me, I don't. I just loved it :)

~~~
kyleblarson
Additionally, in my Japan experiences, if you politely ask someone for help in
Japanese (no matter how terrible your pronunciation / syntax) they will go out
of their way to help. I had the exact opposite experience in France.

~~~
aluhut
Unfortunately this goes so far that (like in my case) you ask someone for
directions, they don't know it and still show you some way ;)

------
CountHackulus
Basically it's when you realize that it's just another bullshit town. (Though
personally, I still love Paris.)

~~~
archagon
I kind of had the opposite reaction. ("Paris syndrome syndrome"?) I kept
hearing from tourists that Paris was a shitty town, Parisians are rude, nobody
in France likes Paris, etc. But after spending a few weeks there, I really
grew to love the place. The parks were lovely, the food was great and
inexpensive (if you went to the markets and bakeries instead of always going
out), the weather was fantastic, and it was a perfect walking city. Nobody was
ever rude to me, though perhaps it's because I always approached people with
my broken French before requesting to switch to English (if needed).

On the other hand, I expected to love London and Barcelona, but they fell flat
for me.

~~~
gajomi
>the food was great and inexpensive

I have never been to Paris proper, but I do enjoy French cuisine, and so was
hoping that you might be able to add a quantitative dimension to this comment
(as in €X for Y)

~~~
archagon
Well, I didn't go to restaurants much, so it may not qualify as "French
cuisine" in your eyes. But you could get a world-class baguette[1] in almost
any part of town for about a Euro, same with croissants, and produce at the
markets for... well, basically a negligible amount of money. I remember
getting a small bag of delicious donut peaches for about €1/kilo. The same
peaches were €4/kilo at the supermarket. (As an aside, pretty much all the
vine tomatoes I ran into, even the ones at the supermarket, tasted amazing, as
if they were just harvested from someone's garden. The only time I had that
experience in the US was when we grew our own tomatoes.) Cheese shops were
abundant and had fantastic selections, though I don't remember the exact
prices. (They were very reasonable.) You could buy a whole rotisserie chicken
for €7 or less if you knew where to look; I got these a lot and used the bones
for stock. (Tragically, I think I still prefer Costco chicken!) There was a
lot of canned terrine, rillettes, pate, etc. in the specialty stores (€5 or
less), and a can could last you a week. You could also get them at the butcher
shop, but I never found one close to me that had them. Pastries at some of the
world-class bakeries were very expensive — €7 to €10 per piece — but they
literally looked like jewels and it was worth it for the occasional
indulgence. I had many lunch picnics at the parks and it was fantastic every
time!

Oh, and obviously, there's lots of wine, but I'm not much of a wine drinker so
I didn't investigate too much. Good beer was surprisingly cheap, though: I
found a supermarket near me selling Chimay Blue for €2/11oz.

[1]: Literally. There's an annual contest! [http://parisbymouth.com/paris-top-
baguettes-for-2014/](http://parisbymouth.com/paris-top-baguettes-for-2014/)

------
helen842000
Having visted Paris on 10+ occasions it's fair to say it's one of my favorite
cities. However I can see how this can happen. The more knowledge you have
about the city the better your visit.

It's easy to book a bad hotel, it's easy to get lost amid the irregular street
patterns and hard to find someone to give directions, it's easy to head into
bad neighborhoods & get drawn into scams. It's also very easy to not know any
French & think you'll get by.

These are all things that can be avoided by an hour of research or
alternatively traveling with someone that has been before or on a tour that
has a guide.

There are so many small tips & tricks that go into experiencing Paris
properly. Having arranged visits for many friends & family it CAN be as
magical as you'd expect it to be.

~~~
entreprenewb
>These are all things that can be avoided by an hour of research or
alternatively traveling with someone that has been before or on a tour that
has a guide.

I agree! I just came back from a honeymoon in Paris and doing research ahead
of time made it a fantastic trip. A couple of guide books, some offline phone
apps, knowing some French, and being able to spot sketchy people and bad areas
(like any other city) made things very easy. And honestly we never even
experienced any stereotypical rude behavior; most locals were happy that I
even attempted to speak French.

------
SimonDawlat
As a french entrepreneur who has hosted dozens of US friends in Paris, some of
them being prominent members of the "hacker" community as we call it, I have
always been struck with amazement at how little "hacking" these friends would
apply to their Paris trip, easily falling for the Tour Eiffel visit,
desperately wanting to see the Moulin Rouge (which is probably the worst place
to visit in all Paris – and probably in all Europe), still marveling at the
shitty 50m2 studio in Montmartre or Ile Saint Louis they were about to rent
before I offered to host them and show them my version of the city, etc. How
can it be 2014 and people still want to experience Paris by showing up on a
Saturday morning at Notre Dame only to stand in line for hours amidst hundreds
of Japanese people and their cameras the size of a small Segway.

I am not saying it is easy to "hack" a city you've never visited before, and
for the 2 years I spent myself in San Francisco I still believe I coud have
hacked my way around much better. But if I were to provide a few advices to
anyone about to embark on a Paris trip, that would be:

– Buy the Paris edition of the Lonely Planet and decide to not go to all the
places they mention.

– Don't come in August (most of the city is basically shut down during the
holidays). May, June, July, September, October, November.

– Most of the most interesting buildings (+ the overall Haussmannian
architecture of Paris) are better seen from the outside: better spend 30 great
minutes on le Parvis du Trocadéro watching the Eiffel Tower, than actually
waiting 3h in line to get "inside" the Eiffel Tower.

– Get in line at museums roughly 1:30 hour before they're about to close:
shorter lines, people on their way out. You have less time but it's clearly
optimized.

– When in doubt, rely on locals: I know many Americans actually living and
enjoying their life in Paris. You're always a few friends away on Facebook
from knowing someone who lives here.

– Somewhere in their inboxes Parisian people have crafted for friends and/or
received from friends "lists" of insider places to go that they'll happily
forward to you once you've made connexion (I made a very long and detailed one
of my favorite restaurants once).

– Use local guides. If you're a foodie, following the Lefooding.com
recommendations for example is always a guarantee to both eat at wonderful
places and visit fun areas where these restaurants are located in. For all the
things we suck at if there's one thing the Paris scene is amazingly good at is
food & restaurant innovation.

– If you're part of the tech community: damn it, you just need to hit your
local counterparts. At the opposite of gross taxi drivers, young french tech
people are very welcoming and easy to get in touch with.

– You can definitely hit me up anytime even if we don't know each other, I'm
always happy to help.

I'm probably omitting a ton here but there's an apéro down my street with
friends waiting for me to show up :)

~~~
archagon
Here's a fun fact I learned while visiting Paris last month. Turns out the
Eiffel Tower is open until about midnight during the summer. I recommend
showing up late and taking the stairs to the second floor (if you're in good
health). Not too many people, great exercise, beautiful views of Paris at
night, and you get to see the tower from a really interesting and unique
angle.

------
AlexMuir
I'm in Paris at the moment and I absolutely love it. I plan to stay. I was
worried that this article would be about some sort of honeymoon period that
I'm on - glad to see it's the opposite.

There's a lot to love, and I've very quickly found my feet here. There are
lots of accessible co-working spaces, and finding accommodation has proven
pretty easy so far. Compared to London, the quality of life at the same cost
is far, far better. For me at least.

The biggest negative find is families of gypsies living on mattresses on the
street, which I've never seen anywhere before on this scale. It's shocking to
me to see toddlers playing in the gutter of an affluent western city.

------
tshadwell
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture-
bound_syndrome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture-bound_syndrome) Many of
these are also just as interesting

------
abuddy
Can Art Destroy Us?

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOlbMWUC-E0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOlbMWUC-E0)

~~~
contingencies
==
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stendhal_syndrome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stendhal_syndrome)

------
pmorici
When I visited Paris I felt like crap because the pollution was horrible. It
was apparently so bad that they made the subways free for several days to
encourage people to avoid driving their cars.

~~~
VeejayRampay
Courtesy of our brilliant past governments heavily subsidizing diesel
vehicles. The air is now filled microparticles causing asthma and general
respiratory issues.

It's awful.

