Why I Won't Return to Paris: It's Overrated

Paris is supposed to be the city of Love, and it's certainly beautiful and romantic enough to be that to many of its visitors. To me, however, Paris was an overrated, touristy city with many sites and attractions but few that really lived up to their reputations.

To be perfectly honest, I was not overly impressed with most of the sites I visited in Paris. The city itself is quite beautiful, but I was under whelmed by almost every place I visited. The Moulin Rouge was too expensive, and Notre Dame was beautiful on the outside but felt very touristy once inside. The Louvre was so massive and intimidating that I spent less than an hour seeing the exhibits just out of sheer frustration. I had more fun in the mall beneath it than I did in the museum itself.

Of the sites I visited, I would have to put The Arc De Triumph as the site that had the least amount to offer and much less than I expected. From the outside, it's very grand and elaborate and the view from the top is magnificent, but on the inside, the arc, at least in my not so humble opinion, was rather boring. Other than a small museum at the top and the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, there was nothing to see that I can remember. I suppose I was expecting more, so I was disappointed. Had I known what to expect going in, I might have felt differently.

The other attraction that was not at all impressive to me was the Eiffel Tower. It has the beauty and grandeur on the outside, but like so many other monuments such as the Space Needle and the Washington Monument, other than its unique shape and style, there isn't much to it that is worth the cost of the ride up to the top. Yes, there is shopping and exhibits at different times, but none of it excited me. Again, maybe I expected too much. The Eiffel Tower is probably the most famous monument building in the world, and I felt with a reputation such as this, there should have been more.

Although I didn't love Paris, I will admit there were a few sites that were fantastic, although only one of them was actually "in" Paris. Sacre Coeur is a beautiful church located in Montmartre. Its architecture and structure are truly an amazing site. I have always had a fascination with old churches and this one rivaled even St. Paul's Cathedral in London.

One of our days was spent touring the beautiful castles of the Loure Valley which were magnificent and well worth the cost of the ticked. We also visited Versailles, Napoleon's magnificent home. Even the rain did not take away form its beauty. We barely got through a quarter of the home and I would love to go back to see it all but was very impressed and quite mesmerized but what I did see.

I have visited several European cities, many of which I would jump at the chance to return to if given the opportunity. Although Paris did have its share of charm, it is not one of the cities I would return to. I was far more impressed with London and Amsterdam and would return to both first before I would ever return to Paris.