Travel blogger Ben Morris decided to visit a city that has been dubbed ‘the rudest in the world’ but ended up having mixed feelings after his first day on the ground
A travel blogger visited the “rudest city” in the world but was left confused by what he found. The French capital Paris is often dubbed the rudist place to visit as a tourist.
Its locals have often been described as “snooty”, “surly” and “unwelcoming” for visitors. That is despite the fact around 50 million tourists each year head to the city to see sights such as the Eiffel Tower, Notre-Dame, and the Arc de Triomphe.
Ben Morris, who boasts 870,000 followers on YouTube, decided to head to Paris to find out if the stereotypes were true. On his first day, he received a mixed reaction tourists walking the Parisian streets.
One woman said: “They are rude. French people are so rude, they are so mad at everything.”
Other tourists however told Ben they had no negative experiences in the huge French city. One said: “Nobody’s been rude to me, but I’m good vibes.”
Ben’s experience in Paris left him unsure about its reputation. In a video, he explained : “After a full day of talking to strangers I was feeling confused because everyone was giving mixed opinions.
“We were told if we wanted to better understand why Parisians are labelled rude, we needed to experience the morning commute to La Défense.”
The travel blogger decided to head to La Défense – the city’s business district – on the second day of his trip to see if it lived up to its name. While Ben encountered a “direct” waiter in the bustling district, he felt as though it “wasn’t quite rude”.
Ben’s mission to discover the true Paris found him encountering more positive reactions when he donned a blue-striped shirt and red beret. “More nice French people, they’re everywhere,” he told the camera.
He later met up with Lucile Hernandez Rodriguez, a Parisian blogger who explained how to behave in Paris. She said: “You have to say merci (thank you), bonjour (hello), [and] look people in the eye or people will think you’re rude. That’s like the rule of Paris.
“They [tourists] come and they’ve seen the movies and they think like they’re going to meet a pretty French girl and fall in love but they take the subway and people are p****d because they have to go to work.”
Lucile however feels the stereotype about Paris is “kind of true”. She however says a lot of the attitudes towards the city comes from interactions with people heading to and from work.
Ben admitted he had met “so many nice people” on his trip, confessing it was “ironic” since he travelled to the city in search of rudeness. He signed off the video by experiencing the Fête de la musique (World Music Day) in the capital.