Glad I came. Not a fan.

Tuesday. October 08, 2024 - 1 min

Paris really is a culture shock.

I turned up here with no prep beyond knowing where the hotel is. Not being able to speak the language beyond hello, please, thank you, and I’m a stupid Englishman. No plans beyond strolling around the tourist spots, and some vauge agreements for coffee.

Although everything went fine, the pickpockets found nothing but a water bottle in my backpack, and the people have been generally nice, I can’t say it’s been an overly enjoyable trip. Can’t really put my finger on why.

Given the hotel is ~100 metres from the train station, and only the obvious landmarks were visited alongside a few coffee catch-ups, I suspect I’d have a different experience with a different trip itinerary. It was nice being so far out of my depth that it’s uncomfortable, but I wouldn’t mind if I never came back as a pure tourist.

Of course, it was nice to catch up with a few folks from conferences in years gone by. It’s interesting to hear how the conference scene has changed on the continent post covid. It feels like Europe’s tech scene hasn’t taken quite the hit the UK’s has. . . or at least the South West of it. Which is unsurprising. I’d never realised how easy it is to move around the mainland.

Unfortunately, Paris is on my partners bucket list, so I probably will be back.

With a little more planning, and a prior knowledge of what to expect, hopefully I’ll enjoy it more.

Favourite part, besides the catch-ups. . . being sat in a cafe people watching, writing this while waiting to leave.