We went to Paris for the most romantic weekend ever, it was actually a nightmare of tourists and gentrification

Yes, i know I’m an American and I was in France complaining about tourists lol. But also yes, this was the worst travel experience of my life. I’ve been to Paris a few times before but my fiancé (M) never has, so when he suggested we go for my birthday in late January, I immediately said yes! We’ve both been feeling very overwhelmed by work so we agreed to keep this trip simple and relaxing, no crazy sightseeing shenanigans.<br><br>We flew into Paris Charles de Gaulle on a Friday, rented a car, and drove to our Airbnb in the countryside in Normandy. When we got there, we had a bit of a problem getting into the place (the lock was very finicky and took us thirty minutes to open) but when we finally got in, we were pleasantly surprised. It was a basement level tiny house in a vineyard, with stone walls and a large window that let out into the vineyard. It was absolutely gorgeous, and we felt so happy and at peace, more than we’d felt at home in a long time. We drove to the nearest village and had a late dinner at a restaurant/brewery and went to bed.<br><br>The next two days were beautiful and relaxing. We spent our days walking in the vineyards, taking naps in the sun, and driving around to the different villages in the area. The French people we interacted with were incredibly kind, and we were having the time of our lives, even though it was very simple.<br><br>On Monday, we drove back to Paris and returned the rental car, taking the metro to our new Airbnb, in the Latin quarter. We were a bit worried about staying in such a touristy area, but we’d stayed there before when I studied abroad and really loved it.<br><br>As soon as we got to the apartment, we knew something was off. It was in a huge high rise building, and to get in you needed special elevator cards that only worked for the elevator that led to your floor, kind of like a key card at a hotel. But in this case, the cards didn’t work, and none of the keys fit the locks. We tried calling the owner but he didn’t answer and we were starting to panic. We were in a residential building, and there was nowhere to go to sit and wait. We asked our neighbors for help, and an older man let us into his apartment and called his son, who spoke English and helped us figure out the problem. It turned out the owner had given us the wrong address, and we were actually supposed to be in the same building, somewhere on a different floor. It took us almost two hours to get in, and then we were greeted by a mostly unfurnished, tiny apartment that was not the one we had seen in the pictures (the pictures were of the view from the balcony, not the apartment itself). We were so pissed off and exhausted, but the guy who had helped us felt bad and invited us to eat with him and his girlfriend, and his hospitality gave us faith that Paris wasn’t all bad, and we could salvage the trip. And, to be fair, it was our fault for booking an Airbnb that had no reviews.<br><br>We spent Tuesday wandering, but the vibe was just off. The city was incredibly dirty, and every restaurant was full of English speaking tourists. We saw about 10 souvenir shops for every bakery, and I didn’t hear a single French person speak in French the entire day. Every time we tried to go into a shop or restaurant, we were accosted by tip seeking street performers. When we were on the metro, a group of kids asked us to give them our phone so they could take a picture with us. When we said no, they thought we were racists. We ended up going back to our apartment at 8 and ordering Uber eats, too overwhelmed to go out again.<br><br>The next day was worse. We had breakfast at a nearby patisserie, and as we were leaving the girl at the counter asked where we were from, and when we said the US, she said, “ah, Trump, isn’t that awful?” And I said, “yes, isn’t it horrible, I’m so embarrassed,” and then she said, “no, it’s good, because all the Americans are coming to Paris now.” I was speechless. I felt like I was being fetishized for being American, like she imagined me to be some rich, Trump supporting, Liberty Leading the People fetishist. I’ve never been treated like that by someone in the service industry before, and I was horrified. After that, I just wanted to go home and never travel again.<br><br>We took the metro to the Eiffel tower, and the vibe was so weird. 90% of the people there were Americans, and many of them were taking selfies with the street performers, who were scamming people left and right. We walked to the Seine, which was beautiful as always, but it just didn’t feel authentic. It felt like I was in Disneyland or something, it felt like I was in America, not France. And every time we tried to interact with anyone, it was just so negative, people were so unfriendly. We went back to the apartment around 5 and left again around 8, and when we did, we saw a group of people beating up someone on the street. We ran away, and didn’t find out what happened but it really freaked me out.<br><br>The next morning we left, a day earlier than we had planned, because we just didn’t feel safe or comfortable anymore, and my birthday present had turned into my birthday nightmare. It was the worst travel experience of my life, and my last trip to Paris.<br><br>Has anyone else had a bad experience somewhere that they used to love?