Paris is a safe city
Alan and I have never had any bad experiences in Paris — although someone we know came home with horror stories of losing her purse including her passport at the airport upon arrival, and their horror and wrong presumption that they were mistreated by the Gendarme or Police when they reported the theft because they carried an American passport (although they were Filipinos). They said that the policemen didn’t seem to want to deal with them and had passed them off to someone else.
I have been to Paris only twice but I have had no experience of brush ins or what not. I have found the French to be generally efficient — perhaps not overly friendly — but they do what they do with a certain cadence that is neither slow nor fast. Things get done. I ventured outside of Paris by train alone, got lost in this tiny village of Chartres with its winding tiny roads — and I got back to Paris in one piece, enriched by this experience. I spoke no French except Excuse moi and Merci, but I found my way around and did what I had hoped to do.
As to the seeming reluctance of the police to deal with those holding the American passport, I have a simple explanation. English is not as widely spoken there (or anywhere in Europe for that matter), for the simple reason that the common language in this part of the world is French and German. I have discovered in my forays around the country as a tourist that their reluctance or refusal to help is not so much because they perceive one to be American (because I don’t look like one definitely), but rather because they do not speak English.
I have gone around with my messenger bag and my backpack. I never lost anything. This is not to say that there are no undesirable elements in this or any European country. But I have been blessed to have had no such issues, and same with Alan who is there at least twice a year. And I don’t think I’ll have any such problems when we return, whenever that may be.
