Eiffel Tower seen from across the Seine

Tourists Will Be Surprised These Parisian Cliches Aren't True

By Maddie Brown

VACATIONS

Dirty
While Paris does contain glorious attractions, murky waters lurk beneath the surface — literally. The River Seine is widely known to contain untreated wastewater.
In 2019, The Guardian detailed how piles of litter — cigarette butts, dog waste, beer cans — were cluttering the city, and it only got worse during pension strikes in March 2023.
Romance
Paris' status as the "City of Love'' has been reinforced by many Hollywood films, but as a local said in a YouTube video by STUFR, "I don't think [Parisians are] romantic."
Many locals are uninterested in romance clichés, and in a 2020 video for "France 24," a reporter said that just "a third of French couples say they celebrate Valentine's Day."
Diversity
Since its debut, "Emily in Paris" has ruffled Parisian viewers with its purported lack of diversity. Native Alexandra Milhat noted the show's lack of representation.
"Even when she walks down the street, there's not one Arab, Black, or Asian person in the background, it's only white people. To me, this is not Paris," Milhat said.