Bravo, so well said. The “influencers” who are only there for the photo ops are so icky. And yes, I am sick to death of the cliche posts and surface-level takes.
Thanks for this piece, and for your honesty as someone whose work of course also influences the influencers, so to speak. It’s a challenge for an industry that makes its money by telling people which restaurants and cafes everyone MUST see, because as soon as the address is uttered, there’s only one thing that can happen to these places if the book, Tik Tok, viral Insta video is successful. L’institut Suédois, Paul Bert, Chez Janou … just a few casualties of an era in which it became cool to tell people where to be cool, which thus destroyed their essence. I suspect fewer guide books and more uncanny dérives through Paris is what continues to resist the flattening of the city, whose secrets and joys can never really be written about anyway, only lived in and treasured and kept a secret for those who know.
It’s so delicate, right ?! Before guidebooks there were newspapers and word of mouth, of course, and one might argue that all of the recommending keeps so many GOOD businesses operating. But there are costs. And I mostly just want to see less of the laziness rewarded but this is a problem in so many aspects of our world.
Nail on the head re: laziness being rewarded. It’s this consumerist culture of comfort that really tells us we can become kings and queens if only we snap the right shot or tweet the right birdsong. There’s this quote from A Moveable Feast uttered by a minor poet named Evan Shipman: “we need more true mystery in our lives Hem.” I think for folks like you and me who’ve been in Paris for going on some time now, the mystery is where we find that inner sanctum with the city. Thanks for your inspiring piece comrade 🙏🏼
You are so right! The mystery AND the ways in which it honors the past while looking forward; the fact that it’s a city in motion. Thank you, truly, for taking the time to read it!
Enchantée de te connaître Lindsey ! ... et je me permets de te donner mon point de vue sur le tourisme qui envahit mon beau pays sans essayer de comprendre son âme. Tu comprendras donc que j'apprécie ton chemin pour sortir de ces clichés qui masquent le véritable amour des francais pour leur pays et ses territoires.
Je te souhaite une très grande réussite dans tes projets
Coming to Paris in June with 11 year old grandson. He wants to see some of these clichés and it’s sort of a rite of passage to do exactly what his mom did 30 years ago. Eiffel Tower, Louvre etc. But I’ve been working on his French and hope to help him see it as a living place which changes and yet stays the same. Oh to re-live that first experience! Vive la France 🇫🇷
Of course, the monuments and landmarks are there! They’re in guidebooks. That is largely different (and adapted to his age) from what I’m ranting about 😆 But you can certainly make him see what being a good and thoughtful traveler looks like, since you are one yourself!
The internet is terrible. It is a world-destroying machine. From the manosphere to tourism, we are warping our sense of what it means to be human and exist in this world, all while burning the planet to cinders.
I was in Paris in March, and I found myself at Shakespeare and Co., where I hadn't been in at least a decade. You can't take pictures inside (merci to whomever instituted that règle), but to the right of the door, there are a few book shelves with discounted books, where the selfie-takers waited patiently in line to prove they'd done literary Paris. Sylvia Beach is spinning in her grave.
Amen. I just got back from Paris two days ago, a place I adore and know well. I love it because of the unexpected beauty and shared moments, none of which I could experience by following a checklist. My favorite thing from this last trip? Walking along a sidewalk I saw a tired mom trying to get a stroller up a step into a grocery store while her child was having one of the most epic meltdowns I’ve ever heard. My path crossed another older woman’s, just as the mom and child had entered. And we exchanged the most wonderful smile of empathy, experience, and compassion, exchanging notes on the experience of motherhood without saying a word. I’ll take that over a croissant any day.
At this point we've visited often enough so that we don't really bother to plan anything unless it's something special like the "Asterix et Obelix" show at Atelier des Lumières last fall, so I really wasn't aware of the kind of stuff you're talking about. But I killed my Instagram account and limit my exposure to Facebook, so it probably goes right past me.
We just check in to the hotel we like on Île Saint-Louis and then see what takes our fancy.
I think limiting social media indeed keeps a lot of this content at a distance. But if you ever search for something on Google related to Paris, or use YouTube, it still may appear. You have the right strategy overall, though :)
Exactement ! I despise the Instagram world, but want to break into photography and historic tours. I can't yet figure out how to avoid one but succeed in the other. And as for your books, I will only say Merci Beaucoup. While I was falling in love with your lovely city, your books helped me to see the "real" side of Paris, and Parisiennes. And I still love her, "worts and all", as the saying goes.
And I’m so glad for that! Yes, it’s getting harder and harder to launch a business without relying on social media at least partially. I think the key is to maintain integrity on those platforms and not resort to the “cheap” techniques to gain attention!
One of my fondest Paris memories was walking on the Left Bank quay with my mum when L’Heure Bleu came into the sky. It was heart stopping. Even thinking of it makes me tear up. That is not on a checklist.
This resonated with me so much, Lindsey, and I’ve griped to my friends about exactly this forever but never voicing my opinions on a platform, so honestly - BRAVA! Someone as significant of a writer as you should be shouting this from the rooftops! 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻💙💙
Did you find the same to be true for Japan? Maybe it’s just worse now that I’m actively seeking out recommendations but it feels saturated with superficial nonsense!
Agree, it was exceptionally true for Japan (more so than when I went to Barcelona, which says a lot, I think).There are no shortage of 'cute' photo ops in Japan which really fuels the influencer culture. But I have to admit I found good tips here and there, mixed in with the puffy influencer content. I'd be happy share if there's something applicable you're thinking about. My 17-day trip was in Nov 2024: Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka with side trips to Hakone, Nara and Hiroshima/Miyajima. It was my first time in Japan and we loved it there.
Wow this is incredibly helpful! I really appreciate this! Which ryokan did you choose in Hakone? I know that typically, ryokan are one night stays. And excellent tip about that train to/from Kyoto!
Suiun is the ryokan we stayed at: https://dormy-hotels.com/resort/hotels/suiun/about/index.php. Which reminds me, another great tip for Hakone - which may not be applicable depending on your itinerary - is regarding luggage. Because Hakone was an overnight stay between Tokyo and Kyoto, we sent our luggage* ahead from our Tokyo hotel to the Kyoto hotel, which allowed us to travel to Hakone with overnight bags only!
*The luggage forwarding service in Japan is a GAME CHANGER. Most hotels have it, you don’t have to go to a Yamato counter as the internet would have you believe. If you don’t know about this already, we can talk more but I don’t want to spam your post, lol! So many planning memories are coming back to me now, I love it. 😁
1. Hakone was an overnight trip enroute to Kyoto. We left Tokyo around mid-day and got there around 4:30 pm and then left the next day around noon. So number one, if I would do it again, I'd have added a little more time in Hakone to explore, maybe 48 hrs. I wanted to see Lake Ashi and the Narukawa Art Museum but there was no time. Hakone was our splurge accommodation at a traditional ryokan with kaiseki dinner & breakfast*. We chose a room that had a private outdoor onsen, which was really lovely. The star in Hakone is really the nature (fall colours were just starting at the end of Nov...early Dec would've been even more spectacular) and I loved taking the old-fashioned Hakonetozan train into town. *I’m sure your tastebuds are more adventurous than mine but for what it’s worth, the kaiseki was my least favourite meal in Japan. I don’t regret the experience because the meal is beautiful and I’m glad to have tried it but it was too much for me (especially as breakfast).
2. Nara was a day trip from Kyoto. At first we weren’t going to go because of the hype but in the end, honestly, I loved the deer so it was worth it for me. There are certain areas in the park that are stupidly tourist-intense but if you’re interested in the surrounding temples like we were, wandering the paths up into the forest was definitely a highlight. Lot less crowded with beautiful views and different temples. If you do go, I recommend taking the Limited Express AONIYOSHI train to/from Kyoto or Osaka if you can. It’s a beautiful train with spacious seating so it’s really calm and quiet. The only drawback is that the schedule is limited. https://www.kintetsu.co.jp/foreign/english/aoniyoshi/
Anyway hope that helps (it was fun for me to go back into my Japan memories, so thank you for asking!). Excited for you!!
Bravo, so well said. The “influencers” who are only there for the photo ops are so icky. And yes, I am sick to death of the cliche posts and surface-level takes.
It’s a race to the bottom!
Thanks for this piece, and for your honesty as someone whose work of course also influences the influencers, so to speak. It’s a challenge for an industry that makes its money by telling people which restaurants and cafes everyone MUST see, because as soon as the address is uttered, there’s only one thing that can happen to these places if the book, Tik Tok, viral Insta video is successful. L’institut Suédois, Paul Bert, Chez Janou … just a few casualties of an era in which it became cool to tell people where to be cool, which thus destroyed their essence. I suspect fewer guide books and more uncanny dérives through Paris is what continues to resist the flattening of the city, whose secrets and joys can never really be written about anyway, only lived in and treasured and kept a secret for those who know.
It’s so delicate, right ?! Before guidebooks there were newspapers and word of mouth, of course, and one might argue that all of the recommending keeps so many GOOD businesses operating. But there are costs. And I mostly just want to see less of the laziness rewarded but this is a problem in so many aspects of our world.
Nail on the head re: laziness being rewarded. It’s this consumerist culture of comfort that really tells us we can become kings and queens if only we snap the right shot or tweet the right birdsong. There’s this quote from A Moveable Feast uttered by a minor poet named Evan Shipman: “we need more true mystery in our lives Hem.” I think for folks like you and me who’ve been in Paris for going on some time now, the mystery is where we find that inner sanctum with the city. Thanks for your inspiring piece comrade 🙏🏼
You are so right! The mystery AND the ways in which it honors the past while looking forward; the fact that it’s a city in motion. Thank you, truly, for taking the time to read it!
The pendulum swing indeed. Looking forward to continuing reading 🍷
Yes to uncanny dérives!
Enchantée de te connaître Lindsey ! ... et je me permets de te donner mon point de vue sur le tourisme qui envahit mon beau pays sans essayer de comprendre son âme. Tu comprendras donc que j'apprécie ton chemin pour sortir de ces clichés qui masquent le véritable amour des francais pour leur pays et ses territoires.
Je te souhaite une très grande réussite dans tes projets
Michèle
Read Simon Kuper’s wonderful book “The Impossible City.” It captures Paris well
Trust me, I have :)
Thanks for this recommendation
Coming to Paris in June with 11 year old grandson. He wants to see some of these clichés and it’s sort of a rite of passage to do exactly what his mom did 30 years ago. Eiffel Tower, Louvre etc. But I’ve been working on his French and hope to help him see it as a living place which changes and yet stays the same. Oh to re-live that first experience! Vive la France 🇫🇷
Of course, the monuments and landmarks are there! They’re in guidebooks. That is largely different (and adapted to his age) from what I’m ranting about 😆 But you can certainly make him see what being a good and thoughtful traveler looks like, since you are one yourself!
The internet is terrible. It is a world-destroying machine. From the manosphere to tourism, we are warping our sense of what it means to be human and exist in this world, all while burning the planet to cinders.
No notes, you nailed it! 😭
I was in Paris in March, and I found myself at Shakespeare and Co., where I hadn't been in at least a decade. You can't take pictures inside (merci to whomever instituted that règle), but to the right of the door, there are a few book shelves with discounted books, where the selfie-takers waited patiently in line to prove they'd done literary Paris. Sylvia Beach is spinning in her grave.
It’s maddening !!!
Such a shame - I remember it thirty years ago when it felt like such a hidden gem.
Amen. I just got back from Paris two days ago, a place I adore and know well. I love it because of the unexpected beauty and shared moments, none of which I could experience by following a checklist. My favorite thing from this last trip? Walking along a sidewalk I saw a tired mom trying to get a stroller up a step into a grocery store while her child was having one of the most epic meltdowns I’ve ever heard. My path crossed another older woman’s, just as the mom and child had entered. And we exchanged the most wonderful smile of empathy, experience, and compassion, exchanging notes on the experience of motherhood without saying a word. I’ll take that over a croissant any day.
All those moments are delightfully spontaneous ♥️
Agree. Well said. It's sad isn't it--these "influencers" and their followers/copycats are just sleepwalking through life, comfortably numb...
At this point we've visited often enough so that we don't really bother to plan anything unless it's something special like the "Asterix et Obelix" show at Atelier des Lumières last fall, so I really wasn't aware of the kind of stuff you're talking about. But I killed my Instagram account and limit my exposure to Facebook, so it probably goes right past me.
We just check in to the hotel we like on Île Saint-Louis and then see what takes our fancy.
I think limiting social media indeed keeps a lot of this content at a distance. But if you ever search for something on Google related to Paris, or use YouTube, it still may appear. You have the right strategy overall, though :)
Thanks. It has certainly worked for us. :-) Love the podcast, BTW. C'est très genial!
You know what they say: Paris is a moveable Happy Meal.
Exactement ! I despise the Instagram world, but want to break into photography and historic tours. I can't yet figure out how to avoid one but succeed in the other. And as for your books, I will only say Merci Beaucoup. While I was falling in love with your lovely city, your books helped me to see the "real" side of Paris, and Parisiennes. And I still love her, "worts and all", as the saying goes.
And I’m so glad for that! Yes, it’s getting harder and harder to launch a business without relying on social media at least partially. I think the key is to maintain integrity on those platforms and not resort to the “cheap” techniques to gain attention!
One of my fondest Paris memories was walking on the Left Bank quay with my mum when L’Heure Bleu came into the sky. It was heart stopping. Even thinking of it makes me tear up. That is not on a checklist.
People are 🐏,
programmed to follow.
This too
This resonated with me so much, Lindsey, and I’ve griped to my friends about exactly this forever but never voicing my opinions on a platform, so honestly - BRAVA! Someone as significant of a writer as you should be shouting this from the rooftops! 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻💙💙
Thank you! It’s totally possible to resist giving in to the algorithm abyss and giving up your soul 😝
“All croissant, no crumbs”!!! So well said. Having had the good fortune to visit Japan and revisit Paris recently, your post resonates hard.
Did you find the same to be true for Japan? Maybe it’s just worse now that I’m actively seeking out recommendations but it feels saturated with superficial nonsense!
Agree, it was exceptionally true for Japan (more so than when I went to Barcelona, which says a lot, I think).There are no shortage of 'cute' photo ops in Japan which really fuels the influencer culture. But I have to admit I found good tips here and there, mixed in with the puffy influencer content. I'd be happy share if there's something applicable you're thinking about. My 17-day trip was in Nov 2024: Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka with side trips to Hakone, Nara and Hiroshima/Miyajima. It was my first time in Japan and we loved it there.
Wow this is incredibly helpful! I really appreciate this! Which ryokan did you choose in Hakone? I know that typically, ryokan are one night stays. And excellent tip about that train to/from Kyoto!
Suiun is the ryokan we stayed at: https://dormy-hotels.com/resort/hotels/suiun/about/index.php. Which reminds me, another great tip for Hakone - which may not be applicable depending on your itinerary - is regarding luggage. Because Hakone was an overnight stay between Tokyo and Kyoto, we sent our luggage* ahead from our Tokyo hotel to the Kyoto hotel, which allowed us to travel to Hakone with overnight bags only!
*The luggage forwarding service in Japan is a GAME CHANGER. Most hotels have it, you don’t have to go to a Yamato counter as the internet would have you believe. If you don’t know about this already, we can talk more but I don’t want to spam your post, lol! So many planning memories are coming back to me now, I love it. 😁
I would LOVE recommendations! Very curious how much time you spent in Hakone and Nara and what were the best aspects of both.
1. Hakone was an overnight trip enroute to Kyoto. We left Tokyo around mid-day and got there around 4:30 pm and then left the next day around noon. So number one, if I would do it again, I'd have added a little more time in Hakone to explore, maybe 48 hrs. I wanted to see Lake Ashi and the Narukawa Art Museum but there was no time. Hakone was our splurge accommodation at a traditional ryokan with kaiseki dinner & breakfast*. We chose a room that had a private outdoor onsen, which was really lovely. The star in Hakone is really the nature (fall colours were just starting at the end of Nov...early Dec would've been even more spectacular) and I loved taking the old-fashioned Hakonetozan train into town. *I’m sure your tastebuds are more adventurous than mine but for what it’s worth, the kaiseki was my least favourite meal in Japan. I don’t regret the experience because the meal is beautiful and I’m glad to have tried it but it was too much for me (especially as breakfast).
2. Nara was a day trip from Kyoto. At first we weren’t going to go because of the hype but in the end, honestly, I loved the deer so it was worth it for me. There are certain areas in the park that are stupidly tourist-intense but if you’re interested in the surrounding temples like we were, wandering the paths up into the forest was definitely a highlight. Lot less crowded with beautiful views and different temples. If you do go, I recommend taking the Limited Express AONIYOSHI train to/from Kyoto or Osaka if you can. It’s a beautiful train with spacious seating so it’s really calm and quiet. The only drawback is that the schedule is limited. https://www.kintetsu.co.jp/foreign/english/aoniyoshi/
Anyway hope that helps (it was fun for me to go back into my Japan memories, so thank you for asking!). Excited for you!!