You Have Better Options Than Paris
You have made up your mind. You are planning to visit Paris. My wife and I hope your visit to Paris is not part of your first European trip - see Paris Vs. Tuscany - Not Even a Match. Then, you can go to Paris. Going to Paris will require you to do some work beforehand. First, learn some French. Second, be prepared to potentially experience the Paris Syndrome, also known as the Japanese Syndrome. I am ready to answer your question: What could Japan have in common with Paris? And what do you mean by “syndrome”? It will all make sense by the end of this article.
Stendhal’s Syndrome Is Better for You
Before we cover the causes and effects of the Paris Syndrome or Japanese Syndrome, we need to explain what Stendhal’s Syndrome is as one is correlated to the other. In 1897, French author Stendhal visited Florence as part of a trip that also took him to Rome and Naples. Upon entering the Church of Santa Croce, strong emotions overcame him. In his recollections, Stendhal tells us that he experienced ecstasy when contemplating sublime beauty, and a celestial sensation. Stendhal was not the first one to undergo psychological shock. Still, he was the first to document the amazement that can be experienced when observing the marvel of Florence’s artistic treasure.
You Experience Ecstasy Visiting Florence, Italy
I became personally familiar with Stendhal’s Syndrome as I experienced it in my thirties when I turned into a tourist in my hometown. I was born in Florence. Circumstances brought me to California, where I moved to in 1999. I visit my family every year, and now, walking in the narrow streets of Florence, I view the place where I grew up from a different perspective. What used to be my “everyday normal” now appears in its sublime beauty, just as Stendhal saw it more than one hundred years ago. Psychologists have studied the phenomenon that seems to occur, mainly when tourists see the statue of David at the Accademia Gallery.
Avoid the Paris Syndrome
Imagine the contrary of Stendhal’s Syndrome: overpromising, underwhelming, and underdelivering. That is the Paris Syndrome, or the sense of disappointment many tourists feel when visiting Paris for the first time, which seems to particularly affect Japanese people. Annually, over one million Japanese people visit Paris. They go to Paris attracted by the idea that Paris is an aesthetic haven, filled with supermodels and super nice people, and where everyone can breathe love, fashion, and glamor at every corner. Their dreams are shattered as soon as they arrive at customs, and they crash completely when some rude server impolitely asks them what they want for supper. The problem is so severe that the Japanese Embassy has created 24-hour helplines for tourists who experience anxiety, dizziness, acute delusional states, hallucinations, and feelings of persecution – probably from the same rude waiter who served them the Escargot or roasted frog legs with potatoes and peas.
Illusion vs. Reality
The French government has done a great job marketing French culture abroad. Kudos to the French Prime Minister for dressing impeccably in a Givenchy jacket and tie and speaking English with a romantic accent and lots of emphasis on the “r.” Unfortunately, when the illusion vanishes, one easily understands that Paris, compared to Florence, in fact, to most other cities in Italy, is embarrassingly mediocre.
Florence vs. Paris
Are you still trying to convince yourself? We can agree that the top attractions of Paris are Notre Dame, the Eifel Tower, the Arc the Triomphe, the Louvre Museum, Montmartre, Sacre’ Coeur, the Luxemburg Gardens, Sainte-Chapelle, the Musee D’Orsay, the Palais Garnier, and let’s not forget, Disneyland (which is the main reason statistics about Paris are skewed and claim it the most visited city in the world). Looking for the Bastille, the famous prison of the French Revolution? There are no remains of it, although it’s on many lists of places to visit in Paris (a mystery that you are welcome to unveil and post on Tripadvisor if you have solved it). Please compare the list with Florence attractions: the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, Palazzo Vecchio, Uffizi, the Accademia Gallery, Medici’s Chapels, the Santa Croce, the Santa Maria Novella, the Boboli and Bardini Gardens, Ponte Vecchio, Piazzale Michelangelo, and maybe one should stop here because just the duomo of Brunelleschi is the crown of a city that speaks for itself.
Was Napoleon a Thief?
And the Louvre in Paris, the most visited museum in the world? It’s an exhibition of what Napoleon brought back (pardon, stole) from its conquests, primarily from Italy. The museum hosts one of the largest collections of Italian Renaissance artifacts outside of Italy, from renowned Michelangelo, Rafael, Giotto, Titian, Mantegna, Leonardo, Perugino, Veronese, and Caravaggio… just to name a few of many. Need more evidence?
Weather in Paris
One more thing: the weather. Japanese tourists go to Paris armed with tiny umbrellas to flee from the sun, just to find out that Paris is cloudy 73 percent of the time, and it rains 110 days out of the year there. Florence may be warm in July and August, but isn’t a Hollywood smash hit called “Under the Tuscan Sun?” Even regarding the weather, Florence beats Paris one to zero, although this time, it is not a goal inflicted by Roberto Baggio on the French soccer team.
Who Painted the Mona Lisa? Where is Vinci? Was Leonardo Da Vinci French?
Are you ready now to visit Paris? We hope to have set your expectations so low that you will be satisfied. We can guarantee that despite all our efforts to promise and underdeliver, you will not experience Stendhal’s Syndrome in Paris admiring the Notre Dame Cathedral, taking a cruise on the Bateaux Mouches over the Seine, or shopping at La Fayette. You will not experience the Japanese Syndrome either. In fact, we are not here to say that Paris does not have its charm. We intend to convey that many Parisiennes walk around their city with their nose up to the sky, claiming that Paris is the best. There is no need to showcase any superiority when one of the symbols of France is the Mona Lisa, a painting by Italian Renaissance genius Leonardo Da Vinci, who conceived and embellished the painting in Tuscany, his birthplace – just in case anybody thought that Vinci was in France…
Is It Worth Visiting Paris? Visit Florence Instead
Enjoy Paris, and don’t forget to bring an umbrella. If you have time, revisit Florence. It’s a two-hour flight from Paris, and if you are still hungry, (and you might be since the French portion is not the most generous) you can fill your belly up in Italy as Italians don’t like to see visitors go back home hungry or unsatisfied. When you go to Florence, don’t forget to sing with us a famous Italian song:
Rendez-vous en Europe! Ci vediamo a Firenze! See you traveling around the world! Ciao!
~ Written by:
Samuele Bagnai & Viktoria Rusnakova authors of Tuscan Who Sold His Fiat to the Pope & Enthusiastic All the Way, respectively.
