Your Survival Guy is back from a ten-day trip to Paris. I have plenty to report beyond the protests and violence, including whether you should go. My quick response: You should go only if you’re comfortable spending money on your safety. There’s a big difference from one arrondissement—and even from one rue—to another, especially during periods of unrest. Make sure you have a Plan A and a Plan B.
That said, I’d be lying if I claimed I hadn’t noticed a difference in Paris over the dozens of visits we’ve made during the past decade or so. A gradual shift in the undercurrent has surfaced in waves, bringing us to a point where rioters can flood any magnificent avenue in an instant.
Yes, you can have incredible experiences at Michelin-starred restaurants and brasseries alike, but the city has a different tone than it once did.
Imagine for a moment that you’re a Parisian working in Paris, one of the world’s premier vacation destinations, serving crowds who eat lavishly, drink wine they cannot readily get at home, and shop until they drop. It can be a bit much. That’s why locals in any tourist destination cheer the end of tourist season: They want a holiday of their own.
Understand this: To be a fabulous place to eat, drink, and be merry, a business must keep reinventing itself—and that requires money to invest. Labor isn’t free. Input costs rise in perpetuity. Meanwhile, the business must operate on razor-thin margins to remain great. Then comes the question: “Why bother?”
The answer to that question, after the taxes, the ordinances, the refusal to arrest criminals who loot and steal, is often to close up shop. And so the pie shrinks, much as it does in any big blue-blob city here at home. There will still be nice places to visit, but there will be fewer of them.
Why not live in the suburbs among somewhat like-minded neighbors and leave the travel blogs to the young and uninitiated? Let them have their French butter Instagram posts—and eat the butter, too.
Action Line: When your margin of safety is a diminishing asset, make sure you have the money to pay for it. It will be worth every penny. Need help knowing where to go—and where not to go? Email me at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com.
