I have been there a few times and loved it but I hardly see how seeing people watching a bike race would convince anyone to change their mind about a country.

Don't take everything so literally...just meant to say Paris is really a beautiful city that you ought to visit if given the opportunity.

Yes...Paris is a beautiful city that is steeped in history and culture and the rest of the country is spectacular! Worth seeing...and the people are friendly.

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Member of the Litespeed Factory Team
www.litespeed.com

I would love to do a bike tour of Provence...ride all day, and eat that fantastic cuisine of that region in the evenings!

Spot

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Taco cat spelled backwards is....taco cat.

I LOVE Paris and can't wait to go back. I kind of dig the French too. Paris is one place I'd like to live, at least for a short time.

clm

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

Mais OUI!

Not just Paris - the entire country! Magnifique. I want to retire there!

I should have been born a Euro:

Their favorite spectator sport - Tour de France
Ours - Nascar

Say no more...

My vote goes to the whole country – not only Paris. There's a reason it's the greatest tourist destination in the world.

(And yeah. In late August, I'll leave for Athens, Greece, then make my way through Italy, to France. God knows where, but I'll probably stay for a good month. Ça me plait, comme ça. Maybe I'll pick up some French, even.)

Greece...one of the countries I'd love to visit...along with Mexico (more than just Juarez anyway)...
Second vote for Provence, bike riding and food though...How about an ST meeting next year? 1 week in France...we all get our flight, meet there, and enjoy the food and the riding?

Funny but when watching today it really made want to go. I have never been but have always wanted to go. I have a dream of hitiing all the major sporting events in Europe from the French open to Le tour. The really cool thing is the wife is on board! Just need to make reservations!

Aloha,

Matt

Beef daube, pissalidiere, ratatouille, etc, etc.....mmmmm.....the French know how to cook, that's for sure. If I could afford to go there for a week, I would in a heartbeat.

Spot

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Taco cat spelled backwards is....taco cat.

Paris is my favorite city period.

Spent 3 weeks there so far this year and I am certain that if I can continue to work 3.5 days a week and have to travel 40+ weeks a year I will almost certainly spend more time there in the future and perhaps move. I currently work in the north of england, about 240 miles from home in south London and I can be in the centre (not changing the spelling :)) of Paris faster than I can be at work.

I hate to be the Ugly American (well, not really ;-) - but we thought Paris was just ok.

Perhaps it was the food poisoning we got the first nite from the unpasteurized fromage.

Perhaps it was from the overwhelming reek of urine and BO inside the Arc d' Triomphe.

Perhaps it was from missing the last metro train from Notre Dame, and having to walk an hour back to our hotel at 2:30 in the am.


Anyway, I am very glad to have visited there, the Louvre is amazing (it's honestly too big, too much; you start to lose your appreciation for each individual piece when there are 10's of thousands of them, and you are relegated to speed-walking by them all so you can at least get a glance at everything in one day).
We loved the Musee d' Orsay. Ditto Notre Dame, we visited that at night, and there was a service going on.

IF I/we were ever to set foot in France again, it'd be to go to Chamonix.
Paris has officially been checked off on our "been there/done that" life list.

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float , hammer , and jog

"...speed-walking by them all so you can at least get a glance at everything in one day..."

Reminds me of European Vacation with Chevy Chase - hilarious.

At least Americans can laugh at ourselves.

Like the Paris, France thong vs the Paris, Texas thong. :>)

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"No more hurting people - Peace"

Provence...ML...Provence...

Provence, c'est chouette mais, moi, je prefere Paris. Ca tombe bien parce que je suis la.

une bonne reponse de Francais: ouais, ben on s'en fout de ce que tu preferes ;-)

LOL! I concur. I liked London better than Paris (and I was expecting the opposite). Big city - lots of lights, but southern France is where it is at! Great country/culture. Now, northern Italy ...

And for the poster who said that Americans most watch Nascar -ah, it depends on where you live ... The South here is pretty much the opposite of the South in France ;-)

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Fatigue is biochemical, not biomechanical.
- Andrew Coggan, PhD

Hell yeah. I'd TOTALLY be up for that. AP

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"How bad could it be?" - SimpleS

You preferred London to Paris? I guess to each his own...but man...you have shitty tastes! ;-)

Seriously...we decide on a date in july-august (racing CDA in june)...
and head out to Provence for some fun...

Yup - sure did (as an American on vacation that is) even though I (and especially my wife) was expecting the opposite. Have to take food out of the equation though for sure!

That's OK, Nice and pretty much anything south of Paris makes up for it! From the cuisine In Lyon to Nice and the Alps.

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Fatigue is biochemical, not biomechanical.
- Andrew Coggan, PhD

You can eat really well in London...if you're willing to pay for it.
I actually think London is a really really nice city...but even Paris is cheap compared to London.

I second the vote for a visit to the Massif de Mont Blanc....but I am biased towards the mountains and the cote d'Zur...and there should be a bike involved and hiking gear...my tolerance for big cities in any part of the world is approximately 36 hours in duration

Dev

Paris and Tuebingen are currently competing to be my wife's year sabbatical location for 09/10. Not sure we can put the kids through the sink-or-swim learn-a-language plan again though so right now Tuebingen is winning.

Sports in Europe are impossible to beat provided one avoids weekend regional trains on the day of a football match - those A-holes are drunk.