Paris, City Of Fisticuffs?

People seem to argue more on vacations to France.

by Tom Miller

Gay Paris has been called a lot of things: city of romance, city of light, birthplace of Madame Guillotine, and the home of freedom fries. One thing it’s not proud to be renowned for is discord. According to a survey conducted on the travel site GoTravelInsurance.co.uk, Paris is the vacation spot most associated with squabbling. Of those surveyed, 34% admitted to arguing while in Paris. The good news is that a trip from London to Paris is relatively cheap. If they flew all the way from Louisville, Kentucky for an argument, then that would be a shame.

Isn’t arguing, debate anyways, in the French character? Like if you’re trying to invade Iraq aren’t they the first to say “au contraire, mon frer”? Sure, having a knock down, drag out at the Eiffel Tower is bad form, but would the French really be put off? “Ah, look at the Americans, with their Super Bowl and Dane Cook, how you say, adorable.” Well maybe they should rethink making things tough on us after bailing them out of WW2. Anyone? Dad? It’s weird, this is the first time that we’ve ever thought of National Lampoons: European Vacation and Ethan Hawke’s novella, The Hottest State, at the same time. There are parallels. This reminds us of one of our all-time favorite Tango articles about a little Euro vacation that goes in the wrong direction but ends up just right.