Practical books—which this is, it’s where to find literal existing places in Paris, not what happened there in the 1790s—can be quite idealistic, in both good and bad ways. Paris is a sort of ideal for many people, since it, in addition to being a modern multicultural metropolis, is a symbol of French culture both to French nationals, of both Gaulish and non-Gaulish descent, and other people closely tied to French culture—native speakers of the language, for example—as well as to others who simply admire Paris and its beauty. On the other hand, though, not every bit of practical information out there can be used well in a naive way. Like a pretty girl, Paris gets some attention that doesn’t always fulfill it—the “Americans” with their own unique taste in food, (yes, I like my nommy bars; I like them!), and who mostly speak English, etc. (Anecdotally, the attitude is less exacting in the countryside, but in Paris especially there’s that whole ‘mot juste’ thing going on…. And my Spanish, even, is actually better than my French; my French class days predated my interest in languages that I once had.) What I mean is, Kate Northrup, say, (the daughter of the doctor), once gave a talk on money where she said that she once (before she became herself as she is now) ran up a lot of debt living in NYC as a young person, believing “that things should look a certain way”. Paris can be the same way. If you think there’s something there that you’ll love, then it’s something to plan for, to hope for and visualize; but if it’s just a common thing you don’t share, nobody will blame you for going somewhere else, for so many reasons, you know. They’ll manage just fine, you know.

…. The average person probably never reads a travel book until their non-existent rich uncle hands them their travel itinerary, but travel books can be useful— (a) just to read a positive book about different places in non-events-of-history/politics-and-assassination (as much as I love Jason Bourne), but people living a normal yet healthy life, and (b) to find out if that place is a real attraction for you or not. Save yourself, if possible, getting there and hating it, or never cultivating the desire and becoming happier because you were afraid to embrace the process of desire.