I must admit Paris isn't the same city I first visited in 1969 and fell in love -- couldn't eat or sleep -- I was so besotted by the magic. But I've gone back many times and had great experiences. Seeing Julia Child in the street towering over the French around her; having the cook come out and dance with us in a little bistro, waking up to the sound of horse hoofs on a cobbled street as the calvary passed by. Yes, now Paris is more crowded and dirtier but it's also far more multi-cultural. And if the French seem rude which they often do -- it might be because of being trampled by tourists day and night.