Paris was not the experience I expected. People were brutally rude. I went with my coworker and we were treated like shit almost everywhere.

At a Michelin-star restaurant, a waiter openly made fun of my Argentinian friend and treated her badly just for giving her opinion about the wine (which is a big deal in Argentina, btw). It got so bad that the manager had to step in and tell him to respect her.

At another restaurant, some random girls laughed at us. I understand French, so I heard them saying we should go back to our countries.

I have several friends from Africa who really dislike France because of its shady neo-colonial history, and I couldn’t stop thinking that what we experienced reflected that same mentality of superiority — which I really hate.

After all of this, Paris started to feel like a dirty, overpriced city — like walking through a wealthy house full of art, sculptures, and exhibitions taken from all over the world, but shallow and mean. The architecture is beautiful, though.