The Ravages of Tourism

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Geo: 48.8566, 2.35097

Montmarte. Just dont go there. Ever. Legend has it, it was once a place of beauty, a scenic village where artists lived, inspired by a picturesque view of Paris. No longer. Today, Montemarte serves as a classic example of the ravages of tourism. Its not the first time on our travels that Nat and I have been disgusted at what hoardes of naive tourists can do to a place, trampling people with iphones, tablets and flashes, tactless and tastelessly squandering money and creating a nuisance of themselves. Yes, Nat and I are tourists. We take photos. We are always careful, respectful and mindful of our surroundings, people and other cultures. We obey the rules, experience and appreciate where we are, and leave with fond memories and a few carefully taken photos.
If I have to see one more guy knock over a child, holding his tablet above his head with two hands, blocking the entrance, next to the 'photography prohibited sign' and eventually blinding the public with a giant flash and loud capture sound to denote the event, I'm going to scream. After being politely scolded by the security about refraining from photography, the oblivious tourist would then proceed to glare at the guard as if the guard has infringed on their god given right to photograph everything, just for the sake of it. The tourist then shows his brilliant photo to a friend, which is a dark blurry image of a pillar obstructed by the back of thirty peoples heads, and 10 peoples phones and tablets in the air. Theres also the shameful ninja photographer, taking a terrible prohibited snapshot just because, evading a scolding and attempting to escape out the nearest 'no exit.' Everywhere we seem to go theres someone propping in front of us to photograph something pointless. People are walking through overcrowded museums photographing each item and the information beside it, so they can say they've been there and maybe look at it later. Theres people taking photos of arbitrary items behind glass (getting all reflection) without even looking at the item or knowing what it is. We saw a guy video taping his walk from the bus to an attraction queue point. Theres people posing vainly or just stupidly next to insignificant or unremarkable objects (ever seen someone do the peace symbol in a photo before?). Oh, and theres girls adjusting their fringe and taking a selfie at an amazing location with none of the location featuring in the photo.
Then theres the horrific squandering of money, people getting scammed, overcrowding tours and spending the time winging or finding faults, as more travel and demand for tours increases so do the cost, and it seems to me that so many dont even absorb or fully appreciate their travel. Gullable tourists create scammers, the sales of illegal goods, opportunists, and a superficial, money obsessed environment bereft of class and reverence.
Let me recap todays trip to Montmatre. Its now a dirty, poverty stricken squallor and tourist ravaged cesspool. From the station, up the street towards the Sacré Cœur Cathedral we first passed a half delapitated clothes store. Poor locals and tourists alike were crawling all over a discount table of clothes like vermin, clothes falling onto the wet floor as rain fell. Onwards, past about 6 tables of '3 card Monty' style scams. Stupid tourists happy to part with dozens of 50€ bills, amazed as the dealers cousin totally legitimately wins again! Way to go bro! Then, past several crumbling souvenir shops, packed with people buying absolute junk, we come to the steps of the Sacré Cœur, loaded with scammers. Theres the famous 'I'm disabled and cant speak, please help' Signup sheet. I just heard them speaking. They look related and get into a vocal argument as we pass by. Guys with string, trying to ensnare tourists by the wrists, distracting them with a fake smile or greeting, making the worlds crappiest bracelets. 'You bought it. Release fee, 2€.' I mean its essentially a mugging. We witnessed an Asian girl being dragged helplessly by one arm to involuntarily receive her memorable bracelet. As we get to the top, all the crappy fake bags and sunglasses you could want to waste your money on.
Even inside the church, beautifully ornate, a place of prayer and worship. I'm not religiously dedicated but I respect it and appreciate it, especially such beautiful buildings No photos the sign says, this is a sacred place. Fair enough I think, despite subtle photos and not so subtle flashes going on everywhere. Then I walk around, and see souvenir shops in the church, a 'Souvenir Coin Vending Machines,' Candles for sale to offer up Prayers, 2€ for a small or 10€ for a large, I think, so where is that sacred reverence you guys were hoping to preserve in this place. Its as commercial, tacky, tasteless and ravaged as the rest of this town.
We spent the rest of our afternoon in rainy Paris. I returned to Notre Dame to explore the treasury and seek the Crown of Thorns and piece of the cross, sacred relics of the Passion. I found the reliquaries of both, the latter visible encased in a glass tube. From there, we walked along the Seine river towards the Louvre. We stopped at a marketplace for a local beer; Natural Mystick Biere au Chandyre Blonde, and a Nutella Crepe. Delicious. We even caught half of the Arsenal vs Sunderland match at a cafe around the corner.
From here, it was time to lock in some love. We purchased a 3€ lock and walked in the rain to the Pont des Arts bridge. Here, as so many others have, we wrote our names on our lock and affixed it to the bridge to symbol undying wuv and all that. Yes thats right, 'aww'.
Dinner for our last night, back where we started for the first, our local restaurant near Jaures station, le Conservatoire. Steak was again on the menu for a fair price. Its all done in Paris for us now. Tomorrow, a bus ride to Belgium!

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