#EuroSummer. Americans talk about their disappointment with vacations in France

Each country has its own image of Epinal. In France, one can imagine him walking the pedestrian streets of Montmartre with his red beret and his baguette. In Italy we drive along the Riviera on the back of a lambretta with the wind blowing its hair. In Greece, you project yourself into an immaculate Eden, shadowed by buildings painted white and draped with bougainvillea. European countries for the most part offer their share of shots that our American cousins ​​love to fantasize about. Therefore, it is not surprising that in the summer of 2023, after a long post-covid period, many of them crossed the ocean. But while they were preparing to document their trip with a hashtag called #Eurosummer, these young foreign travelers ended up presenting another reality of misunderstandings and great disappointment.

Video: Reese Witherspoon’s Paris vacation

“No one warned me.”

While vacationing on the Amalfi Coast, a paradise tucked away in the south of Italy, Lexi Jordan was one of the first to get upset with her subscribers. “Nobody warned me,” he said in a TikTok video posted on August 7 that has been viewed 1.4 million times. Hailing from Denver, the influencer is posted facing the sea and facing the camera; And continue. “The first. cannot be reached there. We have to fly to Naples, then take a train to Sorrento, then wait in hellish heat for a ferry to the coast with all our luggage. Right there, there are no roads for cars to enjoy this wonderful view, these wonderful landscapes; must climb 160 degrees.”

As a result, hundreds of sequences were filled, showing American women alternately complaining about the conditions of transportation, but also about the lack of imagination, the lack of air conditioning in some places, the difficulty of finding vegetables in some establishments or even paying for water. Caroline Timuny, with 122,000 subscribers on the counter, jokes. “When you go to Europe as an American woman, it seems to you. . And there you say to yourself: “Freedom ain’t free” and you take back your American flag.

A special mention also goes to the beautiful Parisian, a dark and dark legend who was finally posted on the bench in the capital in socks and a hat. “I love it when American women plan their wardrobes months in advance and talk about how elegant the men are in Europe…” jokes the half-fig, half-grape-toned influencer to her subscribers before turning on the camera. one of his neighbors.

How to explain this great disappointment? Perhaps due to the endless waiting caused by the Covid-19 epidemic, which forced some to postpone their trip for several years, thereby intensifying the feeling of frustration in the face of everyday reality. Because in addition to their fantastic landscapes, Greece, France or Italy live abroad from their myths, which are exported thanks to pop culture. Everyone wants to take turns living Fellini’s dolce vita and wearing Anita Ekberg’s seductive outfits in front of the Trevi Fountain. But the myth has its limits. Moreover, in contrast millennia (ages 25 to 35) who traveled to Asia a few years ago to discover the country’s riches by hitchhiking, these new destinations popular with Generation Z (ages 20 to 25) have costs and often come true; a great sacrifice.

“Pari shōkōgun” or “Paris Syndrome”

By extension, this great disillusionment of tourists, which is far from a new phenomenon, is reminiscent of the “Paris Syndrome” or “Pari shōkōgun”, popularized in 2004 by the Japanese psychiatrist Ota Hiroaki. Agreed The reactions, every year dozens of Japanese travelers will be affected by the “extremely rare vertigo in discovering Paris, caused by the gap between the capital and the image of reality.” For some, after saving years again to pay for a week in the City of Love, the frustration would be such that they would go so far as to lose their heads by being sent to the hospital or to their country. If no case has been found among those who criticize the Eurosummer, the phenomenon remains the same.

But while all this could explain the resulting disappointment, others point the finger at these tourists, whom they accuse of being detached from reality. “It’s better to know about the city before buying plane tickets,” TikTok users wrote under Lexi Jordan’s video. Because, “if the Almafi coast still offers its authenticity” (among other things), it is because it is protected from mass tourism due to its difficult access. “I love it, but I wasn’t warned,” the influencer hammers her fans. I am making this video to warn you about the reality of the country.” It is necessary, perhaps, like the guide.

In the video, Eva Longoria unveils her new short square on Tiktok