Hideous side of dream European getaway… where Americans are being targeted in terrifying sex attacks and muggings
For many Americans, the idea of living in Paris still carries a powerful romantic pull.
The fantasy is easy to picture: croissants at a sidewalk café, vintage couture and candlelit dinners beneath the Eiffel Tower – the sort of candy-colored existence enjoyed by Emily Cooper, the fictional Chicago marketing executive at the center of the Netflix hit series Emily in Paris.
But US influencers who actually live in the French capital say the reality can be a lot messier.
Instead of the postcard image of romance and glamour, they describe a city where the dream can quickly collide with the gritty realities of big city life – from drug activity and homelessness to subway pickpockets and occasional violent crime.
Many American expats now talk openly about the moment they experienced what's often dubbed 'Paris syndrome' – the jolt of disillusionment when the City of Light fails to live up to its glossy image.
And in recent years, some say that reality has grown even harsher. Their comments come as Paris grapples with a noticeable rise in certain types of crime, particularly drug offenses, fraud and sexual violence.
The warnings have also surfaced in the wake of several frightening incidents involving American tourists.
In August 2022, a 27-year-old American visitor was raped in a public toilet near the Louis-Philippe Bridge in the city's 4th arrondissement.
It did not take long for Californian Lulu Nguyen, 36, to realize there was more to Paris than just cafes and art museums
The City of Lights increasingly bears the scars of homelessness, drug addiction and crime on its streets
The following year, another American tourist reported being raped by multiple men in a park near the Eiffel Tower.
During Fashion Week in January 2024, yet another American woman told police she had been raped by two men after attending a party in the 17th arrondissement.
And in February 2024, 25-year-old Washington resident Justin Han suffered a devastating traumatic brain injury after an apparently random assault during a solo vacation in the French capital. He was discovered unconscious by emergency responders the next morning.
Against that backdrop, Americans who have made Paris their home are increasingly using social media to show followers a more unfiltered side of life there.
Among them is Kiana Tiese, a 32-year-old New Yorker who has lived in Paris for nine years and built a following of nearly 189,000 on TikTok documenting the realities of expat life.
Tiese said too many Americans arrive expecting something straight out of the Netflix series.
'People come expecting Disney – a city lined with gold and croissants,' she told the Daily Mail.
'When I actually landed, I realized it was definitely not that. It was a much grittier reality than the Paris I had in my head.'
Despite embracing life in France, she acknowledges that petty crime is an everyday concern in a city of more than 2.1 million residents that attracts roughly 30 million visitors a year.
Tiese said she has personally been robbed twice on public transport, describing the incidents as quick, coordinated snatch-and-run thefts carried out by groups working together.
While she stresses that she does not want to exaggerate the risks, she warns that some tourists inadvertently make themselves easy targets.
'If you're super loud and obviously American, you're putting a target on your back for pickpockets,' she said.
According to Tiese, New Yorkers like herself often adapt quickly because they are used to navigating big, chaotic cities, but Americans arriving from quieter parts of the US can stand out immediately.
Kiana Tiese, 32, a New Yorker who has lived in Paris for nine years and arranges tours for visitors
Many Americans believe city lives up to the hype of the Netflix show Emily in Paris
She now uses her social media platforms not only to document daily life but also to advise travelers on what to expect – from navigating the metro system to understanding cultural differences with locals.
One common misunderstanding, she said, involves the reputation for rudeness often attributed to Parisians. In reality, she believes it is usually a cultural mismatch.
Americans are accustomed to enthusiastic customer service and small talk while French interactions tend to be more direct and less performative, she said.
Living in the city's 10th arrondissement near several busy train stations, Tiese said she has also noticed signs of growing economic strain in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic.
She points to more visible homelessness and social problems in certain neighborhoods. Still, she said the city is far from the dystopian picture sometimes painted online.
Paris remains vibrant, creative and full of life – a place where millions of ordinary people work, study and socialize every day, she said.
Another American influencer sharing a similarly candid perspective is Lulu Nguyen, a 36-year-old Californian bioengineer who moved to France more than eight years ago to pursue a master's degree.
Nguyen, who now has two children with her French husband, spent five years living in central Paris before relocating to the suburbs. She shares her experiences with more than 41,000 followers on her Instagram account, Lulu en Paris.
Like Tiese, Nguyen said her first impressions of Paris quickly challenged the romantic vision she had imagined.
Emily in Paris presents the candy-colored life enjoyed by Emily Cooper, the fictional Chicago marketing executive who moves to Paris
Parisians increasingly describe tent cities on their doorsteps and drug addicts stmbling around the streets
When she moved into a small apartment in the 10th arrondissement as a student, she was stunned to discover sex workers operating directly outside her building. The moment, she said, shattered her idealized image of Paris almost immediately.
Her time living near the Stalingrad area exposed her to other parts of the city's rougher reality.
That neighborhood has long been associated with open drug use and trafficking, and Nguyen recalls seeing people struggling with addiction in the streets.
She also encountered homelessness firsthand. During winter months, she said people without shelter sometimes took refuge inside her apartment building's stairwells and corridors.
'I got pickpocketed four times, had my bike stolen, and even had homeless people living in my building,' Nguyen said.
'There are parts of Paris that are super beautiful – and then there are some really scary places.'
Despite nearly a decade in France and deep ties to the country through marriage and family, Nguyen said she still feels unmistakably foreign.
Her accent and background mark her out immediately, she believes – something she suspects will never fully change.
The experiences described by influencers like Nguyen and Tiese reflect broader trends that authorities in France have been monitoring in recent years.
Drug-related offenses have steadily increased in Paris since 2020, with police reporting rising arrests of dealers and more public drug use in certain districts.
But expats say the city also retains its beauty and charm despite the daily annoyances
Across France as a whole, drug-related murders and attempted murders rose by 38 percent between 2022 and 2023, according to government statistics.
Neighborhoods such as Belleville, Ménilmontant, Barbès-Rochechouart, and Pigalle have increasingly gained reputations as areas where gang activity and trafficking are more common, particularly at night.
In April 2025, Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin said France was 'tipping into narco-banditry.' President Emmanuel Macron has bemoaned a 'wave of ultraviolence' sweeping the country in recent years.
The US State Department currently advises Americans traveling to France to 'exercise increased caution,' citing threats including petty crime, civil unrest and terrorism.
Even so, Paris remains far safer than many major American cities when it comes to violent crime.
Statistics show that residents of Washington, DC, for example, are roughly 17 times more likely to be victims of homicide than those living in the French capital.
For Nguyen, that balance captures the complicated truth about Paris.
The city may not always live up to the glossy fantasy portrayed on television – but its magic has not entirely faded either.
'Yes, Paris can be unsafe and you'll probably get pickpocketed at some point – but it's still so much fun.'
