"In our American cities, a stranger is left modestly to himself, with great cruelty and politeness; but in Paris a stranger has the constant sense of being shoved and directed by the citizens and officials; if you are lost, the Frenchman will run half a mile at great speed to point to your destination, and will accept no thanks. Perhaps kidnapping is the inevitable culmination of their aggressive kindness."
~from Matthew Pearl's The Poe Shadow
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