Ahhh, Paris. The City of Lights, the City of Love, the City of American Women Starved For Romance. In the American cultural imagination, the French capital has long been idealized as the most romantic, chic, charming destination in the world — the perfect place, as “The Bachelor” might put it, to fall in love.
On the heels of “Emily in Paris,” which (fittingly) made the concept of mingling a Parisian setting with American love stories all the more marketable, two reality dating programs recently dropped on streaming channels. On Roku, Reese Witherspoon and Zoë Saldana brought us “Meet Me in Paris,” a soi-disant “reality rom-com” about three unlucky-in-love women who spend 10 whirlwind days in the city, living out a semi-scripted pursuit for love. Hulu’s “Love Trip: Paris” is a more traditional reality show featuring four Francophiles who move into a Parisian apartment building to seek love with French suitors.
