This year my Wife and I visited Paris for the first time, and what an experience we had! We've been to France a number of times before, but only to the South (we have passed through the North before but never stopped.) My Wife's Parents now live in the Pyrenees (as my Wife also did for 2 years) and we hope to one day live in the South ourselves, as it is a truly beautiful part of the World and the people are so laid back and friendly, anyway I digress. Nothing in the South had prepared us for Paris, it really is sooooo different, now obviously being a capital and also a major world city it is busy and the people are rushed; this goes without saying and I suppose it is similar to comparing London to the North of England where we live, but what a shock after the South of France.
Our first day from airport to hotel and back to Paris (that's right our hotel wasn't in Paris, funny how they didn't mention that in the brochure, but in a place called Ivry sur Seine) and then back again was so stressful that we almost packed our bags and caught the train South; I'm so glad that we didn't!
After the first day I wanted to strangle Paris, after a week I wanted to kiss her and visit again. What a fantastic city, once you get used to it! We did all the usual tourist things and had our breaths taken away by this magnificent city, everything they say about Paris is true. Parisiens do appear rude (particularly the waiters) but once you dig beneath the surface they are good people who get swept along by the pace of big city life. We have learned a lot from our visit and will be better prepared for our return, but I think we'll chill out in the Pyrenees first!
So in answer to my own question I hated it once (for one day, admittedly due to circumstances) but I love it dearly now!