Tastes and colors… Spotlight on the ugliest sacred place in France according to this very popular TikToker followed by 325,000 subscribers.
For several weeks, an astonishing concept has emerged on TikTok: videos that explore French towns and villages to try to identify the one who, according to Internet users, is the most “ugly”. No need to travel physically: everything happens on Google Maps, thanks to the Street View tool. The user, Natasha Gupta, has become the figurehead of this trend. Followed by more than 325,000 subscribers, she made it her mission to track down the places which, according to her, best embodied the quintessence of ugliness.
After sifting through a whole series of countries, the latter then virtually covered industrial zones, wastelands on the outskirts or even buildings with dated architecture. In her videos, she alternated between picturesque discoveries – such as villages or castles – and places that she considered “empty and gloomy”. For the public, these virtual explorations are a delicious mix of astonishment, humor and, sometimes, indignation.
Natasha’s videos now receive hundreds of thousands of views and likes, including on Instagram. And as for France, certain cities, previously ignored, suddenly find themselves in the spotlight. If this forced publicity amuses some, it also causes exasperation for others. For the inhabitants of the pinned places, the feeling oscillates between anger and mockery. But it’s hard to deny the impact: in a few hours, a video can propel a city to the rank of national curiosity, for better or for worse.
This is exactly what happened for a destination located on the edge of Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport. After a short virtual exploration, Natasha Gupta said she found the ugliest place in France. According to her, everything in this neighborhood embodies the lack of soul: the rectangular buildings, the omnipresent gray sky, and the absence of activity or businesses. It is a deserted street on the edge of theHoliday Inn Express in Roissy-en-France.
Baptized rue du Voyageurit is she who wins the unenviable title of “the ugliest place in France”. The city, with its functional but impersonal hotel infrastructure, has thus become the target of an avalanche of amused comments. Some Internet users even took the challenge further, sharing their own equally bleak findings.
Despite everything, distrust prevails. This title, granted lightly, does not, however, do justice to the entire territory of Roissy, which is also home to parks and modern infrastructure. If the trend is amusing, it also reminds us that the beauty of a place is above all a question of perspective and context.
