How would you translate "paris n'est pas rose" into english so that it makes sense?

Question

i know this question doesn't exactly fit here, but i figured i someone here might speak fluent french... so here is the context: am translating an interview for a documentary we shot in Paris, and one guy says "Paris n'est pas rose. La douce France n'existe plus..." and a literal translation doesn't work. any suggestions? Thanks!

Answer 1

paris isn't rosey.

paris aint that rosey.

paris isn't quite the rose.

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it will work in context i suppose.

Answer 2

paris isn't pink it means that all isn't perfect in paris who said that???????

Answer 3

"Paris isn't a rose" would seem to make sense in that context.

As usual however, I will now wait for my French friends here to chuckle gently (or maybe not so gently) at my inadequate command of their language.

Answer 4

I don't know enough English idioms to tell you which is equivalent to this French one but i can explain to you the exact meaning of it, so that you may find the best english translation.

When we say that something "isn't rose", we just want to say that it's not all perfect. So in your talk, the guy meant that life in Paris isn't everytime so easy, so pleasant or enjoyable (I agree by the way) and when he says "la douce France n'existe plus" he confirms his opinion by suggesting that life used to be better. So now you also understand the meaning of "La vie en rose" from Edith Piaf :

Quand tu me prends dans tes bras [...] je vois la vie en rose.

She just wants to say that life is perfect when she's with him!

Further information: an other idiom using the word rose in French: "Ca ne sent pas la rose" = it doesn't smell like rose

Means it smells very bad.

Let me know which English expression you think is the closest to our french simile.

Cheers!

Answer 5

Literal translation is "Paris is not pink".  The best expression for what was actually meant by this expression to me would be "Paris is not all sunshine and roses" or "Paris is not a fairyland".  

For "la douce France n'existe plus", you could say "The France of fairytales no longer exists" or "Fairytale France doesn't exist anymore" although a simple literal translation is simply "Sweet France doesn't exist anymore".

Answer 6

I would say Paris is not a bed of roses anymore....