Things to Know Before You Go to Paris
Ah, Paris. The City of Light. It has a well-earned reputation as the romantic city in the world. Traveling through Paris, you feel yourself in the footsteps of artistic greats like Edgar Degas, Ernest Hemingway, Claude Monet, Camille Saint-Saëns, Brigitte Bardot, Victor Hugo, and literally hundreds (if not thousands) more. For my 30th birthday, I decided to take myself on the ultimate solo trip to Paris. I wanted to read in cafés, browse museums, and eat at Michelin restaurants at my own leisurely pace. It was everything I wanted it to be and more. And now, with an adult experience, I have a better handle on things to know before you go to Paris.
What to Know Before You Go to Paris - Parisians are NOT Rude
The Jardin des tuilleries in early spring bloom
With nearly 12 million people (as of this writing), Paris sits at 4th on the list of largest cities in Europe. For reference, New York (the largest U.S. city) has 8.5 million. In a city that large, you will see all kinds of people doing all kinds of things.
Parisians have a reputation of being unfriendly, but I found them friendlier than people in London (a low bar) and very similar to people in New York. Most people are simply minding their own business. Servers and shopkeepers do not smile compulsively, nor will they bend over backwards for you like they will in the US. They’re helpful and efficient, but don’t mistake brisk efficiency sans smile with rudeness!
Like any big city, taking up as little space as possible will raise your profile with locals. Step to the side if you need a minute to get your bearings, keep your luggage and bags close, say please (s’il vous plait, pronounced “see voo play”) and thank you (merci, pronounced “MARE-see”), and you’ll be just fine. They’re not mean-mugging you, that’s simply their resting face. No one was actually rude to me my whole trip - trust me, you’ll know. I have met precisely 1 rude French person (in Colmar) and I still haven’t emotionally recovered.
Know How to Order (and Behave!) at a Restaurant
The interior at Polidor, an adorable spot I went to for lunch (get the duck parmentier).
Paris has lunch counters, delis, and coffee shops of course, and the etiquette at casual establishments should spark familiarity among most travelers. If you’re a new traveler, here’s a pro tip - do not sit at outdoor café tables unless you intend to order. At a sit down restaurant, however, you’ll need to know a few basic things before you go.
Order Immediately
At Parisian restaurants, you will likely be seated quite quickly, but they’ll give you a lot of time with the menu. Why? Because you’ll be expected to order your beverage, appetizer, and main course right away. You can order more drinks through your meal and they’ll give you a desert menu at the end, but you’ll want to be ready to go when the server comes back. If you need more time, they will give it to you, don’t worry, simply ask.
Entrée Means Appetizer, Not Main Dish
This one’s on the Americans, we’re in the wrong here. Additionally, in a traditional French restaurant there are 2 main plates, so on menus they’re listed appetizers > first plates > second plates > desserts. Don’t feel you have to have both plates; just like at an American restaurant, it is not a faux pas to skip dessert or only order one main.
Get Comfy with Strangers
As I said above, if you are eating at a restaurant with long tables (such as Polidor, pictured above), you will be sat next to strangers, especially if you’re alone or in a small group. It’s simply not practical for restaurants to allot the amount of space we get in the US. People are very, very good at minding their own business, and if you can get over your initial awkwardness, you’ll be just fine.
Make a Reservation
Scallops from l'Epi Dupin
Just as with Sicily, if you want to eat supper at a reasonable hour, you’ll need a reservation. Parisians eat very punctually - I’d arrive for an 8 p.m. reservation at 7:58, and by 8:05 the dining room would be full. Even if a restaurant doesn’t take reservations online, they will almost certainly take them in person. If you’re comfortable calling ahead, that’s a good way to go. If not, go ahead and stop by a day or two beforehand (or during lunch day of if you’re brave) and ask for one. Many restaurants are closed in the afternoon, but sometimes you can catch a host on a cigarette break outside the restaurant between lunch and dinner.
Don’t Eat All of Your Bread
In France (and most of Europe) it is customary for people to be served bread with their meal. In Italy they gave us giant portions of bread at the outset, but in France and Belgium you’ll more likely get a small basket with a few pieces. Be warned: they will continuously fill your bread basket. If you want to limit your bread intake, leave unfinished pieces in your basket to signal you’re done.
Try New Things
The best restaurants I ate in were down small side streets across from quiet residential areas. While bustling cafes on main streets like the Boulevard de Saint-Germain are enticing, they won’t necessarily provide you with an intimate, romantic experience. I found quite a few restaurants through recommendations from locals and by simply going on Google Maps and looking for things that were near other landmarks I was visiting.
In addition to location, you may need to loosen up a bit when it comes to food. Much traditional French food is inexplicable to a US palate, but you should push yourself! First of all, escargot is delicious, like scallops but very buttery and rich. Secondly, you may need to look up menu items, even if there’s an English menu, as things won’t necessarily be labelled as “sausage” (for example) but by the name of that particular regional variation of that type of sausage. And if your plate looks a little odd? Try it before you decide. It will most likely taste spectacular.
If You’re Not 100% Fluent in French, They’ll Speak English
Shakespeare & Company - the most famous English language bookstore in France.
I’ve studied French off-and-on since high school, so I hoped to use my limited skills to order, pay at shops, etc. While I got away with this in Brussels, unfortunately your average Parisian is way more fluent in English than I am in French. Shockingly, my operatic education learning how to say things like, “papillon” were not helpful in conversational French. If you are more fluent than I am, you can request they continue speaking in French, but I didn’t want to make the experience more painful than it already was. If you want to be polite, use the French versions of please, thank you, etc.
Words and Phrases to Know in French
While French pronunciation has relatively few exceptions, it’s still pretty gnarly for a native English speaker to wrap their head around (unlike Italian). There’s no shame in pulling up Google Translate or YouTube to pronounce the name of a specific hotel, street, or landmark, but knowing a few specific words will go a long way.
S’il vous plait (see voo play) - “Please”, literally “if it pleases you.”
Merci or merci beaucoup (MARE-see bow-COO) - “thank you” or “thank you very much.”
Bonjour (BON-joo) - “hello” or “good morning”
Bonsoir (bon-SWAH) - “good evening” (French people tend to switch throughout the day instead of sticking to a standard “hello” all day).
Bonne nuit (bun noo-ee) - “good night”
Salut (SAH-loo) - a casual form of hello AND goodbye similar to the Italian “ciao”
L’addition (la-dee-SYON) - “check” or “bill” at a restaurant.
Pardon (par-DON) or excusez-moi (ex-kyu-zey mwah) - “pardon me” or “excuse me”
Oui (wee) - “yes”
Non (non) - “no”
Entrée (ahn-TRAY) - “entrance,” either an appetizer or the entrance to something
Sortie (sor-TEE) - “exit”
Café (cah-FEY) - Either “coffee” or a place to get it
Louvre (loov) - the giant art museum with the Mona Lisa!
Take the Métro (and use an app!)
One of the few remaining Art Nouveau glass tops on a metro station in Paris.
Much like London, driving in Paris is a study in futility. Unless you’re prepared to battle 1,000 other small black cars to take twice as long as you think to get somewhere, you are better off leaving well enough alone and taking the Métro. The Paris train system has a bad reputation for being smelly - and that was certainly the case 15 years ago. However, the train system is quite extensive and is cleaner than it used to be (though not exactly clean). I also found it to be more accessible than the Tube in London, with fewer complex layers.
As an old, old city, much of Paris is concentrated within each arrondissement (neighborhood) anyway. You could easily spend an entire month in a single neighborhood. Walking and riding the Métro is generally the most efficient way to get around, and there are stations near all the major landmarks. Downloading an app with a Métro map will help you go a long way in navigating the train system!
French Fashion is NOT What You Think It Is
A well-dressed man steps out of a classic car in front of the Louis Vuitton Store.
If you want to be a target for pickpockets, the first thing you should do is wear a beret. They sell them absolutely everywhere, but no self-respecting Parisian actually wears one. It’s the same with frilly dresses with large poofy sleeves. Those photos look good on Instagram, but they could make you a target in real life.
Of course, you should wear what you want to wear, and Paris is known for high fashion, but daily French fashion is very classic. Think oversized trench coats, well-fitting straight leg denim, and chic sweaters and crisp button down tops. As with most European countries, athleisure in public is an absolute no, though fashion sneakers are very, very common. Feel free to be aggressively fashion forward, as no one will bat an eye.
You’ll Likely Have to Buy Tickets on a Schedule
The Louvre at Dusk
Paris is loaded with incredible museums. From the Louvre to the Pinball Museum, you could spend an obscene chunk of time traipsing from museum to museum. However, since COVID-19, most museums have tightened up their ticketing policies. Gone are the days of rolling up, buying a ticket, and entering immediately. Tickets to most museums now operate on a schedule - you select your time and must go in the museum within a certain time frame to use your ticket. As I learned at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, (a super cool museum of interior design that I wholeheartedly recommend), most museums have a time limit to your ticket. More than 2 hours late and you’ll have to re-purchase your ticket.
A Tip for the Louvre
The Louvre is undoubtedly one of the most incredible museums in the world. It houses the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, and thousands of other priceless works. However, the Louvre tends to be absolutely bum-rushed by tourists every day of the week.
Most people don’t know that the Louvre stays open late (until 9:45 p.m.) on Fridays. For the price of regular admission, you can avoid the crowds and see the museum at its most peaceful. I got a chocolat chaud (hot chocolate) at the onsite café while waiting for my ticket time to pop up - 10/10 would do again.
The City of Light? More Like the City of HILLS
One of the many, many hills in Montmartre.
Paris is famously surrounded by “7 hills” - though it’s technically 3 mountains and dozens of smaller hills. While it’s more accessible than Edinburgh (fewer steps, proportionately, and more ways to get around them) but there are still many treks where climbing a hill is unavoidable. This is especially true in the popular Montmartre neighborhood.
I stumbled into avoiding hills in Montmartre, and here’s how I did it:
Take the metro to the Abbesses station
Walk about 8-10 minutes to La Maison Rose
From there, walk south then west along the Rue Norvins
Watch the artists work on the Place du Tertre
Keep going west to the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur
Walk down the steps into the denser parts of Montmartre
That hits most of the famous highlights in Montmartre without killing your feet.
Don’t Stick to Just French Cuisine
Gulab jamun (fried dough in sugared rosewater) at Indian restaurant New Balal in Paris
I know I said up above that you should try French food, but you should also go out of your way to try fare from other parts of the globe. As much as I love French food, I can only do steak tartare>arugula salad > coq au vin> chocolate mousse>repeat so many times. Over 28 countries list French as a national language (thanks colonization!), and while we don’t love settler colonialism on this blog, we do love celebrating unique cultural heritages. Huge cities are always melting pots, and Paris is no exception.
Non-French Restaurants to try in Paris
Afrik’N’Fusion is a casual local spot with heavy Senegalese influences, and a good dose of spices. Co-founded by a former Guinean pro-footballer, tongue-in-cheek spot Osè African Cuisine focuses on elevated versions of African street food. Sleek and chic, Waly-Fay serves West African dishes with a particular emphasis on Cameroon.
While I heartily recommend you try West African food in particular, Paris attracts chefs from all over the world who go on to open the best version of their native restaurants possible. You can find highly-rated Ramen, Greek, Middle Eastern Fusion, Chinese, Argentinian, Lebanese, Indian, and more!
It May Be Dirtier Than You Think
An old blue door near the Dali museum
I went to Paris for the first time at 16, deeply enamored with everything French. I expected it to be deeply romantic - with fairly lights everywhere, quiet cobblestone lanes around every corner, and stark while buildings gleaming against an azure sky.
Unfortunately, we visited Paris on the heels of Lucerne, Switzerland, which, to this day, is the cleanest and prettiest place I’ve ever been. Paris…did not stack up.
As a huge city bustling with nearly 12 million people, Paris simply cannot maintain a Lucerne level of cleanliness. Traffic, graffiti, litter, all the facts of modern life. Paris still maintains an overall better rate of cleanliness than most major US cities, but if you’ve been to those shockingly pristine parts of Europe (like Switzerland, Germany, and Austria), you’ll need to lower your expectations before you come to the city of lights.
Still, if you can accept that Paris isn’t perfect, but she is magnificent, you’ll have a wonderful time. Some things in Paris that will never get old:
Seeing the Eiffel Tower light up at night
Watching barges move down the Seine at night
Gazing at the ceiling at the Galeries de Lafayette
Grabbing a chair in the Jardin des Tuileries and sitting in the afternoon sunshine
Catching a glimps of the towers of the Notre Dame peeking over the trees
Paris Will Inspire You
The left bank at night, with the Eiffel Tower in the background
The Michelin Guide highlights nearly 500 restaurants to try in Paris, the most in the world. Artists, writers, philosophers, and revolutionaries have flocked to Paris for centuries. Walking down the street, you can feel the layers of cultural heritage folding gently down on you like warm blankets in the winter.
It’s hard to articulate what exactly makes Paris so magnificent. Is it the limestone buildings? Is it the pink magnolias? Is it the cafés? Is it the wine? Is it le Louvre, la tour Eiffel, l’Arc de Triomphe?
Sure, some of it is history. I get shivers just thinking about what Notre Dame has seen in her 900 years. I try to imagine what Paris looked like when Hemingway was roaming around getting drunk in the 1920s, when young men made barricades in the street in 1789, when Montmartre was a full day’s cart ride away with green in between. She’s survived bombs and plagues and floods and fires and revolutions and wars and upheavals.
Paris can be frustrating, confusing, exhausting, maddening. But if you’ve never been, and you’re nervous Paris has lost some of her magic, don’t worry. She never will.
Paris is an enormous, creative, romantic, gritty, tongue-in-cheek, glorious city. If you open your mind to exploration, the city has more wonders to uncover than you can imagine.
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