This past summer I decided to treat myself to Europe for my birthday. It was my first time there and I had a blast.
My first stop was Paris and the city is everything I though it would be and more. It’s incredibly beautiful, the food is good, and it’s rich with history and culture.
And I learned a lot about hacking my way through Paris after spending a week there. Hopefully this quick guide will help you avoid some stupid mistakes and help you better explore this amazing city.
1. The metro system rocks
The Paris metro system rocks. You can get anywhere in the city within 30 minutes. The metro system runs through most of the day and it’s pretty cheap (€1.9 for a one-way trip).
Obviously, if you’re staying for a longer period of time, you can get a pass or buy tickets in bulk.
When you”re traveling in a new city, it’s fine to be nervous about using the public transport. I was afraid of getting lost in Paris and having to spend a fortune on Uber/Taxis to get anywhere.
But luckily, the metro system is really easy to navigate. I used Google Maps to tell me which metro lines I needed to take, which worked every single time.
And if you’re like me and worried about getting on the metro in the wrong direction, don’t worry! The subway tunnels all have signs that show which way the trains are going.
Oh and as a fair warning…the subways smell pretty bad. In fact, it smells like hot piss most of the time haha.
2. People don’t wear cologne or perfume
One weird thing I noticed is that a lot of the locals don’t wear cologne or perfume. I found that to be particularly strange as some great perfume brands come from Paris.
But the whole time I was there I maybe smelled perfume or cologne on someone once. As someone who likes to smell nice when I’m out in public, it was a little weird for me.
Oh well, but just an interesting observation I had 🙂
3. Long tourist lines
If you’re going to do the big tourist attractions (Eiffel Tower, Palace of Versailles, The Louvre) expect there to be long lines. Like REALLY long lines!
That’s just the nature of these attractions. It actually kind of reminded me of Disneyland.
The worst was when I went to the Palace of Versailles. I waited in line for 2.5 hours just to get in! And the entire palace was jam packed with people wanting to see everything.
It can be annoying at times, but you have to deal with it. And I think part of the problem was I visited Paris in August at the height of the tourist season haha.
The good thing is most places offer tours. So if you have the extra money to spend, you can get on a tour and skip the line most of the time. I should have done that at the Palace of Versailles!
4. Food & service can be good…and bad
One of the things people kept telling me was that Parisians are rude and they don’t like Americans.
I found that to be generally untrue. In fact, I felt people treated me pretty well considering I did not speak much French and the only French I could speak was pretty much crap lol.
That being said, I had mixed reviews about the restaurant industry in Paris. If you just pick a random cafe off the street, it’ll be a hit or miss in terms of both food quality and the quality of the service.
But if you know where to go, the food will be incredible (and priced fairly) and the service will be excellent.
A few of the places I went to were really bad. They screwed up my orders and I had to wait 30+ minutes to pay the bill.
But a few of the other restaurants I went to were incredible. The wait staff were highly attentive and the food was simply some of the best I have ever eaten.
By the way, here’s a list of my 3 favorite restaurants I ate at while in Paris.
- L’atelier de Joel Robuchon (St. Germain location) – a great 2 star Michelin restaurant. The best 10 course meal I ever had!
- Geogette – Had a great seared lamb at the restaurant. The cocktails are amazing – get the Old Fashioned for sure!
- La Bouteille d’Or – This was my first meal in Paris! The restaurant is beautiful and the staff are super friendly. And they have great (and affordable) lunch options. I got the veal entree and a pineapple dessert.
5. Wine is great
French wine certainly does live up to its reputation. I am by no means a regular wine drinker (I’m much more of a tequila guy myself).
However, I found myself loving the wine here. At most nice restaurants, the waiters will be more than willing to help you pick out a good glass of wine.
I pretty much only had one or two glasses of bad wine while I was there. So it was a great experience overall.
6. Learn to speak basic french
The one thing I learned is the French are much nicer to you if you even make a little attempt to speak their language. It shows a little respect even if you butcher whatever it is you’re going to say.
The #1 thing I would learn to say is “Hi, do you speak English.” In fact, that’s pretty much the first thing I learn when traveling to a foreign country!
I got a lot nicer responses than other tourists when I opened with that line. It’s a small detail, but it does impact your experience A LOT!
By the way, this is the exact video I learned “do you speak English” in French.
7. The night is the best time to explore
I think my favorite thing to do in Paris was just to get lost. It was a lot more fun than some of the big tourist attractions.
Just wander around without a care in the world and just appreciate the architecture and people. And the best time to wander around Paris is at night.
I love Paris at night. The city lights up like a Christmas tree and it’s incredibly beautiful. It felt amazing just walking around the city all night.
And if you’re with your partner, it’s incredibly romantic to walk along the Seine River at night or checking out the Eiffel Tower.
8. Figure out what you want to see
Paris is a BIG city…like really big. So if you’re only here for a few days you’re unlikely going to see everything that you want to do.
Like all things in life it’s about quality, not quantity. So make sure you know what you want to see and cut out all the stuff that’s just kind of meh.
Personally, I think 2 – 3 attractions a day is plenty and you’ll be tired from walking around so much!
9. No open container laws
No joke…one of my favorite things about Paris is there are no open container laws. But hey, maybe it’s because I’m a highly functional alcoholic haha.
As an American, I find it very liberating. It’s nice to just enjoy a beer or a cocktail on the streets without having to worry about the police.
But if you are going to enjoy a beer on the streets, just be sure to throw it away.
10. Not many homeless people?
One odd thing I noticed in Paris was the lack of homeless people. That’s very weird because I remember reading how homelessness in Paris is a big social issue.
However, while I was there, I didn’t notice too many of them. Most homeless people were asking for money in the metro tunnels, but it felt like there weren’t too many of them above the ground.
In the U.S. you’ll often see tent cities but I didn’t see any of that in Paris.
It’s a weird thing. Anyways, a lot of the homeless peoples in the metro asking for money are actually refugees (I would say Syrians). So if you have any coins to spare, it would go a long way.