See Paris the Right Way: Tips from a Former Parisian
I spent two years in Paris after I graduated from college. Those years were some of the most important, eye-opening, formative years of my life. I fell in love with a city, I fell in love with a people, and I fell in love with a way of life that I wish everyone could experience.
So you can imagine my surprise when I occasionally run into Americans who tell me that they have visited Paris and, “It just didn’t do it for them.”
Poppycock!
If Paris “didn’t do it for you,” then you’re either too stuck in your own way to enjoy a culture that runs so contrary to everything you know, or you simply didn’t do it right.
That city is a treasure, it lives up to all the hype of how it is portrayed in pop culture, and I promise it will steal your heart if only you’d let it.
If you haven’t been to Paris and you’re thinking about taking a trip the best thing you can do is not listen to the people who found it underwhelming because, as I already mentioned, they don’t know what they’re talking about.
The other thing you can not do is look on Yelp or similar sites for the most popular things to do in Paris because, again, I can promise you that the most popular activities by tourists’ standards are not the best activities by the city’s standards.
Instead, listen to me, an ex coffee-drinking, cigarette-smoking, jazz-listening Parisian (yeah, I’m the real deal) who can show you the way to get absolutely the most out of your trip.
Rent a Bike
For the first year that I spent in Paris, I took the metro everywhere, which absolutely has its benefits especially if you’re interested in the Parisian quotidian (daily life).
The second year, I bought myself an old road bike and used that as my daily commuter and that was the single most important lifestyle change I could have made.
Paris is a city full of hidden gems that you will not see from an underground metro or through the window of a speeding cab. Its architecture and bustling life stretches from cafe to cafe and should not be missed.
Riding a bike around the city is a great way to stumble upon little neighborhoods and scenes that you ordinarily never would have come across. Instead of wasting the time in between destinations watching a drunk homeless man curse on the metro, you are getting a more complete view of the city.
Paris also has a bike culture unlike anything we have in The United States except for maybe in New York. Many of the citizens commute to work in full professional attire by bike and because of that, the city is quite cyclist-friendly with things like protected bike lanes lining every road.
So, if you’re comfortable on a bike, go rent one and see the city as it should be seen. It’s cheaper than the metro or an Uber and it’s a fantastic way to help digest those extra croissants that you will undoubtedly be eating.
Explore Montmartre
Of all the must-see tourist sites in Paris, the Montmartre neighborhood is by far the most important.
If you feel the need to go see the Eiffel Tower up close or walk along the Champs-Elysee, then by all means go ahead, but I promise that those places are populated exclusively by other tourists and hucksters trying to rip those tourists off.
Montmartre is also full of tourists, but it’s got a latent “Frenchness” about it that you won't find standing under the Eiffel Tower. It’s the neighborhood where the famous painters of old spent their days mastering their crafts. Romantic sentiments of that time still linger in those streets. One half expects to find Manet with a pipe, easel, and glass of absinthe musing over a dusk glow that is perhaps too complicated to capture in oil.
The narrow, cobblestone streets and fantastic little restaurants are nostalgia-fueled, giving you the feeling that you are walking around sometime in the early 20th century. It’s magical.
The bonus is that if you can make it up to the top of the hill to see Sacre Coeur Basilica, you’ll be privy to the best view in the city (granted it’s a clear day).
Explore Le Marais
I’ve always said that when you go to Paris you shouldn’t try and see sites but you should try and see neighborhoods. Sacre-Coeur is great but the Montmartre neighborhood is what will really steal your heart.
Place de Bastille is great, but Le Marais is what will really, really steal your heart. This neighborhood is probably my favorite in all the city. It is huge, full of unbelievable restaurants and cafes, art galleries, and probably the best shopping in France.
Parisians tend to stay away from areas that are saturated with tourists but Le Marais is an exception. Yes, there are hordes of foreigners walking around asking for directions, but there are also plenty of citizens who go there for lunch, to drink, or just to buy clothes.
If you can find a way to get lodging in Le Marais, your trip will already have a huge leg-up on everyone else. If I were visiting Paris today I would probably spend the better part of a day exploring Le Marias.
Go find the renowned falafel restaurants, stumble upon a trio playing gypsy jazz music, or just sit in a cafe and watch the interesting characters that walk by.
The Louvre is great, but D’Orsay is better!
I think everyone visiting Paris should walk by the Louvre because from the outside it is as magnificent as anything else you will see. The Tuileries Gardens that lie just outside are also an exceptional use of your time.
On the inside, it’s a different story. It is one of the biggest museums in the world and virtually impossible to see in one day. Many of its hundreds of rooms are full of historical artifacts among which you will almost certainly get lost.
Hot take: the Mona Lisa is wildly underwhelming.
So if you’re planning on doing a massive museum excursion in Paris I think your time would be much better spent at Musee D’Orsay. Situated just down the bank from Notre Dame, Musee D’Orsay is home to a much more palatable collection of paintings.
Being a fan of impressionism and its closely related movements, I found D’Orsay to be far more impressive than The Louvre. It’s also quite a bit smaller which allows you to actually consume the whole thing at once and without getting lost (the layout is logical and easy).
Also, to be honest, I like D’Orsay because it doesn’t have miles of historical artifacts that are undoubtedly exciting but serve to just get in the way when I really just want to look at art.
Other museums I prefer over The Louvre are the Centre Pompidou and the Musée Picasso.
Have a picnic at Buttes Chaumont
You’d waste your trip if you didn’t stop at one of Paris’s many gorgeous parks, the best of which is Buttes-Chaumont.
No city loves a good picnic more than Paris. It is common to find young and old alike sprawled about on blankets drinking wine and eating baguettes with cheese against the backdrop of a sloping, tree-covered park. I encourage you to do the same.
When you walk into Buttes Chaumont you will quickly forget that you are in the middle of a large city. The French take such good care of their parks that you will always find Butte-Chaumont in its best shape.
Trees, swans, a pond, and a jutting cliff with a gazebo are all features of Buttes-Chaumont that make it unique and beautiful and that is why it is my pick for the best park in Paris.
Explore the Latin Quarter/St.Germain
Another neighborhood in which you will want to spend a considerable amount of time is the Latin Quarter/St. Germain. This wonderfully French neighborhood sits just on the south side of the Seine river and is chock-full of things to do.
The Latin Quarter was to writers what Montmartre was to painters. It’s got an implicit feeling that great art was (and maybe still is) created here.
This is another area that doesn’t necessarily have one thing to see (aside from Notre Dame, of course), but instead is something that you will just want to take in. Park your bikes and just stroll along the maze of narrow roads that lead to scenes of street jazz waiting to be discovered.
Also found in this area is The Jardin de Luxembourg, Shakespeare and Co. bookstore, and a handful of fantastic arthouse movie theatres for all the cinephiles.
Eat at a Bouillon
There is not a doubt in my mind that you will eat good food while you are in Paris; it is simply impossible not to do so.
Yet I would encourage you to save at least one meal for a style of restaurant known as a Bouillon.
These restaurants are traditionally French in every aspect: they serve classic French cuisine, the staff is outfitted in the typically French white shirt and black tie, and the tables are all close together so you get that real up-close and personal feeling that the French love.
My favorite bouillon is Bouillon de Pigalle (in the same neighborhood as Moulin Rouge), but you can find them scattered all over the city.
This is where you will find a menu dedicated to escargot, traditional style entrecote (steak), and a wine list that reaches the floor. Nothing will make you feel more French than spending an afternoon in a bouillon.
Speakeasies
If there’s one thing that Paris takes seriously, it’s the consumption of alcohol, so it’s no surprise that amongst the variety of fun bars to choose from, Paris is also home to an array of speakeasies scattered about the city.
For those of you who don’t know, a speakeasy is a drinking parlor that was used during prohibition to covertly consume alcohol-free from the scrutiny of the law. Nowadays, these parlors of old have become popular, trendy watering holes for cocktail aficionados and nostalgic drinkers (like myself).
My favorite of the Parisian speakeasies is a place called Lavomatic which masquerades as a laundromat. Customers are allowed entry by a security guard who doesn’t immediately give the location of the entrance, leading first-timers to explore the laundromat for hidden buttons and doors.
Once inside, you are surrounded by a small, dimly lit lounge with swings for seats and low ceilings. The atmosphere is romantic and the cocktails are innovative and delicious.
Other speakeasies to try out are The Little Red Door and The Moonshiner, which is hidden somewhere in the back of a popular pizza restaurant.
Try to be French!
My final piece of advice for seeing Paris is to try and be French.
Americans are always complaining about how rude the French are and how they hate tourists from the United States invading their capital city.
The truth is, and I can tell you this for sure, most Parisians don’t hate Americans but they certainly do not appreciate when Americans come to France and bulldoze their culture.
So trying to be French doesn't mean mocking their culture but instead accepting it. Here’s a shortlist of some of the ways you can start becoming French.
- First off, you should always attempt to speak some French when interacting with Parisians. They especially hate it when Americans just assume everyone speaks English, like walking into a boulangerie and saying, “I’ll have two baguettes thank you.” It’s really not hard to learn “bonjour,” “merci beaucoup,” and “Parlez-vous anglais?” Just simply greeting them in French will make it much more agreeable to continue the conversation in English.
- Don’t rush so much. Sit down at a cafe and just observe the life before you. The French take their time with their meals and so should you. Spending time soaking in the city is going to be the most memorable part of your trip so really cherish those moments.
- Always be aware when you’re seeing the city. There is nothing worse than a gawking tourist who runs into you on the sidewalk. Make extra sure that you don’t stumble into the bike lane without looking — that is a sure way to get an ear full or worse.
- Always say “Bonjour” or “Bonsoir” before asking for directions, ordering food, or starting a conversation. This is a French custom I learned the hard way.
Not only are little things like this much appreciated by the citizens, but they should also be the cornerstone of a good vacation. In order for one to gain the most from exploring another culture, one should be ready and willing to leave their own culture at the door and really soak everything in properly. I think if more Americans traveled with these considerations in mind we might be well on our way to shaking the negative stigmatization of “The American Tourist.”
Final Thoughts
Paris is one of the most magnificent cities on the planet and it breaks my heart every time someone tells me they visited and didn’t really enjoy themselves. It has so much to offer if you’re looking in the right place and it is my sincere hope that the suggestions given above can help as many people as possible enjoy the full Parisian experience and thus expand their worldview.
