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City of Paris FAQ
As you may have guessed from
visiting my site, I am quite familiar with the
city of Paris, France. There are some
questions that people regularly ask about Paris,
so I thought I‘d assemble them into a list
of frequently-asked questions (FAQ) here on my
site. If you have other questions of a general
nature concerning Paris that you think would be
interesting to have answered on this page, feel
free to submit them to me via feedback.
Click on a question to see the answer.
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How big is Paris? |
There are about twelve million people living
in the Paris metropolitan area, and something
over two million living within the city proper
(which is confined to the area within the
boulevard périphérique, the
expressway that completely encircles the city).
This means that Paris has roughly the same
population as Los Angeles. Paris is the
largest city in Western Europe.
Although Paris is similar to Los Angeles in
terms of population, it is smaller in terms of
area, especially when you look at the city
proper, which is only a few kilometres wide.
Paris was built before the era of automobiles,
so everything had to be within walking distance,
and this is why the city itself is so compact
today (everything is still within walking
distance). The suburbs, however, have expanded
in the same sprawling way that one sees in Los
Angeles.
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When is the best
time to visit Paris? |
The best time to visit is in spring or fall.
Paris has traditionally had an extremely
temperate climate, and it never gets very hot or
cold—although temperatures have risen over
the past fifteen years or so. Anyway, the best
weather in the city may be enjoyed during the
long spring and fall. The spring season runs
from roughly April to May; the fall season runs
from roughly September to October. The normal
weather is the same in both seasons, generally
cool and sunny, with occasional clouds and
occasional brief showers. Prior to April, the
weather is usually a bit chilly, and after
October, it tends to become a bit gray and
rainy. Winter in Paris is not extremely cold
(temperatures rarely drop significantly below
freezing, even at night), but it can be dreary.
Summer in Paris can be uncomfortably warm. If
you are interested in the weather at this
particular moment, CNN has a nice weather page on the city that is
continuously updated.
The spring season is the most popular with
tourists. The fall season has many of the same
advantages, but without the tourists. Fewer
people visit the city in winter, so if you come
then, you‘ll encounter mostly natives. In
July and especially August, many Parisians go on
summer vacation, and the city is very quiet,
with mostly only other tourists walking around
in the summer heat.
The above all presumes that the weather will
be “normal,” in the sense of being
the way it has always been. However, Paris is
getting warmer, you might want to consult the separate question on Paris
climate.
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How many people visit Paris? |
Paris receives a bit less than 40 million
visitors a year. About half of them are French.
Of the remainder, Americans are currently (2023)
the most numerous, followed by visitors from the
UK and the rest of Europe. Paris regularly ranks
as the world's most popular tourist destination
city.
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What type of climate does Paris have? |
This is a tricky question, because it has
two answers: one concerns the traditional
climate of Paris, and the other concerns the
increasingly different climate of the past
decade and a half, with changes that include a
general warming trend.
Traditionally, Paris has been a very
temperate city, with mild winters and mild
summers, and long periods of beautiful weather
during the spring and fall. Year-round, about
every other day involved some measurable rain,
on average, although in reality this meant
several rainy days, followed by several sunny
days, followed by several rainy days, etc. The
rain was usually a light, misty rain, not a
driving downpour. Thunderstorms were rare.
Snow was also rare, but a total of around 15
days a year had measurable snowfall, usually in
January and February but sometimes as early as
November or as late as April. The lowest
temperatures in January were just slightly below
freezing (at night); the highest were around
76° Fahrenheit on the hottest days of July
and August.
The past fifteen years have seen a
significant change in Paris weather, with
constantly increasing heat, and constantly
decreasing rain. Snow is almost unheard of now,
even in the dead of winter. Every season in
Paris has become warmer, with an increasing
number of protracted heat waves that can drive
temperatures 30 degrees above normal. One such
heat wave killed 10,000 people (yes, you read
correctly) in August of 2003, with temperatures
of up to 110° F or so in some spots. Rain
is increasingly rare in Paris, causing some
concerns about the adequacy of the water supply
over the long term. Air conditioning—once
a waste of time and money in Paris—is now
a necessity during an increasingly long period
each year.
There's no telling whether or not Paris
weather will return to its historical norm.
In the meantime, the weather is much hotter and
drier. What this means for you if you
are a visitor is that it's really important to
get a hotel with air conditioning if you are
visiting between April and November, and you
should also plan your trip a bit earlier in the
spring, or a bit later in the fall, in order to
avoid the worst of the heat. The good news (at
least for visitors) is that it is raining a lot
less. There are more windstorms and
thunderstorms, though (but these remain
comparatively rare).
Most tourist books are behind the times in
their description of the climate. As a general
rule, you can assume that it will be warmer and
drier in Paris than the tourist books claim.
There are still occasional cold and rainy snaps,
but heat and dryness are becoming the rule.
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When are the 2024 Olympics? |
The 2024 Olympic Gamrs, which will be held in
Paris, will run from July 24 to August 11, 2024.
Unless you are visiting Paris specifically to
see the Olympics, it's best to avoid the city for
all of July and August of 2024, as it will
probably be a madhouse.
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What does Paris sound like? |
Click on the audio player on the upper right
of this page to hear sounds of Paris. There are
several different recordings. Reload the page to
load a new recording.
I made these recordins myself. They are in
the public domain.
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What's the minimum amount of money I need per day to visit Paris? |
Currently (as of 2023), you should plan a
rock-bottom minimum budget of, say, €200 per
person, per day in Paris—not including
your hotel. This provides enough to eat out at
some reasonable restaurants, plus money for
public transportation, snacks, admission to
attractions, etc. If you can't afford to spend
this much each day, you probably don't have
enough money to get by in Paris.
This is a minimum figure. It's easy for it
to go up and up if you eat in fancy restaurants
or start to do shopping. If you're on a seven-
day visit to Paris with two people, you should
therefore budget at least €2800 or so, not
including air fare or accommodation, as your
minimum.
For comparison, the cost of living in the
city for residents (not including rent or
utilities) is around €30 per day minimum,
per person. But visitors can't enjoy some of the
economies that are possible for residents, so
the figure for visitors is several times higher.
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Is Paris a safe city? |
Paris is much safer than many American
cities, invlufing places like Cleveland or
Milwaukee. Crime rates are low overall, and
violent crime is very rare.
The above notwithstanding, if you are
visiting the city as a tourist,
you are more at risk than are residents of the
city, so you should be extra careful. Paris
isn‘t any more dangerous than any other
city in itself, but as a tourist, you are more
vulnerable to what little danger there is.
Obviously, a tourist—with lots of money,
no familiarity with his surroundings, and his
attention diverted by the dazzling glamour and
romance of a large city like Paris—is a
much more tempting mark for, say, a pickpocket
than a resident of the city would be. Put
succinctly, the risk is in being a tourist, not
in being in Paris.
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Aren’t there all
sorts of terrorists in Pais? |
No. You know, I could well ask the same
question of Oklahoma City, based on what
I see on TV. More people died from one bomb in
that city than have been killed by all terrorist
acts put together in Paris. Does that mean that
Oklahoma City is a hotbed of terrorism? I
don‘t think so.
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Are Parisians rude towards Americans? |
Not in my experience.
Parisians have a rather curt style and
cynical attitude, but this is pretty typical of
the residents of any large city. Parisians are
the French equivalent of New Yorkers in the U.S.
If you find New Yorkers to be rude or abrasive,
you‘ll probably feel the same way about
Parisians.
Keep in mind that, in touristy areas, the
locals deal all day with tourists, and tourists
can be really, really stupid. It‘s
exasperating at times, and patience can wear
thin on both sides. Some people working in these
areas can‘t handle it, and become pretty
rude after a while. Just ignore it. What you see
in touristy spots isn‘t typical of the
city as a whole.
One other thing: Watch your own behavior. In
my opinion (and I see lots and lots of tourists,
so I know), tourists are often a thousand times
more boorish than the natives, no matter who the
tourists are, and no matter what country they
are in. American tourists are some of the worst
offenders, sadly.
In the specific case of Paris, you‘ll
find that speaking French—any French at
all—will endear you to the natives. How
well you can speak it isn‘t nearly as
important as the sincerity of your effort to
speak it. Outside of tourist areas, few French
people speak English, and your efforts will be
appreciated.
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Where is the Left Bank? |
The Left Bank is the part of the city
that is on the south side of the Seine
River. It is called the Left Bank simply
because it is on your left if you are in a boat
floating down the river (which flows from east
to west through the city). The northern side of
the river is called the Right Bank.
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Where is the Marais? |
The Marais is in central Paris. It is
considered trendy and hip, with many shops, art
galleries, and resturants, and a pleasant
atmosphere. It has a sigificant homosexual
population, with a fair number of businesses
that cater to that community. It also has a
small but historically significant Jewish
neighborhood (around the rue des Rosiers),
although businesses there are gradually being
replaced by chain clothing stores, like so much
of the neighborhood.
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Is there a Chinatown in Paris? |
Yes, and it is the largest in Europe,
although it is modest compared to the Chinese
and Far Eastern enclaves of some other Western
cities. It is located mostly in he
13th arrondissement, near
and roughly south of the place d'Italie.
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Where is the Latin Quarter? |
The Latin Quarter is at the eastern
end of the Left Bank (that is, the
southern side of the river). It is so called
because it is an area filled with university
students, and in the olden days all the students
learned Latin. It is one of the most charming
areas of Paris, particularly the area just south
of the Seine River and Notre-Dame
Cathedral.
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Can you recommend any good hotels or restaurants? |
I‘m afraid not. There are thousands of
hotels and restaurants in Paris, and I
haven‘t tried them all. Anyone who claims
to be an expert on hotels and restaurants is
lying, unless he evaluates such establishments
for a living (the only way he could ever get
enough experience to qualify as an expert).
Your best bet is a good travel guide, like
the Michelin
guide. It‘s a lot less romantic,
but it‘s more objective and accurate.
I‘ve always been puzzled in particular
by people who ask residents of a city for advice
on hotels. A resident is just about the last
person to ask about hotels in the city, since he
usually has a place of his own and has never
stayed in any of the city‘s hotels. Asking
about restaurants isn‘t quite as bizarre,
but still, most residents have just a few
favorite restaurants, and have never even tried
99.999% of the restaurants available. So asking
Parisians about Paris hotels (or, to a lesser
extent, restaurants) is often a waste of time.
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How can I live and work in Paris? |
You need to have lots of patience, and you
need to wade through a great deal of red tape.
Moving to Paris is like moving to another city
in your own country, only about a hundred times
more difficult. It can be done, of course, but
it‘s not the sort of thing that you
undertake on a whim. Even in the best
circumstances, it might take a year or two to
arrange, and sometimes it can take much longer.
Your best and safest bet is to go to work
for a large, multinational company, and then
gradually work your way internally towards a
transfer to Paris. Of course, you‘ll need
some sort of skill that the company needs in
Paris; janitors and mail-room clerks are rarely
sent overseas. Anyway, if you manage this, the
company will handle most of the red tape, and
you‘ll probably be well paid (believe it
or not, many employees have to be
persuaded to accept an assignment in a
city like Paris, and this is usually
accomplished with money).
If you don‘t wish to go the route
above, you‘ll at least need to make sure
you have a job waiting for you in Paris
before you leave your home country.
Obviously, this isn‘t easy, but if
you‘re very highly qualified or very
clever, you might succeed.
If you have a great deal of money (enough to
never need to work for a living), things become
much easier.
Books have been written about overseas work.
Go down to your local bookstore, or Web-surf to
a place like Amazon and buy a couple. There
isn‘t any way I can cover anything useful
here in just a few paragraphs.
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Is it expensive to live in Paris? |
Unfortunately, yes, it is. There are few
disadvantages to living in Paris, but by far the
number one disadvantage (at least in my opinion)
is the cost of living. Paris is one of the most
expensive cities in the world (although several
large U.S. cities surpass it, and so does
London), and, worse yet, Parisian salaries do
not adequately take the cost of living into
account, alas! In addition, income tax and sales
tax rates are ruinous, especially for single
people (and most people in Paris are single,
because almost no one can afford to raise a
family within the city itself).
To give you some idea of the cost of living,
consider that an ordinary audio CD costs about
$19 in a French record store, and a cup of
coffee on the famous Champs-
Élysées may cost $12. The
greatest expense is housing: even a parking
place (just the parking spot marked on the
ground, not a garage or anything) can cost
$26,000, and a decent one-room studio apartment
might sell for $300,000!
After adjusting for taxes and COL, salaries
in Paris are about 1/3 of what they would be in
the U.S., for the same work.
I keep hoping that this will change in the
future, but it hasn‘t thus far.
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How do I use public transportation in Paris? |
Believe it or not, I've written a book on
this subject, aptly named Pulic Transporation in
Paris. You can find it on Amazon, by
following
this link.
It's very inexpensive.
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Is the Métro dangerous? |
No, the Métro (the Paris subway
system) is not dangerous. It is true that
you‘re more likely to encounter trouble in
the subway than, say, sitting at a café,
but that‘s a relative risk; in absolute
terms, the risk is still quite small.
Consider this: Each year, about 6000 people
are assaulted in the subway in Paris. This
sounds like a lot, until you realize that over
two billion people take the subway each year.
The risk of being assaulted in some way is thus
about one in 365,000. In addition, most assaults
occur under conditions that most people would
consider risky to begin with: in deserted
suburban stations late at night, etc.
Pickpockets are the main risk for tourists.
Watch your purse and wallet on crowded platforms
and in crowded subway cars. The most common
items stolen these days are smartphnes, however.
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How do you get around in Paris? |
I walk, unless I‘m in a hurry, in
which case I take the Métro. I also take
the subway if I have something heavy to carry. I
don‘t normally use a car in town, unless I
need to transport something too large to carry
(a chair or something like that). Driving in
Paris isn‘t difficult, but the traffic is
horrendous, all the time (except at three in the
morning on Sundays in August).
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What is Disneyland® Paris like? |
Disneyl
and Paris is like a scaled-down version
of Wal
t Disney World®. Disneyland Paris
includes a Magic Kingdom theme park in
the usual style, although it has fewer
attractions than its U.S. counterparts (although
some of the ones it has are quite impressive,
such as the “new-and-improved”
Space Mountain. It also includes a
village near the entrance to the theme park with
shops with mostly hotels and restaurants. Nearby
within the resort are several superb but rather
expensive hotels (however, you get what you pay
for), including the largest hotel in Europe, the
Newport Bay Club. Each hotel has a theme,
and all the themes are well-executed. There is
also a golf course in the resort. Other
attractions have been planned, but I don't
believe that any of them have been built yet.
The operating hours of the theme park are
much more restricted than those of its peers in
the U.S., especially during the off-season (any
time other than summer, primarily), so beware.
Many attractions, restaurants, etc., within the
park are closed outside of high season.
Disneyland Paris is now 100% owned by
Disney.
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Where can I get fast food in Paris, just in case? |
Fast-food restaurants are thick on the
ground in Paris, so you should have no problem.
Because of the importance of this vital
question, I‘ve now split the response to
it into a separate essay, under Paris Fast
Food.
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Does the City of Paris have a Web site? |
Yes, at http://www.paris.f
r.
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Do you speak French? |
Yes. It‘s the national language of
France, and you cannot hold down most decent
jobs without it. I like French, so speaking it
is not really that much of a burden for me,
although I‘m far from being as fluent as I
might like.
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