Paris Tips and Tricks
- Request euros from your bank at least two weeks before you leave.
- Bring your most comfortable, broken-in walking shoes. You will walk A LOT in Paris.
- Do not look at, talk to or stop for people who try to engage you in selling bracelets, roses or signing petitions or wanting you to play an “easy game”-these are all ways they set you up to be pick pocketed.
- Embrace the French idea of flańuer-strolling slowly without an agenda. This is the BEST way to see Paris. We saw more lovely buildings, cafes and parks by wondering around arrondissement by arrondissement. Had we been held hostage by an itinerary, we would have missed so much!
- Tips (service charges) are usually built into the bill at restaurants and cafes. Leaving a few extra euros is a lovely show of appreciation but not completely necessary.
- Skip the Instagram famous eating establishments and instead seek out suggestions from locals. Most of the Instagram spots are loud, crowded and short of truly authentic French food.
- Wander, linger at meals, buy from local artisans, and spend the majority of your time looking around. There’s beauty and surprise around every corner. Forget getting the perfect photo for Instagram- instead take it all in and write in your travel journal at the end of the day.
- Paris will change you if you let it. After a trip to Paris you may be inspired to come home and start beautifying your spaces, attempting to cook French food, or planting new plants in your yard to create a French inspired garden. Embrace all the ways Paris inspired you!