A user’s guide to the challenging aspects of Paris—Olympics or not.
All roads lead to Paris this month as it hosts the 2024 Summer Olympics. And yet even without the marketing, everyone knows Paris, dreams of Paris, bucket lists Paris.
With only the exception of New York, no other city has so captured the pop culture psyche quite like the City of Lights. Nearly every generation has a film, show, or book that romanticizes the French capital.
The city is a living monument to great movements in culture, fashion, and food. But Paris to the uninitiated can be quite a jarring experience.
From Casablanca, with its iconic “We’ll always have Paris” line, to the Gene Kelly-led An American in Paris and the classic Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant romcom Charade, Paris has held a decades-long grasp as the ultimate destination for romance, fashion, food, and art.
For me, the Jean-Pierre Jeunet masterpiece Amelie and the series ending episodes of Sex and the City, canonized the French capital as an unmissable landmark. They painted a perfumed vision of Paris awash in champagne sparkles and rococo sights. For the current generation, Netflix’s Emily in Paris is the latest spinner of French fantasy. And yet how much of it is fiction and how much of it is fact?
The Paradox of Paris
On one hand, Paris is exactly the city you expect it to be. Replete with art and history, it is a living monument to great movements in culture and is a vibrant capital for fashion fiends and gourmands.
Its museums house some of the greatest works to have come out of human hands and the arrondissements bear a unique confluence of Medieval, Renaissance, Romanesque, Baroque, Latin, and even Art Deco and Art Nouveau styles that make walking the rues a crash course on architecture.
And yet, there is such a term as the Paris Syndrome, coined by Hiroaki Ota for the Japanese who, having overly revered Paris in their minds, find disappointment upon actually being there, and experience physical symptoms of nausea, dizziness, extreme heart rate and even hallucinations.
Unlike Japan, which is known for its pristine surroundings and toilets, polite and honest locals, and impeccable consideration for tourists and foreigners…Paris to the uninitiated can be quite a jarring experience.
Lesson 1: Pickpockets
Three Olympics ago, in the summer of 2012, I was high from a successful editorial stint in London. Albeit tired from the manic but productive itinerary, our next stop was Paris, where we were invited to cover a fashion show on a transparent boat as it plied the historic River Seine. It was the perfect conclusion with a bit of R&R tucked in, but little did I know that soon after, I would be shot back to earth.
I decided to spend my downtime alone browsing through the now defunct H&M flagship on Champs Elysées, and when I was about to check out my small haul, I realized that my wallet was missing. Imagine my embarrassment at the till, with other shoppers in queue, as I suddenly had to walk away in confusion. I was sure that I had brought it with me because, aside from having seen it earlier in the day, I am one of those crazy people who hardly toggles between bags and would normally carry my whole life in one.
Pickpockets work in teams or tandems—often young and female—and there are also scammers who target starry-eyed tourists in Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur.
When I approached the security guard to report my missing wallet, his response was an upturned mouth, shrugged shoulders, and a very vehement, “Pickpocket, pickpocket!” spoken in a c’est la vie tone.
And that was a hard lesson to learn in Paris. Not only is there a chance of you getting pickpocketed, you will be a victim twice—the loss of your purse and purse-shamed for it. Supposedly it was my fault because I was then carrying an LV Neverfull bag, which by design is bereft of zippers and therefore pickpocket fodder.
It has only gotten worse over time. As recently as June 2024, even host and entrepreneur Tim Yap fell victim to one of these heists. Today, the Louvre is peppered with signs warning tourists about pickpockets. The Metropolitain (or Metro for short) subway train system regularly repeats a PSA reminding commuters of pickpockets.
Best avoid taking Lines 1 and 4 as these are their main haunts. And aside from these thieves who work in teams or tandems—often young and female—there are also scammers who target starry-eyed tourists in Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur. Some even bear clipboards with petitions for you to “sign” but are really to distract you from their sleight of hand.
So now a pro tip: invest in a proper zippered bag and even with that stay vigilant. Better yet, buy one of those anti-theft crossbodies so you can really keep your wallet and passport close to your literal chest.
Lesson 2: Transport and mobility
My memory is fuzzy now but I will never forget how, having fallen in love with a midnight blue Chloe Paraty bag, I had to run back home and then back to the store on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré with my teammate and creative director to grab my passport and avail of the tax refund. It was quite the cardio workout.
See, Paris’ Metro is not quite as efficient as the ones in Taiwan, Korea, Japan or Hongkong. And aside from being a target for pickpockets, there are stairs upon stairs upon stairs.
Another “flaw” of Paris is that the Metro, while supposedly inexpensive and easy, is not equipped with elevators or even escalators. If you’re differently abled, senior, a parent with a stroller, or simply an overpacker with heavy luggage in tow, it’s not the ideal mode of transport.
As someone who enjoys using public transport abroad, the rules surrounding the Navigo, Paris’ counterpart to Japan’s Pasmo/Suica cards or Hongkong’s Octopus card, can be downright frustrating. Unlike the Asian transport cards, which are easy to load and can be bought anytime, the Navigo Weekly Pass (€30.75) is applicable only from Monday to Sunday but has to be purchased ahead of time starting on a Friday morning to be fully used.
And to quote the official info: “You cannot choose the start and end date of your weekly Navigo pass; it is strictly Monday morning (00:00) to Sunday midnight (23:59:59), regardless of what day of the week you buy the pass.”
This discussion is even moot as Navigo Weekly Pass is not applicable from July 20 to September 8 this year and in its stead, you have the Paris Pass which is double the price at €70/week. Hopefully though, the 7-day Paris Pass can be availed of regardless of start day.
There is Uber in Paris but locals recommend using the G7 taxi service instead. Aside from being legitimate (because, alas, there are also scammer taxis especially outside the biggest attractions), the G7 taxis can take roads that private-car Ubers can’t.
Of course, Paris is best explored on foot but with the Olympic preparations, many streets are boarded up or rendered impassable altogether, so it would be wise to check how the events will impact access around the city.
Lesson 3: Air and AC
In 2023, Paris was broiling for weeks with temperatures as high as 40°C. That deadly summer exposed Paris as the European capital most vulnerable to heatwaves.
When booking a hotel in Paris, one must doubly check if the room has air conditioning. It’s not always the case and, on top of that, there might not be an elevator either. Staying in Paris may sound romantic but not when it’s sweltering. Do your due diligence and check if the room specifically states it has air-conditioning before you book.
Parisians are also notorious for their cigarette habit so if you are asthmatic or allergic to smoke, or traveling with small children, best to avoid crowded areas and be prepared to physically avoid clouds of secondhand smoke from pedestrians.
Lesson 4: Toilets
Even with millions of tourists visiting them for the past couple of decades (44.1 million in 2022 alone), Paris has lagged terribly in restroom infrastructure. Sadly, due to this shortage, you might get a pungent whiff when you round a corner. You’d expect a city known for parfum to be a fragrant harbor but such is its prevalence that there is even a French term for it—le pipi sauvage, or “wild peeing.”
Aware of this problem, the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo has invested heavily on increasing the number of sanisettes or free public restrooms. There is even a startup app since 2021, dubbed a Waze for restrooms, that aims to address this. Called ICI Toilettes (“Toilets HERE”), it geo-locates public toilets as well as bars and restaurants that allow free use of their restrooms.
So if you have a small bladder, or are pregnant, best use a restroom as soon as you see one live, or near you on the ICI Toilettes App.
Lesson 5: Etiquette
And then there’s the attitude. Or is it just a stereotype?
Like any culture, there are good and bad representatives. While there might be a notion that Parisian waiters can be rude, there are also very kind and pleasant ones who can prove you wrong. In general, the tourist trap restaurants and establishments closest to the big attractions like the Eiffel Tower tend to have the curt staff.
But one important thing is to always greet, “Bonjour!” during the day, or after 6pm, “Bonsoir!” should you wish to engage any person. French, and especially Parisians, are sticklers for what they deem common courtesy.
It’s not a surprise considering the word “etiquette” actually stems from the French word estiquet.
So don’t commit a faux pas (another French term) and break the ice. For a hilarious and very local way of learning and speaking French, follow @atfrenchies on Instagram.
Parlez vous anglais
All things said, does that mean I hate Paris? <Rouler les yeux French for rolling my eyes>
Even though there are things about Paris that are diametrically opposed to what I consider to be basic tourist rights, I do want to see it again, this time with my daughter and husband. Being a baker now, I would love to bounce between boulangeries (Poilâne with its 100-year-old sourdough starter being top on the list) and sample all the patisseries (La Duree macarons being my weakness). I’m no longer in my materialistic 20s, and having become disenchanted with luxury brands, I’d rather hit up the markets in Batignolles and Rue Cler.
I would finally want to visit the Louvre, having dropped out of it before to meet a cover story deadline, but not to see the Mona Lisa. Instead I want to see Bernini’s Hermaphrodite and Michelangelo’s Rebellious Slave.
There is still a lot to behold in the splendor of Paris but I will no longer do so with naivete, French it may be. And so as not to mar that Parisian holiday, I’ll definitely be tucking my wallet close to my chest.
