Isn’t it hard navigating Paris on your own?  You’ve heard that they won’t speak anything but French, that the waiters are rude, and the shopkeepers are impolite.  It’s really not true.

Paris is a big city, and its citizens sometimes have that “big city attitude”….  people are hurried and may seem a bit brusque, but if you remember some of the simple rules of travel, you’ll do fine.

First thing you need to remember is to bring your sense of adventure and appreciate the differences.  The French are more reserved than most Americans.  They may not be as quick to smile at strangers, but with a little effort on your part you’ll find friendly, helpful Parisians.

Second, whenever you open your mouth, attempt to say a few words in French.  Saying hello, please and thank you in French will go a long way.  They will appreciate it.  Try to say it with a French accent… you probably won’t succeed, but this will win you friends too.  And they’ll probably ask if you would prefer to speak English.

OK, now that we’ve gotten you past your fear of people problems when navigating Paris, let’s talk about physically getting around.

First thing, be sure to bring good walking shoes.  You will be doing lots of walking… with the sights and the atmosphere of Paris, you’ll be looking around thinking, “This is Paris… I’m here!”

But you don’t want to walk aimlessly, so let’s look at the geography of Paris.  Many Paris locations are described as being either left-bank‚ or right bank.   What does that mean?  To get real basic… the River Seine cuts Paris pretty much in half.  So the Left Bank is more or less to the south of the River Seine. (Look at a map of Paris… it’s mostly the bottom half.)  The Right Bank is to the north of the river. (So, the top half of the map.. right?)

Old Paris hands will tell you, “Oh, I stayed in the 6th Arrondissement.”  Or the 16th (a wealthy neighborhood on the Right Bank near the Bois de Boulogne) or the 1st (the center of Paris where the Louvre and Palais Royal are) or whatever.

The arrondissements are the districts that the city is divided into.  There are 20 of them.  You really don’t need to know them for navigating Paris.  You’ll see them on addresses, and they are marked on maps, but you don’t need to know them to get around…. though you might want to find out which arrondissement you decide to stay in, so you can say to your friends, “Oh WE stayed in the 7th!”  (You would then have stayed near the Eiffel Tower and the Musee d’Orsay.)

You’ll want to walk and walk, but to see more of the sights, you can’t walk everywhere.  Take the Metro to the next neighborhood and start walking again.  You’ll soon know where your landmarks are, and they will help you get your bearings.

You can also use the Paris bus system and taxis to get around or take a leisurely bateau on the Seine to see the sights.  However you get around, you’ll soon find that navigating Paris isn’t hard.