12 Biggest Fears About Visiting Paris (Debunked)

Going in three weeks and my husband and I can't wait!! We've been watching your videos for a bit, and they have been so helpful in planning and preparing. 🙂

We have been to Paris several times. We have never felt unsafe. We are budget travelers and visit there cheaper than traveling in the USA. A bit of research is all you need

You folks do a great job! It is appreciated!

Just returned from France. I found the culture, people, and places delightful. While Paris wasn't my priority, I did visit. My biggest issue was with the Navigo pass and the difficulty in having to buy multiple passes: one for metro rides and one for RER. For some strange reason, these kinds of tickets cannot be combined on one pass. Paris should just have one pass, usable on bus, metro and RER, IMO.
March was still VERY cold so bring a warm jacket, gloves, scarf and a hat. Don't forget your travel umbrella.
I myself enjoyed the multi day trips to Normandy and Champagne country. Far less crowded and chaotic. I had one on one champagne cellar tours and an amazing time in the beautiful countryside.
The language was a challenge, but Google Translate was very helpful! I made one mistake of not saying Bonjour and boy did that guy bite my head off!! Don't forget, take a breath, don't panic and say Hello / Bonjour FIRST.
I love France and will be back. Appreciate all Les Frenchies are doing to help us navigate this amazing place!

I just got back from Paris about 2 weeks ago. We felt quite safe and used public transport the entire time. We went to many of the places that Les Frenchies warn are sketchy for pickpockets etc, but with basic precautions, we had absolutely no problems. I don't even know if there were ever any pickpockets around us. The prices are quite affordable, we usually ate something small or street food for lunch and then had dinner at one of many bistros in the neighborhood where our apartment was located, Batignolles. This proved to be cool because I never felt like I was in a tourist trap and getting overcharged. As for museum prices they were not bad at all. My daughter got into D'Orsay and the Pompidou Centre free of charge because she is an EU university student. Thanks to Les Frenchies, I downloaded a few of the public transport apps they recommended, which proved extremely useful, we got NaviGo cards and got the 5 day pass which includes a trip to the airport. Public transport is very well organized in Paris. As for the French I was a bit cautious regarding the language. I do speak enough French to get bye and still thought it might be a problem, but the people were absolutely fantastic. People were so friendly, and I was surprised when they would volunteer English on their own. Basically, people are good in nature and if you're not rude they go out of their way to help you. We loved it so much the family is already asking when we'll go again.
Thanks to Les Frenchies, many of your videos offered great advice that was very helpful. I just wish I had time to go to a few of the markets that you did videos on. Maybe next time.

My comment will be probably buried among all the other comments. However, if you are concerned about visiting Paris, or France in general, I will share a couple of my experiences and thoughts. The short take is visit, be open to the experience and let the experience unfold… Another thing to keep in mind is that the “Population” of Paris increases during spring and summer. Some of the individuals you run across, who may be grumpy are not even Parisienne. Just grumpy tourists. Once I had I waiter that was kind of a jerk. As I watched him he was kind of a jerk to others too. It wasn’t just me. I have had a few state side that are in a position that does not fit hospitality. Happens sometime and does not make a whole nation bad or not friendly. On to a few fun stories…
1) A few years back I was in a small mountain town staying at a family run hotel. We were there to watch the Tour de France and the owner, though not a cyclist, followed the sport and we had a little connection. Dinner in the hotel the first night was good and uneventful. The second night, after watching the race stage all day, was a totally different story. We sat down and ordered from the little menu. A few minutes later the 8-9 year old daughter of the owner served us pate which we did not order. I called her over and politely told her we had not ordered the pate. She left the plates and returned a few minutes later with another dish we had not ordered. With tears in her eyes and a shaky voice she said the Chef says you are to have this… We said nothing more. Maybe 10 minutes later, after the guests had their first course which looked like what ordered but was not on our table the Hotel Owner / Chef came out with his daughter to talk with us. Turns out the Chef/Owner had spent the whole day buying local pate, cheese’s and other food items and was making a special meal for us. It was an exceeding special and he was very proud of his region and wanted to share the good stuff with us. Had we been insistent on the meal being wrong we probably would have received what we ordered but in waiting for the experience to unfold and just going with it we experienced something we will never forget. To this day I think of the poor little girl with a tears in her eyes and how brave she was.
2) Last trip we took my young daughter for visit the Louvre. Being young and of a short attention span we scheduled the guided tour with headphones. When we arrived we learned that it was 100% in French and we messed up our booking. We went to a back room and senior staff told us that the next tour in English was in ~45 minutes and completely booked and you can’t join. Come back in 30 minutes… So off to the Louvre Cafe we went and returned 30min later. The Louvre staff and senior staff were so kind. They greeted us by name and arranged to get us on the tour and treated us like royalty. They personally held all our items so we did not have to wait for a locker. We we returned they again greeted us by name, genuinely inquired and hoped we enjoyed the tour. They were super special, generous and really went the extra distance to insure we had an excellent experience. I have been to plenty of museums stateside where the staff did not care at all.
3) Last one… We were at Versailles with my daughter and bought our ticket to rent a golf cart. Then went to the next attendant and somehow counting became involved. It was obvious that French was not my first language, barely English at times ;-). Well he made me start counting out loud from 1 to 100, off course it was a game and we both smiled along the way to a 100. My daughter got in on it and he helped when we got tongue tied on the pronunciation. I could have interpreted it as him making fun of my French but went along with it. It was a lot of fun and we all had a nice laugh. In perfect English he complemented us on counting to 100.

The thought that the French (at least in Paris) do not like to use English is sooooooo wrong. I personally find it so frustrating that locals in Paris jump quickly into English. So coming to Paris in an effort to learn and use French is not realistic. When I went into the Normandy area, I found it more authentic and was able to use French. And yes, even if you ask to converse in French many will ignore the request and use English.

You couldn't PAY me to go back to Paris! They WERE rude and obnoxious. Then they're the old trick that I tested. Ask for bottled water and they give you TAP WATER in a bottle and charge you for "bottled water". When I then went to London the ONLY rude, bad people I ran into were Parisians that worked at a museum and at the train station back to Paris. We went all over Paris. From Versailles to Montmartre. All over mostly on the Metro. Except for one person, I had to figure it all out with no help. We got MORE help on the subways in China and the Tube in London than in Paris. Even the people at the museums were rude. It was too much of a bother for them to answer questions! Like you as the tourist was already supposed to have memorized the whole place for them. They were only there to take you money. The food was pathetic for the most part, except the bread. Over priced and with no flavor. We went to both local places and fancy too, so it wasn't just "tourist spots". After6 years of taking French, I hadn't used it for a long time so it was very rusty, but what they didn't know was that I could partially understand them. So the bad conversations about how they were going to treat the "American idiots", was known and understood by me. Then they was the smugness when I tried to at least speak a little. French Canadians were a LOT nicer to a new speaker than Parisians. For that matter so were the Chinese, and Germans, as I used to know a little of those languages as well. The French, especially Parisians, SHOWED who and what they are during the last Olympic games. Its NOT worth the visit. As far as safety, I'm ex military, trained by the Secret service, over 6ft tall and 200+lbs, grew up on the streets of the South Bronx and was taught how to pickpocket as a kid. So, the streets of almost any city aren't a problem for me. But it wasn't nice, nor made any sort of good impression. In fact at times reminded me of the smelly parts of New York, Mexico City, and LA.

Almost 100% correct : I don't agree when you said "from 1st to 10th arrondissement", the only arrondissements to avoid are the 19th and 20th (Montmartre is in the 18th). Also avoid the typical corner brasserie, it's usually poor quality and often microwave food.

Magnifique vidéo

The only one on the list is true is the pickpockets unfortunately. I visited last year and will be coming back this April.

Paris is not safe. I was accosted at the Gare du Nord and almost pickpocketed at the metro. Police are nowhere to be found if you don't speak French.

Laughs Nope, Amsterdam has a confusing layout. Paris is a no-brainer. 😏