12 Things NOT to do in Paris (by a Local)!

I'm French and today I'm going to tell you 12  things you should never do in Paris the first   one is to grab food near major Monument if you've  just visited the Eiffel Tower or the Louvre do not eat in the   neighborhood the restaurants start tend to be  terrible with awful food terrible service and   all that for a very very expensive price all of  these places have something in common is that   they cater to tourists who will only go there  once and then never come again so they do not   care about you or giving you good food what you  should do instead is work for 15 minutes away   from the major monuments and try to find a place  that has a lot of locals in it so personally when   I see a restaurant that has only signs in English  I tend to be a bit suspicious because it's a sign   that locals don't actually go to this place and  this also works when you're doing your research   for restaurants try to use the English version  of french-speaking websites like the fooding with   this you'll actually find places locals actually  go to and you'll increase your chances of eating   delicious French food when in doubt just grab a  bite at a bakery but don't go to any Bakery you   see in France we take bakeries very very seriously  there's even laws regulating them and you're only   allowed to call yourself a boulangerie which is the  French word for Bakerie if and only if you fully   make your bread from scratch the places that don't  make their own bread are just called Pain which means   bread so going to a boulangerie will guarantee you  good bread and a good sandwich which in Paris   tends to cost between four and €6 but when  it comes to croissants and pastries getting a   good one actually gets a tiny bit more complicated  unless you know what I'm about to tell you not all   bakeries make their croissants and pastries sometimes  it's just frozen food and we do not want that so   bakeries do have to show you that they're using  frozen food by just putting a little store next   to the name of the pastry you're buying but you should  learn how to recognize a good pastry if the bakery   you're in has a very wide offering of pastries  that all look the same they're all beautiful   and exactly even then it's definitely suspicious  and you should run away so most people who live   in Paris me included have their own Bakery that's  close to their home they usually go to for bread   and pastries and one sure way to find that for you  is to look for long lines of locals in the morning   and at lunchtime and you should also stay in the  right local areas to make sure you're close to the   good food and one big mistake I see people making  is either staying in the super touristic Center   or super far away so for all the reasons I told  you before we don't want to be staying only in   the tourist centers next to the major monuments  if you're doing that I feel you really miss out   on what makes Paris so unique which is the local  life all the people who live here and of course   the delicious food also if you stay in local areas  you're just going to discover random local hidden   gems that are super super cool and not mentioned  in any blog or guide or YouTube everyone has their   favorite local areas but a few of my personal  favorites are the 20th and the 17th for local   life and the neighborhood feeling I also like the  11th and the part of the 10th that's next to the   Canal Saint Martin they're pretty cool for going  out they have a lot of bars and restaurants and I   used to live there back in the day I sometimes see  people staying super far away like really far away   it's not always cheaper and I personally believe  you should try getting a smaller place in a local   area instead every person who lives in the Paris  area will tell you that taking the commuter train   called RER every single day is not fun and you'll  also miss out on my favorite thing to do in Paris   which is walking around if you're visiting  Paris and you're not walking around aimlessly   to discover the city you are missing out it's  really super enjoyable to walk in Paris because   the architecture is so beautiful and everything  is so dense so there's a lot to see and also   for my American friends who love driving and cars  let's know that it's the worst way to move around   because Paris is such a big city and there's a lot  of traffic jams so it's actually way faster to take   the metro and I'd personally only take a taxi or  Uber if I'm coming from the airport and I have a   lot of luggage because a lot of Metro stations  don't have elevators and I don't want to be   carrying my luggage up the stairs actually none of  the people I know who live in Paris on a car and I   don't see why you should need one another thing  you should avoid doing in Paris is not speaking   a word of French and if you have to only know one  word Let It Be bonjour it's super important to say   hello to people when you start speaking to them  more than that in the next section you can get   away with just saying bonjour and then speaking  English a lot of people in Paris speak English if   people don't speak English I recommend just being  patient with them and using Google translate but   if you really want to have a good experience you  should absolutely learn a bit of French beforehand   and for that I recommend that you try today's  sponsor lingoda lingoda is a language learning   school with live small group online classes which  is the best way to learn a language and make you   start speaking French in no time my American  boyfriend Bobby is learning French at the moment   and I can tell you that it has remade his life  in Paris better and mine too since it doesn't need  help translating stuff in his everyday life at the  moment lingoda has a super cool language learning   Sprint challenge where if you take 30 lessons and  60 days you'll get 50% cash back or 30 credits you   can even do a super Sprint and take 60 lessons  in 60 days for 50% cash back or 60 credits it is   such a good way to learn French fast before a trip  or you know just get into the habit of learning a   language also there's so many different classes to  choose from so you can really pick one that seems   exciting and works perfectly with your schedule so  go ahead and join the lingoda language Sprint to   level up your language skills click my link in the  description below to save 30% or use my code LUCILE2024 for an additional €20 off so I was telling  you that saying bonjour to people or even hello if   you don't remember it is super super important  different countries have different ways to be   polite and inference basic politeness like saying  hello and thank you is super super important if   you're for example asking for directions starting  your sentence with a bonjour will reg guarantee   you a way friendlier response than just asking for  it directly another way you can accidentally be   rude is by being super loud in places where you  should be quiet like in the train for example I   know because I tend to speak very loud myself  people will actually shush you if you're being   too loud and also if you're very loud and don't  speak French people might actually think you're   yelling at them this makes me think of a very  awkward interaction I had at the the bakery so   you know my local Baker doesn't speak English  obviously and there was this American lady who   was asking for something in English and instead  of just understanding that my Baker didn't speak   English she just repeated it louder and louder and  louder until I had to intervene because my Baker   was really scared that she was getting yelled  at and not understanding what was going on and   when I intervened I noticed that the American  lady was actually just asking for coffee and   she didn't understand why she got this tiny tiny  European coffee and that's a very common mistake   people tend to make so when you ask for coffee  in France you'll get the tiny European coffee   you'll get the espresso if you're like me and you  prefer your coffee to come in a big cup like this   one you should be going to an actual coffee shop  where you can have fil coffee or American style   coffee and another thing you should not do in  Paris and a sure way to have parisians hate you   is not being aware of your surroundings so Paris  is really dense and there's not a lot of personal   space so if you're stopped in the middle of the  road and you're let's say blocking the sidewalk   of the Metro people will get frustrated at you  Paris is a city where people actually live in   so we have to go to work we have to take the metro  we have to be on time for job interviews and that   type of stuff and it tends to be sometimes a bit  frustrating when you live in a tourist area and   people are just uh blocking the way so remember  Paris is a big city and even though it's re safe   being aware of your surroundings and avoid having  your bags open and your valuables out is most of   the time the only thing you need to prevent you  from getting robbed but overall you shouldn't   worry too much when you're traveling to Paris and  you should absolutely not overpack your schedule   I just really recommend you just embrace the  lifestyle just enjoy the City walk around spend   hours eating with the people you love sit at a  cafe and people watch or picnic in a park your   trip to Paris should not be an endless to-do  list of things to see because it's real City   you experience instead of just ticking the boxes  and by the way if you're in a rush do not go to   a sit down restaurant especially if it's outside  of normal eating hours French service is known   to be slow because we want it to be slow we want  to actually enjoy being in the restaurant and we   don't want to be rushed even midday work lunches  will take around 45 minutes to an hour if you're   at a sit down restaurant also don't go to a  restaurant right before closing time because   they usually tend to stop serving people around  30 minutes before closing Time closing time is   the time they actually close the gates overall I  found that people who tend to be very disappointed   by Paris are people who come with very very high  expectations and you know there's so many movies   that paint a perfect romantic image of Paris like  Emil in Paris Amélie or even my favorite movie   about France ever which is Ratatouille which is actually  about a rat cooking French food so pretty close to   what happes in some Paris restaurants Paris  is a big city with everything that comes with   living in a big city like trash annoyed people  who have to go to work and a lot of traffic   also as I was telling you it is very touristic 2  million people live in Paris and for 4 millions   of people visit each year that's 22 people per  Parisian you know you will then go to New York   and expect to have a chill relaxing vacation and  have the subway smell good and be full of happy   people so it's exactly the same thing in Paris  and if you don't enjoy the down to earth realities   of being in a big city that's totally okay France  has so many other cool places to visit and maybe   you should try going to a smaller French city  or going to the countryside which is a lot of   fun which leads me to my next Point France is  not Paris it's actually a super diverse place   there's so much to see you've probably already  heard of Provence and Côte dAzur but there's so much more   to explore a few of my underrated favorites  are Britany, the Pyrenees mountains the Basque country   and obviously Toulouse where I grew up and also  you don't even need to be in Europe to travel to   France check out this map of oversea France like  this is France and this is also France and also   this is France too so go check out these  places and I'll see you in the next video

Channel: Lucile

Views: 875,450

Keywords: things not to do in paris, Paris, France, Paris by a Local, things you shouldn’t do in paris, things you need to know before coming to Paris, things I wish I knew before moving to Paris, biggest mistakes tourists keep making in Paris, mistakes in Paris, what not to do in Paris, things to do in Paris, french food tour in Paris by a local, by a local, things you shouldn't do in Paris, first time in paris

Id: bkwg4Wg9xJk

Length: 9min 22sec (562 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 26 2024