Overview
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Gay and Lesbian Paris
Beyond Tourism
In comparison to any sprawling post-war American cities, Paris is both dense and meticulously planned. The Seine river (“SEN”) flows from east to west, and slices through the middle of Paris, dividing the city into two main sections: the Rive Gauche (Left Bank) to the north, and the Rive Droite (Right Bank) to the south. The two islands in the center of the Seine, the Ile de la Cité and Ile St-Louis, are both the geographical and historical heart of the city. The rest of Paris proper is divided into 20 arrondissements (districts), which spiral clockwise outwards from the center of the city, like a snail shell. Each arrondissement is usually referred to by an assigned number. For example, the Eiffel Tower is located in the seventh arrondissement of Paris; this district is simply referred to as le septième (“the seventh”), abbreviated 7ème. The city's first arrondissement is the only one that is not abbreviated by the grammatical form ème; it is known as the premier (“PREM-yay”) and abbreviated 1er.
The city's organization may sound eminently reasonable, but Paris can be plenty hard to navigate in practice. Just to make things more difficult for travelers, Paris's most prominent neighborhoods regularly bleed into different arrondissements, and do not abide by their numerical divisions. The Marais, for example, spans both the 3ème and the 4ème. We have divided our coverage by both neighborhood and arrondissement, to keep our readers in the know. The most historic areas in Paris can devolve into a maze of narrowed cobbled streets, which can be poorly marked. The city is eminently walkable, however, so we recommend that newbies put away the map and just go with it. Getting lost in Paris is the reason you flew to France in the first place, isn't it?
Marooned in the middle of the Seine and tethered to the mainland by arched bridges, Île de la Cité is situated at the physical center of Paris. The island hosted Paris's first ramshackle settlement in ...more
Paris's Châtelet-Les Halles is famous for turning Paris's pet vices into beloved institutions. Its most famous sight, the Louvre, was home to French kings for four centuries; absolute monarchy has since ...more
The Marais is the ultimate ugly duckling tale. Originally all bog—the name “Marais” literally translates to “swamp”—the area became remotely liveable in the 13th century, when monks drained ...more
The Latin Quarter and St-Germain tend to be two of Paris's primary tourist neighborhoods. From the hustle and bustle of the predatory cafes around St-Michel to the residential areas around Cardinal Lemoine ...more
With tourist attractions and museums at every corner, the 7ème bustles with activity, but could use some personality. French military prowess (stop laughing, that's not nice) is celebrated at Invalides ...more
If the Champs-Élysées were a supermodel, it would have been forced to retire for being well past its prime. The arrondissementwas synonymous with fashion throughout the 19th century, and the boulevards ...more
The 9th arrondissement is (surprise, surprise) best known for the Opéra National Garnier, a magnificent structure steeped in history that is difficult to top in terms of architectural triumph and OCD ...more
The Canal Saint-Martin, i.e., the 10th arrondissment, is undeniably one of the sketchier neighborhoods in Paris. During the day as well as at night, you have to constantly watch your back for pickpockets ...more
As its name attests, the Bastille (bah-steel) area is most famous for hosting the Revolution's kick-off at its prison on July 14, 1789. Hundreds of years later, the French still storm this neighborhood ...more
The 13ème may have served as the setting of Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, but these days you're more likely to see a postmodern performance of Les Miz than any fashionably-starving children. Despite once ...more
The Montparnasse area is home to two of Paris's most celebrated institutions, the Catacombs and the Cité Universitaire, and one of its most profitable tourist areas, Montparnasse Bienvenue.While the 14th ...more
Perhaps one of the swankiest neighborhoods in Paris, the 16eme is home to the ladies who lunch, their beautiful children, and their overworked husbands. Its elegant, boutique-lined streets are calmer than ...more
Far away from Paris's most touristed destinations, the 17eme offers a pleasant repite from the mobs of fellow tourists, and provides the chance to rub elbows (or other appendages, if you so choose) with ...more
Montmartre might just be the most eccentric of Paris's neighborhoods. From the scenic vistas at the Basilique de Sacre-Coeur, to the historic cabarets and Butte vineyard, to the (ahem) colorful establishments ...more
In the mid-19th century, Baron Haussman's architectural reforms paved the way for a new working class neighborhood to be settled in the 19th arrondissement, on the northeastern outskirts of Paris. A quiet ...more
Belleville is one of Paris's most legendary working-class neighborhoods. Although far from the city center, it is home to one of Paris's most visited tourist sights, the Cimitière Père Lachaise (i.e ...more
Parisian banlieues (suburbs) have gained attention as sites of poverty and racism, though in fact they run the socioeconomic gamut. The nearest suburbs, the proche-banlieues, are accessible by metro ...more
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For 52 years, we have published the world’s favorite budget travel guides, written entirely by students and updated every year. With pen and notebook in hand and a few changes of underwear stuffed in our backpacks, we spend months roaming the globe in search of travel bargains.
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