Country: Paris is the capital city of France

Country Flag:

Languages: French

Size: France – 247,368 Square Miles, Paris – 40.7 Square Miles

Currency: Euro 

Passport: Must be valid for three months beyond your depature from the Schengen area, and have at least 1 blank page.  The  U.S. 12-page emergency Passport is not valid for visa-free entry into France. 

Visa Required from United States: Not for visits under 90 days. 

Current Travel Advisories:  Click here for current travel advisories.

Suggested Immunizations: Click here for a list of suggested immunizations from the CDC.  

Driving Side: Right

Driving Requirements:  You can drive with a U.S. Driver License in Ireland as long as it’s valid during your stay.

Average Temperatures and Holidays by Season:  Visit the Seasonsyear.com website to see average temperatures and holidays in each season. 

Average Daylight Hours:  16 hours in June, 8 in December.  

LGBQT Friendliness: Same sex marriage is legal in France.   Click here for more specific information on sexual orientation laws on the ILGA website

General Tips for Paris:

Catacombs: So typical lines for the Catacombs can be three hours – all out in the hot sun. We read a tip about buying your tickets ahead of time on the official site.

Which we did – the catch is that it’s in French, so if you don’t speak the language just view it on your desktop in Google Chrome and let the browser translate for you. You can pick your date and time and you’re ready to go. We picked a 10 a.m. slot, which is the first slot of the day. We got there at 9:45, and walked up to the “customers with tickets line”. There were only 4 people in front of us and the line for those without tickets stretched for hours around the building. I have no idea why this is not more popular – but this saved us three hours today so just do it. Another bonus was since we were the first to be let in, there weren’t hordes of people around us in the tunnels and on the stairs and we could take all the pictures we wanted

The Louvre: Once again the main entrance line was about 2 hours long, and out in the hot sun. There are a few other entrances however where you can go in and buy your tickets. The one that had the least people was the Le Carrousel De Louvre entrance. We did not buy tickets ahead of time and went to this entrance where there were 10 people in line instead of the 200 in the heat out front. Extra bonus points because the line is in an indoor mall with air conditioning . If you take the metro to the Louvre on Line 1 or 7 you come out very close to the entrance. The address is 99 Rue Rivoli, and you’ll see a red canopy that says “Le Caroussel Du Louvre”. Go down the escalator, walk past a few stores, and straight ahead you’ll see an inverted pyramid which is the entrance. If you want to see the actual main entrance (because it is beautiful) go out that way and wave to the people standing in line.

Eiffel Tower: This one can have several hour waits as well, but you can buy your tickets on line ahead of time to lessen the wait. Tickets are released 2-3 months ahead of time. There will still be a bit of a wait, but not as much as if you buy them ahead of time. Unfortunately for us, the workers were striking the day we were there so we didn’t get to go. However, they were striking because they feel the ticketing system now makes the lines too long so maybe it will help you! If you’re not going up – there are great views from the Trocadéro across the street.

Self-Cleaning Toilets:  So, as an American I had not seen these before lol!  But on the streets of Paris, they have self-cleaning public toilets.  Just remember, when the person in front of you walks out, don’t try and walk right in.  You have to wait for the door to shut, then rinse cycle to finish, then it opens again for you to go in.   I didn’t look like a tourist at all lol!  Also remember to keep some change handy for toilets.  Unlike the US there is usually a charge to use the public toilets in Europe.  

Metro:  You can buy individual tickets to the Metro, or save money by buying a carnet (a package of 10 tickets) from vending machines near the turnstiles.  The Metro is very easy to maneuver.  There are a number of apps that are great for navigating unfamiliar cities, but my go-to is the Moovit app.  This app requires data usage, but it will tell you where you are, and when you put in your destination it will give you a number of ways to get there sorted by length of time or cost.  Once you choose an option, it gives you step by step instructions on what to do, which Metro line to take, and when to get off.