1 ) Bring shirts without skulls on them. Skulls are seen as the sign of satan and not a lot of parisians have shirts (or at least I didn’t see many) with skulls on them.
2 ) Only really need 1 pair sandals, 1 pair casual shoes, 1 pair nice shoes
3 ) Parisians dress more “metro”. More polos, more button-up shirts.
4 ) If you don’t use travel books often (or when you’ve traveled elsewhere), don’t bother bringing them. I found I googled most of the time or just walked around and stumbled on restaurants, bars, clubs, etc.
5 ) Cheap wine is your best friend. If you plan going out, it’s much better to buy wine to drink before as drinks in a club/bar are usually 7 euro+ for a bottle of beer whereas a bottle of wine will be 1.50+ euro.
6 ) Metro face. I know we like to smile, but especially for girls, if you smile, that means you are interested and then guys will stare at you non-stop…like creepy staring. They won’t look away. I don’t think it’s as big of a deal for guys.
7 ) Americans talk loud and take up the whole walkway and walk slow. Don’t shout. Notice the level that others talk in, try to be polite and stay around the same volume. If you are traveling in groups, try to stick to one side. Don’t take up the whole sidewalk.
8 ) If you usually drink a lot of water, bring some with you. Restaurants aren’t always so generous on water as they are in the United States. They usually expect you to drink wine or something.
9 ) Be patient. I went to a “fast food chain” called Quick (french mcdonalds). It is NOT quick. Markets are NOT quick. The pace of life is much slower, so be prepared.
10 ) A lot of people smoke cigarettes, so be prepared.
11 ) French people dance farther apart from one another. Also they listen to mostly electro music. Good thing, they listen to a lot of American music.