Culture

Paris is a giant canvas of museums, theatres, concert halls and monuments dedicated to its artists, past and present, and Parisians take great interest in these offerings, lining up for exhibitions and packing opera houses. Many theatres and halls begin posting metro station advertisements for plays or concerts six months in advance, knowing the culture-hungry…

Language

French is the only official language of France, and therefore Paris. French is a Romance language, descending from Latin, with influences from the original Celtic and Germanic tribes who inhabited parts of Gaul before and during the Roman era. French is spoken by 300 million people worldwide.

Religion

The once dominant Roman Catholic faith has seen its numbers diminished considerably in France over the last thirty years. Though the government does not compile statistics on religion, most independent polls reveal that the majority of French do not actively practice any faith, and an increasing percentage indicates they are atheist or agnostic. While the…

National Dress

No, Parisian men do not all wear berets, and the women aren’t all wearing fishnet stockings and stiletto heels. In fact, the only people wearing berets are the tourists. There really isn’t a national dress in France, especially not in cosmopolitan Paris. While clichéd visions of stripe-shirted mimes stick in the heads of many people…

Food & Drink

The word 'cuisine' is French in origin, which indicates how important French cooking is to the rest of the world, specifically the Western world. While the French did not invent food, the advances that French chefs have made in its preparation and presentation over the last 500 years are known and respected by culinary artists…