Paris is Always a Good Idea: 30+ Quotes About Paris

Last Updated on 27th June 2024 by Sophie Nadeau

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Paris encapsulates all that it is to be free and alive. There are bars, cafés, dancing, drinking, eating, sightseeing and people choosing to do a million different things just because they can. Paris is a celebration of life. Paris is a city of dreams. Here are the very best quotes about Paris to inspire your next trip!

Paris has the allure of marmite; you either love it or you hate it- and there’s not much anyone can do to change your mind either way… As my second year livingb in Paris draws to a close, it’s never struck me how true the words “Paris is always a good idea” really are.

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“Paris is always a good idea”

That famous quote by Audrey Hepburn has been touted time and time again… and yet I’ve never truly appreciated them until now. During the month of April, I was lucky enough to see Paris in its full glory, under the spring blooms that have decorated the trees for the past couple of weeks.

(Click here to find out where to find the best cherry blossom spots in the city). With the April showers, came just about every weather condition ; sleet, snow, hail, thunder, rain, fog, mist, haze and even blistering hot heat for a couple of days.

Even during the snow, the city was magical, and there was still always something to see or do.

Paris is always a good idea because no matter what the weather, the city never loses its vibrance. In the heat, there are a multitude of parks to visit, gelatos to taste and fairground attractions to ride.

With the cold comes hot chocolates, museum days and friendly pubs to hang out with friends over a glass of wine or a pint or two. Continual fashion shows and seasons means that there is never shortage for wardrobe inspiration and the constant search to find the perfect dish by many a chef means that there is never a shortage of new dishes for every palette.

Paris is not just a city for lovers, but a city to fall in love with.

I first visited Paris at the age of 18 with my parents, sister, and an ex-boyfriend in tow. From that moment on, I was hooked. The magic and mystery that had fascinated old and young alike for centuries had now entrapped me too.

There’s a reason why so many people are in love with Paris. There’s a reason why Paris is the city of love. There’s a reason Paris is the city of lights. Paris encapsulates something I’ve never seen anywhere else in the World and I can’t quite put my finger on it. And these quotes about Paris will prove why this is the case…

Quotes about Paris

“London is a riddle. Paris is an explanation.” – G.K. Chesterton

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“If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.” – Ernest Hemingway

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“It’s Paris, everyone’s serious about dinner.” – Mindy in Emily in Paris (check out the best Emily in Paris filming locations here)

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“Paris was a universe whole and entire unto herself, hollowed and fashioned by history.” – Anne Rice

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“If You’re Going to be Sad, You Might As Well Be Sad In Paris.” – Blair Waldorf in Gossip Girl (check here for the best of Gossip Girl in Paris)

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“Paris is not a city, it’s a world” – French King Francois I

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“France is beautiful. I stood at the bottom of the Eiffel Tower today and looked up at it. There are very few times in my life I’ve felt so small.” – Leisa Rayven

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“I can never decide whether Paris is more beautiful by day or by night.” – Adriana in Midnight in Paris

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“Everyone remembers their first taste of Paris. This will be his.” – Kristin Hannah

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“He was a Parisian,’ he said. ‘You can never be sure what Parisians believe in – beyond Paris of course.” – Ben Aaronovitch

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“The Seine. I have painted it all my life, at all hours of the day, at all times of the year, from Paris to the sea…Argenteuil, Poissy, Vétheuil, Giverny, Rouen, Le Havre.” – Claude Monet

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“But of Paris it can be said that the right bank of the Seine belongs to the world, and the left bank to France.” – Mary Butts

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“He wanted to tell the baby that Paris was like a poem in stone.” – Simon Van Booy

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“To know Paris is to know a great deal.” – Henry Miller

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“Paris is the greatest temple ever built to material joys and the lust of the eyes.” – Henry James

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“I cannot tell you what an immense impression Paris made upon me. It is the most extraordinary place in the world.” – Charles Dickens

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“I’d love to be a tabletop in Paris, where food is art and life combined in one, where people gather and talk for hours. I want lovers to meet over me. I’d want to be covered in drops of candle wax and breadcrumbs and rings from the bottom of wine glasses. I would never be lonely, and I would always serve a good purpose.” – Maureen Johnson

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“I like The Eiffel Tower because it looks like steel and lace.” – Natalie Lloyd

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“You stumble, and you soar. And, if you’re lucky, you make it to Paris for a while.” – Amy Howard

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“If “Sex and the City” taught us anything, it’s that Paris is the only city in the world that New Yorkers actually fantasize about.” – Elizabeth Bard

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“That Paris exists and anyone could choose to live anywhere else in the world will always be a mystery to me.” – Adriana in Midnight in Paris (check here for the best of Midnight in Paris filming locations)

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“A walk about Paris will provide lessons in history, beauty, and in the point of Life.” – Thomas Jefferson

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“God invented Parisians so foreigners wouldn’t understand anything about French people.” – Alexandre Dumas

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“Paris is always a good idea.” – Audrey Hepburn

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“Paris est une fête” / “Paris is a party” – Ernest Hemingway

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“When good Americans die, they go to Paris.” – Oscar Wilde

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“It’s Paris. You don’t come here for the weather.” – Adrian Leeds

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“We’ll always have Paris.” – Howard Koch

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“To err is human. To loaf is Parisian.” – Victor Hugo

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“In Paris they simply stared when I spoke to them in French I never did succeed in making those idiots understand their language.” – Mark Twain

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“I think Paris smells not just sweet but melancholy and curious, sometimes sad but always enticing and seductive. She’s a city for the all senses, for artists and writers and musicians and dreamers, for fantasies, for long walks and wine and lovers and, yes, for mysteries.” – M J Rose

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“Solo Parigi è degna di Roma, solo Roma è degna di Parigi” (Only Paris is worthy of Rome; only Rome is worthy of Paris) – The motto of the twinned cities of Paris and Rome

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“Whoever does not visit Paris regularly will never really be elegant.” – Honoré de Balzac

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“He who contemplates the depth of Paris is seized with vertigo. Nothing is more fantastic. Nothing is more tragic. Nothing is more sublime.” – Victor Hugo

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“I do not believe there is another city on earth so beautiful as Paris nor another people with such an appreciation of the beautiful as the French…” – Edward Hopper

France Travel Information

France uses the Euro (€)

The main language spoken in France is French. Though you can get by with English is more touristic places, it’s always a good idea to learn some of the local language. Bring along a simple phrasebook like this one to help make your travels easier.

The capital of France is Paris. For more information and inspiration, check out our best Paris travel tips.

France uses plug types, types C and E. As such, if you’re travelling from the UK, USA, Canada, and many other destinations, you’ll need to buy an adapter. I recommend buying a universal travel adapter that you can use for multiple destinations (rather than buying a new adaptor for each place you visit).

As one of the most popular destinations in the world, you should always consider booking your accommodation well ahead of time. Check out this website for price comparison details and detailed reviews.

Be careful with your belongings. I also highly advise to avoid wearing a backpack and to instead opt for a crossbody bag like these ones. I personally use a crossbody bag by this brand and love its shape, size, and versatility.

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