When you first arrive in Paris, your first order of business should be to get introduced to the city. This process is not unlike getting introduced to someone new at a cocktail party - while you could just walk up out of the blue and say hello, you may well get a nicer reaction if a mutual friend brought you into the conversation. In the same way, having some assistance from a mutual friend (AKA someone who lives in Paris) in getting to know the city can make a world of difference.
There are several ways you can get to know the city, including the many organized Paris tours which run on both land and water. These may seem impersonal, depending on the size of the group, but they can help you get a lay of the land so that when you go back exploring on your own you have a better idea of where things are and even sometimes which sights you want to skip entirely. And if you sign up for a smaller group tour, you’ll feel more like you’re getting a city tour from an old friend than from a tour guide.
Paris is a city at least partially defined by the river which splits it - so it’s only natural that there are lots of Paris boat tours you can take. These run the gamut from relatively short cruises up and down the Seine to full-on dinner cruises where you can really soak in the beauty of Paris at night. Most of these boat tours come with tour guide commentary that’s either broadcast over a loudspeaker in various languages, or available in your language via a headset. Again, this can be kind of impersonal, so if you want a more intimate experience there are smaller boats which have live tour guides as well. Be sure to find out what’s offered on the boat you’re looking at before you buy your ticket.
If touring the city on the water doesn’t sound interesting enough to you, never fear - there are a zillion Paris walking tours as well. Of course, no one walking tour of Paris could cover the entire city - you’d be walking for hours on end, and probably for a few days in a row - so check out the kinds of tours offered by the companies you’re considering. There will be Paris tours of the different neighborhoods, some of the museums and monuments, and even specialized tours for those of you with a particular focus - such as the food and markets of Paris, for instance. The possibilities are endless!
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