Best Things About X: What is the best thing about Paris?

From my perspective, having grown up in Silicon Valley and then living for six months in Paris in the late 1990s, the most striking thing isn't necessarily how old things are but how so many things have been created purposefully and with care and thought, whereas their American complements, particularly on the West Coast, are thrown together without any thought at all. Or don't even exist because they're not "practical". An excellent example of the latter are different kinds of moldings and cornices and balconies and canopies and archways above entrances and all over buildings, which you see constantly. And don't get me started on the respect and beauty given to public space, including parks and gardens, with the only glaring exception being the still-mystifying-to-me fact that there is dog doo that lurks in wait of your nice shoes covering, seriously all over, lots of it, the sidewalk in even the toniest of neighborhoods. Those nicer shoes everyone insists you wear in Paris? Part of this is from practicality. Would you rather step in dog Doo wearing  flip-flops or canvas slippers, or in well-built and crafted leather loafers?Thought is given to how everything appears and I think this goes a long way in helping Europeans understand how it is that Americans dress the way we do. Even in the San Francisco Bay Area, heck even in san Franciso, spend some time in south beach or other new neighborhoods like mission bay and any mall in San Mateo or Santa Clara County (except Stanford) and you'll know what I'm talking about. We just can't be bothered with that level of detail consistently. Of course most of the midsize cities surrounding San Francisco have some lovely stores, parks and spaces  in their respective downtown areas, but in Paris you are extremely unlikely to walk into any cafe or brasserie or boulangerie and judge it to be "meh." Smokey, especially tabacs, but those have gone away in large numbers, and often dim and not necessarily immaculate, but with an asthetic that is the exception in the states and the rule here, and a quality of the product, whatever it may be, that is awesome. Maybe things have changed, and there will always be super special examples of every kind of establishment, but the notion of traveling further than the block in which you live in central Paris to go to an especially good bakery just didn't exist there because your local bakery is fantastic. And the bread LOOKS fantastic.  Store windows, most particularly patisseries and other food stores, can be such a sensual that you don't need to go inside the store. In my experience this is true of Europe generally, but it can become precious, as is the case, from my perspective, in Amsterdam, for example, where things feel almost Disney like in how adorable they are, perhaps because everything is scaled down and miniaturized due to the density, whereas Paris has sweeping vistas  and mountains and parks and views that are breathtaking and grand AND neighborhoods like the Marais and the Latin Quarter that are literally ancient and cavernous with warrens  and little nooks and crannies and corners at the same time. It is this attention to detail and the sensibility and thought that is evident everywhere you look -- street lamps and trash bins and Metropolitan entrances -- and the quality and texture in the material environment in a consistent way, permeating the city, that makes it so fundamentally beautiful and unlike anything I've ever seen anywhere else. It's truly a beautiful place BY design AND by geography. I think most Americans would find this to be exhausting and unnecessary and a diversion of time and energy spent better on other pursuits. It's just the street/a bench/ a train station... And this is why we have nothing that comes even close to Paris, say what you want about New York. Sure it has places that are absolutely stunning, maybe even blocks or areas. The entire central "snail" of the city of Paris is eye candy and stunning, even when it's unattractive, as an earlier comment made in reference to the business district La Defense. It has an unmistakable sensibility and sense of self and place that just doesn't exist in America.I can't wait to go back.

said it --almost-- all... now for me it's not about pride or admiration: Paris is simply home, it's my city like no other. What I love and enjoy in Paris is the sunlight on the grey-white stones and the grey roofs, a stroll from anywhere to anywhere else, walking along the Seine, passing by Notre Dame on my way to work, Meeting a customer in a café, working in a bar after an appointement... A rainy evening on the canal Saint Martin, crossing le Luxembourg on my way to a job, the view from my windows, on a busy crossing near gare de l'Est... Enjoying a café crême or a plat du jour or even a good old jambon beurre whenever I can... Each week I'm fascinated by the sheer number of movies available in movie theaters... I travel around the planet and I love Brussels, Berlin, Copenhagen, Tokyo, New York, Seoul...and whenever I come back here I'm struck by how peculiar Paris is; a certain harmony, maybe...

There's loads of "best" things about Paris, but I'd say the public transport system (RATP) is up there as one of the best I've experienced in any large city.  It's inexpensive (certainly when compared with London's), fast, easy and intuitive to understand, and the ads on the subway walls are a great way to learn French.

Please read That will answer your question. :o)

1. The architecture. The grand sandstone buildings and the fact that you can see them all over Paris. The buildings vary in style from Hausmannian to Art Nouveau to Art Déco and yet there is a sense of unity throughout the city. Even small details like the black 1900-era lampposts are refined. 2. The food and the wine. Preferably paired with each other. There are so many good eateries in Paris that you don't need to look for a Michelin starred restaurant to enjoy good food. But if you do it's even better.

It is the ambiance and grandeur of the city itself that sets it apart from other cities