First rule when landing in ANY touristic country: DON'T LOOK LIKE A TOURIST, DON'T ACT LIKE A TOURIST, BLEND IN!!! So, if you're staying in hostel's taking advantage of student discounts. Buy your weekly metro pass . I highly recommend making a trip out to Chamonix, in the French Alps. Avoid eating in touristy areas of Paris. You'll find it mediocre. Try to get off the beaten path, have some crepes. Eat French Bread----it has the most delicious bread. The smell alone is better than the finest freebase...France is also home (as is most of western Europe) to many fine local cheeses (as well as wine) and these go brilliantly with their bread. French people are wonderful people with a fantastic culture in a beautfiful country. Go to the Louvre. Look at the Mona Lisa, say "ooh", then turn left, go around the corner and see the painting ("The Raft of the Medusa" by Gericault) smile Versailles is right outside of Paris and can easily chew up the better part of a day. Can stand in the room where the treaty that ended WWI (and arguably brought on WWII) was signed. On the northern coast, so see the Bayeux Tapestry (a 900 year old tapestry depicting the Norman invasion of Britain in 1066) And by all means, absolutely go to Normandy (D-Day landing site in WWII). Go to the cemetery and pay respect to the soldiers that died there, and then walk on the beach and imagine what that morning must have felt like. How to not be a stupid tourist? 1 - Don't running around yelling to your friend across the town square "HEY! LOOKIT THIS OLD MAN HERE, DOESN'T HE LOOK FUNNY?" as if you were the only people around speaking english. :P 2 - We know that everything in USA is bigger (including your mouths), so don't tell us. :) 3 - In Europe we have invented the "queue". In a queue you stay in line. If you know what's good for you. 4 - When you enter some establishment, start by looking if there is a queue. They might not be apparent, but that loose groupe of people around the counter are probably not loitering, so don't just bark forth to the clerk expecting to be served right away. 5 - We have thousands of years of culinary traditions, so a meal may be composed of finely proportioned ingredients, assembled and prepared for your pleasure. If you pour a gallon of dressing or ketchup on everything you could as well have stayed at home. 6 - Roads with multiple lanes are usually like this: Right: marching speed lane Left: overtaking lane (not in UK)