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Staying Safe in Paris
Crime in Paris is similar to most large cities, but violent crime is uncommon in the heart of the city. Pickpockets are active on the rail link (RER) from Charles de Gaulle airport to downtown Paris and on the number one metro (subway) line that cuts across the city centre east to west servicing many of the major tourist sites. A common scheme is for one thief to distract the tourist with questions or disturbance while an accomplice picks pockets, a backpack or purse. Thieves often time their crime to coincide with the closing of the automatic doors on the metro, leaving the victim secured on the departing train. Many thefts also occur at the major department stores (Galeries Lafayette, Printemps and Samaritaine) where tourists leave wallets, passports and credit cards on cashier counters during transactions.
Popular tourist sites are also popular hunting grounds for thieves who favour congested areas to mask their activities. The crowded elevators at the Eiffel Tower, escalators at museums and the area around the Sacre Cœur church in Montmartre are all favoured by pickpockets and snatch-and-run thieves. The area around the famous Moulin Rouge is known as Pigalle and best avoided after dark unless with a tour group headed for a show. Pigalle is an adult entertainment area known for prostitutes, sex shows and drugs. Unsuspecting tourists often run up exorbitant bar bills and are forced to pay before being permitted to leave.
The Marché aux Puces (Les Puces) flea market is virtually designed to make pick pocketing easy and gangs can be witnessed spotting victims. Walkways are often crowded, narrow, dark, with no way out except to wait for the extraordinarily-slow walkers to move.
However, there are some areas, like Barbès (18th), where it's better not to hang around alone at night, but they are easily recognizable by their raunchiness. In these areas, a lot depends on the way you behave and if you know how to adapt to the situation. If you know what you are looking for, speak some French and feel comfortable, there is no problem to stroll around a neighbourhood like Barbes. Meanwhile, if you are easily identifiable as a rich tourist who's lost in the quartier, better stay away. Also some parts of the banlieue are better to avoid, but the banlieue is, except for a very few tourists spots (Fontainebleau, Versailles, Basilique de St. Denis) not a place where the normal tourist will go anyway.
The metro is relatively safe, but again, pickpockets do work in the stations and on the trains especially near tourist destinations. If you are carrying a bag make sure that it's closed tightly. If you have a wallet in your pocket keep a hand on it while entering or exiting the trains. Don't carry any more cash than you can afford to lose. Keep your cash on different parts of your body: some in your money belt, some in your purse/wallet, some in your shoe. Keep the contents of your purse/wallet to the bare essentials: money, one debit/credit card, I.D., emergency contact information, medical I.D. When you have to access your money belt, do so in private.
Recent news reports have highlighted new tactics by thieves, targeting taxis on their way into the city from Charles de Gaulle airport. Thieves wait for the taxi to be stopped in the usual traffic jam along the A1 highway and break windows to get to the passengers' bags. To avoid this, you may place your bags in the trunk of the taxi or take the very safe Air France shuttle.
Beware also of distraught-looking women and children asking if you can speak English. You'll be presented with a card or letter with a story explaining something like "My mother is in hospital in another country terminally ill. I'm stuck in Paris with no money and I need to visit her." You'll encounter them at the major train stations (such as Paris Nord) and also at most major tourist attractions. Even on the Champs-Élysées. They are also prevalent around the Arc de Triumphe near the Embassy of Qatar.
Some Parisian restaurants, particularly in the tourist-laden Latin Quarter, make a living ripping off tourists who are hampered by a language barrier. When ordering, particularly if ordering a "menu" or prix-fixe meal, point to the actual menu item and ensure you repeat the price. Eye contact works wonders, as does a modicum of conversational French. If the bill does not conform to what you order, complain and leave the restaurant without paying if this does not work.
Be aware that there are hefty fines for littering in Paris.
Since 2007, it is strictly forbidden to smoke in close areas (train stations, subway stations, buildings), and since 1 Jan 2008, it is forbidden to smoke in restaurants and bars.
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