Ideas for Being Solo & Safe in Paris?

Google "Viator tours Paris", I've used them several times and they have been excellent, they have a nice tour to Giverny to see Monet's gardens.

O'Chateau for a wine class. A Bike tour of the city with either the blue or red bike tours. Bon Marche or Galeries Lafayette on your own. You could just wander around on your own in Paris and you'd be safe.

I am quite confident that any organized tour that you find that you are interested in will be safe for you as a woman alone. You should have no worries on that account.

Do you have experience with walking around large cities? The basics are pretty much the same everywhere. Maintain situational awareness. Know where you are and be alert to what is going on around you. Keep your valuables out of sight and your purse close to your body. Really, you are just as safe by yourself and you are with your husband.

On the very few occasions where something has made me feel uncomfortable while walking alone in a city, I have simply "joined" a group of walkers by walking close behind them or stepped into a shop for a moment.

I think you will have a great time in Paris!!!

I was in Paris on my own after I finished a work trip in another country. I felt safe walking around the city, and went to the main art museums during the day, and the Tuileries Garden area. I stayed near the Opera House on that trip. I took a wonderful croissant cooking class with La Cuisine Paris and went on an evening cruise of the river. I've made the croissants several times since the class with good results. Enjoy the beautiful city!

Do whatever it is that you want to do! I've been traveling on my own since I was in my early 20s and I love doing so as much as I do when I travel with my husband. As was said already, use your common sense as you would in any city.

Personally I'm more afraid for my safety walking alone in a suburban mall garage in New Jersey or California than I am traveling in Europe on my own.

We did a food tour with a Viator food tour and we had a single woman... It is a very fun tour and small.

I feel safer in Paris than any place i have been. I often spend days alone in Paris and have never had the slightest concerns including walking around in outer arrondissements like the 19th and 20th. I would just do whatever you want to do; if that means a tour, join whatever one interests you. But there is no need for a tour if you would rather visit the Marmottan to see the Impressionists that your husband isn't interested in, or spend a day at the Musee d'Orsay or shop a little in the Marais. The only risk a woman walking around Paris really faces is pickpockets on the metro or the museums and as long as you are not a buffet for pickpockets you needn't worry. Use a small cross body bag and keep your arm on it in crowds and you are good to go. I am an old lady and have walked alone in the evenings in most of the areas of Paris and have ridden the metro across town at night. Muggings are nearly unheard of Paris and every third person in Paris is not armed.

Peruse the schedule of Paris Walks for the time when you'll be there (probably too early now for them to have their May 2018 tours up, but many of their tours are the same each month. I.e. Mondays are xx and yy, Tuesdays are aa and bb, etc etc).

http://www.paris-walks.com/index_m.html

15 euros and for most of them (with the exception of a few like the chocolate tour) you just show up at the appointed meeting place and pay your 15 euros, no reservation necessary.

Well safety isn't really an issue.. I have visited solo.. and alone with a child .. as well as visits with various friends, family and hubby.
You do have to watch your stuff from pickpockets.. but this applies whether you are solo or not.

I think you need to understand that Viatour is NOT a tour company but simply a middleman agency that books other companies tours for you.. they are not needed. I always prefer to book directly with company myself.

A bike tour is a great idea.. I have done several ( well actually I have done 4 of them in Paris and one in London).. they are easy and fun, and a great way to see a city or daytrip out of city.

I have used Fat Tire Bike tours myself.. but I think Blue Bikes is fine also ( from what I have heard) .. my absolute favorite was the one to Giverny.. I dont even care for Monet.. but loved getting out of the city , the ride through Vernon.. stopping for picnic supplies there and then continuing on along the river to the Gardens makes for such a nice daytrip out of Paris.

I would also ask you to consider just jumping a train and visiting a town/city on your own.. I have done Rouen that way and had a great day on my own.. but there are many other choices.. Chartres for one.. or maybe Reims..

< have never had the slightest concerns including walking around in outer arrondissements like the 19th and 20th>

I get such a kick out of remarks like the above as though Outer Arrondissements were on a par with Outer Mongolia and a voyageur deserves a hero's medal for crossing the 'Blvd. de Belleville/Blvd. de la Villette/Blvd de Menilmontant. Believe it or not a lot of Paris folks live in outer arrondissements, "walk around," shop, work and play in outer arrondissements without a hint of danger in their daily activities. In fact, residents are well away from pickpockets, bracelet men, dropped ring scams and other scams targeting tourists.

Well of course. My point exactly. All of Paris is quite safe for a single person walking around. We have stayed months in the 17th and 19th and weeks in the 20th 18th and 14th and much prefer them to the center now that the central tourist sites are not on our agenda. The responses here are to someone who is frightened of traveling alone and has the odd idea that a woman walking alone in Paris is in danger. American cities are dangerous if you don't know where you are going; this is just not particularly true in Paris. There has been a lot of silly discussion of 'no go' zones in Paris in the American right wing press; we have friends who live in one of the areas they are rumor mongering about and are often there in the evening; it is lovely and full of life and particularly full of interesting foods and shop and only frightening if you find people different from yourself inherently frightening.

A "no go" zone in Paris? For whom? Never heard of such a thing. I wonder if les français would call it that. It sounds like a place to check out.

Fred, Fox News did a huge thing on "NoGo Zones" in Paris a couple of years ago. I remember vividly watching Le Petit Journal (now Quotidien) mocking the coverage mercilessly (as it deserved).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxDWomZiAJI

This clip includes the Fox News apology (!!!!) for categorizing these areas as No Go Zones -- and apologizing to the people of France and England (!!).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rF-mhgGWIgk

Thanks for the link, Kim. Well, all it shows to me is how much "they" know about France, or rather, as I prefer to put it, , how little "they" know of France and les français. True, "they" did apologize.

I've spent plenty of time in Paris solo and never really felt the need to seek out a guided tour to feel safe. Pretty much anywhere you'd likely venture as a tourist is not going to be a problem. Now if you are looking for ways to be social, some of the free walking tours would be a good way to focus on a particular neighborhood in a group setting. Also, you might want to look at the "With Locals" website (not free, but they seem to offer up lots of different themed tours with the topics you state interest in above. There's Voulez Vous Diner where you can pay to join a local host for a meal. Since a lot of people find eating out alone unsettling, this could be an option for you while your husband is away.

Personally, as much as I love Paris and big cities in general, if you've never gone to Normandy, it's fantastic - even if you aren't a WWII history buff. I wish I could have spent more time traveling around Normandy this past trip, but I expect to do more of that on my next trip to France.

Many tourists think that Paris closes up after they finish dinner - around 20h00.
Nothing could be farther from the truth. Get out and walk around - Paris is a completely different city when the lights come on.
If you find yourself on a deserted street, don't worry - it's just that all the businesses have closed for the day.
If you notice someone who is homeless in a doorway, all he/she is looking for is a good night's sleep.
Nobody will jump out of doorways to attack you.
And the pickpockets will all have gone home for the night.
But you should still take reasonable precautions with your valuables, especially on the Metro.

All - thanks for your replies!
Ceidreh- what did you enjoy about Normandy that was not WWII related? Thanks again!

Well, there's the Bayeux Tapestry for one thing...
And if you can rent a car, you can go on the "Calvados and Camembert" road trip.
Just Google "Haute Normandie" for the map.

Being alone in a big city can be a very exciting and liberating experience! You can do whatever you want, and there's no one to disagree with you or hold you back! Sure, it can be lonely too, but for only a couple of days, that shouldn't be a problem. I spent 4 glorious days alone in Paris a couple of years ago. I walked and walked (50 miles in 4 days). I loved every minute of my solo adventure. I never felt unsafe.

When my daughter was a college student in Paris she went all over on her own. She even did a project for a class in one of the supposed 'no go zones'. She never felt unsafe.

OP we did 5 nights in Normandy a few years ago including a full day for a tour of the beaches; here are some snapshots of some things we enjoyed -- I never did get a post up on the beaches:
https://janettravels.wordpress.com/category/normandy/
One can visit MSM from Bayeux; the Hotel Churchill has a van tour which does book up so if you wanted to do that sign up well in advance (you could do that on a day your husband was on an all day tour of the beaches). The Churchill is across the parking lot from the Bayeux Tapestry which is wonderful. You don't have to stay at the hotel to go on their tour.

We really loved little towns like Honfleur and the coastal beauty at Etretat. We had hoped to get to Brittany and St. Malo and Dinan last fall but an injury changed our trip and that was the part that got cut. I am hoping to do a side trip to St. Malo next May when we are in Paris for the month.