France and shoes

What’s she currently walking in?? At this stage, 2 months or so out from travel??…I’d go with what is comfortable for her right now. Athletic shoes are just fine although she might want to take some flats if you plan to go to nice restaurants.

To me, shoe brands are so difficult to recommend because it depends entirely on her feet and what with work with her foot shape. Ive got slab feet going on, lol, which at 40 she probably doesn’t have! My go to for days of 10 mile walks are Altra Lone Peaks but they are a zero drop platform and would need adjusting to and I wouldn’t want to swap out within 2 months or so of travel.

I’m in Paris right now (after a week in Nice) and almost everyone is wearing sneakers or sandals. White sneakers - think Seinfeld dad-shoes are especially trendy as are converse, adidas etc. I’m a 47 year old woman and am wearing white Sacony Jazz 81. My 53 year old husband has a black/grey pair (yes we are “twinning”). For a dressier sneaker go with something like Ecco Soft. Skip the hiking boots or hiking style shoes often recommend by others on this forum. They look absurd in a city and your wife can find more stylish options that are just as comfortable.

The perennial shoe question!

Think about some smart looking athletic shoes. You might end up walking 10 miles in a day on hard city surfaces. My high arches can't live without Hoka One One, but if she wants to fit in with the under 35 crowd Nike Airforce Ones are ubiquitous. Add some shapeless pale high-waisted jeans and a massive boxy cotton sweatshirt with a generic college you didn't go to on the chest and she will be indistinguishable from Gen Z.

Sturdy dressier sandal-ish shoe for going out at night. At the moment my wife and daughter are favoring the ones that look kind of Roman, like a shoe part goes around the back third of your foot and then the front part is like a strappy sandal.

September is still Sandal weather. Have her look at Aetrex or Vionic, both companies make comfortable walking shoes that are stylish. These are my go-to shoes for travel and everyday. I also take a pair Vionic Black bootie and a pair of sneakers (Brooks are what work best for my gait, pronation). Your going to pay more for these brands but mine have lasted two trips to Europe, five summers of just normal wear and some will be joining me on my next trip.
I am looking to get into some Hoka's very soon to see if they work for me.

Maybe the smartest/snootiest/priciest restaurant might cock an eyebrow at footwear. All the rest will politely feed and entertain you while you keep your feet under the table. As a concession, choose dark colours, like black sneakers with discreet or no logo, rather than burnt-orange neon. The hard truth in Paris is that only you care about your fashion conformity. Paris people, however smartly decked out, are either too busy or too used to the crowds. So relax and go for the comfort.

I recommend Keen closed toe sandals. They have great soles for walking on cobblestones and protect your toes from getting stubbed. They also go with almost everything.

We were in Europe (Italy, Amsterdam and London); for 22 days in May and June. I wore Hoka Bondi 7s everyday, as did my husband. The only other shoes I wore was a pair of Rieker sandals. The sandals were good for around 5 miles, but I would not wear them 2 days in a row with a lot of walking. We averaged 5-7 miles a day, a couple of days up to 10 miles. My Clark’s, which I love, never left my suitcase. Generally, my ability to enjoy my vacation relies heavily on my feet being happy.

What a nice opportunity for shoe shopping in France. I like Arche. There are definitely shops in Paris and most likely in Lyon, too. I believe the prices are better than here in the states, and you may luck in to some sale prices, though you will miss the prime July sale time. I have found Arche ballet flats to be v. walkable, but there are other great flat styles as well.

You can get Mephisto shoes fairly cheaply in France. For example, I just did a quick check and one can buy a women's shoe called an Elsie Perf flat (perf means the leather is perforated with small holes in a decorative fashion) at Nordstrom in the U.S. for $329. At Mephisto's French website, you can buy the Elsie Perf flat for 135€ except right now during the summer sale, it's at 108€.

I've seen a similar contrast for Men's shoes.

As for things to do in Lyon, if you'll be there on the 17th and 18th of September this year, that's les Journées du Patrimoines, when normally inaccessible places, such as public administrative buildings, open their doors for tours, along with many scheduled activities. Scroll down to Lyon on the link I provided above. I highly recommend the Hôtel de Ville across from the opera house on the Presqu'îl.

I haven't been to France since 2018 (pre-Covid). I went on four trips total over two years all beginning and ending with a few nights on either end in Paris.

When I was there, I noticed a large percentage of men and women wore Stan Smith sneakers. My first trip was in September in 2016. I decided to wear a pair of black leather Puma sneakers with white soles because they looked fairly nice and were comfortable for lots of walking. Maybe sixty percent, or more, of Parisian men were wearing very similar shoes (except Adidas brand Stan Smith's) either with no socks or no-show socks.

Women were wearing essentially the same. Their shoes were more likely to be white and always had some sort of bling - some bright color or glitter accent on part (not all) of the sneaker.

I'm a very light packer. I carry-on only and bring one pair of shoes for the entire trip. I was glad I chose what I chose and wore similar (white in summer, black outside of summer) for all four trips.

I miss the days when people dressed more culturally-specific. Nowadays, everyone more or less dresses like an American.

Birkenstock sandals are more popular then ever. I own 3 pairs and rotate them for my warmer weather trips.