Paris Then and Now: 1999 vs. 2024

Living in France, I get a lot of questions about when I became a Francophile. This might be a hard question for some ex-pats, but for me, it’s easy: 1999. 

That’s when my family—my father, mother, and two sisters—visited Paris for the first time. I studied abroad here a decade later, returned for my master’s degree, and never looked back!

Twenty-five years later, I’ve been going through my family’s photos from that trip. They bring to mind all the enormous differences the city has experienced since then. Some things, though, have remained the same. After all, Paris will always be Paris!

With that in mind, these are the similarities and differences I see in the Paris we visited back then and the Paris I live in now.

What’s the Same?

Paris is a city that’s slow to change, in the best possible ways. While it’s seen some huge civic improvements over the years, it protects its monuments and historic sites fiercely. Some of the best things to do in Paris in 1999 are still the best things to do in Paris in 2024!

One thing that hasn’t changed is the ancient building in the 6^th arrondissement (district) that my family and I stayed in. I’ve passed it many times since moving back, even though it’s on the Left Bank and I live on the right. It always takes me right back in time.

On a larger scale, almost everything we visited is still standing. The Louvre Museum may be showing different exhibitions, but it’s still the Louvre. (Although if the fancy shops at the Carrousel beneath it existed in 1999, my parents carefully hid them from me!)

The Eiffel Tower is also exactly as it was, except with slightly more security and merchandising. I refused to go up it when I was a kid because I read that it moves “only” four inches in the highest winds. But I still went to see it in person!

Notre Dame Cathedral and the banks of the Seine are also—almost—exactly the same. Since the 2019 fire, Notre Dame no longer has its spire, which I’m glad I was able to see. It’s currently being rebuilt, which means that entry to the cathedral wasn’t possible for a while.

We also spent a lot of time in Paris’s gardens and parks. My parents were particularly in love with the Tuileries Gardens and the Luxembourg Gardens. Both look so similar to their 1999 versions today that it would be hard for me to spot the differences. 

The same is true for our day trip to Versailles—I’m sure things have changed, but I couldn’t say how!

Meanwhile, I relive many of my other memories of 1999 Paris every day. Feeding a family of five—with two vegetarians—wasn’t easy in Paris back then! We ate a lot of baguettes and pastries, including baguette sandwiches (“crudités”). My father even took to carrying a baguette with us around the city in case of sudden hunger!

What’s Different?

With that said, there are tons of things about Paris that have changed. This is true both on larger and smaller scales. Some of these are related to worldwide changes, like the hugely increased availability of the internet. 

So, if you haven’t been to Paris in 25 years, here’s what you should be prepared for!

Larger-Scale Changes

The biggest change that I’ve experienced is not needing a travel agent. My father worked with one to book almost everything for our trip, from flights to our apartment.

Paper tickets and no smartphones meant that, according to my father’s rules, we left for the airport four hours before takeoff. And these were the days before heightened airport security! We had to be prepared in case of any last-minute changes that we wouldn’t find out about until we arrived at the airport.  

In terms of the apartment, this meant that we had a few paper handouts showing thumbnail pictures of apartments to choose from. We did our best to find the ideal vacation apartment based on that alone. We were lucky that the apartment met our needs—nothing fancy, and not as fancy as the pictures, but sufficient.

When I moved back to Paris years later, my experience was totally different. First of all, I booked my tickets online. I followed the flight info through my phone app, so I only had to arrive two hours before takeoff.

I’d also arranged my lodgings in advance. I had to have a semi-permanent address to get a visa. Just like in 1999, I had to select an apartment, sight unseen. But I saw a ton of pictures beforehand, went on a virtual tour, and was even able to email the landlord to ask about the size of the bed. Definitely more convenient.

Don’t underestimate the power of an arrival in a foreign city, either! When we arrived in Paris in 1999, my mother and sisters went to a café while my father and I went to the rental agency to get the keys. Nobody was there (it was lunchtime), and our only choice was to wait until someone showed up a few hours later.

Meanwhile, when I arrived at my building in Paris on my return, I realized I didn’t have the building’s entry code. One quick call from my smartphone, and I was in.

Smartphones have also made a huge change to the way I experience the city. My father’s favorite thing was wandering the streets of a foreign city and getting lost. Now, I have to try to do this by refusing to look at my phone (or accidentally do this with a drained phone battery).

And the final major change since 1999? The arrival of the Euro. It’s much closer to the dollar than the franc was. At the time, we had to divide all prices by between six and seven to find their equivalent in dollars. Now, there are apps for that, but keeping track of the exchange rate is much easier!

Smaller-Scale Changes

So much has changed on a day-to-day level beyond smartphones and Euros, though. These changes may seem small but make a stay in Paris so different. 

For example, both of my vegetarian sisters struggled to find food they could eat during our 1999 trip. Now, multiple vegan and vegetarian places are on my list of the best restaurants in Paris.

I remember the scent of smoke permeating everything on our 1999 stay. But smoking in public places has been banned since then. Now, you’ll find smokers on terraces and in private homes, but not inside restaurants.

Meanwhile, language education and focus on the tourism and service industries have increased. This means that getting by with very basic French is easier than ever.

Finally, the city’s focus on becoming greener means that, when my family visits today, we don’t take taxis much. Instead, we take the buses and Métro that make traveling around the city so much easier.

The Obvious Differences: Travel vs. Life

I’m the kind of person who imagines living in every city she visits. But I’m well aware of the key differences between traveling to a country and living there! Looking through the family albums, I’m more aware than ever. So, as I’ve thought about Paris’s changes, I’ve had to consider a few things

First of all, we were on vacation. This meant that the worries of everyday life—doing laundry, getting groceries—became adventures. It also meant that we got to experience a lifestyle fancier than that which we normally had back home. We didn’t eat out twice a day in Milwaukee, after all. And although Milwaukee’s restaurants are great, they’re not quite the same as Paris’s!

Second of all, my parents paid for everything big. I didn’t have to worry about money at all, except in terms of how the little I’d saved would pay for the souvenirs I wanted. Even with this, traveling with my parents helped—my father offered us each a souvenir for passing a trivia test on facts about Paris. (I got a bottle of Chanel No. 5 only to find I couldn’t stand the smell!)

Finally, we went to France with a few months of French tutoring under our belt. I immediately started studying it at school after our return and took classes through college. After grad school in France, my French isn’t perfect—but it’s a long way from the basics I had back in 1999!

Final Thoughts

Some things disappear forever, and some return. I was heartbroken when I studied abroad in Paris to find that La Samaritaine department store had closed. My father bought my perfume there! But it recently reopened in splendor after more than a decade.

And then, some things are eternal. In fact, you’ll find some of the activities that my family and I did back in 1999 on my perfect Paris itinerary today!