You can find some good pocket-size map in nearly all the newspaper stands throughout the city. They cost between 8 and 20 euros. Most will include a metro map, a bus map, a detailed map of each district, and a map of the surrounding Paris suburbs.
The Districts of Paris
Paris is made up of 20 arrondissements (districts) from 1 to 20. The first arrondissement is in the center of the city on the right bank. The arrondissements are layed out in the form of a spiral and turning clockwise. There is a direct relationship between the last two numbers in the Paris zip codes and the arrondissements. For example, an address with a zip code of 75012 (all Paris zip codes start with 750) is found in the 12th arrondissement, 75004 is in the 4th arrondissement.
The rules of the street of Paris
There are three general rules to know regarding the orientation fo the streets:
- The streets running perpendicular to the Seine (North-South) are numbered in starting from the Seine.
- The streets running parallel to the Seine (East-West) are numbered in the direction that the Seine flows.
- If you place yourself at the beginning of a street (next to the address #1) and look towards the other end of the street, the odd numbered addresses are on the left side of the street and the even numbered addresses are on the right.
Paris, France on line map
RATP - Public transport itinieraries and maps to download.