Paris Unlocked was launched in 2017 by Courtney Traub, a longtime travel writer and Paris resident who wanted to cover the capital in a different sort of way: one that might satisfy the curiosity of travelers who are looking for something beyond the bland “best of” listicles that have taken over the web.
If you’re hoping for a deeper dive into French & Parisian culture, art, food, architecture, history, daily life and news, this site may be for you. And with our recent launch of The French Culture Podcast and its deep dives into the history, art, food and prominent personalities of the Gallic world, there’s even more to explore here.
Our Ethics & “Readers-First” Commitment
With every feature we publish at Paris Unlocked (and every episode of The French Culture Podcast), we aim to inform, guide, educate and entertain, whether you’re planning a trip to France or are just here for our takes on myriad places and topics. Above all, we infuse all our stories with our personal voices, experiences and perspectives.
We don’t just go on what “everyone else” is saying: we strive to give you our own, definitely subjective take on what’s worth doing in Paris or elsewhere in France. And we infuse nearly everything we write here with a sense of culture and history, knowing that you can’t truly encounter a place without digging deeper on those fronts.
While we sometimes attend industry events hosted by companies or accept a “comped” experience for review purposes (let’s face it, we just don’t have the budget of huge travel publications), we refuse to be influenced by the prerogatives of PRs and marketers. We won’t ever publish marketing copy disguised as genuine opinion, and will either say if we think something isn’t up to snuff, or refrain from writing about it.
Stealth marketing and sneaky promotional fodder have no place here. We’re not trying to sell you stuff: we want you to experience France and its capital as deeply and genuinely as possible. While you will find carefully selected links to products and services from trusted partners on this site, they are always clearly labeled as such. And we choose to include such links only where they seem genuinely pertinent to your travel planning and goals, hoping they might save you time.
We’re also not “influencers”. At this site, you won’t find pictures of us wearing outfits from some brand who paid us for a “guest” article, posing in front of the Opera Garnier or a new concept store. We’re travel writers and journalists, not brand spokespeople, product peddlers or social media influencers.
Our ultimate aim? To make this site a go-to destination for culturally curious travelers with interests in France and Paris. But not to worry– if you’re a complete beginner, you’ll also find plenty of guides designed to help you plan your trip, decrypt French etiquette rules, distinguish pastries in a Parisian boulangerie, find a museum worth visiting near your hotel, or figure out how to get around the city with young kids. While we’re all about digging deeper than your average online travel guide, we also strive to be accessible and friendly. No snobbery allowed here.
We’re always open to readers’ feedback and suggestions, so do get in touch if there’s particular coverage or stories you’d like to see here, or if you simply feel like saying hello. You can send ideas or comments by email to editor@parisunlocked.com.
The People Behind Paris Unlocked
Courtney Traub, Founder & Editor, is a lifetime Francophile and longtime Paris resident who now divides her time (as well as she can) between the Eastern U.K and the French capital. Living away from Paris for much of the year has only led her to appreciate her former city more, fueling inspiration for various features you may come across here. She’s a double US and French citizen, but is proud to have earned her French nationality the long and hard way (i.e, not through family ties). Her French is fluent, but by no means perfect.
Co-author of the 2012 Michelin Green Guide to Northern France & the Paris Region, Courtney became Editor of the About.com Paris Travel site when it was owned by The New York Times, and before it was incorporated into the TripSavvy network. As a journalist, she’s reported stories for outlets including The Christian Science Monitor, Radio France Internationale, Reed Business Information, WWD, and The Associated Press, and has been interviewed as an authority on Parisian travel and culture by the BBC, Newstalk Ireland, Matador Network, Australian Public Radio and other outlets (see more in the “Media Appearances & Mentions” below).
Courtney is also a scholar of literature and cultural history whose essays and reviews have appeared in various forums, and an academic editor with expertise in art history and museum studies. She has a borderline-obsessive interest in topics as eclectic as environmental history and ethics, the way we navigate and build stories around cities (hence this site), cinema, food and food history.
In Courtney’s words: “I’m incurably haunted by Paris and the stories of its streets, to loosely paraphrase the late and great Leonard Cohen. I first moved there as a starry-eyed 22-year old, and never looked back. My objective with this site is to offer part travel guide (but not necessarily in the traditional sense), part exploratory space for unlocking the many histories and stories of Paris, past and present, and part forum for excavating my own experiences and memories of living there. Taking strong cues from Marcel Proust, I recognize how fragile and unwieldy our memories of times and places are. Also like that heroic crafter of page-long sentences, I’m interested in the effort of searching for those lost times and places, however imperfect and unreliable the result may be.”
In addition to her Paris-centric work, Courtney is slowly writing a nonfiction book about how Romantic writers of the 19th century (think Coleridge, William Blake, Whitman, Thoreau, Mary Shelley) powerfully influence how we think, and tell stories about, the massive environmental and technological problems we’re currently faced with. Stay tuned.
Proud mother of two young daughters and a cat named Matilda, Courtney is married to a medieval literature professor who makes her visit every European Gothic church they come across. When rare spare time miraculously appears, she spends it watching films, cooking (always add salt and garlic), middle-of-the-night-novel reading, researching the history of folk music & ballads– and trying to overcome her plateau as she learns to play the acoustic guitar.
Paris Unlocked Associate Editor Rachel Naismith is a former micro-bakery owner and manager of a Glasgow-based food bank. Currently based in Paris, Rachel primarily writes about the city’s shifting culinary landscape, and also contributes in-depth features on Parisian history and culture to Paris Unlocked.
Her work has appeared in publications including Palate Magazine, Travel Mag, Atlas Obscura and the HIP Paris Blog. You can see more about Rachel at rachelnaismith.com, and read her features for this site here.
Follow & Support Us
No one can thrive without community and the support of the like-minded. If you like what you read here, make sure to follow our official Page on Facebook, and subscribe to our free monthly newsletter, which offers travel tips, stories, and in-depth features about the French capital in each issue. You can also find travel inspiration from our boards on Pinterest, and follow us on Instagram.
Finally, this project is a labor of love, and we manage the site in addition to carrying out other “day jobs”. If you like what you read here and would like to see more, please do consider becoming a “Donor” subscriber to my newsletter at Substack.
For less than the cost of a couple barista coffees each month!) becoming a Donor will give you full access to our archive of exclusive, newsy updates and features on France, including hundreds of travel tips, reviews, editorials, and in-depth travel itineraries.
You’ll also be entitled to a personalized e-mail consultation with me to help you plan a next trip. This will help fund more in-depth, engaging features that go beyond the tired “listicle”.
Can’t afford a regular donation? You can always offer us a one-time donation (via Ko-fi) if you like what you see here and want to help out. This donation hub connects to a secure Stripe payments page, so it’s completely safe, and whatever amount you can contribute is deeply appreciated.
Finally, consider browsing and buying one of our self-guided travel itineraries, right here at Paris Unlocked.
Merci!
Key Stats for Paris Unlocked (as of Winter 2026)
Recent Media Appearances & Mentions
Media Queries, Partnerships & Other Requests
For media queries, interview requests or requests for event appearances, please write to Courtney Traub (Editor) at editor@parisunlocked.com.
We do not currently accept guest posts or link exchanges, or other marketing partnerships outside of carefully selected affiliate partnerships with major networks. Please do not write to us inquiring about these type of collaborations; we will not respond to any emails or phone calls. For queries related to other sorts of potential partnerships (and only if they’re strictly pertinent/related to Paris or France), please write to Courtney Traub at the email address above.
Contributor posts: We are not currently accepting contributor posts, except from invited writers. Please do not inquire about writing for the site; we will likely not be able to respond. Thank you for your understanding.
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