Last Updated on April 30, 2025
Paris is divided by the Seine River and the Île de la Cité, a natural island, into left and right banks (rive gauche and rive droite, respectively).
Locals tend to identify with one bank or the other, and not only because of where they happen to live.
(Keep scrolling down to start the quiz).
Each side of the Seine has its own particular history, vibe, character and culture.
While it’d be an exaggeration to say that the two cultures are vastly dissimilar, some locals might insist that there are fundamental differences between them.
These have to do with social class and immigration, the history of commerce, art, and scholarship, zoning regulations, and a host of other factors.
I won’t elaborate too much now on the (sometimes stereotypical) qualities attributed to la rive gauche and la rive droite. That would spoil all the fun.
Which side of the Seine suits your personality and style more?
Scroll down to the progress bar and click “Next” to take the quiz and find out which bank best suits your personality….or whether you’re more or less evenly divided between both!{Try another quiz: What Famous French Person Said It?}
Feel free to share you results in the comments field, and tell us whether you think they’re accurate– or “n’importe quoi” (nonsense).
This is an ongoing debate among Parisians themselves, so why not enter the fray?
Courtney Traub is the Founder and Editor of Paris Unlocked. She’s a longtime Paris resident who now divides her time (as well as she can manage) between the French capital and Norwich, UK. Co-author of the 2012 Michelin Green Guide to Northern France & the Paris Region, she has been interviewed as an expert on Paris and France by the BBC, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Le Figaro, Matador Network and other publications. Courtney has also written and reported stories for media outlets including Radio France Internationale, The Christian Science Monitor, Women’s Wear Daily and The Associated Press. In addition to going down various rabbit holes of curiosity when it comes to French culture, history, food and art, Courtney is a scholar of literature and cultural history whose essays and reviews have appeared in various forums.
Merci
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