The Best Things to Do at Night in Paris

Most people assume Paris earned its nickname, the City of Light (La Ville Lumière), because of its illuminated bridges and landmarks. Come evening, the Eiffel Tower, in particular, steals the show, sparkling for five minutes at the start of every hour after nightfall, with 20,000 light bulbs.

The nickname, however, has much deeper roots. In 1667, King Louis XIV appointed Gabriel Nicolas de La Reynie as Paris’s first Lieutenant general of police, tasking him with making the…