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Why are Paris neighbourhoods called the Right Bank and the Left Bank?
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Paris
View of the Paris skyline from Montparnasse.
The terms Right Bank and Left Bank are used to describe Paris neighborhoods based on the Seine River as it flows through the city. Because the river enters Paris in the southeast and winds its way toward the northwest, its compass orientation changes, making traditional north or east designations inaccurate.
To maintain a consistent reference point, Parisians adopted the convention of facing downstream (the direction the water flows). From this perspective, the land on the right side of the river is the Right Bank, and the land on the left side is the Left Bank. This simple, unchanging system allows for clear navigation regardless of the river's actual path through the city's 20 arrondissements.1