What to do in Paris in november?

A relevant track showed up on my youtube feed.
https://youtu.be/fJgR--UzRgY

Avoid the Louvre, you might get Tomato soup in your face :D

Heh Paris is like Disneyland: it's always crowded with tourists. Especially the Old Hunk o' Junk and the Louvre but as long as you're interested in actually getting in the museum and not so much about taking selfies in front of the glass pyramid, you shouldn't see much of a line ;)

A good way to spend a couple hours is to go out the Louvre to the riverside and follow the river down to (and past) Notre Dame, such as it is since the fire, ofc. A lot of historical buildings of the city were built near the river because of the easy mean of transportation and supply on the river, so you can see quite a lot of lovely things just strolling down the Seine without having to spend too much time in the metro or other public transport.
Lots of nice cafés and art galleries in that stretch of the city as well.

Along that route is also a small square (right across from Notre Dame around the corner from the unmissable Shakespeare and Co bookstore) is the oldest tree in Paris, which was planted in 1600 I believe.

It shouldn't be too cold with the weather we've been having so you're in luck.

I've always felt that Musée national de la Marine is a very overlooked attraction, probably because it's very close to the Eiffel tower (basically opposite to it on the other side of the river). It's all indoors, so you can wait out the rain and wind inside, has lots of marine art pieces, and I also recall old diving suit and some ship models. Granted, nothing that would blow you away, but a nice place nonetheless. :3
I can also say that unless you want a higher vantage point for viewing a very long street cutting across Paris, going on top of the Arc de Triomphe does not have much in store for you and you can probably find a better use for your time. Anyway, hope you'll enjoy your time there ^_^

Make sure to see some African Americans while you're there

EDIT

I'm going to leave this comment as it is for a while before giving it more context cause I'm thoroughly amused by some jumpy (if not borderline racist) assumptions

THE REVEALING EDIT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR

France abolished slavery in 1794 while it happened in the USA in 1865. Because of a sizable gap there, there's been a significant migration of black people in the 1800s from the USA to Europe, notably France. The renaissance of Jazz in Europe around the 1800s is mostly owed to that migration and a growing number of black performers, writers, and artists such as Larry Potter, Ed Clark, and Lois Mailou Jones.
I've been to Paris a couple of times (the longest stay was for 2 months) but still, the most notable difference in the attitude of Americans (and most of the other parts of Europe, actually) compared to France today is the laissez-faire approach in the cultivation of various art forms regardless of the artist national and historical background. What's kind of funny, is that eventually there was a notable discrepancy in the social status of black folks in the USA and France since even after the 1800s racism towards back Americans was almost ingrained in their culture while in France, the immigrants there would prosper and had a notably higher position when it comes to nightlife, social status, and cultural acceptance.

Fun fact: all of that historical background serves as a big inspiration for the song Niggas in Paris by Kanye West and Jay Z (which is pretty evident that's there more to the story if you pay attention to lyrics alone) and even today, you can find a lot of active exhibitions and museums dedicated to the part of histories such as Musee d'Orsay in Paris and Bourse de commerce (which was a former commodity exchange spot aka ancient flea market). I visited both and I recommend that to OP as well.

Another fun fact: Even if you had zero clue about the context of my initial comment a simple Google search of it would lead you to the first page of results and this Wikipedia link would give you more than enough to start and it also serves a revelation for my "cryptic and kinda worrying" comment. It's been an hour now since I posted my initial comment so that gave you more than enough time to do some research instead of waiting for the answer.

And on a more somber and depressing note, some of the replies below are a pretty textbook example of how folks tend to see in others what they might be carrying locked up deep inside themselves. Pick up some reading material every once in a while, learn about things that surround you instead of jumping to asinine conclusions while you're being influenced by the toxicity of social media and you will learn a lot about the world, but mostly about who you are as a person. Trust me on this one

You may want to have a look there: https://fr.restaurantguru.com/Refuge-des-Fondus-Paris
That's a place I went to often when I lived in Paris. Very friendly, I always ended a bit drunk after talking with neighbors (they have only 2 big tables, see the pictures).
Depending on your tastes, of course, it's not a concept that fits everyone.
Regarding food itself, it's either cheese-based (slices of bread to put in melting cheese) or meat-based (slices of meat to put in boiling oil). And wine in baby-bottles.
I didn't get there since a few years, but back in time it was a gorgeous place for people not looking for luxury atmosphere :).

Another thing, if you feel interested in it, visiting the official catacombs is something original : https://www.catacombes.paris.fr/

You can get robbed, or killed.
There is also currently no subway, so you won't move a lot. Might stop next week tho...

Paris is a shit show, a beer in Jardin du Luxembourg cost 12 euros. So if not robbed by "the chances of France", you will get robbed by restaurant.

Enjoy :)

I'd recommend Le Comptoir General, it was a nice 'underground' place back in 2014 when I lived in Paris. I say "place" because it had a pub, a thrift store and a barbershop running altogether in the same place. Not sure how it is now, but it was definitely a great spot to visit back then.

Enjoy!

Thanks for the nice puzzle and GA. I live in Paris, but don't have anything in mind to recommend, apart eating at rue Mouffetard :/

Perhaps visiting the Sainte Chapelle? I don't know, I've never been to France, especially in November.

you might want to spend some hours at Père-Lachaise in autumn

I guess a lot depends on free time, taste, and where your hotel and conference are, here are some options, maybe one of them is interesting? Follow sallachim's discussion, keep your wallet, phone and bag secure like you normally do when you are not being a tourist, and you should be fine. Wear a scarf if you want to look like a real French guy 😀
Le Plomb de Cantal - so, everyone knows about snails and frog's legs, but there is also the deliciously smooth mashed potato called "aligot". This place is not too far from Canal St Martin where you can find Le Comptoir General that Megamano recommended and loads of other bars too.
Bike Tour - quick and easy way to get to know the city. I know about Bike About Tours, very friendly, they operate out of Le Peleton Café and have a Secret Tour and a Monuments Tour. There is also Fat Bike Tours, Paris Bike Tours and others
Eiffel - I would say not worth it. Climb it and the Sacre-Coeur in Assassin's Creed Unity or The Saboteur instead 💪. Or, go up Montmartre via winding side streets, it's very scenic (and you can avoid scammer/pickpocket hotspots this way). Or take metro line 11 out to Pyrénées and take a less well-known view of the city from rue Piat at the top of Parc de Belleville.
Bouillon Chartier - classic, very busy 1900s style restaurant. No reservations so get there early and queue for this quintessential Paris experience.
Space Invaders - get the Flashinvaders app and look out for some of the hundreds of space invader mosaics. There's loads more street art all around the city
Pompidou - it's actually pretty good, even if you only go for the Permanent Collection (€15) that's still two floors of modern artworks. Buy a ticket in advance to skip the queue of people who didn't buy a ticket in advance.
Pitchfork Music Festival - worth a look if you want more than one gig this week!