The liberation of Paris, in theory, was only a matter of time after the success of D-Day in June 1944. The taking of Paris and its liberation would have been a massive morale boost not to just those who lived in Paris but to French people in general, but it did not seem to be a high priority to Allied leaders.
It would appear that the liberation of Paris was not even on the mind of those who planned ‘Operation Overlord'. No one at SHAEF General Staff seems to have planned ahead even when ‘Operation Cobra' was ended. The general plan seems to have been to by-pass Paris both north and south and leave encircled the remaining Germans still in the greater Paris area. There was an understandable unease about street fighting in major cities.
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