I have now visited Paris twice as a tourist, both in the February half term, visiting many of the city's attractions. I feel it would be helpful for people visiting Paris to have a guide of practicalities regarding their stay.
TRANSPORT **********
If you live close to London, by far the easiest method of travel to Paris is by the Eurostar. Direct from Waterloo, it travels in 2 hours to the centre of Paris, to the Gare du Nord station.
It may be pricey, but it is cheaper than flying, and a lot faster than driving and having to get a ferry.
However, for the sake of convenience, if you live a long way from London, it may be faster to fly, although I have heard that an extension is being built so that it is possible to join the Eurostar at York (this may just be a rumour though).
It can sometimes be cheaper to get tickets as part of a package deal, with the hotel included, although this is down to personal preference. I booked both my holidays through Thomas Cook, and was very impressed. However, for more information on Eurostar, check out their website at www.eurostar.co.uk, which gives comprehensive information on timetables, prices and destinations, and there is an online booking service.
Within Paris, a car is not necessary, in fact I would have thought it would be more of a hindrance than a help. The roads look like they would be a nightmare to drive on, as they are always very busy and French drivers are, well, um, (how should I put it politely?) not quite so bad as the Italians but almost there. Parking would be a problem, and there are Metro stations (equivalent of the tube) within walking distance of virtually everywhere anyway.
The first time I went to Paris, I made the mistake of buying each Metro ticket separately for the whole week, which was then 8F per person per journey (80p-ish). It was only afterwards that we found out that there is a season ticket giving unlimited Metro travel, for either a day or a week (or a month should you wish to stay longer). For a week, you can get a 'Carte Orange', and for a day a 'Paris Visite' card. These work out much cheaper than buying tickets for individual journeys if you know you will be travelling by Metro a lot, and they can bought at the time from the Metro station (I bought mine from the Gare du Nord Metro station).
For travel outside Paris, for example to Versailles or to Disneyland, a car may come in useful. However, I would still not want to navigate the Périphérique (Paris M25), and would again opt for the TER, the Train Express Régional, which goes direct from Paris to both Versailles and Disneyland and other places too. Again, tickets can be bought from Metro stations or mainline stations at the start and it is not necessary to book.
If you want to know more about transport in France, I have written an opinion just on the SNCF, the train service network for the whole of France.
ACCOMMODATION *************
As you can imagine from its size, there is a huge abundance of places to stay in Paris, and where you choose to stay is really down to personal preference.
Camping: There are probably a few sites, although I have never seen any, and I can’t find any listed in the Michelin Guide.
Youth Hostels: Paris ‘Clichy’ and Paris ‘d’Artagnon’ in the centre. I think these are very large and international. I have looked on the website to see if I can find more information, but there is too much to write, so I will just give you the link in case you are interested: www.fuaj.org Youth hostels are a great place to stay if you want somewhere cheap and friendly, but not so great if you are looking for luxury.
Hotels and Bed and Breakfasts: There are literally millions of these, throughout the entire centre of Paris. The best thing to do is to go to a travel agent and pick up a brochure. They can also provide package deals, where the transport to Paris is paid for, which works out cheaper.
WHERE TO VISIT ***************
Having visited Paris twice, I have seen the majority of the popular sights. They were all enjoyable. However, I think I should list the main ones that I would want to include in a weekend sightseeing blitz. This does not mean that other sights would not be interesting or enjoyable, and also what I enjoyed may not be what you will enjoy.
I intend in the future to write more detailed opinions on individual sights in Paris, which is why I have included little detail here. These are suggestions for places I would visit, in ranked order of priority (best first):
~ Le Tour Eiffel (Eiffel Tower) ~ The traditional sight associated with Paris, the Eiffel Tower is a definite must-see. Walk down the Champs de Mars or up to the Trocadero on either side of it for photos, and then if you can afford it (it is rather pricey, about 65F (£6.50)) go up the tower itself.
~ L’Arc de Triomphe (Triumhal Arch) ~ Located at the centre of ‘La Place Charles de Gaulle’, at the end of ‘Les Champs Elyssés’, this arch boasts splendid architecture in amazing detail. It is possible to climb the tower up many steps (I did count and wrote the number on the back of the ticket, but my boyfriend kept the tickets so I can’t enlighten you I’m afraid!), to gain a magnificent view of Paris. What I found the most amazing was the way in which the roads radiate outwards onto the horizon from where you are standing.
~ Sacre Coeur ~ Walking up the steps from the Région Pigalle, you are met by the sight of Sacre Coeur, which is like an Arabian temple in my opinion, although in fact a Catholic cathedral. I would say that it is essential that you climb up the tower, the view is fantastic and the route up involves walking over the rooftops which is very exciting. Also, if allowed, go inside the cathedral. Even if you are not religious, the painting of Jesus behind the altar, which covers the whole of the back wall, is amazing to look at. If you want more information on Sacre Coeur, user ‘peel.rebekar’ has written a fantastic opinion on it, which has been crowned.
~ Montmartre ~ This area surrounding Sacre Coeur is magical. With tiny winding roads filled with little shops and crêperies, it is possible to walk round this area for hours. A must to visit is the ‘Place du Tertre’ – this is filled with artists painting Parisian scenes and people, and has a wonderful atmosphere. Montmartre contains the house where Picasso used to live, and also a famous Metro station, Abbesses, which has something like 280 spiralling steps down to the trains with murals by local artists.
~ Notre Dame ~ Notre Dame is a cathedral on an island in the middle of the River Seine. It is famous for the hunchback that lived in one of the towers to ring the bell. The traditional view is from the front, but many people just leave it at that. If you walk round the side next to the river to the back, some excellent gothic architecture including numerous flying buttresses are seen, which cannot be seen from the front. It is possible to climb up one of the towers and go onto the roof. This is worth it for the view, but also for the opportunity to walk up to the famous bell.
~ Versailles ~ This is the palace about 30 miles outside Paris where Louis XIV, the Sun King, lived before the French revolution. The luxury and Baroque architecture is fantastic, and it is very easy to get jealous. It is quite expensive to get into the palace, but there are huge gardens which (I think) are free to get into. It is possible to get to Versailles by the RER from Paris.
~ Le Louvre ~ This huge former palace next to the River Seine is now home to hundreds of paintings, all arranged into wings. It contains many famous paintings and scultures, such as ‘Venus de Milo’ and ‘Mona Lisa’. If you are interested in art, I’m sure it is possible to spend weeks here and still not see everything. When I went I just used one afternoon, and that only gave enough to time to go to the famous works of art above and the wing of Greek and Roman antiquities, a particular interest of mine.
~ Les Champs Elysées ~ The ‘Oxford Street’ of Paris, this tree-lined road is a pleasant stroll, but not something which I would say is that amazing if you are pushed for time. It has huge shops, although they are mainly chain stores, along with a few famous clubs, including the original Club Méditerrannée (Club Med).
~ Musée Picasso ~ This museum near the Bastille contains many paintings and scultures of Picasso, the famous post-impressionist artist. Although he was in fact Spanish, he lived most of his life in Paris, and this museum gives a good impression of his works. It is not a huge museum, and certainly not as popular as the Louvre or Orsay, but if you are interested in Picasso it is certainly worth a trip. I should say at this point that there are other artist-specific museums in Paris, which I have not visited, such as the Dali Museum and the Rodin Museum.
~ Centre Georges Pompidou ~ Built by the prime minister Georges Pompidou in the 60s, intended to promote art and culture, this large building has very interesting architecture. All pipes are coloured on the outside of the building, the building is made out of glass, and the main escalator runs in a glass tunnel up the outside of the building. Although the building contains many forms of art, the region which attracts the tourists is the Museum of Modern Art. This post-1900 art includes works by Kandinsky and Dali, as well as some very modern art which I found fascinating. There is also a café on the top floor, which is very nice and you have a lovely view of Paris, but it is very expensive. We were charged the equivalent of £7 for two cups of coffee! I made sure I ate all the sugar lumps and biscuits put on the table just to get my money’s worth!
~ Musée d’Orsay ~ This museum, which contains works by impressionist artists such as Monet, Manet and Van Gogh, is in a building converted from a railway station. If you have the time, it is worth a trip, both for the famous paintings it contains and the architecture of the building.
~ Quai de la Mégisserie ~ This is a slightly bizarre place to visit, never mentioned in the tourist guides, but I found it magical, and I took my boyfriend (user ‘teccus’) here when we went to Paris on a ‘try to cram everything into one day’ type of trip from Lille. This is the stretch of river on the right bank of the Seine between the Louvre and the island containing Notre Dame. It has many stalls outside shops full of flowers and plants, and all the shops are pet shops. Unlike in Britain, puppies are kept in glass cages, and although I am against this, they are very very cute and a good break from sightseeing. I know it’s hard, but remember you can’t take any of them home because of quarantine laws!
I have tried to mention all the places that I really enjoyed visiting, although there are many others.
EATING *******
There are many many restaurants in Paris, offering a wide variety of types of food, and it is not hard to walk down a road without finding one. However, it can be difficult to find cheap restaurants which offer good food. If you are not prepared to spend a fortune, I would recommend eating in an area away from the very centre, as restaurants do tend to exploit tourists to a certain extent. There were many good restaurants in the area surrounding the Invalides, where I stayed. My advice is to find somewhere that does a set menu, as this works out cheaper than buying courses separately. Also, menus are displayed outside restaurants which makes browsing much easier.
Lunch can be harder. If you are not staying in the centre of Paris, try to buy lunch from the area where you are staying, as it will be cheaper than the baguette shops opposite famous sights. It is annoying carrying it, but it is cheaper, often by as much as half the price a few miles outside the centre as I found out.
MONEY ******
At present, the unit of currency in France is the franc. However, after January 2002, the Euro will be used (I feel deeply sympathetic for the French). Although not completely accurate, the best way to convert French currency into British currency is to divide the number of francs by 10 to result in the number of pounds. For example, if something costs 56F, it will be £5.60 ish. Of course, this fluctuates according to the exchange rate.
As with any capital city which attracts large numbers of tourists, there is a risk of being mugged or pickpocketed. Keep money in an inside pocket and do not go into the main store of money when paying for goods, move the amount you will need for the day into a wallet. Whenever I travel, I use traveller’s cheques because it is hard to steal them. However, it is an inconvenience to have to find a bank. When you do, try to find a bank that does not charge commission, although by this stage you need to have relatively understandable French.
TELEPHONES ***********
I have never thought it a good idea to use hotel phones, as they can be very expensive. Pay phones, however, rarely accept coins, and it is necessary to find a shop that sells phone cards. When dialling, if you are calling England, dial 00 44 followed by the number as normal but without the 0 at the front e.g. if you are calling the number 01932 123456, you would dial 00 44 1932 123456 (note – this is not my number – apologies if it is yours, it is not deliberate – if it is yours, it is a cool phone number :) )
I hope that I have provided information which is useful for those planning to visit Paris. If you want any other details, rather than unnecessarily including them in this opinion, you are very welcome to leave a comment on this opinion, and I will get back to you as quickly as possible. I hope that, if you do decide to visit Paris, that you have a lovely time there, it really is a beautiful city.
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