General
21 Jan 10
21 Jan 10
Originally posted by PigsOnThe7thAs bad as London is, visiting Paris will make you want to go back to England.
This is an addendum to my London post.
The second leg of my vacation is in Paris. Any recommendations of an area to stay here would (also) be appreciated. I'm interested in touristy stuff, btw.
Thanks in advance, Diane
21 Jan 10
Originally posted by PalynkaWell you do need to walk down the Champs Elysees and go to the top of the Arc and watch all the crazy French drivers on the traffic circle there. May I suggest Rick Steves' books as a travel guide? He covers all the major sights of course, but he believes in traveling light and staying and eating local and getting to know the places you visit. One example: At the Louve he recommended taking the Metro and buying tickets at the counter near the subway platform instead of up at street level. There were three people in line ahead of me, but there were a hundred waiting in line up at the ground level, saved a ton of time.
Avoid the Champs Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe like the plague.
Make sure your bank and credit card companies know when you will be in Europe so they don't flag it as a stolen card and check any spending limits on debit cards and get them raised if you think they are too low.
21 Jan 10
watch your wallet, keep your purse in front of you not on the side.
my wife's wallet went out thru a slit cut in her purse on the the subway. guy tried to get the mother-in-law's purse also but she caught him and he ran off (if it was the same guy). we didn't notice til later, and by the time we canceled the credit cards one had been used to buy $1000 of stuff. good thing i had her passport!
we stayed at a little hotel on the left bank, walked to the museums, notre dame, etc. the travel site (go-today.com) used to have a lot more hotels on it; i don't see the one we stayed at on the site anymore, but it was probably named something like the Port Royal.
22 Jan 10
Originally posted by PigsOnThe7thEverything is overpriced, restaurants are poor on average, it's not a pretty zone to go for an evening walk and I don't think the charm of Paris is there.
Why is that?
I guess you kind of have to see the Champs Elysees once or else you'll think you missed out on something, but if you can stay in the beautiful older parts then you can still visit them for an afternoon and be done with it.
