France is where you get more than just your cultural fix
Your experience of Paris will necessarily be different from that of any other traveler. Because your expectations are unique, your perception of the French capital will be yours, and yours only. Diversity being the name of the game, I thought you would enjoy being told about a larger variety of unusual places to visit, and singular things to do while in Paris.
In this new series of articles, I will bring to your attention an assortment of such things which you are free to try out then and there. You can also find more data on my Paris guide Paris-Eiffel-Tower-News.com
Like Church Music?
Every Sunday and on non-worked days, the imposing Saint Roch Church hosts organ concerts from 5:30 to 6:00 PM. There is no entry fee, and the thrill is guaranteed for a good 30 minutes. This venue is known for this event, so show up well before 5:30 PM. The Church is located at 2 impasse Saint Eustache, between the “Châtelet-Les Halles” metro station and the Louvre Museum.
Free Couscous for All
The “La Cordonnerie” restaurant offers a nice, free couscous to its patrons every Saturday night at 9:00 pm. A simple principle: order a drink (less than 5 euros), and you get the couscous. At that price, it’s a steal. People know it, they flock to the place, and there is very little room available. The restaurant is located at 142 rue Saint Denis, near the “Etienne Marcel” subway station.
Bagdad Cafe in Paris
There is the arch-famous Bagdad Cafe on Route 66 (I ate there twice, yes!), and there is the much less famous but very lively Bagdad Cafe in Paris. On Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 9:00 pm the place is taken over by fans of gipsy jazz players (Django Reinhardt style) and French pop singers. Live music and drinks at reasonable prices, what better way to kill an evening? The address is 22 rue au Maire, in the 3rd district, near the “Arts et Metiers” metro station.
A Park Way Too Often Overlooked
Standing in the middle of the forgotten, off-centered 19th district, the Buttes-Chaumont park rolls out its majectic hills and narrow alleys over thousands of acres. Way too often overlooked by tourists and Parisians alike, the park is a haven of silence and peace. Joggers, strollers, families and lovebirds meet at this unique venue which is dominated by a rocky mound on top of which stands a small gazebo which resembles a Greek temple. An awesome place to spend a Sunday morning. The nearest metro stations are “Laumiere” and “Buttes-Chaumont”.
Antique Asia in Paris
The Cernuschi Museum shelters over 12,000 ancient objects of Chinese, Korean and Japanese origins, of which 900 are on permanent display in the beautiful 19th century mansion: from neolithic potteries, to statues and weapons of the 13th century. There is only one other museum in France which can compete with such a wealth of antique Asian art. This museum is worth its weight in gold! To visit it, go to 7 avenue Velasquez, near the “Villiers” metro station. Don’t go on Mondays, the mansion is closed.
Ah! The joys of visiting Paris in an unconventional way! You can imagine that a city which is 2,000 years old and has 1,000+ years of recorded history offers a lot more than can ever be summarized in writing. Facing such an abundance of things to see, which way should one go? My take (and that of my old pal Vincent Ramelli, who was born in Paris and is a die-hard Parisian) is that Paris is better discovered outside the path traced by the millions of visitors. Not to say that the Louvre Museum must not be part of your itinerary, not at all! But I just happen to think that if you include a detour to a less-well-known place such as those recommended in our Paris travel guide Paris-Eiffel-Tower-News.com, your stay in the French capital will become all the more interesting. You will have more local-color anecdotes to tell your friends. And your trip will be even more memorable. SO yes, I recommend that you try out new spots and venues, and I will continue suggesting those in further articles. Cheers!
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As a noted Paris specialist, Phil Chavanne has given many travelers advices and tips which made a big difference for their stay in Paris. Get the information you need to prepare your next trip to the French capital now.
I have Lonely Planet, Fodor's and Let's Go, but how would I ever be able to send them?
The best guide to the sights of Paris is probably the Dorling Kindersley Eyewitness Travel Guide to Paris. You can order one from their website http://us.dk.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780756615475,00.html Its just vastly better than the usual Rick Steve's/Frommer/Fodor's junk.
I know this sounds silly but being a "good" tourist is hard work and you should spend almost as much time preparing as you do actually being there. So don't just get a guide book but read thru it very carefully BEFORE you go.
Make a list of what you want to see based on your personal interests and the amount of time you have. Of course, its fine to come back to this forum with more specific questions after you have had the time to do some research of your own.
There's also a lot to Paris that is beyond the tourist sights. Its the ambience and the attitude of Paris which need to be lived and felt.
You should spend some time just strolling around the city to appreciate its architecture and to get a feel for its medieval layout, the Belle Epoch improvements of Baron Hausman, and the modernizations seen in places like the Les Halles Forum and the new Opera in the Place Bastille.
You should take a little time to just sit in a cafe in the Latin Quarter or St. Germaine and people watch. Go the Luxembourg Gardens and feed the pigeons. Watch little kids sailing toy boats in the big pond there.
Be a bit courageous about food. Go to places that don't cater to tourists and don't have English menus. Just point to things on the menu or, better still, walk into a cafe at lunchtime and ask for the daily special which you'll almost always see displayed on a chalk board. don't worry if you don't know what it is! Try it! The worst that will happen is that you'll have a hilarious story to tell about how you got served a calve's head with cream sauce or something else too weird for you to eat.
Mainly, don't stay in a tight little tourist cocoon. Strike up conversations with strangers, be open minded, put your map in your back pocket and just wander around, get lost, experiment, learn, take the time to really look at things.
Bonne chance!
I'm not sure where you found this information, but a ticket on the Eurostar is just that, a ticket to travel on the train from London to Paris. There is no tour guide, or anything else, included. Suggest you check the Eurostar website: http://www.eurostar.com
I think this can help you:
http://www.viamichelin.com/viamichelin/int/tpl/hme/MaHomePage.htm
just give your start city and your end city and voila! you get all info you need
You won't find it difficult to find your way around. Just get a good guide book, like Michelin, and it will tell you the places to go and how to get there. Much of Paris can be done by walking; just plan your days doing area by area so that you're not running around aimlessly.
Bear in mind that the Metro is easy once you know to look for the station that is at the end of the line. (In London, you look for "Eastbound", etc.)
I've done Paris many times, but spent a little time planning.
It's a wonderful city; have a lovely time.
This is probably not the answer you want to hear but my opinion is that all the travel guides are more of less alike and that no one guide is going to really be good for anything more than the usual tourist trip.
As I type this i am looking at my bookshelf of travel books. I must have something like 150 of which 30 or 40 concern France generally or Paris in particular. These include such obscure things as "Seeing Paris," a guide published in 1931.
I go to Paris just about every year and have been doing so for more than 30 years and yet before each trip I spend several weeks planning things out and researching. I read restauant reviews, check the blogs of ex-patriates in Paris, and make extensive notes. I have a database of Paris restaurants and night clubs with hundreds of entries that I constantly update with whatever information I can glean from the internet.
The bottom line here is that you should consider doing your own research from many sources and compiling your own personal guide book.
It will be better than anything someone else can give you and you may find, as I do, that the preparation for your trip is itself an interesting activity.
Give it a try. I know it sounds like a horrible idea but it really works and its fun.
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Be sure to request a hotel with air conditioning!!!!!
We stayed a few blocks from the Eiffel Tower and almost died of heat every single night! Because it was so hot during the day, it stormed every single night, which was kind of nice because we opened up our window and caught a breeze.
Be sure to bring a compact umbrella for everyone in your group – you don't want to lug around a huge golf umbrella, but you will definitely need to take one every where you go because the weather is iffy each day.
We visited the American Embassy when we first arrived, and they suggested we buy a pass for the underground train – not a good idea, as the train didn't stop near anything we wanted to see! So…….invest in some really good walking shoes and plan on doing the city by foot. It's the best way to really get close to the Parisians anyway. Remember — it's PARIS, so if you are easily offended, you'll be frequently offended! We witnessed a couple making love on the grass in a park right up from the Louvre! It fascinated my young son, who thought they were wrestling! LOL
Enjoy your stay — and plan to spend several hours standing in line for the Louvre and Tower, but they are SO worth it!
I wish you well!!!
The above advice is good, it's an excellent idea to get all the free information you can find. However, if you're shopping for a Guide Book I HIGHLY recommend Rick Steves' guide books for both locations. Rick has specific guides just for the cities of London and Paris as well as books on all of England and France in case you are traveling outside the cities. You shouldn't need to buy all 4, if you are leaving the cities, the country books alone should give you plenty of info.
I've always been a fan of Rick's books because he points you in inexpensive and fun directions that help you travel like a local but see all the touristy stuff. He also designs self walking tours of towns and museums. Saves you the money of paying for a tour and you've got all the info at your finger tips.
The Rick Steves books really are the most thorough and interesting. They also seem to be the only line that takes traveling like a local and costs in mind constantly. You can get used Rick Steves books on eBay, amazon or half. He comes out with a new version each year so you can get used 2005 or 2006 books that will still be accurate but will be a lot cheaper. Check out his other travel tips and info for London and Paris at his web site http://www.ricksteves.com
The Lets Go Guidebooks are also heavily recommended, but I find them a lot more boring and I've had bad experiences with hotels and restaurants they recommended.
Hope this helps, enjoy your trip!
Cheers.
the RER is complicated and sometimes you have to wait a while.
Better just taking the 3 line (green) to Opera and change for the 8 (purple) to Ecole Militaire.
You will be at the other end of the Champs de Mars, making for a fantastic 1km walk and build-up to the actual tower (it's a park built in the tower's perpective, so you admire it all the time you're walking.