Rikke and I are going to Paris next week. Anything we need to know?
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Do speak and understand French! ;)
P.S.: OK, this might sound like too basic to be a good advice (at least, put like that). What I mean is that you shouldn’t count on “getting away” with your English as could happen in other countries.
1) Everything is waaay expensive, so bring along enough money. Small minimarkets are much more expensive than chains. The cheapest chain is Ed.
2) Go to the Eiffel Tower early on weekdays to avoid long queues.
3) City center shops (apart from the Champs Elisees) close by 7/8 pm, so beware
4) Public transport is cheap and abundant, so grab yourself a tourist pass
5) Paris is somewhat flat, so don’t be afraid to walk: bring along your Nike’s
6) The Louvre is too big to see in a lifetime: choose the works you really can’t afford to miss, see them and then get out.
7) While on the outskirts (like the Cité des Sciences), beware because it’s dangerous. Around the Moulin Rouge is packed with prostitutes
8) Things you can’t miss: Montmartre, Gare d’Orsais, Louvre, the university district for it’s art shops and bookstores, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Arc Triomphe, a cruise in the river, a walk by the sine.
Beware: It’s full of French!
Damn you M!
I read this post via RSS and landed here just so I could post about Paris being wonderful, but unfortunately full of French people.
Great minds and all!
David Lynch has a big exhibition in Fondation Cartier (may be not your thing though)
Refuse to speak French and pretend to be an American, that should earn you lots of friends.
Actually, when I was in Paris (years ago) I spoke next to no French, but I never had a problem with anyone. I just stuck to the normal tourist stuff and no one bothered me or got angry with me at all. Even the waiters would help me read the stuff on the menus I couldn’t understand. So I guess my real advice is to just do the tourist thing. And go to the Louvre, skip the Mona Lisa, but definitely go,
You’ll love it.
Here’s my checklist:
Yep, those are my fondest memories.
If you can, practice a few phrases regarding the purchase of caffinated beverages (coffee) and the like.
Whilst a many French speak (or certainly have a good grasp) of English (particularly in the major centers like Paris), they do tend to be very parochial and will often expect you to at least attempt French first (this isn’t a dig, at all.. simply an observation).
It won’t be too bad in Paris itself, but if you head out a bit further – expect to have a good grasp of French to get around. ;)
I am a french guy and this is a little thing everyone should know about Paris and french people:
Paris and France are two things really different: parisians are not representative of french people… they just are… parisians ;)
Oh, and the “crème de marrons“ is absolutely delicious, made in the little corner of France where i’m born: Ardèche !
I totally agree with Aikyu. Even french people consider Paris as a different city, for from being representative of France. (I’m working here, but not living in)
Regarding the language, speaking english in Paris shouldn’t be a problem if you stick to tourists stuffs.
[quote comment=“102363”]Oh, and the “crème de marrons“ is absolutely delicious, made in the little corner of France where i’m born: Ardèche ![/quote]
Ah, that’s right! I remember. It’s good on pancakes, but it’s also great alone with creme fraiche! Thanks for that, I think I can actually buy this in my local IRMA store in Denmark!
In the middle of Paris there’s a tower like steel structure that should be worth seeing. Think it’s called the Fievel tower.
Walk around “the latin quarter”. Thats the old Paris.. Or they pretend to be anyways. It’s fairly cheaper than downtown and the spirit’s of Paris as it should be, is very much alive right there.
I love Paris and wish I was going myself.
Long time reader. First time commenter.
1. The Marais district. Nice bars, shops, galleries. Friendly atmosphere.
2. Have a drink at Buddha Bar, way expensive but still very good!
3. Eating Choucroute at La Coupole is a classic!
4. Monster Melodies at 9 rue des Déchargeurs. Second hand record store where you´ll go wild!!
Yeah, despite all the saying otherwise, English in Paris isn’t terribly frowned upon as long as you open with a few polite phrases in French. Generally, the Parisians will switch into a choppy English with a mild form of amusement and disdain, as long as you don’t go in guns blazing and assume people will speak English.
Paris is big. It’s much bigger than you think and it’s worth just spending half a day walking around the different boulevards just to soak up the spirit of the place.
If you do decide to go to the Louvre, get there as early as possible, and I mean early, like before the sun comes up. If you arrive during the day, you are not going to get in – the queue stretches on for miles and miles.
Eat out, a lot. If this is your first time in France, be ready for a surprise. The food really is as good as you’ve heard, at least if you’re coming from a Northern European ready-meal diet.
The Eiffel tower, well, yeah, you gotta do it, but like the Louvre, get there at 0700 to make sure you don’t waste a day in queues.
Visit the catacombs; they’re as close to real life Dungeons & Dragons as you will ever get.
Hi Mickael,
I’m a french guy, living in Paris. I LOVE that city, but I agree sometimes people can be unfriendly.
However, you don’t need to say you’re american… Haha… People will welcome you and help you find your way if you ask, etc.
As said before by others, you should buy a metro pass for your weekend (the one-day pass is called “mobilis” and allows you to go almost everywhere – so take two of them for you, and two for Rikke).
Places you must see : – Montmartre ( http://www.montmartrenet.com/ ) – Latin quarter ( St-Michel’s metro station, line 4) and the “Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris” (just the other side of the Seine river) – From there : take metro à “Place de l’Odéon” (that you must see also, beautiful streets and buildings) line 10 and come to see me 4 stations from there ! ( guillaume.lecrocq@gmail.com – seriously, I’d like a lot to meet you if you like, and if you want me to take you to Champs-Elysées or something…) Plus, a lot of shops, the “Bon Marché” is a very beautiful one, and a preview of “rich and beautiful” district. – Be sure to program your trip to “Les Invalides” (7th district, metro line 13, Invalides station) and from there, you can go through the Seine by the Alexandre III bridge (which is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful bridge in Paris) and go ahead to “Champs-Elysées “! (plan to spend at least 3 hours there) – You of course should go to the “Champs de Mars” and “Tour Effeil” ( The queue is usually very long to get up into the Tour Effeil) – Finally, the Marais (3rd district) is fine for architecture, pubs, etc. ( http://www.parislemarais.com/ )
As you will probably notice during your trip in Paris, you will almost never go to the east of Paris. Don’t worry, you won’t miss anything important.
Avoid “Châtelet-Les halles” on saturday afternoon : nothing important to see there and a lot of ‘useless’ people, and Châtelet is very big, you will lose more time to get out of there than to visit.
But, I also advise you to see “Rue de Rivoli” (lots of shops).
I don’t know if you will be able to do all that in one week-end.
Anyway, enjoy your visit of Paris, hope you will remember it for a long time !
Faithfully,
Guillaume
You can get a better view over Paris from Tour Montparnasse – better as the view from the Eiffel Tower, because you can´t see the Eiffel Tower when you´re standing on top of it. Also, there are no queues at Tour Montparnasse and it´s not too expensive. Vouchers are included in the Metro tourist tickets (paris visite).
Walk as much as you can rather than taking the Metro.
When I was out there in October I walked a truly ridiculous amount but it was worth it to just soak up the atmosphere of the city. Also the architecture on so many of the old buildings and palaces is simply fantastic.
I couldn’t believe how big the Louvre was from the outside but the thing that got me even more was the level of detail and consistency in the carvings etc. around the whole thing, it reall ytook my breath away.
Also, go up the Eiffel tower at dusk so you catch the sunset over the.city.
And finally, go over to The Palais de Chaillot (also called Trocadero) and catch the light show on the Eiffel tower that goes off on the hour each hour. If you catch it at dusk as well it’s truly stunning Proof :).
The Champs-Elysées (and the side streets) have the best shops ;) Oh, and I hope you have a decent sized memorycard for your camera, Paris has way too much to photograph.
Thought I’d chime in. I lived 2 years in France and I loved it.
Here are my top advice:
1. Open any interaction with a French word. “Bonjour” will do, if that’s all you can muster.
2. Eat! EAT! Go to restaurants all the time. Whenever you can squeeze in another bite of anything, enter a restaurant and order something. NOTHING in the world compares to French food. If you think “hmm… I’m not so crazy about fancy food”, its because you didn’t eat in France.
The French care so much about food that it’s unimaginable to us Danes. I have gone to restaurants with French people and they spoke about food on the way there, discussed every item on the menu while ordering, discussed which wines would go well with what, compared the food to some other restaurant we went to earlier, discussed all the dessert options and afterwards, you guessed it, discussed the whole experience. Not a word about work, relationships or politics. Just food.
Always order something from the chalk-written menus. They usually have about 5 options depending on what were the best ingredients they got that morning – these are always better than what you find on the printed menu. Savor everything. If you order meat, don’t expect it to be well-done. They like their meat bloody, because that’s how you can actually taste it.
Don’t fall for the temptation of going for some McDonalds. Just pass by a cafe and get a sandwich. Everywhere you go you will notice that Food Matters. I have had better food in French university cafés than I had in nice Danish restaurants.
Perhaps you are worried about gaining weight after all your jogging efforts? Worry not! The French eat fat cheeses and drink wine all day and they never get fat. Apparently the secret is the fresh ingredients and the No Tolerance attitude towards “industrialized” foods.
Summary: when in France, eat.
Enjoy.
don’t ware your favorite shoes, tons of shit all over. The homeless people get more money if they have dogs to support, so most homeless folk have 2 or 3 dogs!!
Cheers
‘Carne’ means ‘gimmie 10 metro tickets’, it’s reasonable and the best way to get round paris, after walking.
Like someone else said, around Pigal and the Latin Quater is the worst place for pickpockets, they can spot tourists from a mile off.
The Moulin Rouge will never live up to your expectations.
The Eiffel Tower is a must do EVERY time, plus its so much better at night time.
Have fun!
[quote comment=“102552”]Thought I’d chime in. I lived 2 years in France and I loved it.
2. Eat! EAT! Go to restaurants all the time. Whenever you can squeeze in another bite of anything, enter a restaurant and order something. NOTHING in the world compares to French food. If you think “hmm… I’m not so crazy about fancy food”, its because you didn’t eat in France.
[/quote]
Huh, when in Paris forget about the food. It sucks (usually). Unless you go to the really expensive restaurants or know exactly where you can go. There is one really good one in the middle of the River Seine (expensive). One thing though, they hardly use any spices at all here, ever.
Go to the “Hotel de Ville” and get a leaflet called “Restaurant Guide”, it’s free. They also have city maps for free.
All the comments are good. The Parisians are certainly NOT representative of the rest of the people of France, who are warm, friendly, and very much human. METRO pass is your best transportation bet. Good sturdy walking shoes, since the sidewalks are frequent collectors of biological waste of all types, and oil and god-knows-what. Our sidewalks in this country are spit & shine clean compared to theirs. The hand-written chalk menus offer the best values, I’ve found. Stay away from blood sausage; they do have the best steak & fries, though. Oddly, I never got hassled for being an American — -when asked where I was from, I would routinely reply “Georgia”, and they thought I was talking about the Soviet Georgia. (Canadians were never hassled, incidently) Bon Voyage!!
That’s because Canadians are loved everywhere! :D
Tips are not obligatory, do not believe the employee in cafe when they say otherwise !!!! So mush foreigners get robbed off by those asshole ( I hate french café even if I live in france … )