Paris Advice Please

[iAlex]

Leaving for Paris tomorrow landing at CDG and staying;

Avenue Eiffel, 78420 Carrières-sur-Seine, Yvelines, Ile-de-France, France

We plan to jump in a taxi from airport when we arrive, give luggage etc.

However, from there, is it easy to jump on some sort of Metro to get to the attractions? Is it easy? Expensive?

I literally am doing my first fact search tonight and just looking to be a bit more prepared.

Any other tips appreciated about the trip on the whole?

Only thing I have sorted is dinner here http://www.avenue-restaurant.com/ on Saturday evening.

Cheer in advance!

[anonymous-user]

You're about 12 miles or so out of the centre of Paris, out to the North West of the City. CDG is to the North East and a very healthy taxi ride - prepare for big €s!

On a more positive note, you have an RER station in Houilles - Carrieres Sur Seine on the RER A line (A3/A5 Branch) which will take you into Chatelet Les Halles (major interchange in Central Paris) in 20 mins or so.

Enjoy!

[iAlex]

Perfect, exactly what I was wanting someone to tell me so thank you very much.

[Matt Harper]

CDG to Montparnasse by taxi is about E100. Using the Airport bus service to do the same is E13 and takes around 40 minutes, depending on traffic.

[iAlex]

So from the airport, and in order to save €100 on taxi fares, would you use the RER or the airport bus service?

[anonymous-user]

It's easy and very cheap to get into Paris from CDG by train on the RER B line. Conveniently, it stops at Chatelet Les Halles, from where you can transfer directly onto RER A to take you to Houilles-Carrieres.

No idea how far your hotel is from there, but can't imagine it would be more than a few € away...

It's not a bad journey at all, and the trains are typically clean, on time, and run frequently.

Probably the best site for info on Paris trains is www.parisbytrain.com - or send me a PM as I spend much time in Paris..

[arun1uk]

agree with the posts above. avoid the taxis if possible. I went to Paris last month and loved it, stayed on the champs ellysee and took the metro everywhere. Very easy system to use.

Incidently, if you havent booked a tour of Paris already, I'd highly recommend this:
http://fattirebiketours.com/paris
Do the Segway tour, it's great fun and the guides are amazing. If you get Seth, he's a great guy...ask him about his subaru!

Have fun!

[iAlex]

Thanks had ham, very helpful - have printed out the RER map and have marked on the airport and stops that we need, much appreciated.

I have looked into the Segway Tour and pretty sure this is something we will do, although it's a shame they have stopped running the night tours as of the end of October. I think I would have preferred the evening.

I felt a lot more comfortable with Berlin and Germany in general when taking breaks over there as I have a decent working knowledge of the language. French is erm... a different language to me I do have the iPhone translator app though. I hate coming across as ignorant and not having made any effort whatsoever to learn the language, so will make an effort!

[Gizmo!]

Have you looked at Google Street View?

I might have done that first - I hope it's not a romantic weekend?

Just as a small warning, Paris is damn expensive at the moment, I was there last week. Restaurants remain decent value though because it's off-season. I recommend finding rue de Buci and/or rue Mouffetard on the left bank for a wide range of excellent eateries.

[iAlex]

Well aware of where the hotel is. We picked it for the pool/jacuzzi/hot tub and for it being an aparthotel. Got good reviews and was much cheaper than central Paris. In fact, the OH overruled my initial Eiffel Tower hotel.

http://www.residhome.com/hotel-residence-aparthote...

One-bed apartment for 3 nights for less than €300.

[stuttgartmetal]

The metro's brilliant.
However, bring loads and loads of cash.
Eyewateringly expensive.
Two beers, one portion of frittes, 30E

[iAlex]

stuttgartmetal said:

Two beers, one portion of frittes, 30E

Thank feck I saved on the hotel :P

[anonymous-user]

Paris CAN be eye-wateringly expensive, but it can be far more reasonable if you follow some simple rules - particularly for eating and drinking;

• The tourist areas and main drags/squares are for sightseeing only - DO NOT under any circumstances stay there to eat or drink - two coffees in a cafe on a corner plot on the Champs Elysees can easily be €10. Head into the side streets, further the better, and prices reduce by 30% almost immediately.

• Locate more residential and commercially biased areas close to the sights and the cafes/pubs/bistros/restaurants will be far, far cheaper. The above two coffees will be more like €5. Service will be a million times better. Paris has many neighbourhoods, intermingled with the sights - so not difficult to do. Non-premium shopping areas can be cheaper too.

• Sounds obvious, but always seek out those places packed to the rafters with local French people rather than tourists (very easy to tell apart!) and often the shabbier the better. Again, typically far cheaper and usually much better fare.

• Take advantage of carnet (books of tickets) and discount cards for getting around/admissions - can reduce the price dramatically.

• Use Metro and RER - very cheap (compared to UK/London) - and never use the taxis. They are expensive and you have a 50% chance of being ripped off (not too badly, but still...). Better still, walk, Paris is a small, compact city.

Hope you're enjoying it!

[iAlex]

What an absolutely fantastic weekend I have had.

Expensive, sure, but really, really special.

On a PH note, the Renault and Toyota shops/outlets on the Champs were pretty cool.

Will put up a few of the pics tomorrow.

Once again, thanks for all the advice. I had snails every night as a starter after enjoying them so much on the first night!