Three days in Paris - tips and suggestions
Discussion
Having decided to base our ourselves in Montematre on the back of some worthy advice on a different post, we are currently looking at planning our trip to Paris.
Could I please have recommendations for areas to avoid in Paris, whether that be on the basis that they do not offer much or are simply, holes (my only other experience of Paris is going to St Denis for the football a few years ago and being rather shocked at the area of the city it was in).
We are eager to get a good mix of everything, from the grand monuments to the markets, shopping (my credit card is already whimpering) and sampling the cuisine (not silly prices though).
Could I please have recommendations for areas to avoid in Paris, whether that be on the basis that they do not offer much or are simply, holes (my only other experience of Paris is going to St Denis for the football a few years ago and being rather shocked at the area of the city it was in).
We are eager to get a good mix of everything, from the grand monuments to the markets, shopping (my credit card is already whimpering) and sampling the cuisine (not silly prices though).
check out the VeliBs
Stunning!!
We initially thought they were local pushbikes for local people but theyre not at all
You are never more than 200m from a rack of good clean rent-a-bikes and Paris is very bike friendly if you keep your eyes open for bike lanes
I even got my missus on one
Staggering out of a bar/restaurant at midnight then bombing down hill to the river for a brandy at Notre Dam isnt to be missed
Cheers !!
EDIT: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velib
Stunning!!
We initially thought they were local pushbikes for local people but theyre not at all
You are never more than 200m from a rack of good clean rent-a-bikes and Paris is very bike friendly if you keep your eyes open for bike lanes
I even got my missus on one
Staggering out of a bar/restaurant at midnight then bombing down hill to the river for a brandy at Notre Dam isnt to be missed
Cheers !!
EDIT: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velib
Edited by ukdavvy12 on Tuesday 18th November 12:21
If you are looking for inexpensive but halfway decent food head to the left bank (get off the metro at Notre Dame) and it's a whole area of tourist/traditional places to eat and drink.
If you'd prefer something a bit more upmarket don't head there at all.
I've been four or five times now, and if I was to go back I'd want to re-visit Sacre Couer (you'll be near that anyway), Pere Lachaise (the communards graveyard, Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf etc)
The Effiel Tower is best done at night, queue's are massive during the day. Alternatively you can walk up on one of the legs, which never has a queue during the day - but it takes ages and is damm scary! Altitude 95 in the tower is a decent meal. Or there is always the Jules Verne in the other leg if you feel flush?
Shopping - head down to Galleries Lafayette - plenty very nice stores (designer) in this mall. Makes it easier to shop, otherwise you'd be all over the city.
ETA - the bateaux pasisian river cruise for dinner is very nice.
All of these are marked on metro maps.
HTH
If you'd prefer something a bit more upmarket don't head there at all.
I've been four or five times now, and if I was to go back I'd want to re-visit Sacre Couer (you'll be near that anyway), Pere Lachaise (the communards graveyard, Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf etc)
The Effiel Tower is best done at night, queue's are massive during the day. Alternatively you can walk up on one of the legs, which never has a queue during the day - but it takes ages and is damm scary! Altitude 95 in the tower is a decent meal. Or there is always the Jules Verne in the other leg if you feel flush?
Shopping - head down to Galleries Lafayette - plenty very nice stores (designer) in this mall. Makes it easier to shop, otherwise you'd be all over the city.
ETA - the bateaux pasisian river cruise for dinner is very nice.
All of these are marked on metro maps.
HTH
Edited by smutbag on Tuesday 18th November 12:49
Edited by smutbag on Tuesday 18th November 13:07
Tizer - I went to Paris last Christmas to propose to the missus.
Wonderful place, great memories.
Here is my thread which may or not help:
http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?h=0...
I would recommend the river cruise but wear thick clothing! In fact, pack lots of warm clothes as it is bloody freezing.
If you eat in one place, make it Le Jardin D'Ivy on Rue Mouffetard. Fantastic food, great value, brilliant hosts. It was fantastic.
Enjoy, and let us know how you got on.
L83
Wonderful place, great memories.
Here is my thread which may or not help:
http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?h=0...
I would recommend the river cruise but wear thick clothing! In fact, pack lots of warm clothes as it is bloody freezing.
If you eat in one place, make it Le Jardin D'Ivy on Rue Mouffetard. Fantastic food, great value, brilliant hosts. It was fantastic.
Enjoy, and let us know how you got on.
L83
If you have comfortable shoes walking around is easy, to get to sacre coeur best take the metro though, which is easy to navigate. Beware of the traders that operate on the steps down from the sacre coeur, they quickly cut us off from our son who was 8 at the time and tried to force bangles on him so we'd have to buy, they were quite scary and caused quite a bit of upset.
To get your bearings grab a ticket for one of the tour buses - one of them operates from eiffel tower, ad you can hop on and off as you see fit.
The Trocadero provides a wonderful view of the tower.
Rue Moffetard is a wonderful street, kind of like 'old' paris, and it is in fact one of the oldest streets in the city. Its well worth getting a coffee and watching the people as they go shopping on a saturday/sunday morning
Look out for the stencil art or pouchoirs around the area - this is where the style that Banksy practices started in the 1980's. well worth seeking out - there's an original Jef Aerosol 'Hitchcock' stencil in one of the alleyways just off Mouffetard.
If the weather is nice it doesn't get much better than taking your time and sitting around the pool in the Tuilleries gardens.
Cheaper but decent hotels can be found on the Rue des Ecoles by the sorbonne university.
If you want beer, burger and televised sport there is a good canadian bar on the quai of the left bank just down from and opposite Notre Dame.
Have fun -V V V V jealous, hope to get back there soon.
To get your bearings grab a ticket for one of the tour buses - one of them operates from eiffel tower, ad you can hop on and off as you see fit.
The Trocadero provides a wonderful view of the tower.
Rue Moffetard is a wonderful street, kind of like 'old' paris, and it is in fact one of the oldest streets in the city. Its well worth getting a coffee and watching the people as they go shopping on a saturday/sunday morning
Look out for the stencil art or pouchoirs around the area - this is where the style that Banksy practices started in the 1980's. well worth seeking out - there's an original Jef Aerosol 'Hitchcock' stencil in one of the alleyways just off Mouffetard.
If the weather is nice it doesn't get much better than taking your time and sitting around the pool in the Tuilleries gardens.
Cheaper but decent hotels can be found on the Rue des Ecoles by the sorbonne university.
If you want beer, burger and televised sport there is a good canadian bar on the quai of the left bank just down from and opposite Notre Dame.
Have fun -V V V V jealous, hope to get back there soon.
Montparnasse (assuming you can still go up it) offers some fantastic views.It also wasn't very busy when we went.It's a rather large skyscraper/towerblock by the way and has an observation deck.A superb alternative to the rather crowded Effiel Tower!
Also, a word of warning, a friend of ours who had been to Paris many times warned us of pickpockets on the Metro.He then managed to have his wallet stolen as we traveled on it! This was several years ago though, so things may have improved.
Also, a word of warning, a friend of ours who had been to Paris many times warned us of pickpockets on the Metro.He then managed to have his wallet stolen as we traveled on it! This was several years ago though, so things may have improved.
Edited by Digby on Tuesday 18th November 21:46
At a recent dinner we were fortunate to win a proze in the raffle which was three night in Paris in a nice four star place ... going on Eurostar too.
Just got the details through ... very nice hotel right in the centre.
SO this thread makes good reading as I've only been once, a long time ago.
Just got the details through ... very nice hotel right in the centre.
SO this thread makes good reading as I've only been once, a long time ago.
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