Archive for February, 2008
French Sim Cards for your US Cellphone in Paris
Where is Jason Bourne when you need him? I’m catching a train at the Gare St. Lazare station – and, as usual, have postponed switching my American sim card to a French one for the last possible minute.
There are many things that I love about the Bourne trilogy – particularly the Pont Neuf scene in Paris, but his ease at switching Sim cards is sheer artistry.
Luckily, I didn’t have to try duplicating that for this quick switch. The trick is finding a Sim card provider when you want one. i.e. they’re always around when you already have your cell phone (or portable as they’e called here) up and running.
Around the Gare St. Lazare station, you’ll find a French Telecom/Orange boutique just to the left of corner when you exit from the station’s main entrance.
Date: February 21st, 2008 |
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Hotels around Gare du Nord Train Station
Photo by Chris Card Fuller ©2008
The first question you should be asking yourself when considering a hotel in Paris is the safety of the neighborhood. Quite honestly, the Gare du Nord (10th arrondissement) neighborhood would not be the place I’d suggest for anyone coming to Paris for the first time. Today’s walk around the Gare du Nord only confirmed my feelings.
That being said, it is also the sad fact that this is where the famous Eurostar arrives from London. I guess when they were …
Date: February 20th, 2008 |
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Pamela Anderson Peels for Seals in Paris
Web in France reports that Pamela Anderson was the star attraction this Valentine’s Day at the Crazy Horse Saloon, once of Paris’s most famous ‘feathers clubs’. The Crazy Horse along with some of the other great night spots - like Bobino and the Folies Bergeres have also shed some of their cliches to bring ever more innovative and imaginative ways to appreciate the female form.
Date: February 20th, 2008 |
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Malaise Update: Is Wifi Dangerous to your health?
Just received more information about the suspension of Free Wifi in several Paris libraries. According to a Numericable employee, the Wifi service was suspended in a number of Paris’s libraries because employees were complaining of migraine headaches. Apparently, the Wifi power was much higher than the level used in private homes.
As a test, Wifi was installed in a public building in th 13th without informing the employees. There was an increase in the number of absences in the following month due to migraines.
For those of you who suffer from migraines, you …
Date: February 20th, 2008 |
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Malaise in Paris
The word for discomfort, or uneasiness in French is ‘malaise’. There are many reasons I love France and one of its most endearing attributes can be the seemingly lack of logic - at least on the surface. Otherwise, what could possibly explain my surprising discovery regarding the current lack of Free WiFi service at the Vandamme branch of the City of Paris library system?
Since last November, Free Wifi service has been suspended at this branch. I assumed it was because of a malfunction. No one at first seemed to know when it would - …
Date: February 19th, 2008 |
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How to find a typically French restaurant in Paris
The answer is not simple. After years of visiting France, I’ve come to this conclusion. The best way to find a really good, inexpensive and typically French restaurant - and enjoy it - is to learn to speak French first.
This is not meant to sound haughty - or snobbish - or preachy - but learning to speak the language REALLY makes a huge difference, so if you’ve come to France to study the language - you’re here on a 3-month or 6 month program and you’re getting either fed up or frustrated with trying to conjugate verbs, remember some day, you’ll say ‘It was worth it.”
Of course there’s short cuts. You could go out and buy Catherine Jarrique’s book “Les Meilleurs restos a petits prix” (The Best restaurants for a small price). Take your French/English dictionary in hand - and explore, and tumble into a neighborhood lunch spot tucked into a ‘Cite’ or passage like I did today (thanks to the help of Mme Jarrique’s book!).
What I liked about
Lou Cantou was its straight forward cuisine, simple plates with no pretention. With flavor right on target. Along with that, being able to exchange a few words with table mates and wait staff really makes one feel more at home. A big part of dining in French is also being able to talk - food and conversation are almost inseparable. (If you don’t have anyone to talk to, you’re probably on your cell phone).
So, brush up your French, or find yourself a bilingual friend who will help introduce you to the fine art of dejeuner in Paris.
Date: February 20th, 2008 |
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Gare du Nord: Police and Fire Engines
Tuesday, February 19th ‘08. Winter school break has begun and Gare du Nord (site of past disturbances) seems to continue to demand a police presence. Today a number of police cars and police agents were stationed around the front entrance to Gare du Nord as well as two fire trucks. A fire hydrant had been left open and had partially flooded one portion of the pedestrian walkway. Pedestrian traffic in and around the train station continued to move normally. At 5 pm there was no sign of any disturbances in the rail station. …
Date: February 20th, 2008 |
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Grand Hotels for Grand Train Stations
If you love taking trains, you may not always love the idea of searching for a hotel nowadays in the vicinity of train stations. In many cities ‘train station hotels’ have a negative connotation. Dingy is the first word that comes to find.
In Paris, you can still find one of the grand hotels that built its fame hand -in hand with the construction of the Gare St. Lazare train station.
Grand Hotel Terminus’s first stones were set in 1888. Known today as the Hotel Concorde …
Date: February 20th, 2008 |
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Je ne suis pas ‘Une Petite Anglaise’: Blogging dangerous to your marital bliss?
The eve before catching my train into Paris from Normandy, one of our neighbors carefully pulled me aside and handed me a copy of this past Sunday Times (February 17the) ‘My Online Liaison Dangereuse by Catherine Sanderson’
“You need to read this. It reminds me of you.”
It would take a long time to explain, but Parislogue is a travel guide - not a blog. So I could have told our neighbor to rest assured that there is no need to worry.
I may be obsessed with a computer …
Date: February 19th, 2008 |
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Best train ticket prices
Trying to make sense of SNCF train ticket fares is daunting. I’ll be the first to admit - I’ve barely touched the tip of the iceberg. All I can say is that -picking up your tickets over the internet is not ALWAYS your best fare.
Case in point. Recently, I tried booking round trip tickets from Bernay to Paris. The SNCF site didn’t accept the credit card so instead I went over to the Bernay station and picked up round trip tickets for 10 Euros less than what I would have paid on the internet. Not only that, but I can use the tickets whenever I want - there’s no reserved seats. The clerk told me I just need to go to the last wagon which has unreserved seats.
Date: February 17th, 2008 |
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