Paris Planning a Trip
Tips on preparing for your trip to Paris from hotel suggestions to packing suggestions.
Paris Day Trips: Chateau de Versailles, Monet's Garden
Photo by Chris Card Fuller ©2008
If you’re spending three or more days in Paris, you may want to consider a day trip. Two of the most popular attractions within 50 miles from Paris are Monet’s Garden at Giverny in Normandy and Chateau de Versailles in Versailles (which is about twelve miles from Paris).
Depending on your time and budget, you can consider two approaches to visiting these two favorites.
Date: May 13th, 2008 |
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May Holidays in France
Fondation Cartier in ‘Spring’ (Actually I took this photo in February 2008 during our ‘faux spring’)
Hello May, good riddance April.
Date: April 30th, 2008 |
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One Day in Paris: Three Ways to Love It!
Photo by Chris Card Fuller 2008
Ask a Parisian or a long-time resident how he or she would spend one day in Paris, especially if it might be the first trip to Paris and the only trip to Paris. You won’t get an answer very quickly - what you get is a big sigh and a pause.
“Let me think about that!”
Because many boat tours and European tours only allow you one ‘free day’ in Paris, this is a dilemma for first-time visitors, so here are three completely different views about how to spend one ‘free day’ in Paris:
Date: April 5th, 2008 |
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Paris Plus Amsterdam
Photo by Chris Card Fuller ©2008
If you’re planning on spending two weeks in Europe, the hardest part of your trip may be deciding which cities will best complement one another. Judging by Travel Advisor’s recent survey, Paris is considered Europe’s most romantic city, the best city for shopping and the best place for great meals, but Amsterdam is where you want to go if you’re looking for a friendly welcome combined with great nightlife (Paris received the dubious achievement of ranking #1 for the most unfriendly residents).
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Date: March 16th, 2008 |
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The Paris Syndrome
Last week, Francois Hauter reported on ‘the Paris Syndrome’ (le Bloc-notes Parisien “Ces Parisiens auxquels la Ville Lumiere tourne le dos” Le Figaro March 1 ‘08)
This is the term coined by Japanese soujourners in the ‘City of Light’ when their dream city becomes their worst nightmare. In French the expression ‘avoir du cafard’ means ‘to be depressed’. The state of mind (when it happens to foreigners ) is also referred to as ‘culture shock’. Why should one be depressed when you live in the ‘most beautiful city in the world’?
Hauter mentions the fact that Japanese residents (there are approximately 30,000 living in Paris) are virtually invisible (especially when it comes to elections). He writes:
“They are invisible. Nobody asks them about anything. No one polls them before elections. Parisians act as if they don’t exist. However all these foreigners have chosen to be here out of love.”
Date: March 8th, 2008 |
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Welcome to Paris: Are you lost?
Photo by Chris Card Fuller ©2008
The sun is shining brightly here on the third day of May - and everywhere I look- visitors are studying their maps. If you are lost, don’t feel bad. Everybody gets lost in Paris - even Parisians. I have one word of advice - go to a newstand, kiosque or bookstore such as FNAC and buy a copy of the Plan de Paris (par Arrondissement et Communes de Banlieue).
I’ve mentioned this in past posts, but it never hurts repeating. The Plan is better than most maps (you’ll normally get a free map at your hotel or when you rent a car, but it won’t have all the details of the Plan de Paris). This is a book you can take home with you and bring back with you every time you return to Paris. I still have an old copy from the 1970s which looks like it was bought yesterday.
The Plan de Paris can be bought at FNAC for all of 7.32 Euros which is a real bargain considering how many times it will save you from getting lost over several decades. (While in FNAC you can also buy your Louvre museum tickets t the same time at their ticket Kiosque)
Above all, don’t be embarrassed about getting lost - and don’t let it stop you from exploring. The couple in the above photo hail from Australia. I was really happy to be able to help them find what they were looking for - the Louvre Museum. After saying goodbye to them before they crossed Rue du Rivoli headed toward the Tuileries Gardens and the Carrousel du Louvre - I proceeded to get lost. That’s because I had left my Plan de Paris back at the apartment.
Date: May 3rd, 2008 |
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Paris Without a Guidebook
So you’ve landed in Paris without a guidebook and without a clue. If you’re like me, you probably figured:
a) the guidebook was too expensive
b) too much excess weight for your backpack
c) you wouldn’t feel like reading a guidebook anyhow - you want to discover Paris for yourself
I have all sorts of guidebooks in Paris - and nine times out of ten I end up leaving the crucial restaurant guidebook at home - in the wrong handbag, etc. So here are some tips just for you - without a guidebook. You can print this up - it’s just one piece of paper that won’t weigh down your backpack.
Date: April 16th, 2008 |
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The Romance of Trains
Photo by Chris Card Fuller 2008
If you asked me where the most romantic place was in Paris, I would have to say the train station, especially on a Sunday night. Unlike travel by plane where travelers are separated from their loved ones either at a curbside drop-off or in a dismal parking lot, in Paris, couples cling to one another until the last possible moment. It’s impossible not to be touched by the electric sparks of passion that transform an otherwise grayish, impersonal train station such as Montparnasse into a veritable sighing, pulsating embrace.
Date: March 30th, 2008 |
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Learn to Speak French
“Why bother learning to speak French? It’s a dying language.”
This was the test question my examiner asked of me for my finals after studying French language and culture at the University of Paris for a whole year. It seemed like too easy a question for a final exam – but I’ve often noted that examiners love to give students questions including just enough rope to hang themselves.
Because this coming week (until March 24th’08) is ‘French language’ week, I thought it might be helpful to talk about the benefits of studying French
Date: March 14th, 2008 |
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Paris Deals from Multiple Travel Sites
If you are looking for a way to combine cheap airfare to Paris with a hotel special during your stay you normally have to check quite a few different websites in order to know you are getting the best deal. The good news is that BootsnAll has just added a new place where they sort all the best available deals from multiple providers and then put them all on the same page.
There are airfare deals departing from specific cities, hotel packages for once you arrive in Paris, and packages that combine …
Date: March 6th, 2008 |
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