Anybody from France/Paris, been to paris? Planning to have a vacation in Paris late in March this year, and I'm looking for a modest hotel room at a reasonable price for 2/3 nights. Any suggestions for places to look around, sight-seeing are welcome. I'll be carrying my US driving license, so may rent a car for those days. Please help!

Thanks in advance!
Magdadela

I am glad you started this thread because even I am going to France this month along with other neighboring countries. I will be in France in the week of 20th of this month. I would greatly appreciate advice from those of you who have been to France and have knowledge of France. Can someone tell me what will be the easiest way to visit neighboring countries as well? I heard Euro - rail passes are valid for a day only. What are other alternative ways are there to visit Western Europe?

Thanks in advance

Its easy, just take a train everywhere....

wow paris, one of the bestest places la monde. many monuments, old buildings, chuirches, musuem..BEST for vacation .. la louvre, sacré coeur, la pantheon, la tour d'eiffel.. hmm baguetteee! one thing, you HAVE to travel on métro

napoleon's tomb et mona lisa de léonardo da vinci!!

In my experiance no need to hire a car , European public transport is supub but don,t fly without hotel booking.and click www.ryanairhotel.com

Wow,
awesome info. Thanks to all of you. I'm going with my better half and two young kids, so I'll need a modest, private room with double beds. Can't wait to be there. I'm still waiting for my ticket confirmation.

Thanks!
Magdadela

don't hire a car seriously in europe, its bettere traveling in the subway!! the traffic's a disaster and very expensive parkings plus its scary how they dont have traffic rules, people drive with eye contacts!! bonne journée à paris!

Well! i was in paris last year.
my suggestions.

1) do not travel in march because rain could disturb u and its little bit cold in march.
2)be careful while travelling in metros and local transports system bcoz there is lots of pic pocketing cases.
3)dont forget to take a tour in sighseeing bus which starts from the Effel tower. its 2 hours trip and paris trip is nothing without it. and its not so expensive.
4) if you have never been to Disney land in US then go and try it.BUT if you have plan to visit Florida in future then you can drop this plan.

i had hired a car during my visit, it was a great experince of my life because i travelled toward BERLIN(Germany) from Paris. If you have also plan to visit germany also then hire a car, it will be an unforgotable tour of your life. Because in the AUTO BAHN (motorway) of germany ,it's permitted to drive up to 200km/h in the left lane.

if you are planning to hire a car then do not forget to have a satelite navigation. i stayed in ebis hotel. i liked this hotel, it could be found every where in the europe and i paid 45 euro for dobbel bed room. u can find ti www.ebishotel.com

if u need more info then don't be shy to ask me.

Very well said ladyinred..that ketchup thing made me Laugh my a** off.

Well said ladyinred. To add to her list of things not to do to look stupid or out of place, do not wear sweat-pants or sweat-shirts, more so with your college/university mascot or US flag, or shorts to restaurants. It just looks trashy in the european environment.
If you lack a good sense of fashion style, look around and try to pick some from the people there.

And when in France, try their smoked salmon sandwich. It is delicious.
And expect most public places in France to smell of cigratte smoke as almost everyone seems to smoke there.

If visiting Eiffel Tower, plan to spend at least few good hours there and do so in the evening so that you can enjoy the picturesque tower when it starts to get dark with it's golden lights.

It is hard to visit place where they don't wanna speak english PERIOD. The menu is not in english wotsoever. It took me 2 hours to find an place who spoke back to me finally when I asked them give me anything to eat, MAKE SURE YOU GET ME BEER I AM TIRED OF LOOKING AROUND NOW> LOUDLY>FEW Foreigners Laughed but hell wot the heck>>>>finally that guy silently broke a little english and said beer and fry - he probably meant fries - I said thank god someone does understand the language - Even nepalese at nepal speak better english but nOOOOOOOOO even if they knew he wouldn't break a word of english - One time was enough for me got to see the tower and took a fairy boat ride that was enough no more - I guess next time Spain and Italy will be better as I heard they do comprende english...

Yes, go to the Louvre, as ladyinred suggested, but don't be suprised if the Mona Lisa turns out to be smaller than you expected. Some people are known to pass it by without realizing it is the real thing

:)

Namaste Captain!
Where were u lost????
:)

Sadly, nowhere too fancy - only in the hurly burly of mundane life :)

Hope all is well with you Birkhe. What's new with you these days?

Enough said already but I might add a few lines to the resume of Paris attractions.

-Did someone mention about canal cruise on the river? It will be worth it.

-Best months: May - August.

-Cars? No I won't hire a car if I were you. It's just like London with its labyrinthine web of streets - boulevards rather and the traffic is just horrendous. So, take bus or the Metro - best means to get around places.

If you happened to be a literary/arts loving type, why not explore the city's glittering literary history? Far too many names: Henry James, Oscar Wilde, Sartre, Camus, Beckett, Picasso, Gertrude Stein, Scott Fitzerald AND Ernest Hemingway, the Lost Generation's foremost luminary - who else!

If you've got time, try the cafes on the boulevard Montparnasse, Hemingway's fav eat-out place. There's then Cafe de Flore on the boulevard St-Germaine where some god called Sartre discussed his weird existentialist rubbish (:-) with his 'not-so-godly' friends and ehh..also funnily found time playing footsie with his life-long companion and muse Simone de Beauvoir. Cheeky git eh! :-)

Read Hemingway's 'A Moveable Feast'
Also if you have got time, watch a Woody Allen film - 'Everyone Says I Love You'

Paris is most definitely the most romantic of all cities - it has that rare charm. Gertrude Stein had apparently said: America is my country but Paris is my hometown. Like the big old Hemingway would agree, Paris is doubtless a big 'moveable feast' - it'll forever remain with you. Some fond memories. Oh well.

Good luck with your trip

***********
Captain,
Billions of bilious blue blistering [bloody] barnacles.. :-)

Long time no see!

Most romantic city re? I would say one of the most commercilized city these days. Unless you manipulate your own mind and stand infront of the tower saying ahhhhhhh how romantic hehe.

Florence is probably one of the most gorgeous cities on the planet. Small, Sweet and relaxed people...

Well, I have been to Florence, have I? So, it's got to be the one for me at least.

As for the most romantic landscape, Tuscany head and shoulders tops the list. Blame it all on Puccini, Andrea Bocelli, and all those Bertulucci films! :-)

Hope all is well with you. Hey do you know what M'Rose's upto doing these days - her conspicuous absence makes my heart grow fonder re kya.. If I were to say this to Nirman, I will end up having a few dozen of tutulkas firmly stamped on to my poor head with his bursts of verbal fireballs.. So, I'd better not dare! :-) Where is he too? Or is he also sporting some fancy name? Gentlemaninblack.. howabouthat eh!

Take care.

""I have been to Florence""

to read:

'I haven't been to Florence'

A bad case of dyslexic spells that I'm having to nurse, I am afraid!

Heheh Mr Sneaky... no comments cause the answers are in your head... :)

So, the 'answer is, ladyinred, blowing in the head' eh.. Blimey.. now I know why they have big heads, small, flat, conical, whingeing, snivelling heads. But why is mine alway sore? Now I know why. Because one elusive kanyaa in raato saari from the Third Reich stole all my Cetamol tablets the other day, innit? :) That's why!

Hey, I had better stop yapping about or the beefy 'gentlemaninblack' will come and bang me 'sore head' on to the wall. Oh my. :-)