Paris 202 - a pocket reference

This is for Nik, a long time friend since our student days in Washington DC and who is going to Paris for his honeymoon this August :)

Paris step-by-step:

1. Check in hotel (Your hotel at Place de la Concorde is at south end of Champ Elysee – Arc d’Triompe is at north end). Remember taxi cost double after 5PM.

2. I suggest the first thing you do is to relax at a Parisian café to sip a latte (and order some of those macaroons :) and sit back to watch people go by.

3. Buy carnet tickets (can be used on bus, metro, regional train) at metro station. Buy 10 tickets at 10.50 euro, buying individually will cost 1.40E each. Ask for a metro map – which will be extremely helpful to guide you around the different metro stations and tourist sites.

4. Take a romantic walk along Champ Elysee at nite. It is safe and relaxing. Avoid buying anything :) other than a movie and coffee or lunch/dinner.

5. Choose from any of the highlights below depending on your time there and your interest.

6. End your Parisian trip with the River Cruise along the Seine on your last nite (or accordingly). Make sure it’s the 9:20PM ride :) [ so get there earlier to get your tickets at River Bateaux - Pont de Alma].


Shopping
Champ Elysee – for designer goods: Louis Vuitton, Hugo Boss, Prada, etc. all in one street and along the streets parallel to it. Louis Vuitton near to Place de La Concorde has better service. The main one on George V is too snooty coz they got too many customers, and you’ll get barraged by Chinese syndicate trying to give you cash to buy for them LV products. I know all the ladies want to head there.. so this tip is for your future wife :)

Monoprix – at Champ Elysee the one right on the main street (across Paris 2012) is cheaper..don’t know why but prices are not standard. For example, for a lotion I was buying, the price ranges from 9.60 -14.80 euro for the SAME thing and size at 8 different pharmacies throughout that area and Paris.

Food and Beverages
Coke or soft drinks there are expensive .. around Paris.. around 2.00 to 2.50 Euro per can. Coffee around 3 – 4 euro a cup.

Lunch at Restaurant/Café will cost around 20 euro or more per person, McD about 7-10 euro. Dinner a bit or a lot more based on your picks.

Movies
All the tickets are expensive about 10 Euro, but show before 11 AM or is it 10AM will be a bit cheaper.. 7 or 8 Euro. I saw Starwars 3- Revenge of the Sith and Kingdom of Heaven both costed me about 10 euro a ticket, that was at Champ Elysee. There are 4 or 5 cinemas on that street. I don’t know price at other places but if you have to spend for metro, might as well watch it at the same area you are in.

Buy souvenirs either at

Port Maclignancourt
Must take metro all the way to end of route then walk with the crowds who will be heading to the same place.There’s also a huge indoor and outdoor antique market there, or

Anvers – all sorts of things under the sun, including French lace and tapestries.

There’s also mobile vendors (they walk around) selling much cheaper souvenirs in front of the Notre Dame cathedral itself and Tour Eiffel as well..don’t buy from stall/street vendors which are a sure rip off. If you are lucky there's a Filipino acapella singing group singing in front of the cathedral.. they are good.

Highlights

Mont Marte – Sacre Couer – Anvers
(same metro/bus stop); also Moulin Rouge (red light district) is within walking distance (metro/bus stop before Anvers)

Sacre Couer is a very romantic place to visit, you can either walk the steep steps and try to avoid all the Africans trying to sell you the love knots or take the funicular train for 1 carnet each way. There’s a café and souvenir shop on top of the funicular.

Notre Dame – Latin Quarters – Sorbonne
Quaint and beautiful area; my very favourite area! Many interesting stores as well as bookstores around almost every corner (secondhand English bookstores as well!), varieties of food eateries (many halal places along the quaint alleys) –but be careful of Greek restaurants – one of the restaurant proprietor chose MY head to break his plate and then quickly kiss it to bless me to say I’ll be lucky! I better be lucky coz it was PAINFUL! The café next to the Cathedral provide a great Parisian café ambiance but a bit steep.. nonetheless worth it for its ambiance :)

Mosque de Paris (for your sembahyang Jumaat as well), Jardin du Luxembourg and Jardin des Plantes (botanical gardens) are worth a visit. Metro Monge.

Barberi Fresh Market
Get off at Anvers metro stop – every Wednesday and Saturday. All sorts of fruits, vegetables and fresh produce – halal meat and seafood. Malaysians are well respected there by the mostly northern African vendors.

Champ Elysee
Champ Elysee links Arc de Triomphe in the north to the Place de la Concorde in the south. It’s a good walk..just make sure you wear comfortable shoes coz the avenue is about 2km long.

Tour Eiffel
Metro Stop Bir Hakeim. It’s nice to stop and have coffee and chocolate crepe half-way on top of Eiffel. You need all the calories if you are climbing the stairs :)

River Cruise on the Seine
A must do. It’s a romantic way to do Paris without much effort. Make sure you go for the 9:20PM ..the cruise takes about 1 hour and halfway around 9:45, the Eiffel Tower will be lighted up for about half hour. This is the highlight of this cruise. Bring a digital camera with a movie option. It will be worth it! The cruise will take you from Pont de Alma to around Ile de la Cite and Ile St. Louis and back again – basically cover all the major sites of Paris. Metro stop Pont de Alma which is a walking distance from Place de la Concorde. The no dinner ticket by River Bateaux cost 7 euro, there are more expensive cruises as well.

Must see museums
The Lourve (permanent collection 8.50 Euro - you won't have time to cover even this, so just pay for the basic ticket), Musee d’Orsay (Impressionist works) and Musee de l’Orangerie [ has Monet's Nympheas (water lilies) collection].

La Opera, Lourve, Lafayette
Within walking distance of the Lourve; designer retail outlets within these periphery..mostly clothes and accessories. Printemps is a big shopping complex.

Duty free
Drop by at Benelux; the other one Mariamoud is more expensive. (Must bring passport for duty free shop)

Palace de Versailles
There’s a train that goes from Paris (Gare du Nord) – one can make this a day trip; or if go by car.. rental goes around 85 euro per day..not bad option if you want to go out in the country for the weekend (maybe do Giverny and Normandy as well).

French country side – Monet’s Giverny and Normandy on same route.

Tips: Brush up on some basic French if you have a chance, it’ll help tremendously and the French will be smiling for you. In general the French are very proper people, not necessarily snobbish. Hardly anyone will speak English except for the tourists and foreigners. Anyway the French language is beautiful to the ears..da cour :)