Firstly I would like to make two big thankyous. To the people from trip advisor who took the time to reply to my questions and gave me invaluable advice and to the people of Paris who were polite, kind and helpful.
We flew Air France on time and very friendly. Took the Metro to our hotel 8 Euro each (we only had hand luggage). Stayed at Best Western Jardin De Cluny in the Latin Quarter (131 euro a night).The room was small but had everything we needed, it is in a great location and the staff were attentive and spoke very good english.
We purchased a 6 Day Museum Pass (60 euros) and it was well worth it, we visited places we might have walked past without the pass. I must confess we were very fortunate that we arrived in Paris when we did. There were hardly any tourists the first five days we were there. We walked straight into all the museums and major sights without any waiting and even the lines without the museum passes were either very small or non existent. The last two days were a different story. Suddenly there were long lines and masses of people (mainly American) everwhere, so I guess the American holiday season had begun. The only thing we didn%26#39;t do was go up the Eiffel Tower as we had left it to the last couple of days and the lines were horrendous so we took T.A. advice and went to Montparnesse which had a great view.
A few quick tips:
Clothes: Stop all the worry, wear what you would normally and definately wear your most comfortable shoes. I gave up counting the white runners I saw after the first 2 hours. The Parisians do not care one bit, they are to busy going about their daily life to worry what the tourists are wearing. I thought the locals dressed no different to any other major city I have been in they just have a certain confidence about them.
Metro: Once you get the knack it works great and there is always station staff or a local on the platform who is more than willing to confirm you are going the right way.
Language: Do try and learn a few words. Just the basics please, thankyou, good morning/evening, numbers 1-10 etc. I knew about 20 words and it got me through. I sounded shocking, I know, an Australian murdering such a beautiful language but the French didn%26#39;t seem to mind, I got my point across and I am sure gave them a laugh for the day.
Getting around: You will do alot of walking. We walk 5km everyday at home for exercise but in the first few days in paris we reckon we walked 15km a day. My feet were so tired and we didn%26#39;t have a bathtub in our room so I resorted to a strong shopping bag filled with enough water to soak my feet one at a time sitting on the side of the bed. A funny sight but it worked. There is also lots and lots of stairs so be warned.
Arrondissements: My favourites were the 5th,3rd,4th and 16th (we took a wrong turn somehow going to musee marmottan and ended up in a lovely neighbourhood but that tends to happen alot in Paris.
Food: It can be very expensive. We are not %26quot;foodies%26quot; and only ate in cafes and grabbed beautiful salad rolls, crepes and pasteries on our travels. Every morning we had breakfast at a cafe opposite Notre Dame called Cafe Le Petit Pont, coffee, juice, 3 pasteries and cake for 6 Euro. We also went to the local supermarket and stocked up on bottle water,coke etc. Fruit stands are everywhere so it was easy to buy fresh everyday.
Highlights: The people, the atmosphere, the pastries, walking along the Seine at night eating an icecream from Ile St. Louis, having 8 full days to just get lost in Paris.
Disappointments: None really. I had been forewarned by T.A. about the gypses. They were kids mainly 10-16 years old around Notre Dame, Arc De Triomphe and some of the touristy streets asking if you spoke english. We just ignored them or just said a firm no and they moved away, sad really they should be in school. Monmartre, I know alot of you love this area but we walked around and around trying to find the charm and quiet streets. There were so many people and scam artists doing the string on the finger trick and in the end we collapsed into a cafe dying for a cold drink, ordered 2 cokes and was charged 16Euro. Maybe we went on a bad day.
Favourite day trip. Chantilly and Senlis. Easy and charming.
I have tried to be brief but if anyone has any questions I will be more than pleased to answer them and if you are thinking of going just do it you won%26#39;t be disappointed.
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How did you get out to Chantilly, and what did you find there that made it a favorite trip?
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This I guess :
http://www.chateaudechantilly.com/
and this :
museevivantducheval.fr/english/homepage.html
It%26#39;s my favorite sidetrip to recommend to foreing friends, given that Versailles is not really a side trip!
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We caught the train (about 40 minutes)SNCF Gare du Nord. RER D Chantilly-Gouvieux. There is a bus at Chantilly station that takes you to the chateau and onto Senlis, take this bus it is on your left as you leave the station. The fare is included to the chateau in your train ticket and to Senlis it is about 3 Euro. You can also walk to the Chateau (about 15 minutes). We liked Chantilly as we are interested in horses and the chateau is on Chantilly racecourse. It is not to big and has lovely gardens. There is also a huge stable building (looks nothing like a stable) as the Prince thought he would come back in his next life as a horse and built the beautiful building for himself. It is not as grand as versailles (which is truely impressive and must be seen) but has fabulous artwork including Rapheal. There were far less people there and it just felt less hectic.
The little town of Senlis is about 15 minutes away. The old town dates back about 1000 years I think and has a huge gothic church, vestiges of a royal palace and cobblestone streets. We went to the chateau first and caught a cab to senlis but it probably would have been easier to stay on the bus go to Senlis first then go back to the bus station to catch the bus back to the chateau. We couldn%26#39;t find the bus stop at first in senlis as the cab had dropped us off on the other side of town. We should have just asked someone but instead wasted about 1hour walking around in circles when it was right under our nose. It is really an easy trip and fills a day very nicely.
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Sorry I forgot to mention Chantilly and Versailles are include in your Museum pass as is a few other chateaus
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We%26#39;re in Paris for 8 days and wanted to do a new side trip. Usually we have had a car, but this time, not. We%26#39;re staying in Le Marais and are toying w/either Fontainebleau or Chantilly. I kinda like the sound of Chantilly, but from past experience, the Gare du Nord station seemed very sketchy and recent riots on the news reinforces that.
Also, the little we%26#39;ve done of train travel in Europe proves to be very over-stimulating w/all the bustle of people, trains, constantly clicking track signs leads to confusion even just to get to the right window to buy the darn tickets! If you can remember any details of %26quot;how-to%26quot; or %26quot;what-to%26quot; look for at the station we might feel better prepared!
Is the sign at the bus station easy to read for the return trip to the station? Did you mean that Senlis is only 15 mins walk to the Chantilly train station? And, that the train fare from G. du N. includes entrance to the chateau?
Thanx for all your help.
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