Paris, France

Sacre coure

(I took this photo of Sacre Coure at sunset. The photo turned out great. The other photos I took of the sun going down over the city were amazing.)


January 2004


Hi all. I've been in Paris the past couple of days. I know I've said it before about other cities but this is a world class city. It's truly amazing! Anyone living in Paris is truly lucky to be able to wake up to some of those sights. It's also THE most romantic city in the world. Wow!

I was lucky to meet a really great girl my first day in the city. The circumstances of this meeting are actually funny. Often times before hitting a new city I'll do a search on Yahoo or MSN under profiles and email some girls and ask them what the hip clubs are at the moment. Several emailed me back giving me the names. One girl emailed me back some names of places she wanted to hit but hadn't since she was relatively new to Paris too and didn't have many friends there. I quickly invited her to meet up and was surprised when she said Ok. I had a great time with her. Like many things in life you have to put forth an effort to obtain results. She was really beautiful, smart, funny and just an all around cool girl. She’s from Romania and is studying at the University here in Paris. We’ve been spending everyday together and hitting it off very well. I think she'll meet me in the French Riviera for my March trip. I hit the jackpot. Sometimes I ask myself how I got to be this lucky!

I'm staying in a nice hotel near the Eiffel Tower and on Friday night I was kind of solicited while in my lobby bar. I know I’m a lucky guy but not that lucky when beautiful girls from the Ukraine as asking me to buy them a drink. Ha, ha. She was obviously a “working girl”. The girl was really nice though and I did buy her a drink and we chatted about Paris, how she ended up here and just about life in general. Everyone has a “story” and I enjoy talking to new people.

I walked down the red light district near the Moulin Rouge. Tons of strip club type places and XXX porn shops. I just walked and avoided the hawker’s pleas to come in. I did talk to a group of Indian guys that were tourists. They told me they got pulled into some strip club and girls were all over them. The manager brought over a "complimentary" bottle of champagne but when they got up to leave 15 minutes later they demanded 600 Euros!!! Be careful and avoid these clubs.

The clubs are really cool! Hit Les Etoiles, Les Bains Douches (long lines - beautiful people come here...if you're not young, dressed well, hip they won't let you in). Also, there was a new club I think called Caberet that was hip.I walked around for 4 hours last night with my Romanian girlfriend. Very, very very romantic city. It was the Chinese New Year week and they celebrated with a parade in the street and the Eiffel Tower was red last night with lights. We walked hand in hand for hours just taking in everything.

Bring your wallet though. EVERYTHING here is expensive! Expect to pay about $200 a night for a 4 star hotel. I'm staying at the Novotel Tour Eiffel which is 7 minute walk from the Eiffel Tower. It's a true 4 star hotel. I paid an extra 100 Euros to get a view of the Eiffel Tower. I'm on the 29th floor. (Get a room on 20th floor or higher to get an unobstructed view of the Tower). Bottled water and Pepsi's on the street are 3 Euros!

Taxi's are very difficult to find at night. Especially on the weekends. Unbelievable! I got done with dinner close to 2 AM with my girlfriend and there were amazingly long lines for taxi's and none to be found. We ended up eating in Bastille and it's too far to walk to my hotel. Luckily some guy asked me if I wanted a ride to my hotel. I asked how much and he said 20 Euros. I thought it was steep but it was probably a bargain. Took a while to get home since there was so much traffic at 2 AM!

EVERYONE should hit Paris at least once in their lives. For those that don't believe in God you will once you see the view from the Montmartre. Amazing! Go up there at sunset.Make sure you get the guidebook called Plan de Paris par Arrondissement. It's a valuable took for sightseeing and getting around Paris. It's a small book as opposed to many fold-out map type guides. The guide has maps of each neighborhood (arrondissements), and metro and bus routes. You can buy it on Amazon.com or any Barnes and Noble bookstore. I also noticed it in many shops in Paris.


Arriving at the airport:

The airport code for Paris is CDG. There is another airport but if you are coming from the USA you'll be arriving at CDG. I researched the various and cheapest methods of getting from/to the airport. You can take the Metro (RER) into town but it takes some time. I didn't mess around with it. The various shuttles are the quickest and most convenient way to get into town. Most of them all cost around 24 € each way and it's door to door service so they will take you directly to your hotel. I found one company called Blue Van - http://www.airportshuttle.fr/ The reason I used them as opposed to the many others is because I found out they charge the same in US$ as Euros. You can pay before you leave with your credit card via Paypal.com (I paid $44 US as opposed to $57 with the horrible Euro conversion).The only semi inconvenient thing is that all the shuttle companies in Paris make you call upon arriving at the airport and then they pick you up. They all say to call from a payphone toll-free but I just called from my cellphone and it worked fine. Make sure to tell them which terminal/gate you are near.

The other cheap alternative is you can take Air France's shuttle bus no matter which airline you fly into. I believe it leaves every 15 minutes and the cost is 12 €. The disadvantage is it doesn't take you door to door so pay attention where your hotel is. Do a search on Google.com under Air France Shuttle and you can find out more info.

Hotels:

There is no shortage of hotels in Paris. Most of the nicer 4 and 5 star hotels are quite pricey though. Be careful as many countries in Europe use a different star system. Many times it is one star level below US standards. So if they say 5 star it's really 4 star; 4 star really 3 star, etc. Go to a site like http://www.hotels.com/ and you can get an idea of the price range. Most 4 star US equivalent hotels are at least $150- $300+ tax per night. The further outside of touristy Paris the cheaper it is but keep in mind that taxis are expensive here.


Getting around:

My goal was not to take any taxi's at all. I technically managed to do that since I couldn't find an available taxi on several nights while out and about. For a city the size of Paris there aren't too many taxi's. During the day there is no problem but at night, especially on the weekends it was difficult to flag down a taxi. There are various spots where people literally wait in line for a taxi. The lines can get long for taxi's that don't come too often.

One night in Bastille I was with my girlfriend and we needed two separate taxi's. She kind of joked around that maybe we would have to walk home. Only the joke was on me because she wasn't kidding around. We walked around for a while and even at 2 AM it was difficult to find a taxi. We walked to a hotel and there was one taxi that she took. She didn't want to take a taxi believe it or not because she said they all scam people. I didn't see any alternative. I gave her 30 € and she didn't want to take any money from me. I stuffed it in her pocket though and then I had to find my own taxi.

I went back to this long line and there was some French guy asking people in line if they wanted a ride. I guess he was just some dude that owned a car. Some people would tell him their location and he turned his nose and said no so I guess it was not far enough. He asked me and I told him I was staying near the Eiffel Tower. I asked the price and he said 20 €. I didn't even try to negotiate. I was tired from walking around all night with my girl and it was cold out.The traffic believe it or not was horrible even at 2 AM! On the way home I saw several lines of people waiting for traffic and I felt relieved to have a ride home. He made several attempts to talk to me but I couldn't understand him. I bought Pimsleur French before the trip but only listened to 9 lessons. Those 9 lessons helped though.

Keep in mind the Metro stops after midnight. That's the reason I couldn't use it late at night.


The French People:

Forget the preconceived notion that French hate Americans before coming here. Almost every American at one time or another has said, "I hate the French" or "the French hate us Americans" . Heck, I've said it before and I kind of used it as an excuse for never visiting France. Sure, the French are wimps when it comes to many Global issues but we as Americans tend to over generalize. The plain truth of the matter is that the majority of Americans have never been to France or even know anyone from France.

People say, "the French are rude", which may be true but I didn't experience this phenomenon. Maybe part of the reason why is because I at least made an effort to be open minded. I took the time and effort to learn at least the words for please, thank you, good morning, goodnight, how much is that, do you speak/understand English, I am American, Mr./Miss/Mrs. ,I don't understand French, can you please help me, where is ___, and some numbers and other various phrases. Always try to speak some French (even if it sucks) when you encounter someone or enter a restaurant, club or store. It will go a long way.

Never be an "ugly American" or become loud or obnoxious. Don't let yourself get upset by something. Make sure you don't wear clothing that is considered offensive or just plain tacky/ugly. On many international adventures I see guys dressed like slobs or wearing T-shirts that say the city they are from in bold lettering. (Example: ARKANSAS!!! ). The French and Europeans in general tend to dress better and the girls especially will treat you better if you're dressed nicer.

Exchanging Money:

The best rates typically can be found by using your ATM card but I've always believe Cash is king when traveling and usually just exchange some. I did change some at my hotel and I got a bad rate as I fully expected. I got 72 € for $100 US which would be a rate of about 1.39 € : 1 $US. The official banking rate is 1.28.

Note: Be careful where you change your money! I typically never exchange money at those exchange window places in touristy areas. On a weekend the banks weren't open and my driver told me there was a good spot with a good exchange rate near the area where we were at. I was not paying attention and I didn't notice there were 3 places where he was talking about. I went to the wrong one. I did look at the rate and it said 1.38 which was bad but ok with me.

Most countries must display if they charge a commission but I didn't ask since my driver said this place had a good rate. Upon exchanging $100 US she only gave me back 51 €. I was shocked! I asked her where the rest of my money is and she gave me a receipt that showed they charged a commission of about 20 € !!! I asked for my money back but she said it was too late.When I got back to my driver I told him and he was so upset. I guess he was talking about another place a block down. I think he was more upset than I was. We went to this place and true to his word it was a good exchange rate of 78€ per $100 US. ALWAYS ask if they charge a commission and more importantly ask them if you exchange $100 US how much you will get back in Euros when it's all said and done.

Conclusion:

I found the prices for most things to be more expensive than most places. Paris isn't a cheap city. What is especially difficult to believe is that Parisians don't seem to earn more than their European counterparts even though the city is more expensive. I'm not sure how they can afford to live there.

Bottled water and a can of soda in most touristy areas is 3 € (almost $4 US). When I told my driver how expensive I found things he said that you can buy things cheaper at grocery stores but I explained to him that tourists don't have time to go to these places or can find them easily. He agreed. This guy was really cool.

Paris is a great walking city. You must explore Paris by foot. It's a good idea to take a mini tour of the city one afternoon or morning to get a good idea of the layout. I did this one day then walked around on my own after that. The wonderful thing is that you can just follow the River up and you can see so many wonderful areas. It's an easy way and you can't get lost this way.Paris is a melting pot of different races. I found it funny that several times people said that they thought I lived here. When I asked them why they just said that I didn't look like a tourist which really puzzled me. Even my driver said that I could pass for a local student. Maybe it was the way I was dressed or just my attitude. I'm not sure. There is no 'typical Paris look'. Unless you are dressed horribly "American" you won't be singled out as a tourist.

I found the restaurants to be quite good. There are many higher end restaurants but there are also some affordable restaurants too. You don't have to spend a lot of money dining if you don't want to. I did treat myself to one good restaurant each day. There are many neighborhood eating establishments in Bastille. I liked Bastille and it looked like a cool area to stay in. It's not too close to many touristy stuff but it's easy to get here with the Metro. DEFINITELY stop and have a hot chocolate at a place called Angelina. It was an orgasmic experience and they had lines out the door.

Parisians are a very proud people. Some might consider them arrogant but I didn't find this to be true. I would be very proud if I lived there. They are quite fortunate to live in such a beautiful city. I asked my driver one day if he realizes how lucky he is to live here. He said it's easy to forget after living here so long and seeing these sites day after day. I would move to Paris in a New York second if I could earn a good salary there.

People talk about how expensive Europe is. Generally this is true after hitting it a few times in only a few months. I'm also headed back there next month, again in March and again in May. Keep in mind though many important things don't cost a lot. It doesn't cost anything to walk around and see the sites. (Granted they might have a high admission to get in).Paris is probably one of my favorite cities so far in the world out of all the cities I've visited. The food is GREAT there. There are tiny cafes all over the city that aren't too expensive and there are also many great restaurants.The ones that I went to were:

Goumard which had really great seafood. It's in the 1st Arrondissment. The hotel recommended it when I asked them for a good seafood restaurant. The address was 9 ue Duphot. Make reservations as it was very very crowded. I had to wait a little bit. I can't remember exactly how much I spent but I think it was like $80 just for me. Something like that.I also went to a hip spot called Buddha Bar. It was near Champs-Elysees in the 8th Arrondissement. It had a mix of food with some Asian and French combined. Many beautiful girls were there just drinking upstairs in the bar. I had some spring rolls, chicken skewers with orange sauce and some other appetizers. All the food was excellent. It wasn't super expensive but not cheap. I think I paid around 30 Euros for the main dish and about 13 Euros for the appetizers. 8 rue Boissy d' Anglas

I had lunch one day at a place called Kambodia I think it was called. That's the great thing about Paris. They have great food from everywhere. There were a ton of Asian restaurants. It's a good romantic spot also close to the Champs-Elysees. I had lunch here with my girl. I had the chicken roasted with lemon and honey. It was devine! 15 rue de Bassano. Wasn't terribly expensive. I think like $27 per dish.

I was in the mood for Lebanese food one day and found Al Dar. It's in the 5th Arrondissement on the left bank. This also was pretty inexpensive for Paris standards. Main dishes were about 15 euros I believe. They had good hummus and tabbouleh. Address is 8 rue Frederic Sauton.

There were a lot other places I went to but I didn't write them down in my diary or have their business card. I didn't have a bad meal in Paris and I ate out 2-3 times every day. I liked the area around Bastille quite a bit. There are tons of neighborhood type restaurants that aren't too expensive. I enjoyed walking around that area with my girl at night. The only downside was there were no available taxis on the weekends. They were all full.

Paris is a magnificent city that everybody should visit at least once in their lifetime.