Une Petite Advice on Travel in Paris

Une Petite Advice on Travel in Paris

1. Avoid the metro. If you need further reason to heed this advice, read the post from yesterday about Versailles.


2. Get a map and walk! Paris is not only very accessible, but beautiful. We certainly had some of our most enjoyable experiences when we walking from place to place and happened to stumble on to some treasure or other: a park, bookstore, or quaint pedestrian avenue.


3. If you don’t want to walk, consider renting a bicycle. We didn’t actually try this, but our friendly Parisian walking guide in the Latin Quarter told us that the rental bikes on the streets were the best way to get around the city in his opinion. It is only one euro for 24 hours, but the catch is that you have to drop off your bike every thirty minutes, but you can exchange it for a new one if you want to. But he also made it a point to mention that thirty minutes of biking can get you quite a long way in Paris, and there are bike rental stations everywhere that make it convenient to use a bike and return it.


4. See the Eiffel Tower at night. Cliché? Perhaps. Worth it? Definitely. The whole tower is illuminated after dark, but for five minutes at the beginning of each hour the tower is also illuminated with twinkling lights. So cool.


5. Go on a free walking tour. This was a surprising discovery. First of all, absolutely do not pay for a walking tour in Paris! There are so many free options! There are several hardcore endurance tours, like the six hour tour of Versailles, or the three hour tour of all of downtown Paris, but there are also 60-90 minute versions, one of which we took advantage of. If you are planning a trip to Paris be sure and look them up before you go. On that note…


6. Explore the Latin Quarter. If you’re a book lover, Shakespeare and Co. on the River Seine is a must see. The Latin Quarter is also just a generally adorable place, and is a wonderful way to experience the lifestyle of Parisians, especially students. It has many wonderful parks, restaurants, and sights, including the University of Paris, where the one and only Saint Thomas Aquinas taught back in the day.


7. Be aware, the water in restaurants is not free. Drinks are almost as expensive as meals in Paris. John and I ordered water at one restaurant and were startled to get the bill and realize we had been charged seven euros for the bottle. It almost would have been cheaper for us both to get wine! We ended up just skipping the drinks at meals entirely for the duration of our stay in Paris, and refilling the water bottles we carried as often as we could.

PARIS Day 8: Versailles

PARIS Day 8: Versailles

It was inevitable. In two weeks of traveling abroad, there was bound to be a day straight from transportation hell. That day was today.

Let me begin by stating: AVOID THE METRO IN PARIS.

For quick, between this station and that station transport, it’s not all bad, but when you are trying to get somewhere far away *coughcoughVersaillescough* it is probably the worst way you could take.

This could easily turn in to a rant, so I will restrain myself. Basically, it was a bad day due to the subway: the tickets, the stairs, the rush hours, the signs, the incomprehensibility of it all. John and I both have intermediate familiarity with the French language, and it wasn’t much help. Our consensus was that the system doesn’t make sense, no matter what language you speak.

We bought round trip tickets to Versailles at Gare du Nord, the train station where the Eurostar comes in. Best case scenerio we had to change trains on the way there at Saint-Michel. Before we even left Gare du Nord one or both of our tickets had stopped working, we ended up on the wrong platform twice, and we had wasted close to an hour. Then, at Saint-Michel, we couldn’t find the right platform, and when we did, the tickets stopped working again. John got through the gate, but I got denied so John opened the door to come back, and a frustrated Parisian, also with a not-working ticket, walked in the “out” door, and we followed. Finally in Versailles, the palace was beautiful, but man, it almost wasn’t worth the hassle.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="604" caption="Church at Versailles"][/caption]

The ride back was even worse, but I’ll save you the gory details. Just know that it involved rush hour. 5:30 PM rush hour. It was packed, about 150 degrees Farenheit, and we had to change trains, TWICE. You fill in the blanks.

THEN to top it all off, we still had to get to a different train station for our overnight train to Lourdes, our next destination. This subway ride involved 6 pieces of luggage and about 35 flights of stairs. Again, I’ll let you fill in the blanks.

In defense of the subway, we have used it successful three times before this disastrous incident. But it seems like you ALWAYS have to change trains at least once to get anywhere worthwhile, and the tickets were always a bit tricky to use.

The story does have a happy ending though. We made it to the train station in plenty of time, and we dug down deep enough to laugh about the whole thing. Here’s to a better day tomorrow at Lourdes!

PARIS Day 7

PARIS Day 7: Notre Dame Cathedral, Latin Quarter Walking Tour, Louvre Museum, Night Cruise on the River Seine

This morning we took it easy because we knew that it would be a late night. Yesterday we bought tickets for a river cruise on the Seine and we planned to use them tonight after dark to see the city all lit up.

We left the hostel around 11:30 and headed straight to Notre Dame via the subway. Once there we found some lunch and walked around the inside of Notre Dame. The church is stunning more than it is beautiful, mostly because it is such and old building. It was started in close to 1100 AD, I believe, but it wasn’t finished for almost 200 years. It’s not hard to understand why. Even today the building of a church of that magnitude would take a very long time.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="453" caption="Notre Dame"][/caption]

It is fairly dark inside, and mostly stone, and most of the ornamentation is in the amazing stain glass windows. There were also many beautiful stone statues; one of my favorites featured St. Joseph playing with the Child Jesus.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="604" caption="Candles in the Cathedral"][/caption]

Back outside the Cathedral we caught a 2:30pm free walking tour through the Latin Quarter. The tour was led by a native Parisian, in English, thankfully, and there were people from Russia, Australia, England, and other parts of the United States in our group of about 20 people. It lasted about 90 minutes and took us past the Shakespeare and Co. bookstore, which I fell in love with, the University of Paris, and many beautiful back streets of Paris. We both enjoyed the tour very much and our guide also pointed us in the direction of some wonderful ice cream.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="604" caption="Shakespeare and Co!"][/caption]

After the tour we stopped for some browsing in Shakespeare and Co. and then walked to the Louvre Museum. We didn’t go inside, but we walked around the grounds and saw the Pyramid, which is definitely a necessary part of any trip to Paris.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="604" caption="Pyramid at the Louvre"][/caption]

At this point we still have about three and a half hours to kill before our cruise that left from under the Eiffel Tower, so we jumped back on our trusty tour bus and saw the rest of the city one last time. We got out at the Trocadero again, crossed the bridge, and walked to the pier on the opposite bank of the Seine to wait for the sun to set. By 9pm it was dark enough and we boarded a huge tour boat to set off down the Seine. We were lucky because the Eiffel  Tower is illuminated with small, twinkling lights for just five minutes at the beginning of each hour, and so we got to see it both as we left and as we were coming back. The city was beautiful all lit up and the river was the perfect way to see it, since the water is where the city long ago began.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="720" caption="The Seine at Night"][/caption]

PARIS Day 6

PARIS Day 6: The Arch of Victory, Open Top Bus Tour, Trocadero, Eiffel Tower

Today was one of the best days in recent memory. I might not want to live in Paris, but it sure is a great place to visit.

We woke up refreshed and ready for our first day in Paris, and started the morning with a long and scenic walk from the hostel in Monmarte to the Arch of Victory. It took us about an hour to get there, but we stumbled across a beautiful park on the way, which ended up being a short cut as well. Oh, happy fault :)

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="604" caption="Park we stumbled into"][/caption]

After exploring the Arch we caught our second fabulous Open Top Tour Bus. We went with the Les Cars Rouges because they had the cheaper ticket price, and our 24 euro ticket was good for two days. Les Cars Rouges has fewer stops than some of the other tours available in Paris, but it made for a more smooth bus ride, and everywhere we wanted to go was accessible on their bus route. We round around for a complete loop, about two and half hours, catching our first view of the Eiffel Tower on the way. After the full loop we stayed on until we got back to the Trocadero, where we disembarked for more exploring.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="453" caption="First view of the Eiffel Tower through the Trocadero"][/caption]

The Trocadero is named after a French military victory, in Spain, I believe, and it offers one of the best views of the Eiffel Tower in the city. We stopped at a small café called Café Trocadero for lunch and we were not disappointed. It was a bit expensive, about 16 euro for an entrée, but it was about 2:30 in the afternoon and we knew it would probably be our last real meal of the day before returning to peanut butter pita sandwiches back at the hostel late tonight. And it was absolutely worth every penny. I ordered salmon, which was divine, and John ordered roasted chicken, which came with fries. Let me tell you, there’s a reason they call them “french fries”—The French definitely do them best.

After lunch we walked to the Eiffel Tower, which looks much more industrial than I was expecting. It’s funny to see something you’ve only seen pictures of; it always looks exactly like the pictures, but different somehow too.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="604" caption="Under the Tower"][/caption]

The whole area around the Tower is full of street vendors selling tiny Eiffel Tower key chains and statues, and they required a forcible “No” in order to leave us alone. John and I reemployed a tactic we had started using earlier with gypsies in the train station and on the way to the Sacre-Coeur: we pretended we only spoke German. A quick “Nein, danke” usually did the trick.

After much indecision, we decided to go up to the top of the Tower. The indecision wasn’t really about whether to go up or not but more about the method. John wanted to walk. I wanted to ride. Classic problem.

In the end we decided to walk, but then we got to the ticket window and found out that the particular line we were in was only for the elevators. How sad.

By the first level I was nervous, but the second I was scared, and on the third, and top, level I was absolutely petrified. I was just waiting to feel the tower move in the wind, which thankfully it did not. In retrospect I am so glad I did it. The view was absolutely breathtaking. On of the most distinct things about Paris is how unified the aesthetic is, and the top of the Tower was the perfect place to see it.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="604" caption="View from the second tier of the Tower, the building on the hill is the Sacre-Coeur"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="720" caption="View from the Tower"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="720" caption="And this was the view from the very top... Yikes!"][/caption]

It was close to 6pm by the time we came down and we were bushed. We caught a subway back to Monmarte and shopped for Paris souvenirs up and down the street that leads to the Sacre-Coeur. I was in my prime indecisive form and it took me quite awhile to decide what I wanted, but I ended up with some beautiful mini posters of vintage style French prints and a scarf which, very subtly, features pictures of the Sacre-Coeur, Eiffel Tower, Arch of Triumph, and Notre Dame. I strongly dislike shameless souvenirs that scream “I WENT HERE,” but I also like things I buy to have some significance, so the scarf was perfect. You can’t see the pictures when it is wrapped around my neck, but I know they’re there. Perfect.

PARIS Day 5: The In-Between

PARIS Day 5: The In-Between, Sacre-Coeur

Today was a LONG day of traveling, but it went smoothly. John and I opted to take the Eurostar train from London to Paris, which worked really well. We got there plenty early, which was good because the lines were long and there were a lot of people. You have to check in to a Eurostar train half an hour in advance and go through some light security, as it is international travel.

Our train got in around 2pm and it took a little less than an hour for us to find our hostel, Le Regent Monmarte. Check in wasn’t until 4pm and the luggage room was literally bursting at the seams, so we opted to hang out for an hour and wait. Our room was very small, but mostly clean and had it’s own bathroom, so we didn’t complain. We shared our room with a fellow student traveler from Mexico, seeing Europe after a study abroad in London to improve her English.

It was a pain to drag the luggage around all day, and a poor combination of shoulder tension, lack of contact lenses, and luggage lugging gave me a headache that lasted our first few hours in Paris. Luckily it abated by nightfall and I was ready to explore.

We went to 10pm mass at the Sacre-Coeur, which was one of my favorite experiences thus far. Mass was said in French, of course, and it was absolutely beautiful. A Dominican nun cantored for the mass and there was no doubt that she was praying beautifully, even though I didn’t know what she was saying. If you are ever in Paris, do not miss mass at the Sacre-Coeur.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="720" caption="The Sacre-Coeur at night"][/caption]