Easy Paris On Your Own!!

Karla's Tips for 1st Paris Visit

If this is your first trip to Paris, I can help you navigate and sink into the rhythm of the city.

Paris is my favorite city in the world and I have been visiting Paris as a student, business person, and tourist for more than 25 years. Here are my recommendations (prices are based upon my last visit in fall of 2013).

 

Before you go!

1. STUDY city map and metro (maps) BEFORE going in order to familiarize yourself with the city.  (I do this for every city I visit).

2. Buy a good, pocket-sized guidebook such as Rick Steves’ Paris and/or Marco Polo guide to Paris.  Read BEFORE you go to Paris!!!!

Paris Overview: The city is divided into 20 arrondisments—Everything is coded (even zip codes) by arrondisement.  My favorites are the the, 1^st,  4^th, 5^th, 6^th, 8^th and 9^th.  http://www.parisnet.com/parismap.html  Of note, The Eiffel Tower is in the 16th (16ieme).

From Paris.net------In Paris arrondissements are named according to their number. For example, you might live in the 5th arrondissement, which would be written as 5ème (or 5e) in French. Looking at the Paris Map you can see that the districts spiral out from the center in numerical order. If you know the postal code of any address in Paris, you can easily identify which arrondissement it is located in because Parisian postal codes take the form of - 75XXX - with the last two digits being equal to the arrondissement (e.g. 75008 is the postal code for the 8th arrondissement). The suburbs are called the banlieues. The areas to the west of the city (Neuilly, Boulogne, Saint Cloud, Levallois, Versailles) are the most desirable and they are generally more peaceful than the city. Each of the Paris neighborhoods and arrondissements has its own special character.

-Latin Quarter/Boul-Miche (St Michel Metro in 5th) near Notre Dame is my favorite spot.  There are great cafes, Greek Gyros, and Moroccoan  restaurants there.  It is vibrant, youthful, and diverse.

-Le Marais/ Place Des Voges/Bastille (3^rd/4^th arrondisement) is my second favorite area.

--Other favorite spots and must sees: Jardin Du Luxembourg, Champs Elysees(PM), Trocadero metro(AM and PM for best Eiffel tower photos) , MontMartre, "Beaubourg" and the Centre Pompidou and  Canal Saint-Martin

My Paris recommendations/tips:

---Paris is a great walking city and the Metro and buses are convenient for moving around.  Buy Metro booklets of 10 tickets and you can use these tickets on both the metro and the buses.   I used my Metro App to guide me on how to connect.  A book of 10 metro tickets cost 13euros30.  The single ticket price is 1,70€.   (September 2013)  See excellent article on how to use the Paris Metro here: http://parisbytrain.com/tag/paris-metro/

 

---Take the metro to St. Michel and walk all around Notre Dame area , up and down the Blvd. St Michel and St Germain des Pres, then back across and along to the Seine river.

 

 

---Take long bus rides from one end of the city to the other where you will pass some of the most famous sites such as the Opera house and famous plazas such as the Place de la Republique, while you are completely above ground. This is obviously a great alternative to taking the Metro because you are able to see all the sights along the way.  Also, whenever I took the bus, it was never crowded. I could easily get two or four seats to myself and I had ample room to take out my camera and snap sights along the way.  Buses #69  gives a scenic east-west city tour.  Bus line # 20 stopped right near my hotel, at my metro stop: Chemin Vert.  Of note, metro tickets are valid on city buses.

---Take nightly strolls through vibrant areas.  Tops were lively quartiers of St Michel area, Champs-Elysées, Bastille area, Montmatre (Nice sunset panoramic views over the city) and Le Marais. 

--- Take self-guided tour: Historic Paris Walk from Rick Steves book---5ieme
---Prisunic and Monoprix are good stores for basic needs.  The larger ones are like Target—with everything from food  and wine to toiletries and clothing.  There are 24-hour ones on Champs Elysees.

---Have a meal from a pastry shop.  My favorite is to go window-shopping in a pastry shop and settle on a quiche Lorraine or quiche with 3 cheeses, freshly baked, hot from the oven.  These rich snacks cost under 3 euros.

---Have picnics in Jardin du Luxembourg or in park in front of Eiffel Tower.

---Visit my favorite history museum of the city of Paris, Carnavalet.  This museum showcases art and artifacts of Paris with an emphasis on the Revolution and new republic periods.  What I like most is the variety of artifacts from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries including metal shop signs, guillotine miniatures, personal items (hair combs, cutlery, pistols, hair of famous Parisians), and portraiture. 

---Stay in hotel near a Metro stop.

---Consider taking walking tours from Paris – walks.com. Expert guides provide about 10 or 15 different 2- hour-long walking tours daily, for only €12. There are tours at 10:30 AM and it 2:30 PM, daily.   http://www.paris-walks.com/
I took 4 excellent walking tours conducted by smart, passionate, witty guides from a company that offers 3-6 daily tours, rain or shine.  They feature more than 20-themed tours.  My small group tours cost 12 euros each.  Here are the brief tour descriptions, of tours I took, written by Paris-Walks.com:

THURSDAY 2:30pm The Marais Circuit 2 Stories of royalty, mistresses and intrigue in this beautiful historic neighborhood. On circuit 2 we explore the Northern side of the Marais. Elegant classical mansions with graceful courtyards and gardens, the old Jewish quarter with the picturesque rue des Rosiers, and the peaceful place des Vosges, the city’s oldest square. Meet at metro St Paul There is always an extra tour on Sunday.

 

FRIDAY 10.30am Hemingway's Paris Explore this charming district in the Latin Quarter with the old houses of the Mouffetard market street, an impressive fragment of the medieval city wall, and the lovely historic church of St Etienne-du-Mont. It is associated with many writers: Joyce, Orwell, Balzac, Hugo, and Verlaine and immortalized by Hemingway in A Moveable Feast. Meet at metro Cardinal Lemoine.

I took this tour IN THE RAIN!

SUNDAY 10.30am The Village of Montmartre On this picturesque walk you will discover old winding streets, the vineyard, artists' studios (Renoir, Lautrec, Van Gogh) quiet gardens, historic cabarets, the place-du-Tertre with its artists and the Sacré Coeur Basilica. Meet at metro Abbesses (use the station elevator, it is quite deep!) (All year)

MONDAY 10.30am Ile de la Cité and Notre Dame Read the stories in the medieval sculptures, and hear how the cathedral was built. We explore the history and architecture of the Island, the old streets, the flower market, quiet gardens, secret courtyards and the poignant memorial to the deported. Meet at metro Cité    BTW, Notre Dame turned 850 in 2013.

---Go to Trocadero (metro stop) (Eiffel Tower observation point)—This is a great photo spot! (for the best shots of you in front of the Eiffel Tower.)
---The Marais is a charming area just north of the Seine in the third and fourth arrondisements 

---Have café and croissant in the AM.

---Prisunic and Monoprix are good stores for basic needs.  The larger ones are  like Target—with everything from food  and wine to toiletries and clothing.  There are 24-hour ones on Champs Elysees.

---Neighborhood shops—every neighborhood has its own boulangerie/patisserie bakery/pastry shop (buy your morning croissant and quiche snack from here.  (They will heat up/warm treats for you) and alimentation grocer. 

---Visit market streets i.e., Mouffetard market street and Sunday Bastille Market

---For a memorable evening, sit on the steps of the Sacré Coeur with a Perrier or a bottle of wine and watch the Eiffel Tower come to life and sparkle every hour on the hour until midnight.

---Visit some of Paris’ 200 museums. Choose them based upon your time and interests.

---Visit the breathtaking and serene Jardin de Luxembourg.  It was as much of a feast for the eyes as I had remembered.

---Remember---on the menu, “entrée” is the appetizer. 

---Sit in a café (near a window or outside) to people watch.

---Say, “bonjour” when entering shops and “au revoir” when exiting!!

------------------------I have lots more to add but I want to send now!!!

 

Global Entry-I finally applied!!!!!

Today, I finally applied for global entry. What took me the longest in the application process was including all the countries I have visited in the last five years. The number is 41 and includes Egypt, Russia, Argentina, Sweden, united Arab emirates, and Panama. I'm looking forward to the next step which is a face-to-face interview. Hopefully after that, I will soon find out that I can zip through customs on the way back home when I travel abroad.

Update:

Less than two weeks after I applied, I was notified that my application had been tentatively approved and that I needed to come in for a face-to-face interview at the Global Entry office at Miami international Airport. I went the next day and was approved on site. Therefore, it took me two weeks from start to finish to apply for and get approved for the global entry program. I took my first trip a week later to Chicago. Although I did not get TSA pre-on the outbound flight, I did get TSA pre-on the return flight. I've been told that being a member of Global Entry will likely get me TSA pre-often.

I look forward to seeing what happens with reentry when I return from my upcoming seven-country Asia trip in October and November 2015.