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Old 07-15-2018, 04:42 PM
 
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
10,931 posts, read 11,691,276 times
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The Latin Quarter is the last place I'd expect to find a decent, let alone Romantic meal. It is a tourist trap, 100% filled with fleabag hotels and greasy spoon restaurants.
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Old 07-17-2018, 01:27 PM
 
14,379 posts, read 14,203,333 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RunD1987 View Post
Thinking of a trip to The Palace of Fontainebleau...Definitely worth a trip. Heard easy to get go by train and once at the Station shuttles can take you to The Palace of Fontainebleau.
This is true. Catch the train at Gare de Lyon. You can buy a ticket from an agent or a machine at that station. You want the ticket to the Fountainebleau/ Avon station. The train runs almost every hour during the day. A bus at the station will take you to the Fountainebleau and than back when you are done. Budget plenty of time for yourself. The palace is very big. They will give you an audiotape at the palace that allows you to do your own tour. The train is part of something called the Transilien line. Take the train in the direction of Montargis.
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Old 07-17-2018, 02:23 PM
 
Location: Round Rock, Texas
12,920 posts, read 13,254,089 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lieqiang View Post
Ditch the TA, and ditch the tour group.

Paris is one of the top tourist destinations in the world, you don't need anyone else organizing your trip even if it's your first trip overseas. All you need is:

1. Make sure you have passports valid six months past trip
2. Book flight to Paris online, lots of different sites I prefer momondo
3. Book hotel, try Booking.com if you look at their map of Paris it'll be obvious areas where most tourists stay
4. Read up on logistics like how taxis work, the metro, cell phone, tipping, ATMs, etc.
5. Find some lists online of top things to do in Paris
6. Find more lists of "off the beaten path" stuff to do in Paris

Someone will probably come rolling into this thread wailing about how Paris isn't really traveling in France and you should spend all your time in teeny villages savoring artisan cheeses, walking past bucolic pastures filled with black & white cows that moo with a French accent, and peeking into old church basements but screw them, if you haven't been to France and want something easy for a honeymoon Paris is a great choice. It has lots of iconic stuff, lots of free stuff, and feels "different' enough from the US for you to feel like you went overseas on vacation.

Have fun, and congrats on the marriage.

lol

We're making our 1st trip across the pond (51st wedding anniversary) soon.

After a week in London we'll cross over to Normandy for 2 days then down to a REALLY podunk place called Loissierre, Chaillac (Google Map that one up*) to stay at a friend's old farmhouse for 4 nights. Then we'll drive up to Paris for a week. After that we'll cross back over to Dover & up to Canterbury (1 night at the Gate House Hotel), then on up to Perton (suburb of Wolverhampton, Staffordshire) to spend 4 nights at another friend's home before heading back to London for our return.

*
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Lo...217!4d1.241856


He owns the barn in the center & the attached house to the left:



Last edited by ScoPro; 07-17-2018 at 02:38 PM..
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Old 07-18-2018, 02:09 AM
 
6,438 posts, read 6,893,197 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TheCityTheBridge View Post
A few tips from my time in Paris:

Use the Porte des Lions to enter the Louvre. It's on the south end of the building in the courtyard. You will see a huge line of people entering at the glass pyramid. Do not join them. There will be no line at the Porte des Lions. You will enter, and inside you will purchase your entry ticket and begin exploring the museum. You will walk through a section that many visitors miss, which has a Moai statue from Easter Island.

The Orsay: this is a phenomenal museum. If you are like me, overload at busy museums will hit. Start out on the 2nd floor, which has the best of the Orsay's Impressionists & post-Impressionists.

The Paris metro is a fast and efficient way to get around the city while saving your feet. You will have a much better time if you make use of it.

You seem to have open time day 1 before dinner, day 2 between the Louvre & dinner, the night of day 3, chunks of days 4, and day 7. This is good. Paris is a city of great neighborhoods, and I strongly urge you to take some of your open time to walk those neighborhoods, checking out shops & cafes and experiencing the street life. My personal favorite areas are the outer 3rd & 4th out to the 10th & 11th--Le Marais, Republique, Canal St. Martin. Paris has some lovely parks, and Le Marais has my personal favorite: the Place des Vosges.

Arriving at the airport: it will probably be cheaper and faster to get to your hotel taking the RER train as opposed to a taxi.

Have a fantastic time!

During my last stay, I booked a place near Oberkampf station, right near the borders of the 3rd, 4th, 10th, and 11th. It was easy and fast to cross the city by metro, and the location was great for dining and having some separation from the crowds around the very center of Paris.

If you decide to take your open day away from Paris, I can't emphasize enough how great it is to visit Champagne on a day trip. Reims is just 45 minutes away by train, and Epernay about an hour and a quarter.
You're a Right Bank guy (I think you're a guy). So am I. There are Left Bank people and Right Bank people. The Left Bank is about universities, the bohemian life (mostly disappeared), Musee d'Orsay, the Eiffel Tower, literature, jazz. The Right Bank is about fashion, business, government, the Louvre, bohemian life (not disappeared in Montmartre), the gay life, elegant department stores and specialty shops. The Left Bank is Socialist and the Right Bank is less so (it's still France). Choose your milieu.
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Old 07-18-2018, 04:13 AM
 
1,330 posts, read 2,598,070 times
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Well, it was maybe true three decades ago, today the difference between the left and right bank are not as sharp.
Actually Paris is more divided into East/West than North/South.

Blue = conservative.
Pink = socialist
Green = green party


As you see the majority of left bank arrondissements are controled by conservative. (Left bank = 5th, 6th, 7th, 13th, 14th, 15th arrondissements).
The two most expensive arrondissements are in the left bank (6th and 7th arrondissements).

The bohemian life has long dispear from Montmartre.
It's either a tourist trap that look like a bohemain life to tourists in the heart (that locals avoid), a posh residential area in the nearby streets and then more working class areas in the periphery.
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Old 07-18-2018, 04:45 PM
 
6,438 posts, read 6,893,197 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Minato ku View Post
Well, it was maybe true three decades ago, today the difference between the left and right bank are not as sharp.
Actually Paris is more divided into East/West than North/South.

Blue = conservative.
Pink = socialist
Green = green party


As you see the majority of left bank arrondissements are controled by conservative. (Left bank = 5th, 6th, 7th, 13th, 14th, 15th arrondissements).
The two most expensive arrondissements are in the left bank (6th and 7th arrondissements).

The bohemian life has long dispear from Montmartre.
It's either a tourist trap that look like a bohemain life to tourists in the heart (that locals avoid), a posh residential area in the nearby streets and then more working class areas in the periphery.
Interesting, and I mostly agree. It's fascinating that 5 is conservative. It's the university district. 3 and 4 are predominantly gay, something fairly new in Parisian history.

My daughter sings at one of the Montmartre summit jazz joints; that's enough evidence if it's a bohemian outpost. So what if it is a tourist trap. Most bohemian institutions become tourist traps within five years. Look at Greenwich Village.
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Old 07-18-2018, 04:54 PM
 
4,097 posts, read 11,450,052 times
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Rick Steves book on Paris was a hugely valuable resource for me. Loved the #69 bus route for a quick and cheap introduction. Loved staying at Rue Cler which is a small area near the Eiffel Tower. He was spot on for recommendations and had advice for most any situation. We are going back in January.

I book my own tickets and hotel because I know exactly what I want and what to look out for. A TA can help you navigate some of the crazy things that the websites try on unsuspecting travelers. (like 30-45 minute layovers in Atlanta. No way to get between domestic and international in such a short time with any kind of delay).
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Old 07-18-2018, 07:04 PM
 
Location: Round Rock, Texas
12,920 posts, read 13,254,089 times
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We'll be staying in the Rue de Passy, 75016 area. How is the neighborhood?
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Old 07-19-2018, 03:25 AM
 
1,330 posts, read 2,598,070 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry Siegel View Post
Interesting, and I mostly agree. It's fascinating that 5 is conservative. It's the university district.
The 5th arrondissement is where some large universities are located but it's not where students live.
It's mostly populated by wealthy and upper middle class.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry Siegel View Post
3 and 4 are predominantly gay, something fairly new in Parisian history.
It seems exaggerated to say that these arrondissement are predominantly gay but it's true that the Marais is the center of gay community.
By fairly new, this means at least three decades.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ScoPro View Post
We'll be staying in the Rue de Passy, 75016 area. How is the neighborhood?
Passy is a wealthy neighborhood and Rue de Passy is an up market commercial street.

Last edited by Minato ku; 07-19-2018 at 03:34 AM..
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Old 07-19-2018, 10:09 AM
 
3,570 posts, read 2,510,879 times
Reputation: 2290
Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry Siegel View Post
Interesting, and I mostly agree. It's fascinating that 5 is conservative. It's the university district. 3 and 4 are predominantly gay, something fairly new in Parisian history.

My daughter sings at one of the Montmartre summit jazz joints; that's enough evidence if it's a bohemian outpost. So what if it is a tourist trap. Most bohemian institutions become tourist traps within five years. Look at Greenwich Village.
Hipster Paris is mostly centered around the 10th & 11th, and I don't know that there's a bohemian Paris anymore.
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