How to Enjoy Paris
by Nicolai-The-Average
What can be said about Paris that hasn't been said already a million times before? Well...nothing, I suppose.
So, let me just state the obvious. Paris is a magical city. It breathes life into you regardless of what age, nationality, sexuality, or background that you have. The poorest people walk the streets alongside the richest and all share the same splendour and beauty that this place provides.
My tip is to just lose yourself in Paris. Don't focus on spending X amount of hours in the Louvre, don't fret over getting your picture taken while you faux-lean against the Eiffel Tower, and don't rush out to see Jim Morrison's grave. Just pick a direction and walk, silently observing the most fantastic city on earth. This is how you experience the true Paris.
You won't be disappointed.....unless you are a jackass tourist.
Cathedral inside
by bugulma
Interior of the cathedral is fantastic. Stained-glass window is fantastic and I was struck by its seize. I read it's the biggest window in France. The national cathedral must have the biggest one. Another interesting thing inside is frescoes on the walls around altar.
The Velib' Revolution
by Nemorino
OK, whether it's really a revolution remains to be seen, but it's an ambitious and very promising idea. The plan is to provide 20,600 bicycles for spontaneous short-term rentals at some 1,400 rental stations all over the city -- one every 300 meters or so. (300 meters is the standard distance between tram or bus stops, so that distance has been adopted for bicycles as well.)
When I was in Paris in June 2007 they were busy building the first 700 rental stations all over the city. The one in the first photo is on the Rue de Montreuil in the 11th arrondissement. This is a street which has not had much bicycle traffic up to now, but that will hopefully change as all these rental bikes come into use.
Update: As of 15:23 (that's 3:23 pm to you) on the afternoon of August 4, 2007, this station at 93 rue de Montreuil had two bikes available for rental, and 14 free places for people to return their bikes. You can check this in real time on their website or on your cell phone if you have a fancy one that supports this sort of thing. -- -- Whoops, five minutes later only one bike is available, and 15 free docking places. So people really are using them.
The Velib' system went into effect on the afternoon of Sunday, July 15, 2007. Unfortunately I wasn't in Paris on that day, so I can't give a first-hand account (or even second-hand, since my son wasn't there either), but judging from reports in the French media they seem to have gotten off to a very good start.
The new bikes were used more than 50,000 times during the first 24 hours of operation (349,000 during the first week), and there were no accidents during that time, despite the dire warnings of diehard motorists who predicted there would be wholesale accidents as a result of inexperience cyclists being turned loose on the city streets.
Over 13,000 people have already ordered yearly tickets at EUR 29 each.
http://www.velib.paris.fr/
Speaking French
by marimar_72
I never thought that I would have a language problem,but sadly I did,I had hard time finding people that speak English,instead I found many people who speak Arabic(my native language)who are origionally from north africa(i.e Morocco,Tunisia..ect.).
Hehehe,if you can take a crash course in French before travelling to France I`m sure it would help you a lot ;-)
Packing List
by elaine2u
Make sure you bring your basic medicine for headaches, stomach-aches, nausea, flu (just in case). That way, you won't further inconvenience yourself when you need immediate help (know what I mean). Before leavingfor Paris, it is very helpful to print out a currency conversion chart on your last day (because currency exhange rates fluctuate). You can check out: http://www.currency.co.nz/ I found this very helpful and efficient while I was doing my shopping and budgeting.
Sign in with Facebook
Place de la Concorde
Cafe, Paris
the rose window
Top part of the square clock tower.
