Phoning Home: Use A Telecarte
by CALSF
There are several ways to keep in touch with friends and family at home: bring your GSM cell phone, buy a European cell phone, make phone calls from your hotel phone (most expensive), buy a prepaid phone card from home, and buying a telecarte in Paris.
I recommend buying a telecarte to call home. There are many brands. Of course, the people at home won't be able to reach you using the telecarte. Hopefully they won't need to reach you unless it's an emergency and then they'd have to call you at your hotel.
Photo below shows 2 brands of telecarte:
1) www.iradium.fr
2) Maxicall (The last 'l' got cut off in the pic; its name really is 'Maxicall')
Anyway, purchase a telecarte avec code (telecarte with scratch-off code on the reverse). This code is dialed on the phone, you listen to a recording (available in multi lanugages), and follow the simple instructions to place your call.
I bought a USA telecarte with more than 50 minutes at 7.50 euro in February 2004. You can only purchase these telecartes with codes at major tabac stores usually the ones on main streets such as Blvd. St. Germain. They are sold according to the country you are calling.
(I do not recommend the telecarte avec code that you buy at the post offices. The instructions are ONLY in French. It took me an hour of trial and error to figure out how to place my call.)
You may use the telecarte at either a public phone or a hotel phone. However, the minutes get subtracted more when you use a hotel phone. But I was able to make about four or five calls between 10 to 20 minutes each with my card so I think it was a good buy.
Go to anyone of the old...
by hprior
Go to anyone of the old cemeteries of Paris. Pere Lachaise is great. I love wandering the old tombs and looking at not only the art work but seeing how the famous and infamous are buried. Pere Lachaise is famous for Jim Morrison (just follow any group of teens) but also has Chopin, George Sand, Helosie & Abelarde, Yves Montand and Simone Sinoret as well as many other greats of French history. Oddly enough this was in Pere Lachaise. While trying to find the grave of someone, I saw a well dressed woman on her knees cleaning one of the more modern tombs(they are sleek,low to the ground models). She had her bucket and was sudsing and scrubbing away. When she saw me she proceeded a discourse on why she was cleaning the grave and her frustration at its location in the cemetary. I got this from gestures and intuition as I did not speak French at the time. On the tomb were several war medallions engraved on the side. It was evident that she felt her husband deserved better care and a better location. From the conditon of the tomb I also gathered the death was in the last year or so. I wanted to take a picture of this proud woman of France, but that would have been intrusive so I leaned down and gave her a hug and left her in her task. I've never forgotten that time. It was such a quiet and personal moment in someone's life to witness. As a tourist it is not common to come across those little quiet events in the lives of the people we visit. We usually just observe them at work or from a distance and never witness them as people, just ornaments of our trip.
Basilique du Sacré Coeur - is...
by rhiannon1968
Basilique du Sacré Coeur - is scenically located on the butte of Montremartre. This singular 'church' is particularly interesting for its style: Romano-Byzantine. It's a modern one, despite its look: it was started in 1875 and finished in 1914. And one more date: it was consecrated in 1919.
NO AMERICAN STYLE "DATING" HERE
by thinking
"Dating" in France DOES NOT EXIST in the STYLE OR MANNER of the USA.
People in France meet each other in groups. Then they discuss their concerns and see how each another interacts with others and themselves. This allows one to observe other people's behavior and character without any comment, extra expense, or committments. Each person always pays their own way when going with the group to dinner, a movie, or a concert, etc.
In France, if two people decide to go out alone together, they have already decided to investigate the idea of living together
or a domestic partnership, or a permanent relationship, even one leading to marriage. NEVER would anyone in France consider discussing such an important and serious matter with more than one person at a time, even on a casual basis.
It just isn't done.
In the USA, you can have as many concurrent "dates" and "relationships" as you want. There is no certainty in any area of American life, and this fact is well expressed in the American saying "There is no certainty except death and taxes."
Consequently, Americans use their time to create opportunities to "trade up" in every area of their life. Relationships are generally viewed as "temporary" when one is tormented by such uncertainty. The American view is always with an eye toward "improving" their uncertain situation, hence their quest for immediate action and an immediate solution to uncertainty.
US workers must constantly search for the next job opportunity, since the law allows them to be fired immediately without cause. Europeans consider Americans to be flexible, because they misunderstand the American's situation. Yes, American workers are flexible. They know they must find a job on their own or starve to death.
Packing List
by espadana
Family Travel Paris has lots of interesting places to photograph. Bring along some color and B&W films, you'll find plenty of opportunities to use both!
If you find that you're missing some equipment, don't worry - in Paris it's easy to find lots of photo shops. FNAC, for instance, has several small photo shops that sell equipment and develop film. Prices are correct.
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Hotel de Ville
Rue de Passy, Paris
Facade of rue des Ecoles.
Courtyard of no. 11.
