Paris Survival Guide
by mariev
Just a small links collection i tought to put here as, for (at least) half the questions about Paris i see, the answer is in one of them. All have an english and a french version.
Transports :
In & around Paris (maps, timetables, prices, itiniraries ...)
www.ratp.fr RATP
In France and around (trains, also hotels and planes)
www.sncf.com SNCF
What to see
For a first overview and some good tips:
Ile de France tourism office
www.paris-ile-de-france.com ILE DE FRANCE
Paris tourism office
www.paris-touristoffice.com PARIS
Local informations (Mairie de Paris) : www.paris.fr/en/ MAIRIE
Special interests :
Monuments : www.monum.fr MONUMENTS
National Museums (Reunion des Musees Nationaux) www.rmn.fr RMN
Le Louvre : www.louvre.fr LE LOUVRE
Exhibitions : www.stargonaut.comCULTURE
Going Out : www.timeout.com/paris Time Out
Miscellaneous :
To find someone/something (by name, activity, location), get photos & maps
www.pagesjaunes.fr/pj.cgi?lang=fr PAGES JAUNES
For questions like : will my electric appliances work ?
www.kropla.com/electric.htm ELECTRICITY
Should i pack a swimsuit or a fleece ?
www.weatherunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=france WEATHER
Customs infos (Duty free shopping, VAT ...)
www.douane.gouv.fr/Listetheme.asp?cusnum=566 CUSTOMS
Seine
by kris-t
The Seine is one of the major rivers in France. It is 776 km (486 miles) long, rising in eastern France near the Swiss Alps, flowing through Paris and into the English Channel at Le Havre. In 1991, the banks of the Seine in Paris - the Rive Gauche and Rive Droit - were added to UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in Europe.
FRENCH VACATIONS REVOLVE AROUND SCHOOL HOLIDAYS
by thinking
School Hours, Terms & Holidays
Most French state schools are now working to the four day week with Wednesday remaining free and no school on Saturdays.
Often on Wed's, mothers are off too from work, or they take their children with them to work!
Sunday, when riding the bus in Paris, the bus driver had his 8 year old daughter standing up next to him
while he was driving the bus.
Primary schools generally have 26 hours per week from around 08.45 to 16.30 with 90 minutes or 2 hours for lunch break.
All the French children are trained in the two hour lunch as well as days off and vacations to their parents vacation homes.
Actual start and finish times will vary according to each local school and should be checked with the school.
Some holidays are now being shortened to compensate for the loss of 12 teaching days caused by the adoption of the four day school week. This has caused consternation amongst parents in some parts of France where the traditional September return to school after the long summer holiday has been brought back to the last week of August. And in some areas the summer vacation now starts half way through July – this has resulted in speculation about the need for swimming pools in schools in hotter regions to help les petites cool off!
French School Calendar
In spite of these changes French schools still have some of the longest school holidays in the world, attending school for only around 160 days out of the whole year. ]
There are five terms in the school year starting in September (or late August in some cases).
Dates vary according to the Zone you live in.
The following charts show the official dates for 2005/2006 under the three Zones with the main cities of each Zone listed above. See the Map of Zones to find the Zone you are in.
Try different flavors... in your CREPE
by vivacolombia
I'm always disapointed to see foreigners order burgers, a pizza or something they're familiar with. I'm not asking you to order frog or sneils but once, I saw a couple of Americans order a crepe full of wheap cream...
So, in your crepe I would recommend some lemon juice+sugar, marmalade, home made applesauce+cinamon or nutella and banana (my favorite).
The price in Paris is around 3 and 4.50 euros for a crepe. Try not to sit in a cafe (they charge a lot more for a smokey place). Instead, take it to go and sit in a park (St Germain des pres behind the church, or on the Seine's docks)
Bon Appetit!
Do you floss?
by Beausoleil
This may sound silly, but you can't buy dental floss in Paris . . . or anyplace in France that we have found. So if you floss your teeth (as you should), be sure to take an adequate supply of dental floss with you. One pack goes a long way and it is very small. It is not fun to run out if you are used to using it. We've checked groceries, discount stores, pharmacies, medical supply stores, literally any place we could think of where you can get it in the US and it simply was not available. We even knew the name in French because it's printed on our dental floss. It just doesn't seem to exist there.
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walking towards Louvre
Wallace fountains
Stairs up to the 1st floor (2nd floor in the USA)
Showing the "Hotel".
