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Hotel Class: 
2 Stars - 86 Opinions
53, rue de Gergovie, Paris, 75014, France
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of people enjoy staying here
86 Opinions
14 th Century Wooden Carved Chancel Screen
Eiffel Tower Light Show
Front door
lamp post in B&W
Hi, going to be busking first time in Paris, can you advise how safe busking is regarding having equipment stolen. Any tips please beyond obvious common sense.
Eg. a collection hat? Any favourite/good spots for a latin jazz guitarist and saxophonist.
@pedmar: Busking means playing music on the street, hoping passers-by will give you some money in return for a nice tune.
@OP: Sorry, haven't got a clue, just thought I'd clear that one up. Good luck, though! Nothing like good street music :-)
Hi Jezer
I have no idea about busking in Paris, but have you tried Barcelona? There are many buskers along at Las Ramblas. You would do well there as people just walk up and down for the entertainment value. Busking in London is good at Covent Garden. Anyway, good luck whatever you do. Rozzi
Buskers seemed to be everywhere in Paris and they even work the metro trains as they run on rubber wheels and the carriages are so much quieter than normal metro trains. The underground passageways to/from stations also seemed popular. It is quite possible that you may have to get some sort of city permit to busk.
I dont know which country you are from, but e.g. in Vienna you need a licence for busking ans sometimes an official licence is not enough, I once saw this situation in Paris, directely on the stairs of Monparnasse:
a young man from Africa tried to sell some balls there, a car arrived, (in an area that is normally resticted for cars), someone jumped out, shouted at the young man, threw the balls into all directions, hit the man, jumped into his car again and drove away.
No screaming by the victim, he seemed to be used to that, collected the rest of the balls and continued selling them.
There were lots of other sales-people there in the streets, who obviously were not harmed at all,maybe they are part of the club, who knows.
For good busking-places a similar system might be possible.
We saw quite a few buskers near the Sacre Cour. Not my thing, so I did not pay a lot of attention, but I seem to remember places to deposit money - hats, cups, boxes.
Hi. We met a super cello-accordian duo busking in front of Notre Dame last spring. Our daughters are both low-string players (bass and cello) so they had a pleasant visit. Your cases are a bit too big to set out so use a largish hat.
Don't think I'd take any really expensive equipment out on the street for many reasons including someone accidentally stepping on it. If you back up against a wall or shrub, no one will bother your things behind you.
BTW, I know you need a city permit to busk on the Metro and the police will occasionally go through and check. I have no idea about what is required on the street. You might Google busking in Paris just to see if there are any regulations.
Good luck; I hope you have fun.
>threw the balls into all directions, hit the man, jumped into
>his car again and drove away.
Sounds more like the busker version of the Mafia rather than the police (is there any difference - LOL). Saw a raid by the police in Florence and the sellers/buskers all scattered and some dropped some of their stock.
Sounds a bit like a jungle.
These places a 'must' to see.
The Louvre.See the works of famous artist Leonardo Da Vince famous Mona Lisa smile. Sculptures, venus de milo, my favorites. To see the famous work of Art specially the Mona Lisa was quiet an experience.
If it's your visit in Paris and want to see all the big sights, why not take the L'Open tourbuses? They're bright yellow and in a London doubledecker (no roof) style. Tickets are 24 € for 1 day and 26 € for 2 days. Kids 4-11 pay 11 € for both. You can jump on and off as much as you want. There are special busstops all along their routes. There are 3 tours: the grand tour, Montmartre and Bastille-Bercy. Everyone get a free pair of these weird yellow plastic headphones. The recorded guides are in English and French. Sometimes it could be a bit annoying when they were waiting for too long at a busstop and if you're in a hurry back home, just take the metro or you'll wait ages like we did!
Arrondissement 8 - Élysée
The Champs-Élysées - the world's most famous boulevard;
Place de la Concorde;
Arc de Triomphe. Bordering the Champs-Élysées are the magnificent Grand Palais and Petit Palais, as well as the Élysée, the presidential Palace.
The arrondissement also features the temple-like Madeleine church.
It's become common knowledge that most of the people tourists encounter in Paris speak English and aren't too snobby anymore. It's true that for the most part when someone guessed I was American they'd switch to English. Some of my favourite memories from Paris are the several little times when people didn't realize I was American and spoke French with me, or when they didn't speak English at all (hey, it happened a couple times.) So if you speak French, even a little, practice your accent and try to get a chance to use it. It's awesome if you do.
I've got nothing against Paris restaurants, in fact we enjoyed a number of them very much. But having our own studio apartment with kitchen meant we could enjoy French food the way the Parisians do; buy it at the local street food market or supermarket, and cook it at home. Even if you don't have a kitchen, you can buy a baguette, some cheese and pate or terrine; add a bottle of champagne or beaujolais, and voila - you've got yourself a superb and memorable meal.
If you're really adventurous, try things like foie gras or maybe even horsemeat (okay, that was a little too French for us). Just window shopping in the different food shops was a treat in itself. If you don't feel like cooking, why not order frogs legs or snails at a restaurant? You don't go to Paris to eat the same way you do at home, after all.
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