Paris Holiday Tips

[Pragmatopian]

While we're on the topic of France, what's nice to do in Nice? Anyone?

 

If you're going by car the surrounding areas are very scenic - the city centres of Nice and nearby Cannes are both a bit dingy. The coast road heading west from Cannes is very picturesque and there are some nice beaches.

[Pragmatopian]

Visiting Paris mid-July for the first time. Does anyone have any good tips, i.e. restaurants, sight seeing, what not to do, etc.?

 

Get on the train and go to Disneyland! Seriously I have to say I wasn't that impressed by Paris but maybe my expectations were too high. The view from the Eiffel Tower was quite impressive and we had a nice walk along the riverside, but in general it was pretty grotty: even the touristy bits that you might expect to be kept neat.

[pongo]

Get on the train and go to Disneyland! Seriously I have to say I wasn't that impressed by Paris but maybe my expectations were too high. The view from the Eiffel Tower was quite impressive and we had a nice walk along the riverside, but in general it was pretty grotty: even the touristy bits that you might expect to be kept neat.

 

If you like Disneyland then you are not the sort of person who will like Paris !

 

It isn't supposed to be neat and tidy necessarily. It's a living experience. Maybe you didn't give yourself long enough to tune in to it.

 

It's like anywhere. If you stay in the tourist areas you will eat rubbish meals from people who know that you are not coming back. On the other hand if you take the time you will find amazing shops and restaurants and galleries and little businesses and florists and bars which have been in the same families for years. And take time to look at how well they do stuff - how good the presentation is. That's the kind of thing which Paris is about. It's a place where ordinary people actually live to quite a high standard.

[2084]

While we're on the topic of France, what's nice to do in Nice? Anyone?

There are plenty of lovely squares etc but, if you get bored, take a fast craft to Corsica - by far the most beautiful island in the Mediterranean.

 

Visit Antibes - the harbour is really nice, loads of cafes and stuff though very little english spoken, and you'd probably only want a day there. It's a few kms away. Try to get to Cannes too - we were there just prior to the film festival so it was a bit touristy, but again the food is excellent. There's a large cafe onto the main square kind of area near the harbour which looks like three different places - it's probably the largest there in the main touristy bit. I can't recall the name, but the meal we had there (very reasonable too pricewise) was one of the best I have ever had.

 

Good luck!

[matty]

While we're on the topic of France, what's nice to do in Nice? Anyone?

 

I love Antibes - a coastal 'town' - spent a lot of time here on marine related projects - bus journey away from Nice- good beach (quite small), great food & drinks, if you're into nightlife, ask the locals to give you directions to the 'Freaky Bar'.

 

Nice is also close to Cannes - maybe 45mins on the train it's expensive, but worth a look.

 

Bus it, or you can get a boat from near Nice airport to St Tropez - some good restaurants here.

 

Ville France, Monacco - easy enough train / bus journey from Nice.

 

Edited to add - Picasso museum in Antibes - also well worth a look!

[The Voice of Reason]

Visiting Paris mid-July for the first time. Does anyone have any good tips, i.e. restaurants, sight seeing, what not to do, etc.?

 

Why don't you pop over while you're in the area?

[Mintchip]

Pont Neuf. Come alone. Walk to the middle of the bridge. Stop. Take off your jacket. Face east.

 

...and just see what happens.

 

Ah, that's extremely intriguing.......

[Mintchip]

Visiting Paris mid-July for the first time. Does anyone have any good tips, i.e. restaurants, sight seeing, what not to do, etc.?

 

Place de la Concorde and walk along the Champs Elysees, but you'll no doubt do that anyway. I never went but in the Le Marais area of Paris there is a museum which is all about the history of the city. I heard it is really good!

 

I would also recommend the Musee D'Orsay if you like art - there are lots of famous Impressionist style paintings in there amongst many other brilliant works of art. And the Tuileries Gardens are nice to walk through.

 

1. Dont bother trying to speak French(Merci will do) unless your fluent. They just pull a face at your accent and you end up saying it in english anyway.

 

I got shitty looks when I tried asking people if they spoke English. I found it better to say that I did not speak French.

 

 

What is good about Paris is that it is so easy to get around and all the touristy places are not too far from each other.

 

Hope you have a lovely time!

 

Thanks so much.

[Mintchip]

Visiting Paris mid-July for the first time. Does anyone have any good tips, i.e. restaurants, sight seeing, what not to do, etc.?

 

Why don't you pop over while you're in the area?

 

Hey, may do just that if possible.

[Mintchip]

Sorry about all the posts and "quotes" here. Haven't gotten the hang of the techie part of the forum yet. BUT I do want to thank EVERYONE for all the excellent (and the humorous) bits of advice. What a great source of information! I'm so looking forward to this trip. Yes, I do want to see the usual tourist things like the Eiffel Tower and the Louve (sp?), but am really wanting just to explore the streets and get a sense of the place. Again, thanks!!!

[bendytoy]

Hi Mintchip

 

Just to echo a couple of comments on here, the Musee d'Orsay and the Louvre are pretty staggering but yes, be prepared for staggering queues at certain times!

 

And I don't care what anyone says about the Eiffel Tower (underwhelming, too 'touristy', blah blah) - I thought it was absolutely bloody amazing.

 

All the 'big ones', the real Paris landmarks, are famous with good reason. Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur, the Bastille, the Arc De Triomphe, the Place de la Concorde, the Tuileries, the Pompidou Centre....all well worth trooping to.

 

I found the Moulin Rouge and the Folies Bergere monstrously tacky and beloved of sweating businessmen-in-town.

 

Go to Pere Lachaise cemetary if you're into Oscar Wilde! (or Jim Morrison....).

 

Take a day trip to Versailles and the Petit Trianon.

 

The flea markets are pretty good but to get through to them you have to run the gauntlet of street vendors pushing stuff in your face.

 

Paris can be quite overwhelming, I think - there is so much to see, layer upon layer - but if you want to just wander round and relax, my personal tip would be - go to the quartier St Germain. It's extremely lovely and laid back, quite arty/studenty with a villagey feel and masses of cafes.

 

As for Parisians...they're supposed to be phenomenally rude but this wasn't my experience. If you make an effort to speak even just a little French, you might get a smirk or two but it's generally appreciated. It is their city after all.

 

 

Have a brilliant time....

[Mintchip]

Hi Mintchip

 

Just to echo a couple of comments on here, the Musee d'Orsay and the Louvre are pretty staggering but yes, be prepared for staggering queues at certain times!

 

And I don't care what anyone says about the Eiffel Tower (underwhelming, too 'touristy', blah blah) - I thought it was absolutely bloody amazing.

 

All the 'big ones', the real Paris landmarks, are famous with good reason. Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur, the Bastille, the Arc De Triomphe, the Place de la Concorde, the Tuileries, the Pompidou Centre....all well worth trooping to.

 

I found the Moulin Rouge and the Folies Bergere monstrously tacky and beloved of sweating businessmen-in-town.

 

Go to Pere Lachaise cemetary if you're into Oscar Wilde! (or Jim Morrison....).

 

Take a day trip to Versailles and the Petit Trianon.

 

 

 

The flea markets are pretty good but to get through to them you have to run the gauntlet of street vendors pushing stuff in your face.

 

Paris can be quite overwhelming, I think - there is so much to see, layer upon layer - but if you want to just wander round and relax, my personal tip would be - go to the quartier St Germain. It's extremely lovely and laid back, quite arty/studenty with a villagey feel and masses of cafes.

 

As for Parisians...they're supposed to be phenomenally rude but this wasn't my experience. If you make an effort to speak even just a little French, you might get a smirk or two but it's generally appreciated. It is their city after all.

 

 

Have a brilliant time....

 

 

Excellent advice, thank you! :-)

[pongo]

As for Parisians...they're supposed to be phenomenally rude but this wasn't my experience.

 

Absolutely. There was a good item in Intelligent Life (The Economist) which goes some way to dealing with that misapprehension.

 

It is a good article about Paris and what to do there in general. Parisians, rude? Pas du tout !

 

Everyone thinks that people in Paris are impossibly rude. The longer I spend in the city, the more I realise that this is untrue. In fact, they are impossibly polite.

 

The woman in the picture is riding a Vélib bike - stuff here about renting them.

[Mintchip]

As for Parisians...they're supposed to be phenomenally rude but this wasn't my experience.

 

Absolutely. There was a good item in Intelligent Life (The Economist) which goes some way to dealing with that misapprehension.

 

It is a good article about Paris and what to do there in general. Parisians, rude? Pas du tout !

 

Everyone thinks that people in Paris are impossibly rude. The longer I spend in the city, the more I realise that this is untrue. In fact, they are impossibly polite.

 

The woman in the picture is riding a Vélib bike - stuff here about renting them.

 

Excellent article! And what a cool idea with the bikes! Might take a bit of coaxing to get my husband to give it a go, but looks like fun to me. Thanks.

[Gilligan]

Dont go on a day beginning with T, beause the Louvre isnt open

 

Go up the eiffel tower, and stick your head out of the cage to look at the people below, and witness people shock and horror as they star at you

 

Go to the round about just down from the arcy thing, and there are a bunch of cannons there. If you have a companion, get them to take a photo of you so that it looks like the cannon is a penis, it works really well!

 

Dont bother going into dostradamus (wrong spelling - i know what im on about), because it's real boring, apart from there are some freaks that you can play games with - try to take a photo of them without them realising, gradually getting closer and closer.

 

The tour buses outside of the louvre are quite good.

 

Download "Stress" by Justice, and listen to it when you go on the train. If you can, try to watch the video as well - it was filmed in Paris.

 

Go shopping. If you have a husband or partner, then go to Louis Vuiton, and say "I love you" a lot.

 

Go to the formula 1 shops like renault to keep him happy.

 

Don't go McDonalds.

 

Be firm when crossing roads. If you're in the middle of the road, then traffic usually will try to avoid you.

 

Fashion. Don't look like a pasty tourist. Yasa Arafat scarfs go down quite well.

 

Enjoy yourselves. It's a great city.

 

Oh, and don't forget to buy a painting by one of the artists dotted around.