Hi,
My family and I will be going to Paris from London via Eurostar. We have decided to use hotel transport since we are afraid of the transport strike.
We will be staying at the Hotel Royal Magda Etoile. Is this a busy area? Is it a convenient area to eat and shop? Since there are 5 of us, I guess it is difficult to get into 1 cab so we will most likely take public transport.
Can anybody tell me what is the best way to go about all the Paris attractions. We will be there for 5 days and don%26#39;t speak French.
Thank you.
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The best way to get around is walking and Metro. Lots of the sites are within walking distance of each other. One of the most enjoyable things to do in Paris is just walk and see what you see. It%26#39;s a beautiful and interesting city. A friend of mine relayed a story to me about his first trip to Paris. He kept coming upon beautiful buildings. He would get all excited and say %26quot;What is this place. It must be a really famous place because it is so beautiful.%26quot; Then he would find out it is just some place where lots of people work but isn%26#39;t a tourist site at all. Paris is like that--beautiful and interesting at every turn.
You can get everywhere in Paris on the Metro. As an attendant at any of the Metro stops for a map and it shows you all the stations. You can easily figure out where you need to transfer--if you need to. Plus many of the Metro stations are works of art themselves--not to be missed. The system is very safe, even very late at night. I was there in Sept-Oct and there were so many people in the Metro system at 10:30 at night it seemed like noon or rush hour. The only thing to watch out for is pickpockets. I actually caught one with his hand in my friend%26#39;s backpack. These aren%26#39;t dangerous people. They are just annoying so guard your possessions. I traveled alone for 30 days in Paris and felt totally safe.
If you are going to be there for 5 days you might consider getting a Card D%26#39;Orange for each person. This is really a discounted Metro pass. They are good weekly and the week begins on Monday. You can purchase beginning the previous Friday or you can purchase on the Monday or Tuesday of that week. You need to have a 1%26quot; passport photo of each person because they will give you a little folder to hold the picture as well as your ticket. Each time you use your ticket, you get it returned to you in the machin and put it back in the folder for next time.
In fact, even if you just buy individual Metro tickets, or a carnet of tickets (the next best deal because you get 10 Metro tickets for a discount over buying tickets individually) be sure to retrieve your ticket from the turnstyle after you put it in. Sometimes they have security police checking to see whether you actually have your ticket (at your destination end). Some people don%26#39;t buy Metro tickets but sneak on and off so they have people checking tickets at some stations. I encountered that about 3 times on my previous 30-day trip. There is a steap fine if you can%26#39;t produce your ticket (and if 5 of you didn%26#39;t produce tickets you%26#39;d be shelling out a lot of unnecesary money).
There is also the sightseeing bus as well as boat on the Seine where you purchase tickets and can jump on and off at will as you get somewhere you would like to explore.
There is also a good bus system. Some people like the bus because it is above ground and you can see sights as the bus travels.
Lots of options. Enjoy!
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The security police In_Love_With_Paris mentions is actually just staff from the Paris transport authority (RATP) - uniformed or in plain clothes. There is also police patrolling the metro, of course, but they don%26#39;t usually check tickets.
You can find more info about the Carte Orange and other ticket options on the websites of the RATP and STIF:
www.ratp.fr
www.transport-idf.com
Note that both sites are partly in English - but on the English part of the RATP site, you%26#39;ll only find a few of the many tickets. Travel passes like the Carte Orange are mentioned and explained only on the French version.
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TQ in lv with Paris and jantoo,
Anymore news re strike. I sure hope it
%26#39;s over by the time we get there. At least we can venture further. we also plan to visit versaille. will we be affected by strike.
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