I have been living in Germany for about a year and do not speak French. I traveled to Paris with my mother who has health issues. I did a lot of research on TripAdvisor reading reviews and tips to prepare for this trip and felt comfortable enough to make the arrangements myself and stay 5 days. Thanks to all the other reviewers out there!
METRO: I traveled to Paris by train and intended to take the Metro to my hotel, and between tourist attractions. This is a great idea if you are healthy and pack light. My mother packed light but was very nervous and walking the stairs in the Metro wore her out. If I did it again with her, I would have used a Taxi between the Hotel and Train station. I also would have spent the money and picked a hotel right in the heart of the tourist attractions on a bus/metro line so that we could go back to the room throughout the day. Metro info: www.ratp.info/informer/anglais/index.php
SPEAKING FRENCH: Or in my case, NOT. My best advice is to learn these equivalents if nothing else: Please, Thank you, I don%26#39;t speak French. Don%26#39;t even bother to ask if someone speaks English. If they do, that is nice, and they will speak English when they hear you slaughter simple French phrases, but asking just wastes time and makes you look bad. At the major tourist spots everyone speaks English and most tourist transactions can be managed with %26quot;Please%26quot; and hand gesturing your way through.
METRO PASS AND MUSEUM PASS: These are great but do not buy them on the internet! Most websites charge you an outrageous surcharge (20 Euro or more). I purchased both the Paris Viste and Carte Orange at the Metro station with no hassels. I spoke no French and the clerk spoke no English, but it is pretty obvious what the tourist wants. Beware ticket scalpers, they are right at the ticket counter waiting for you.
HOTEL: I chose my hotel based on TripAdvisor Rank and price. Hotel Porte Doree was #11 when I made reservation in March, it is now #41. My advice to first time travelers to Europe is to adjust your expectations regarding a hotel. The hotels I have stayed at do not have AC, may not have an elevator, and in Paris will definately be on the street and you will hear street noise. If these things are a problem for you look for a newer (aka more expensive) hotel, or do not stay in the city.
RUDENESS/VAGRANTS: BEWARE people asking %26quot;Do you speak English?%26quot; The Parisians were quite friendly, the rude people were the ones that speake English with the desire to scam you. I had a simple rule to ignore people that asked %26quot;Do you speak English?%26quot; But even I was taken in by by a sweet looking middle aged woman on the Metro Platform, when I said %26quot;yes%26quot;, she smiled and asked for money. When I declined she insulted me and applauded my departure all the way down the Metro ramp.
RESTAURANT FOOD: 50% of the time we ordered food we were told it wasn%26#39;t available (even quiche and pasta of the day). I don%26#39;t know what we did wrong, so all I can do is advise a visit to the grocery store. We tried going to dinner later, verifying we were using the correct menu (snack instead of lunch) but no luck. Our last night we were tired and hungry and the thought of trying to get food was depressing so we just went to McDonald%26#39;s. YES WE DID! The fries are just as good in Paris.
All in all we had a wonderful time and didn%26#39;t go broke doing it.
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Thanks for your comments! All these little tidbits of info help me feel more prepared for anything that might present itself. What%26#39;s with the food though? What time of day were you going for lunch and dinner? Has anyone else out there had this problem?
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The first time we went to dinner around 6pm, the next around 12pm to the same restaurant, and they did not have quiche or pasta of the day either time. A different restaurant we visited before 11am, so we had to get the %26quot;snack%26quot; lunch, which didn%26#39;t have the first two items we ordered. We had no problem ordering at at an Italian restaurant and went around 7-8pm. Good luck.
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6 pm is far too early for dinner, 11 am far too early for lunch. 7-8pm is normal for dinner.
This problem may arise because in France themeal schedules is slightly different from what you are used to.
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I had a similar problem by eating too late. We went to dinner at 10:30 at night or something like that %26amp; they didn%26#39;t have the prix fixe menu anymore, so we just ordered a la carte (which had some of the same dishes anyway).
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It looks like we%26#39;ll have to plan our meals accordingly. Thanks for the info.
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Thanks for your trip notes. Had to kind of laugh at the little old lady applauding you all the way down the Metro ramp. I%26#39;m sure I would have been tricked by her too.
BTW, I personally don%26#39;t see what the fuss is about eating at MacDonald%26#39;s. We are taking our teenage sons with us on our Paris trip this summer, and I won%26#39;t be surprised if they want some familiar food.
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I agree with you on several points you%26#39;ve made. WE took my mom a few years ago and she was having a problem with her knee. It was hard on all of us just getting her from place to place on the metro with all those steps. At the time I had never sed the buses and was scared we%26#39;d get lost. Now I take the bus all the time and I wish I%26#39;d done it then.
I get so exhausted some days from all of the walking that I just want to put my jammies on and kick back and watch tV or read by 8 PM so when that happens and I%26#39;m in a hotel I get takeout. (usually a chicken or a pizza or some chinese)
On our last visit we gat an apartment for the first time. We usually ate our dinners in the apartment and our lunches out and about.
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Sounds like you had an interesting experience!! Thanks for the heads up. I don%26#39;t know where your getting your Mcdonalds frech fries but ours are like hollowed out cardboard!!!lol. Thanks for the notes
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We also just returned from our first visit to Paris, and I must say that I agree with Denys that your meal timing was simply off. I know you said that you have lived in Germany for some time, but I guess that%26#39;s just one of those cultural differences: people in Paris eat their formal %26quot;dejeuner%26quot; and %26quot;diner%26quot; at slightly later times than you expected.
We found that most restaurants don%26#39;t take reservations for dinner until 6:30 or 7pm, so you have to expect problems if you insist on showing up at 5!
Between official meal times, however, it%26#39;s really easy to find tons of good food. Cafes, brasseries, creperies . . . they%26#39;re all over the place, and the range of possibilities (omelets, crepes, salads, cheese plates, pastries, etc.) is HUGE. So you don%26#39;t really have to worry about the formal meal times when hunger strikes. Just have something light at a cafe and hit the restaurant later. . . at least that%26#39;s what we did.
As for your hotel experience, I must say that our Hotel Muguet in the 7th arr. was pretty close to perfection for us. The price was very reasonable (108 Euros per night, Queen bed), close to the Invalides and Eiffel Tower, with air conditioning . . . and it was incredibly clean. I actually posted a review elsewhere, so I won%26#39;t go on here.
Anyway, I%26#39;m glad that your bottom line was that you had a wonderful time. I%26#39;m especially impressed with the way you took care of your mother, with her physical limitations. She%26#39;ll always be grateful to you for that!
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