Bonjour!!
First of all, I just wanted to let you know how helpful this website has been in planning my family%26#39;s vacation to Paris! I love reading about all your ideas!
Here%26#39;s my question: I%26#39;m a 17 year old girl going with my parents and my sister, who is 14. Obviously I plan on doing all the major sightseeing in Paris, and of course shopping (can%26#39;t wait for the depot-venues!!!) but can anyone give me any suggestions about what might be fun for me and my sister? We%26#39;re way too old for the kid activites and my parents will under NO circumstances let me go out to any clubs, and are hesitant to let us go anywhere by ourselves at all for that matter.
We%26#39;ll be there for 15 days, and I%26#39;d really love to get some ideas about what could be fun for teenagers.
Merci!
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I am planning a trip for my grandaughter and niece next spring. Thinking of bike tours, Sundays roller skating along the Seine, top of Printemp department store for the view and lunch, Versaille and Chantilly outings, a film originle american with French sub titles. Also get a bus map from the Metro ticket person and learn what %26quot;in the direction of%26quot; means and get a bus pass . You will all have fun riding from one end to another of different routes and see lots of things. the bus 72 goes along the river from the 16th to the Hotel de Ville and 22 and 52 go thru the 16th along by the Arch de Triumph into the designer area to the Opera.
Have a wonderful trip
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%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;Here%26#39;s my question: I%26#39;m a 17 year old girl going with my parents and my sister, who is 14. Obviously I plan on doing all the major sightseeing in Paris, and of course shopping (can%26#39;t wait for the depot-venues!!!) but can anyone give me any suggestions about what might be fun for me and my sister? We%26#39;re way too old for the kid activites and my parents will under NO circumstances let me go out to any clubs, and are hesitant to let us go anywhere by ourselves at all for that matter.%26lt;%26lt;%26lt;
I can%26#39;t help but notice that you indicate that you%26#39;re from NYC--which I suppose could be any of the five borroughs. Do your parents allow you girls to go out in Manhattan on your own--into the museums?? Broadway ?? 5th Ave--Rockefeller Center, St. Pat%26#39;s Sak%26#39;s, Bloomies, Macy%26#39;s? lower Manhattan--the West Village and Soho for shopping? Well if they%26#39;ll allow you to do that (probably via an MTA train) then you will be MUCH safer out and about in Paris on your own---during the day and most certainly in most of central Paris in the evenings.
So you can make the rounds of the grand magazins (free runway fashion shows at Galerie Lafayette and Printemp), Blvd Haussmann, if you%26#39;re into fashion stroll the rue Faubourg-Saint Honore to see what%26#39;s the latest in haute couture, poke around up in the shops in the Marais to see what%26#39;s happenin%26#39; there, Visit museums and monuments that may interest you but not your parents. If you exercise the same sort of common sense and just plain %26#39;street smarts%26#39; that you can%26#39;t help but develop from living in a city like NYC, Paris will be as %26#39;..tame..%26#39; as as the Amish countryside in Pennsylvania.
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Thanks for the suggestions!
LOL, that%26#39;s the funny part--we are always alone in NY! We walk to school by ourselves, use the transportation by ourselves...actually, we are rarely ever with our parents when we%26#39;re out shopping or going to museums or out to eat.
However, my mom in particular seems to think that because France is a foreign country and Paris is an unfamiliar city, we should not be allowed to explore on our own at all. She is afraid that we%26#39;ll be mugged, get lost, or picked up by French guys. I seriously doubt this will happen--for one, because we%26#39;re both street smart, and also because we both speak take French at school and can communicate on a basic level.
How can I get my parents to understand that Paris is safe enough for us to be alone? I mean, I%26#39;m about to be a senior in high school, and I live in a huge city. I understand why she is worried, but this is ridiculous!
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If you%26#39;re in Paris between mid-July and mid-August, %26quot;Paris Plage%26quot; will be happening on the right bank of the Seine. The city closes 3 miles of a freeway (that runs along the riverbank) and hauls in thousands of tons of sand, palm trees, deck chairs, hammocks, and other tropical stuff and creates a %26quot;beach%26quot;! It starts next to the Louvre and this summer it will run nearly all the way to the Arsenal.
They also create a sand beach in the plaza in front of the Hotel De Ville (city hall) for volleyball and other beach games. There are cheap bike and roller-blade rentals, concerts, games and a swimming pool with changing rooms and showers.
We spent many days there last year in the hot weather. Highly recommended.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3914649.stm
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Ooh, I think the best way to get your parents started on the idea that you%26#39;ll be OK is to get them to come %26amp; read here. There are lots of people who post that they will be traveling alone and what their concerns are, then the wonderful people here allay those fears. That said, she%26#39;s your Mom and it%26#39;s quite possible that nothing short of being there and seeing how safe it is will sway her. :)
I went to Paris with my school when I was 16 and a friend and I snuck out at night to go explore the city. If 2 16 year girls looking for trouble couldn%26#39;t find any, I doubt that you and your sister (who are presumably smarter than we were!) will accidentally find it.
Have a great trip!
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%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;However, my mom in particular seems to think that because France is a foreign country and Paris is an unfamiliar city, we should not be allowed to explore on our own at all. She is afraid that we%26#39;ll be mugged, get lost, or picked up by French guys.%26lt;%26lt;%26lt;
Having been born, raised, lived and worked in NYC for a large portion of my life (admittedly some portion of that was when the indians still owned Manhattan--or so it seems sometimes) you%26#39;ll find that there is a great deal LESS street crime and even less %26#39;..violent crime..%26#39; (muggings etc) against tourists in central Paris. The Paris Metro system is easier and better marked, mapped and diagramed than the MTA. It is cleaner, safer and works better (it%26#39;s also only 1/3 the size of the MTA system). Most of central Paris is safe to stroll/walk around in at most hours of day and night if you exercise a bit of %26#39;..situational awareness..%26#39; (%26#39;street smarts) and simple common sense. You mother may have a point though.You and your sister may very well get %26#39;..hit on..%26#39;--but it%26#39;s probably not like that doesn%26#39;t happen in NYC often enough.
But give your parents a break. A litttle more %26#39;..real life..%26#39; has made them cautious...which will happen to you one day too--especially when YOUR daughter wants to go off in a strange city on her own. Spend a day with %26#39;em. Let %26#39;em see that Paris isn%26#39;t filled to over-flowing with dangerous psychotic deviants (tourists are bad enough) and that%26#39;ll probably loosen up. But start %26#39;em out slow and give %26#39;em a chance to work up to it. Separate after breakfast in the morning and agree to meet them somewhere specific for lunch--and then MAKE DAM SURE YOU%26#39;RE THERE ON-THE-DOT or before--come hell or high water.
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There is a club in Paris for 14 to 18 year olds, which your parents may consider, as there is no alcohol and no older guys to bother you.
I do have one word of wisdom for you, as a girl who first came to Paris on her own at the age of sixteen (a naive little suburbanite, I may add), you have to learn not to look guys in the eyes and smile. Doing so is an invitation to men and while you don%26#39;t have to worry so much about being attacked, it is annoying being hit on like that all the time.
You are old enough to hang out in local cafes on your own. The Cafe du Marche in the 6th is fun in the evenings, with a young crowd. Maybe your parents can go the Chai de l%26#39;Abbaye next door, leaving you alone while being within eye shot.
In any case, I am sure that your Mom will relax once you are here and she sees how easy it is to get around and realizes how safe it feels.
7 year olds walk themselves to school in our nieghborhood and my ten year old goes out on her own in the afternoons without any problems.
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Thanks to everyone for the great advice. I%26#39;m SO EXCITED! We leave in 2 weeks!!
Any other cool ideas for fun events that will be going on during June?
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Great thread, Ooh!
We are leaving on the 6th with a group from my son%26#39;s high school so I have some of the same concerns.
The people who post on this site are some of the coolest I%26#39;ve
met on the net. You guys rock!
Thanks for the ideas and Ooh, maybe you can hook up with our kids and have some fun!
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Floski~
I would LOVE to meet up with your son%26#39;s friends. Where are you guys from, how many kids are going, and how long will you be there?
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