Quick tips please...

First time to Paris. My couple and I want to make this a quick get-away weekend trip to Paris. We want to suck in as much as possible but not do the typical tourist trip. We want to experience Paris like the locals do (however hard that is).

Two questions:

1.) I am arriving on the Eurostar to Gard du Nord. How convenient is it to go somewhere from the station to say the neighborhood around the Eiffel Tower? Is it cheaper/better to take taxi or metro?

2.)Is there any institution-like and really famous cafe that is a must-stop destination in Paris?

I am looking for icons, cultural and gastronomical, especially if they make croissants or the typical french-cafe fare.

Thanks everyone!

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Is there any institution-like and really famous cafe that is a must-stop destination in Paris?%26gt;%26gt;

Not if you want to stay away from tourists, no.

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1) Métro is cheaper. Taxi is easier, especially with luggage. Better is a judgment call. (BTW it%26#39;s GarE du Nord, gare being the French word for station.)

2.) I%26#39;ll throw out the Café de la Paix on place de l%26#39;Opéra. How much more iconic can you get than the café where Victor Hugo would host banquets and whose terrace was a favourite of both Oscar Wilde and the Duke of Windsor? And where else can you sit with a cup of coffee and marvel at anything that equals the baroque grandiosity of the Opéra Garnier?

Cafés do not make croissants or other baked goods. They buy them from boulangeries (bakeries) or patisseries.

%26quot;suck up%26quot;???

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I really advise

1. using the metro, to get around if not to get to the hotel, don%26#39;t know how much luggage you%26#39;ll be toting. I managed fine with a small wheeled suitcase, a big shoulder bag and a handbag but the metro turnstyles are a bit entertaining with luggage.

The metro is easy to navigate, although it really repays having spent a lot of time beforehand getting used to the lines and end stations (the lines are identified by the name of the end station [as well as a number and a colour]).

2. taking a hop on hop off tour. Yes, I know it%26#39;s touristy but it gives a fabulous overview of this amazing city that you%26#39;ve become part of

3. Almost iconic for cafes is to pick one that is not iconic: I enjoyed finding a couple of cafes that were definitely not Tourist Traps but were %26#39;just%26#39; cafes - %26#39;just%26#39; French cafes are wonderful in their warmth and service!

from a recent convert to paris!