My wife and I recently visited Paris for a week to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary. First I would like to thank all the contributors to this forum for their comments and advice. It helped a lot in planning this trip. I apologize for the length but this account discusses many of the frequent questions sent in by fellow travelers.
We arrived at the Charles de Gaulle airport around 09h30 after an all nighter from Montreal via Ottawa. There are a few ways to get from the airport to the Paris core and as one person remarked it is impossible to combine quick and inexpensive when deciding. Taxis and limousines are probably the quickest no fuss way but it will cost around 60 € (euros) each way. If you book a limousine service you will have to do it on line because France has a law that forbids limousine services to compete directly with taxis, metros and buses at the airport. If your plane is late your limousine ride could be compromised.
The cheapest way to get in town is by metro but be forewarned that, depending where you are going, you will probably have to lug your suitcase(s) up and down stairs and have to walk your way to your hotel.
We used the Air-France bus system. They have a couple of different bus routes and drop you off at strategic locations within the city. We took their bus to Gare Montparnasse and a taxi to our hotel. The bus is 27 € / return fair per person and the taxi cost 10 €.
We stayed at the Aparthotel La Citadine Place d’Italie in the 13th arrondissement which is south of the Latin Quarter (see separate report in the Hotel evaluation section of this forum). The metro station is directly across the street of the hotel. Place d’Italie is a huge round-about (traffic circle) and the hotel is on of the many “corners” that make up this round about. Annexed to the hotel is a large modern mall like one finds in major cities across North-America. The beauty of this is that the mall has a couple of bakeries where you can buy croissants, baguettes, etc. freshly made each day. There is also a huge grocery store in the basement that sells fruits to nuts by way of microwave equipment and pots and pans and….there is a fresh fruit section which is great. They also have a section dedicated to wine including a sommelier eager to help you chose the right bottle(s) from the large selection they offer.
To get around Paris we used the metro system which is set up in zones. All the major sites are in Zone 1, except Versailles which is Zone 4, so you only need tickets for Zone 1 if you stick to the main sites. You can get a metro pass but , like one of the comments made on this forum, unless you plan to get on and off the metro at least four times a day the pass is not worth it (I think a 6 day metro pass is 28 €). You’re better off buying tickets. A booklet of 10 tickets for Zone 1 is 11.60 €. For our trip we used 3 booklets (for the both of us). Tickets are bought through automatic vending machines using an interactive screen to make your selections. The first time is a little tricky but they offer assistance (I will admit that speaking French makes things a little easier). Be forewarned that some of the metro stations (especially those that are single stops with no transfer lines available) do not have these vending machines so make sure you have enough tickets, especially for late evening runs, cause you might have to walk to the next nearest metro station that have ticket vending machines. As for the Versailles trip we bought 2 return trips for 5,90 € each. By the way the metro is a very safe way to travel. We usually got back to our hotel around 22h00 every night and once came back at midnight and we felt comfortable each time.
We bought The Paris Museum 4 day Pass to visit the different sites. A 4 day Pass is 48 €. This is not necessarily a bargain if you only visit a couple of museum but the cost of visiting 4 or 5 museum comes close to the cost of the 4 day Pass. The Pass is worth it. It may not save you a lot of money but it will save you some time. Most of the sites work a two line system. One line to get tickets and another line to get in. By having the pass you only have to stand in one line and the lines are small at this time of year. The pass is good for permanent exhibitions only and can be bought at each of the main sites’ ticket office or directly at the airport at one of the tourist kiosques. We used it for the Concièrgerie, the Sainte-Chapelle, the tower of Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris, Versailles, the Louvres, the Musée de l’Orangerie, the Musée d’Orsay and the Arc de Triomphe. We had to pay to get in The Eiffel tower (13 € each to get to the top) and the Temporary Renoir exhibition at the Grand Palais till January 2010 (12 € each).
Here is what we accomplished in a week. Monday was “get to know your neighborhood day” with lunch at at “O’Jules” across the hotel, an afternoon nap after we got our room, supper at “Monte Cassino” not far from the hotel and a walk in the evening. Tuesday was dedicated to the Latin Quarter – la Concièrgerie, la Sainte-Chapelle, la Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris and up the tower with the gargoyles, a daylight boat ride and supper at “Thai Classic” in the 3ème arrondissement on the north side of the Seine. Wednesday was Versailles day, the main palace and the Marie-Antoinette grounds in the back 40 of the estate and supper at the “Café Marguerite” not far from our hotel. Thursday was arts day with visits to the Grand Palais (Renoir temporary exhibition), Louvres for a couple of hours, Arc de Triomple, supper at “Palais Royal” on Champs Élysée and a nighttime boat ride on the Seine. Friday was spent visiting the Musée d’Orsay (those who like renaissance paintings will really trip), l’Orangerie (Monet’s lagoon paintings), the Eifel tower – day and night visit and supper at “Le Recruitement” near the tower. Saturday was excursion day with visits to the Père Lachaise cemetery to see, among others, Jim Morrisson’s grave –which is the least impressive when compared to other grandiose mausoleums, The Basilique du Sacré-Coeur which is erected on a hill that can be clearly seen in the northern section of the city when viewed from atop the Cathédrale, the Arc or the Eiffel tower. And of course we finished the week with an anniversary supper at “L’atelier du Maître Albert”, a quaint mid to upper class restaurant on a small side street in the Latin Quarter. Reservations are recommended –great food and friendly service.
It was a great trip.
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I enjoyed reading your post, we are staying for 4 nights, time enough to savour the atmosphere :-)
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it sounds as though you came back with a lot of great memories and a lot of useful info for next time/others good report
cheers
jim
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Thanks for the report and congratulations on your 40th!
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Very helpful report - thanks
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