frenchrci

Thanks for sharing !

Hi,

I went there with my school when i was a child and more recently with kids !

I really enjoyed it... I think that's a good idea. :)

There is a lot of things in the "Cite des sciences". Things very funny with water, electricity, .... I recommend !

Hi !

We don't forget you... I hope everything are fine !

Cheers from Paris ! ;)

Up !!! :D :D

Thanks for your answer ! :)

Hi,

During the summer, a lot of shops are open in mondays, but the rest of the year.... :rolleyes:

I'm glad you had a pleasant trip here !

Do you have any idea when you might come back again?

( I would like to honor my proposition ! & don't worry, i never tried smoking :D )

There is a lot of taxis which don't take credit cards, but they can drive you in front of an atm. :)

Hi,

The best way for me is to rent a car... Not taking the highway but the national roads !

My pleasure ! :)

For the link, just replace **** by " goo . gl " !

NICE !!!!!

Easiest answer i never had ! :)

So now you tell me . Given the relative strength of the Euro against the dollar and Paris prices we would have welcomed a free drink . But you will be pleased to hear we had a great week in Paris (and then spent another 3 weeks driving about 3000 kilometers in France) and really enjoyed staying in St Germain des Pres (our previous longer Paris stays were in the 5th and also Marais).

 

You ask a good question about Americans running out to Versailles. I must admit that we enjoyed Versailles when we visited (nearly 15 years ago) but would probably not return. But you might be disappointed in moi if we admitted that on this recent visit we went out to Fountainebleau one day, We had been meaning to get out there on several prior trips but never had the ambition to leave the city. We did enjoy the fact that Fountainebleau is not packed with tourists.

 

You might be interested to know that we also rented an apartment (flat) in Avignon for a week (we had not stayed in this city for nearly 20 years) and loved every minute. Although DW would say that Paris is her favorite place in France, my heart is in the south .

 

Hank

I'm glad you had a great trip here. When you come back near Paris, send me a pm ! :)

Fontainebleau* :D Good choice ! You know enough Paris to leave the city sometimes ! Next time, try Barbizon, Chantilly, ... :D

Me too, i like Paris.... But when i'm in the south, i'm always wondering... "Why do i live in Paris?!" :eek: :(

The life in the south is sooo different... No comparison ! They 'take the time to live' !

Yes, we want to see the real Paris. Your suggestion of this walk is just the thing! I have a map of Paris, and using map quest, was able to find Hotel de Ville, Centre G.Pompidou, Passage du grand cerf and rue montorgueil. And of course I am able to locate Jardin des Tuileries, Champs-Elysées, Arc de Triomphe, Trocadero, Eiffel Tower. But could you be a bit more specific about the walking route in between? And I can't find what you mean by returning 'downstairs' and could not find Quais de Seine. About how long would this take us to walk?

 

Hank, thanks so much for the info and suggestions. Maybe only a half day in Versailles...more time for Paris.

I did a map on google maps for you !

For returning, i mean really near the river, in the lower level than you can walk, not next to all the cars driving. Where only pedestrians can walk.

Link: https://*******/maps/nb7Bz

Full-size picture: http://imageshack.com/a/img853/5777/oige.png

Not enough "point" after opera to be more specific. You can walk inside of "jardin des tuileries", and when you can go on the other side of the river by a bridge when returning back if you want. You have the "Port of Debilly" which have the best view of the eiffel tower with NOBODY there !

Google maps says a 3h walk. So, with a slow walk, taking photographs, enjoying some beautiful views, eating something you can expect 14-21h. Back for dinner.

You have on internet some offers for a river cruise with dinner & champagne for 69e for 2 ! (so only 34.5pp), from notre dame, if you want !

I'll try to answer your question. This board tends to attract primarily cruisers who, generally speaking, don't add a lot of independent travel before and/or after their cruise. Some of the admittedly wonderful chateaux on your list are in the Loire, an area that deserves its own several-day trip. I wouldn't take a day trip to visit only Chambord, not when Azay-le-Rideau or Chenonceau -- and more -- are so close.

 

Of the chateaux that are within an hour's trip from Paris, none has the cachet associated with the kings who lived there and Louis XVI's and Marie Antoinette's place in history.

 

Sometimes a jaw-dropping house is more than "just" a jaw-dropping house.

Thank you for your answer ! I understand !

Hi,

Can you drive ? If yes, i suggest you to rent a car ! :)

Hi,

I have no idea where you can dock in Honfleur.... Maybe Le Havre ?

Port of Honfleur is very small... And more for little personal boats.

Which company it is ? :confused:

Hi,

You made me curious to do some research for "St.Louis". I didn't knew that city, and i am surprised ! Most dangerous city of us. :eek:

Paris is safe if you be careful....

Some areas like Belleville, Barbes, Clichy, Saint Denis, etc. are a little dangerous... That's right ! If you go outside of Paris like Vitry sur seine, Montreuil, Villiers le bel, etc. Yes, be very very (VERY) careful. I advise you to not go there...

Inside of Paris, near 'tourists areas', it's like every big cities. :)

(but don't take the first metro at 5/6am the sunday :D )

Hi,

First, Hank, i'm very upset against you ! :mad: I didn't knew you were in Paris.... I would be very happy to meet you and offer you a drink ! ;)

:)

There is a regular poster here on CC who lives in Paris and I hope they jump in on this thread :) We do not think Montmartre is a "must see" for a first time visitor with the exception of going up to Sacre Coeur, seeing the spectacular view of Paris, taking a quick look at the church, and then after a quick walk through the neighborhood you get back to the better parts of the city. I suppose you could do all of that in about 2 hours :).

I agree. The only thing, for me, is the incredible view, with the eiffel tower in the background !

One could certainly spend all day at Versailles, but since you are trying to cram a lot of Paris into a short visit you can move fast and probably turn it into a half day visit. But I always like to tell fellow DIYers that the great advantage to doing your own think is that you can alter your schedule as you see fit. Also keep in mind that most of Paris does operate on a schedule that has most things open until about 7pm, so you will probably be able to stretch out your days.

I'm always wondering... Why a lot of americans absolutely want to visit Versailles ?

There is a lot of things to do in Paris, and there is a lot of "castles" as interesting as Versailles to see (for me..!). Like Chambord, Chantilly, Vaux-le-Vicomte, Chenonceau, Moulinsart, Valençay, ... !

The one thing that you cannot control is the weather and you should pray for comfy dry days. You really do not want to go to Versailles in the rain as its a hike from the train station (enough time to get totally drenched) and its hard to enjoy the grounds in a heavy rain. Another thing to consider is that the last time we took the train to Versailles we did not spot any signs to help put us on the right path from the train station. Hopefully the locals have since rectified that situation, but if not, do not hesitate to ask somebody to point you in the right way...or better yet, print out a decent street map of that town.

 

Hank

 

Hank

Exactly. It depends when you are coming !

If you want to discover the "real" Paris, there is a walk tour i love to do... From your hotel, go in direction to Notre-Dame, then Hotel de Ville, Centre G.Pompidou, Passage du grand cerf (like the famous galerie vivienne), rue montorgueil (i love that street! every parisien spent their weekend here), Haussmann, Opéra, Vendôme, Jardin des Tuileries, Champs-Elysées, Arc de Triomphe, Trocadero, Eiffel Tower, and then coming back to your hotel walking 'downstairs' the Quais de Seine.

It's a full afternoon, and you see a lot of important things... By the best way: walking !

(i agree, you have to be able to walk without any foot/leg problems, but everything is very close!)

as is typical of disney, they bought an awful lot of land and control just about everything in the immediate area. Am wondering if you have considered just going into paris? This is pretty easy on the rer a line and you can be at the les halles station in about 50 min, which is a good location as a jump-off point to go anywhere in the city. Just a few days ago dw and i drove from strasbourg to cdg on the a4 and passed relatively close to the disney property. We actually talked about how there is so little out in that area east of paris other then disney (which is probably what attracted disney to that area).

 

Hank

+1 !

I agree ! It's the best time of the year ! ;)

I never went there. But i have heard about "archipel des glenan" if you want to relax.

For visiting, both castles looks great. There is nothing "incredible" near Brest, so you should just enjoy the city itself.

Hi,

I never did it, but i know there is helicopter tours from Marseille.

Most of them should go close to the "Calanques".

It is around €160 to €250pp, depending on the time.

If you want website links, just ask. :)

Hi,

I agree with Hiltner ! It will be better and cheaper to rent a car !

If you really want a taxi, you can make a reservation to a "VTC". You already put where you go, when, and you will know the price. So... before entering the car, you know the price ! And they are more friendly than Taxis... No comparison ! And very more comfortable with a bottle of water, the driver ask you if you want to listen music, if you want to talk with him, ... :)

Hi,

I'm very upset that you had such an horrible experience here....

I'm so sorry for you but i'm glad you didn't miss your flight.

I am really sorry about your ordeal and certainly your words of caution are wise. There is indeed a big problem in France with unlicensed transport companies (currently there are big protests of taxi companies because of this).

 

However just to add something to the above quote. License plates in France have numbers (60,01 for instance) that actually refers to where in France the car got registered (60 is for the Oise department, located north of Paris, 01 is the Ain department, in Northern France and so on. A license plate from Paris would have number 75, from Nice number 06... there are 95 departements in total in mainland France and Corsica). Rental cars are often registered in department number 60 for tax reasons, so indeed a car with a number 60 on its license plate is more likely to be a rental car (even more so if the car is in Nice, so far away from "home"...), but there are private cars also with the number 60 and to my knowledge there is no way to tell from this number which rental company the car is from.

 

This doesn't change much actually to your bad experience, and I'm pretty sure the car was indeed a rental car with no insurance for carrying paying passengers. I'm glad it ended up OK for you.

I agree at 100% ! (je ne suis donc pas le seul ici !! :eek: )

When you see a recent car with the number 60 in the south (for example), it is in general a rental car.

Hi,

It depends.... Your hotel is near Opéra ?

You must have rented a very nice apartment as I consider €710 for a week quite expensive, but enjoy.

Me too ! But it should be a very nice one.... !

Very nice trip and you are lucky to be in this part of France.... The weather is perfect currently ! I was in Avignon two days ago! Are you going to Paris before leaving ?

You should post some pictures... :o

I would love to se the rooftop view !

When are you going to Brest ?