Probably the first words I learnt before embarking on my first journey to Paris... although it was official work, I had made up my mind to make the most of it.. this was in August september last year ...Paris summers: probably the best time to visit the place.
I boarded the flight from mumbai and reached Paris in approx 10 hrs. there’s a 3.5 hour difference between IST and paris time between march end and september and it increases by I hour between Oct to March due to daylight savings. I landed at charles de gaulle airport and was impressed by its vastness...welcome to Paris , I said to myself..
My hotel was pretty far away from the airport , so I took my time to enjoy the drive in the taxi ... ofcourse all the taxis were merc’s and BMW’s with GPS and what not!!
when the cars and bikes were zooming past at 150’s , I could just stare in awe...
to travel to paris one must have euros because thats the currency which is accepted at all places..infact the whole of europe.. so its better and convineint to carry traveller’s cheques and get it converted at the airport it self.
mode of travel:
I found roaming around in Paris much better on my own. because there was no dependency on time, there was no trouble with the transport. Paris has a really good metro system which covers most of the places in Paris.the maps are really detailed with all the stops and the routes, so there is no need to depend on anybody for asking directions. It stops after 1’o clock in the night. But u have Noctam Bus which runs through out the night , so effectively you can stay out even if u do not have ur vehicle.
People:
French people are very cordial . they would always want to help you but then language is a major problem. But if u know some key words and try to communicate , they would go out of their way to help you out..
places to visit :
this is an exhaustive list...there are a hell lot of places which u can visit based on your interest.
****Eiffel: need I say anything regading this ??? its the most beautiful sight when u stand on top of eiffel and look down paris.. I suggest people to go in the evening when around 1 hour of sunshine is left and then come down in the night. this way both the day and night view can be experinced. there are two options available ...for people having a lot of stamina can climb the stairs to the first level. for others there are lifts from all four corners of eiffel . the tickets to the topmost level would cost around 10 eu.. but its the view u would not forget..
1) louvre.. there are hardly a few people who would not have heard of MONALISA. this is the place where this painting is kept and also the main attraction of louvre. Man, this museum is amazingly vast...it took me three full days to see most of the paintings and the artefacts from various eras. the museums are free on the first Sunday of every month.. so people can save on 10 euros!!
2) versailles: there is this beautiful palace and one of the most vast and beautiful gardens I have ever seen. lovely place to go cycling in the afternoon sun. must visit. there is a musical fountain wich is one of the main attractions . It starts around 2 in the afternoon.
3) opera: this buliding is beautiful and the pkace where operas were and I think still are conducted. u can appreciate the taste of french people on entering this.
4)Concorde: lot of stories regarding king Louis are associated to this place. You have the obelisk right in the centre. there are impressive structures around.
5) Disneyland: well this is not exactly as big as the actual one in US.. but you cannot cover the whole of it in one day. it has the main land, the disney village and one more ( hollywood arena) . Inside disneyland there are four basic divisions : adventure land, science land, fairy land and one more( I forgot the name!!)
all the superb games are in the adventure land: u get a brochuer at the entrance. all the games marked with a star are must visits. u have indiana jones, king solomon’s mines etc... the good thing is there’s a scheme known as fast pass: u can take a ticket for the marked games for a particular time.
be sure not to miss the hollywood stunts which happen in the hollywood arena ( this happens at around 2 o’clock?) its really amazing to watch. then in the evening u can shop around for artefacts in disney village. For going to Disneyland, u will need to travel in RER ( this is another part of metro which takes you to suburban paris) the ticket costs for a day when I visited was around 50 eu..
6) grand arce de la defense: this buliding is an architetural marvel. it looks like a rectangular tower from a distance but there are offices inside the complex. You can do to the top and get a view by paying enrty fee... btw Paris does not have too many tall buildings. La defense is tha place where u can find a lot of tall structures belonging to giants like AXA, TOTAL etc.
7) arc de truimph: this is like the INDIA GATE. to mark a respect to the french soldiers.You can go to the top of this tower. This is the place which is at the centre of 12 different roads forming a star..
8) champs elysees: this is the shopping street of the world. all the big names have exclusive stores here...of course the prices are exhorbitant... but window shopping is always free ;-) not advisable to take ur girlfriends/wives on this street if u are weak hearted. louis vitton/ armani all big names can be found here. surely visit the renault, mercedes, toyota showrooms . you have small restaurants which serve typical french food.... this street is very long and makes for lovely evening walks..
9)moulin rouge/lido: moulin rouge and lido are the places where dances are performed. ( u must have seen the movie) . the ticket prices touch around 100 euros and formal dress is a must.( I think).
10) miniature france: there is a place south west of france which has all miniatures of major building. can be visited.
11) you should go on a ride on the river Siene. Its really good. enjoy a quite dinner by the riverside.... love is always in the air in Paris..
pubs/bars: u have a lot of pubs and bas in paris which are open late nights. u can go there and enjoy urself.
there are lot of other small gardens and places u can visit but the it depends on the time available with you. Science museum is another place which u will like to visit.
there are stores like H&M where shopping can be done and u get good discounts. Perfumes are abundant and ’’sephora’’ chain would be highly recommended.
winters in paris can be really chilly and u can people wrapped in jackets and boots. So ideally summers is a great time.
beware: in summers , it can rain anytime without the slightest of indications ;-)
i guess this was pretty exhaustive. wait for some more places.