I traveled to Paris with two friends in October- one her first time out of the US, and briefly wanted to share a few travel tips and experiences:
Jim Haynes Dinner Party - A unique experience - don%26#39;t miss it if you are in Paris on a Sunday night. Its a dinner party with around 90 other travelers from around the world. I talked to people from Sweden, Paris, Germany, British ex-pats, students at the Sorbonne, and Jim himself - who oozes charm. If you%26#39;re shy - no worries - Jim will introduce you around. 20 euros at the door - covers a 3-course meal with all the wine, beer, soda you can drink. Website: http://www.jim-haynes.com/
O%26#39;Chateau wine tasting - I%26#39;ve attended quite a few wine tastings, and this one really stood out. Olivier was fun, informative, the atmosphere was relaxed and the wines we tasted were very reasonably priced at around 10-12 euros/bottle.. All, the tastings were in English. Website: http://www.o-chateau.com/en/main/
Le Vieux Bistro - This was My %26quot;first-time Paris%26quot; friend favorite restaurant of the trip. My meal was Fantastic! I ordered all the house specialties - pate, beef bourgignon, and tarte tartine for dessert. My friends ordered a la carte and their meals were excellent, but we agreed that the way to go was to order the specialties of the house. Make sure that you read the history on the back of the menu. 14 rue du Cloîture Notre Dame, 4e - across from the Notre Dame.
L%26#39;Orangerie Museum - If you love Monet, this is a must-see. I bought my tickets via the FNAC website, picked them up at the bottom floor in the FNAC at Les Halles, and by-passed dozens of people in line outside and at the ticket line inside. It was so easy..I will definitely use the FNAC website to buy tickets for future trips.
Things that went wrong - It felt like we went through a technological black hole when we arrived at CDG. I%26#39;ve never had any problems with ATM cards, credit cards, cell phones, wi-fi connections, i-pods, etc. except on this trip. Nothing seemed to work, however we resolved most problems. I write up my problems/solutions on my website for future reference here if you%26#39;d like to %26quot;expect the unexpected%26quot; before your next trip.
www.parisescapes.com/paris_worst_case.html
I hope that you find these tips helpful - C
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Interesting website - lots of good tips. I am planning my 5th trip to Paris, but still found some tips I could use - thanks!
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You have an awesome website. I love the detail of the information provided. The Do%26#39;s and Don%26#39;t%26#39;s are definitely helpful. Thank you.
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Interesting web site indeed. Two little factual mistakes though:
- It is not illegal to hail a taxi (unless there is a taxi stand less than 50 m around). Lots of people do it all the time... if there is one around! Gas is expensive in France, so taxis can%26#39;t afford to drive around all day like they do in NYC. Hence their propensity to congregate at taxi stands.
- The night bus network is not called %26quot;Noctobus%26quot; (actually it was %26quot;Noctambus%26quot;) any more, but %26quot;Noctilien%26quot;. It has been seriously upgraded, which, given the absence of taxis on week-end nights, is a blessing, not to say virtually the only way to get home if you live too far away to walk there.
Otherwise, I have already said it in another thread, but, starting some time this December, the last métro will be one hour later on Saturday nights, ie 1h30am.
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Thanks for the good and interesting trip report!
Also thanks for the information %26quot;Jim Haynes Dinner Party - A unique experience%26quot; I have only read one %26quot;local review%26quot; of it! I was thinking about going but wondered how a lone person would be welcomed.
Taking time for sharing all this is so nice of you!
My problems on my past trip to Paris had to do with watches! My watch stopped two weeks before my hubby came I tried to buy a battery for it.... but the watch repair would have charged me 43 Euros (!) for the water proof battery ( $7.99 back home installed in 5 minutes!) and wanted three days to install the battery ( they had to send it out!) . We had problems with his watch stopping also on the plane over!
Unless one wants to buy an overpriced French watch or battery make sure your watch has a new battery!
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Hi
Thanks for great report.
I am very excited about the Jim Haynes dinner and plan to attend one next summer. Thanks !
Have read about %26quot;Le Vieux Bistro%26quot; before - but have only had drinks on the terrace (if it was at that bistro, but I think so). I thought it to be very touristy. Love your website ! The %26quot;Dans le noir%26quot;-dinner sounds extraordinary, to say the least !! Did you ever go there ?
I also plan to go to the Baccarat Crystal Museum on Place des Etats-Unis - should be beautiful, if you love glass.
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Great trip report!
I have never heard about the Sunday night dinner, it seems really interesting. I will be traveling by myself in the fall and this seems like a great way to meet some people!
Also the website you posted is very informative!
~Anna
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That Jim Haynes dinner party must have really been a unique experience. It sounds like a good way to socialize and have a good dinner at the same time.
Discover - I always travel with 2 watches (I own many different kinds)because I know that batteries can go at any time without warning. I pay less than $4 here for a battery, so I certainly wouldn%26#39;t want to have to replace one abroad. Besides, I wouldn%26#39;t want to waste precious time looking for a place that replaces batteries.
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Thanks everyone for your kind messages regarding my web site. You made my day! I%26#39;m glad that you found it helpful.
Bob - Thanks for your comments regarding taxis and the night buses. I%26#39;ll update my site to reflect this info.
Discover and Willow - I think that you will have a great time if you attend the Jim Haynes dinner party. At the party I attended, there were dozens of people that came as %26quot;singles%26quot;. It was very easy to strike up a conversation and talk to people from all over the world. Ages ranged from 20 - 70+.
Happy travels - C
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