25th anniversary present. Taking the wife and adult kids for a week. Have been to plenty of places in Europe (Germany, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, etc) but never France. Anyone have any tips from their experiences?
OT: Paris at Christmas
- Thread starter bulldognation
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Even before the pandemic, Paris/France was not a well run city/country. Leaving Germany, where everything is neat and orderly and on time and arriving in France when the grass isn't cut and garbage is strew about is eye opening.
Don’t listen to the haters. The architecture is amazing, so walk aimlessly as much as possible. The people are friendlier than they are given credit for - just try to speak a little French and smile and be gracious and it’s all good. And the food and drink are slowly served and worth the wait.
Concur with this. Take an organized tour though. Look into getting tickets to the Eiffel Tower and Louvre in advance. You can wait in line for the Cathedral of Notre Dame without a long wait, at least that was the way it worked in July a couple years ago (pre pandemic).
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Might see you there; dollar is hella strong right now.
Paris Perfect has some great spots. $0 refund 60 days out though - they mean it.
Paris Perfect has some great spots. $0 refund 60 days out though - they mean it.
Wife and I were there in April for a couple days after a 7-day cruise up the Seine to Normandy and back. Others who have responded are correct - if you try to speak at least a little French and are friendly about it, the locals are friendly as well. I recommend the Eiffel tower and a dinner cruise on the Seine. Also, the Montmart (sp?) is very nice with great views of the old city. I would take time to walk around a lot, but would also take one of the open-air bus tours around the city as well. Just FYI - Charles DeGaulle airport is a bi*^ch!! Food is very good!!
Stay near Notre Dame. Make sure you hit the Louvre, Museum D’orsay, and the Pompideu. Make sure you see the Eiffel Tower at night, around 10 pm. I believe all the light bulbs start flashing then. At Christmas time they do these religious stuff throughout the city. It is pretty cool.
spend a day at Sacre Crueur and the surrounding pubs. It is a great scene at both day and night. It was were Van Gogh painted the street scape, and if it was not it looks just like it. I enjoyed Versailles, but most would not. The mirror room is something to see. The grounds in December are not as awesome as late spring, but it is impressive. The Champs-Elysees is also pretty awesome around Christmas time.
eat some great food while you are there. Try literally everything. It’s all good. I personally like Italian Food better, but French food is alright. Just try local things.
Do the Catacombs. Seriously, 4 million people are buried down there. It is crazy.
if you haven’t booked the flight yet, maybe start in Paris and then take the train to Rome and fly back a few days later. Night train from Paris to Venice is easy. From there spend a day, then train to Florence. Spend the day, then late train to Rome. Spend 3 days and fly back.
3 days in Paris, one day in Venice, one in Florence, and 3 in Rome. Fly back.
that is what I would do.
I can give you 50 awesome things to do in Italy. Food is awesome there too.
spend a day at Sacre Crueur and the surrounding pubs. It is a great scene at both day and night. It was were Van Gogh painted the street scape, and if it was not it looks just like it. I enjoyed Versailles, but most would not. The mirror room is something to see. The grounds in December are not as awesome as late spring, but it is impressive. The Champs-Elysees is also pretty awesome around Christmas time.
eat some great food while you are there. Try literally everything. It’s all good. I personally like Italian Food better, but French food is alright. Just try local things.
Do the Catacombs. Seriously, 4 million people are buried down there. It is crazy.
if you haven’t booked the flight yet, maybe start in Paris and then take the train to Rome and fly back a few days later. Night train from Paris to Venice is easy. From there spend a day, then train to Florence. Spend the day, then late train to Rome. Spend 3 days and fly back.
3 days in Paris, one day in Venice, one in Florence, and 3 in Rome. Fly back.
that is what I would do.
I can give you 50 awesome things to do in Italy. Food is awesome there too.
dinner cruise on the river in December, I wouldn’t try it. Going to be cold as hell.
We have been to over 20 countries and our favorite city is Paris. The big things to do have been mentioned. Dinner cruise on the Seine, Montmarte, the Louvre, Orsay, Sacra Coure, Versailles, etc. Viator has excursions to both Normandy and Giverny (long day). Eat at la Closerie de Lilas (a favorite of Lenin, Trotsky, Hemingway, Wilde, and JOE COCKER. One os our five favorite restaurants in the world. ENJOY.
if you like churches see ST SULPICE in the St Germaine district. Great organ, second largest in Europe. There is a free concert beginning a few minutes after the last mass each Sunday.
We have done MOULIN ROUGE. it is a great show with incredible athletes.
have a great time ��
if you like churches see ST SULPICE in the St Germaine district. Great organ, second largest in Europe. There is a free concert beginning a few minutes after the last mass each Sunday.
We have done MOULIN ROUGE. it is a great show with incredible athletes.
have a great time ��
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Do they not even keep the inner city, touristy areas clean anymore? Been a while since I have been there, but it was basically like a lot of US cities then. A bubble of highly commercial/touristy/rich areas, and then areas that get progressively shittier as you move out. The subways smelled like bad BO everywhere though.
Been a tourist to Paris five times. I love the city. Their inner city is wonderful. The outer ring, avoid. My favorite thing was the Nineteenth Century floor of the D’Orsy Museum. The Van Gogh’s are stunning. I also loved walking the right bank with its shops, pet stores, restaurants, etc. between Samartain and the Opera House. It’s good to have a French speaking person with you.
Try the language. Don’t walk up to the French and blurt out English, Hey, you guys speak English? Best to ask, in French, if they speak English, in their language; you get a more positive reaction.
Try the language. Don’t walk up to the French and blurt out English, Hey, you guys speak English? Best to ask, in French, if they speak English, in their language; you get a more positive reaction.
I've heard this tip over and over, and thankfully I took 4 years of French at MSU. Also my son is a sophomore French major, so I don't expect language barrier to be a problem. I also know it's a respect culture, not a hospitality culture.
We've all heard the common notion that the French are rude and hate Americans. I've heard a great insight as to why this perception persists: The most routine and regular thing tourists will do is dine at a restaurant. And unlike America, where wait staff is paid a minimal wage and has to rely on good and persistent service to increase their tip, France pays their wait staff a livable wage. As a result, they will only do their job - take your order, bring you your food and then the check. Americans by contrast are used to having a waiter check on them often, refill drinks and be polite and hospitable. Most of them aren't used to the French service being minimal. And paranoid Americans will make the leap that they're being treated differently because they're American. Multiply this by 2 or 3 meals a day and the lasting impression you have from all those expensive meals is that the French are rude and hate Americans.
We've all heard the common notion that the French are rude and hate Americans. I've heard a great insight as to why this perception persists: The most routine and regular thing tourists will do is dine at a restaurant. And unlike America, where wait staff is paid a minimal wage and has to rely on good and persistent service to increase their tip, France pays their wait staff a livable wage. As a result, they will only do their job - take your order, bring you your food and then the check. Americans by contrast are used to having a waiter check on them often, refill drinks and be polite and hospitable. Most of them aren't used to the French service being minimal. And paranoid Americans will make the leap that they're being treated differently because they're American. Multiply this by 2 or 3 meals a day and the lasting impression you have from all those expensive meals is that the French are rude and hate Americans.
It wasn't overly filthy with homeless people about or thing like that. We throughly enjoyed it, but only stayed one day. I wasn't a fan of the food, but that's just me. Ours was an organized tour.
sprechen sie deutsch? tu peux me remercier
You want to say it in what would have been their native language so you don't offend them.
You want to say it in what would have been their native language so you don't offend them.
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Plan more time for the Louvre than you think you need. It's hoooge. Easily a 2 day visit to see everything and take it in instead of just glancing as you walk past. Also, as others have said, try speaking French first. The odds are about 90% that their English is better than your French and when they realize that, they'll help out. I've been told by my French colleagues that the reason you must try to speak French first is that most of them are embarrassed about their English language skills. Hearing an American murder the French language sets them at ease about that.
This is one of the more interesting wiki articles I've came across:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_syndrome#:~:text=Paris syndrome
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_syndrome#:~:text=Paris syndrome
I'd recommend Christmas in Helen, GA over Gatlinburg (for the boomers among us).
We took our cruise on an enclosed boat; lots of glass, but not open-air. Even in April, it was still too cold to be out on the open water at night.
Paris is always very polarizing. Everyone seems to either claim it's magical or that it's dirty with rude people who hate Americans