Hello,
I'm from Paris and I know it's not easy to find out what to do or how to live in a foreign city. Therefore, I decided to give you some tips that might be useful to enjoy your journey in the French capital.
Of course, I can't put everything here, so don't hesitate to contact me for any complementary information.
1st: TRANSPORTATION
As you may think, Paris is well desserved by public transports (subway/underground, buses, trains, tramways...). You can find all the information you need on the website of the French Transport Company: www.ratp.fr (for English version just click on the British flag). Some advice that I can give you is that French transport tickets are quite expensive (you must save around 30€ per week for public transportation) so if you know that you're going to use them a lot, you'd better take a one-week or one-month ticket (called "carte orange hebdomadaire or mensuelle") depending on your time being in Paris: doing so, you would save a significant amount of money (instead of buying a ticket for each route).
2nd: ACCOMODATION
The best place for cheap accomodation (instead of staying at someone's place!) is youth hostels ("auberge de jeunesse" in French). I advise you not to take a room in a hostel near the train stations of "Gare du Nord" and "Gare de l'Est" because it's quite scary at night and you might not sleep a lot!!!
You can find information about youth hostels in Paris on: http://www.hostelworld.com/hostels/Paris
3rd: MONUMENTS AND PLACES TO VISIT
Of course, you must know the Eiffel Tower or the "Avenue des Champs Elysées" and many other monuments. Here are a few that are worthy to have a look at:
Arc de Triomphe, Notre-Dame Cathedral, the Louvre (museum), Saint-Michel place, La Défense, Basilique du Sacré Coeur, the castle of Versailles (Louis XIV's castle) with its gardens, the Montparnasse Tower, coupole des Invalides, the Opera Bastille, and so many others.....
You will find information on: http://www.paris-tourisme.com/monuments/index.html (it's in French but you can click on the names of the monuments to see photos).
Another website (English): http://www.paris.org/Monuments/
4th: SHOPPING
I guess this part is for sisterhood!! (but don't woorry guys, I don't forget you :-) ). Of course, you know that Paris is the capital of fashion...who doesn't!
So, for your shopping I would highly recommend you to go to "Chaussée d'Antin La Fayette" (lines 7,9)/ "Havre Caumartin" (lines 7,8 and 9) (these are the names of the subway stations) where you have plenty of well-known brands stores. Other addresses to find good clothing for good prices are "Châtelet-les-Halles" (l.4,14 and 11), "Strasbourg St Denis"(l.4, 9 and 8) and of course "les Champs Elysées" (stations "Charles de Gaulle Etoile, Georges V, Franklin D.Roosevelt, Champs Elysées Clémenceau" on lines 1, 9 and 13). Just for information, If I can recommend you some good French brands (prices are reasonable) that would be: H&M, C&A, Celio, Bershka, La City, Jennyfer, Pimki, Etam, Camaïeu, La redoute, Nafnaf, Zara.... ;-)
5th: SUPERMARKETS
If your budget is tight and need to go to the supermarket to buy your food at good price, I recommend you to shop in supermarkets such as "Leader Price", "Monoprix", "Franprix", "Liddle", "Auchan" and "Casino" : the food is very good and prices reasonable.
Of course, all this information is a starting point of what you should or would better know before arriving to Paris. I certainly forgot many other things but I'll be really glad to help you out for any other question.
Joined: 08-18-08
Hello,
I'm from Paris and I know it's not easy to find out what to do or how to live in a foreign city. Therefore, I decided to give you some tips that might be useful to enjoy your journey in the French capital.
Of course, I can't put everything here, so don't hesitate to contact me for any complementary information.
1st: TRANSPORTATION
As you may think, Paris is well desserved by public transports (subway/underground, buses, trains, tramways...). You can find all the information you need on the website of the French Transport Company: www.ratp.fr (for English version just click on the British flag). Some advice that I can give you is that French transport tickets are quite expensive (you must save around 30€ per week for public transportation) so if you know that you're going to use them a lot, you'd better take a one-week or one-month ticket (called "carte orange hebdomadaire or mensuelle") depending on your time being in Paris: doing so, you would save a significant amount of money (instead of buying a ticket for each route).
2nd: ACCOMODATION
The best place for cheap accomodation (instead of staying at someone's place!) is youth hostels ("auberge de jeunesse" in French). I advise you not to take a room in a hostel near the train stations of "Gare du Nord" and "Gare de l'Est" because it's quite scary at night and you might not sleep a lot!!!
You can find information about youth hostels in Paris on: http://www.hostelworld.com/hostels/Paris
3rd: MONUMENTS AND PLACES TO VISIT
Of course, you must know the Eiffel Tower or the "Avenue des Champs Elysées" and many other monuments. Here are a few that are worthy to have a look at:
Arc de Triomphe, Notre-Dame Cathedral, the Louvre (museum), Saint-Michel place, La Défense, Basilique du Sacré Coeur, the castle of Versailles (Louis XIV's castle) with its gardens, the Montparnasse Tower, coupole des Invalides, the Opera Bastille, and so many others.....
You will find information on: http://www.paris-tourisme.com/monuments/index.html (it's in French but you can click on the names of the monuments to see photos).
Another website (English): http://www.paris.org/Monuments/
4th: SHOPPING
I guess this part is for sisterhood!! (but don't woorry guys, I don't forget you :-) ). Of course, you know that Paris is the capital of fashion...who doesn't!
So, for your shopping I would highly recommend you to go to "Chaussée d'Antin La Fayette" (lines 7,9)/ "Havre Caumartin" (lines 7,8 and 9) (these are the names of the subway stations) where you have plenty of well-known brands stores. Other addresses to find good clothing for good prices are "Châtelet-les-Halles" (l.4,14 and 11), "Strasbourg St Denis"(l.4, 9 and 8) and of course "les Champs Elysées" (stations "Charles de Gaulle Etoile, Georges V, Franklin D.Roosevelt, Champs Elysées Clémenceau" on lines 1, 9 and 13). Just for information, If I can recommend you some good French brands (prices are reasonable) that would be: H&M, C&A, Celio, Bershka, La City, Jennyfer, Pimki, Etam, Camaïeu, La redoute, Nafnaf, Zara.... ;-)
5th: SUPERMARKETS
If your budget is tight and need to go to the supermarket to buy your food at good price, I recommend you to shop in supermarkets such as "Leader Price", "Monoprix", "Franprix", "Liddle", "Auchan" and "Casino" : the food is very good and prices reasonable.
Of course, all this information is a starting point of what you should or would better know before arriving to Paris. I certainly forgot many other things but I'll be really glad to help you out for any other question.
Enjoy your journey in Paris!!