After reading the threads on this forum for months, I felt well-prepared for our trip to Paris. Thank you to KDKSail, metromole, raphy, phread, Sarastro, travelnutty, and the many other people who so patiently answer questions for people such as myself. Since the information I gained from this forum was so useful, I felt obligated to post a trip report myself. Hopefully, it will help others plan for their upcoming trips.
Because we had taken 3 flights over the course of two days to get to Paris, I knew we would be exhausted by the time we stepped off the plane. Therefore, we used the shuttle-inter to get from the airport to the apartment we rented from VIP. It was so nice to just deplane and walk down the ramp and see the representative waiting there holding a sign with our name. We arrived at 5:30 pm and traffic was pretty heavy. It was a relief to sit back and relax and let the driver deal with getting us into town. The cost was 55 EUR and we gave the driver a 5 EUR tip. We didn%26#39;t actually get to our apartment until nearly 8 pm.
We rented #1 from VacationinParis and that worked out very well. The apartment was on a very small pedestrian-only, cobblestone street. It was pleasant to hear the school children walking to school each morning. There was also a cobblestone-scrubber machine that visited every morning making sure that the street was kept nice and clean. The apartment was just one block away from rue Montorguiel, the unique pedestrian-only shopping street. Being that close to rue Montorguiel was extremely helpful as we could walk there every morning and get our coffee and pastries for breakfast and sit outside and enjoy a leisurely breakfast before setting out for the activities of the day. My husband and I were the only ones speaking English. All around us, we heard the beautiful French language being spoken. After breakfast, we generally would head out for some sightseeing or shopping. Later on, we would return to rue Montorguiel to shop for food for dinner or for a place to sit outside and eat.
In the course of the week, we visited many of the tourist sites - the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, St. Chappelle, the Cluny Museum, the Arc de Triomphe, and Notre Dame to mention a few. We also enjoyed a lovely cruise on the Seine using the Vendette Pont Neuf cruise line. We didn%26#39;t hurry but tried to leave ourselves time to sit and observe the culture. We%26#39;ve left plenty of sights and things to do for our next trip.
We also took time to just wander around the interesting streets of Paris. We enjoyed sitting in the sun of various parks, watching the children laugh, run, and play. The unique sights and sounds of Paris swirled around us - children laughing, parents chatting, church bells chiming, sirens wailing, the sound of the river water lapping, birds chirping, and the unforgettable sound of women walking on the cobblestones in their high heels.
We also enjoyed shopping. We had a neighbor here at home, who had requested a ceramic Paris thimble for her collection That took us awhile to find but we finally found it. Our son wanted a Paris t-shirt so we added that to our quest. The perfume shop, Fragonard%26#39;s, yielded another treasure - little scented soaps that were shaped liked Easter eggs and were housed in an little egg carton. (You should have seen the custom lady%26#39;s face when she pounced on that, quite certain, that she had found a banned item in our carryon, only to discover that the egg carton contained soap!) And of course, scarves were worn by so many elegant Parisian ladies, so we just had we to shop to find one of those. Shopping for the perfect wine, cheese, and chocolates was another enjoyable way to spend time.
We made sure to try a crepe in the Latin Quarter and a falafel from Las Falafel. We sampled the ice cream as suggested by so many posters. We also bought chocolates from Stohrer%26#39;s. I discovered that there was a great deal of variety in ham and cheese sandwiches but the one I had over in the 7th was simply outstanding. The lady who prepared it also included some Italian herbs and tomatoes and it tasted rather like a really good pizza! On the last day, I realized that I hadn%26#39;t tried the yogurt yet so we got some of that and it was absolutely terrific! I wish I would have remembered it earlier so I could have had it every day.
We returned to the airport by using the Metro to get to Gare du Nord and then we used the RER line to get to the terminal we needed. it was very easy to do and a fraction of the cost of using a shuttle service.
A few other random thoughts - During the course of the week, we were approached at Notre Dame by a lady clutching a note who asked us, %26quot;Do you speak English?%26quot; I responded in German and she moved on to another couple. The %26quot;gold ring%26quot; scam was attempted only once as we walked away from the Palais Garnier. This lady bent down and %26quot;picked up%26quot; the gold ring and began to hold it out to us and I immediately responded with %26quot;non, merci%26quot; and kept walking. I glanced behind me and saw that she had immediately moved on to a large group of tourists milling around by the front doors. The Metro is extremely easy to use. It is just so romantic to board the cars and hear a musician inside playing music. Also, on Sunday, on two different Metro lines, a lady would get on board and give an entire speech that sounded like a plea. The two ladies would always introduce themselves and then would tell their story and why they needed money. That was unique and something I hadn%26#39;t heard of before. We saw very little dog poo. (In fact, we saw more dog poo in Mainz when we went there after our week in Paris.) We took along our netbook and only had moderate success with wi-fi. We discovered that if we could get a strong signal, then we probably could get online. Even though many of the parks we visited had free wi-fi, we had no success with connecting. We often found little cafes or sandwich shops that offered 20 minutes of free wi-fi if you bought something. On the rare occasions where we couldn%26#39;t find free wi-fi, we just visited a Starbucks and bought 30 minutes of time. I noticed that the people of Paris have a unique smell - everyone seems to smell fragrant - sort of a very pleasant, flowery smell. The people, in general, were so well-dressed and elegant. The Parisians that we met were very helpful to us. There are a lot of people who do not speak English. But, don%26#39;t be nervous as many of the younger people do speak English. I learned some basic French (by podcast) and I found that even my tiny bit of French made such a big difference. Often, my French would bring a literal torrent of words in response and then I would try to respond in my basic French. The people were so helpful in trying to communicate with me and help me. I fondly recall the antics the cashier at a little marche went to in order to communicate to me that the package of ham slices that I had in hand did not need to be cooked but could be eaten right out of the package. (at least, that%26#39;s what I think she was trying to say.) There were many people who slowed their rate of speech down for me so I could try to understand. There were people who went out of their way to make sure we got on the right train or went in the right direction. There were even total strangers who came up to us and volunteered to take our pictures. ( I have to admit, the first time I was rather reluctant to hand over my camera but the man was a business man %26amp; I figured that he didn%26#39;t need my little point-and-shoot camera) By the way, I have to mention that in the course of the week, I lost one and a half inches around my waist even though I ate every fattening piece of bread, dessert, cheese that I could!
On the plane ride home yesterday, I asked my husband what he thought the highlight of the trip was. I expected to hear him say the Eiffel Tower or St. Chappelle but his response was, %26quot;living in an apartment and shopping like the Parisians do.%26quot; Ah, Paris.... what a treasure! What a delight! We%26#39;re already planning for our return visit.
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Sounds like you had a great time! Thanks for taking the time to share...
Two more sleeps before I%26#39;m back in the City of Lights.
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Yes, we did have a good time.
Going back again? Lucky you! Do you need someone to come along and carry your bags? :-)
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What a lovely trip report.
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Thank you TripNebraska.
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What a nice trip report. It sounds like you and your husband enjoyed every minute. I%26#39;m leaving in three weeks and now I had to add the Fragonard soap eggs to my list. Thank you for a great gift idea!
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Great report, thanks for taking the time to post!
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I also enjoyed your report. My husband and I also thought that just staying in an apartment and shopping in the local shops and living like the locals was also a highlight of our trip!
Thank you for sharing!
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Thanks for posting. I went to the vip site and could not find apt #1, although I admit I have trouble navigating that site. BTW I have booked #100 for 5 nights in May.
Have you considered adding a post to this thread:
tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g187147-i14-k26308…
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Thanks for posting your trip report, I really enjoyed it.
We like staying in apartments and living like Parisians too.
Is this the apartment you rented? It looks nice, great location, and a good value, especially for a family with children. http://www.vacationinparis.com/apts/id_01.htm
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Very nice report Konza - you experienced Paris well.
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