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As mentioned in the topic im going to visit Paris this weekend and I could need some help from fellow Parisiens/Parisienne or some well traveled TL members :-)
Because I want to know, If you know some special place in Paris that isnt the usual tourist stuff. I was in Paris a few years ago and did all the standard tourist stuff.
This year im planning to visit the Meltdown and the Artist district in Paris. Do you have any other suggestions?
Ill do another blog when I come back with some pictures and the stuff I did ;-)
Greetings, BeWat3r
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I just got back from my Honeymoon in Paris, and I have to say Meltdown is awesome (order a Fusion Core ^___^) -- I suggest going Friday or Saturday vs Sunday (wife and I went for an Iron Squid stream Wednesday and it was packed, the IS event on Sunday, though, the bar was basically empty. Owner said that was the norm and that Saturdays tend to be busier)
Two restaurants I would recommend, Market (French/Japanese fusion food, ~incredible~. 15 Avenue Matignon, just off the Champs Elysees) and La Risto Du Roy in Versailles (leaving the palace it is ahead and to the left-- my wife and I met the Blizzard EU eSports directors at Meltdown and they HIGHLY recommended this place, and I have to say it was the best meal I had on the trip. Even if you don't go into the palace I'd say the trip to Versailles is worth it just for here. Classic French cuisine w/a modern twist; raviolis in truffle oil nearly made my brain implode).
Have fun in Paris!
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Thanks for the nice advice^^ I hope I can afford such a fancy restaurant, cause Im just a student and I dont want my Gf to pay for everything :-)
Ill visit the Meltdown on Saturday then :-)
One question, do you know any french and how did you communicate? Cause I know a little french from school but im not sure if it is enough.
Greetings, BeWat3r
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My French is abysmal. Fortunately, I had my wife to translate for me if I got in over my head, but it's pretty easy to get by with just the basics, "Hello" / "Please" / "Thank you" / "I'm sorry" / "I would like" / "Excuse me"
The metro system is easy enough, you can buy tickets in most any language.
Lots of the people I interacted with spoke some English (much more capably than my French), and I found that as long as I made a good-faith effort to communicate in French people were very nice and helpful (if a bit amused at my attempts, or the "Deer in Headlights" build when they went off-script).
Met one person who spoke some Spanish and was able to communicate a bit more that way too
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I guess it depends what you're interested in. my in-laws have a really cool little book that breaks all of the different arrondissements in Paris down into cool little walks. It gives you a start location and then a hint about which way to go to get to the next, etc. I've only done the 20th but there are some really beautiful out of the way places to check like pretty parks and easily overlooked pedestrian paths and buildings.
Then of course there are a million little mini museums and (also cool and nice when you are dealing with crappy weather) the covered walkways and galeries like galerie vivienne, you can easily find a day's worth of walking on any of these paths. also, a lot of people will understand english, but if you can at least try to start in french, you'll win people over pretty quickly and I am sure they'll be easier to deal with (after all parisians aren't exactly known for going out of their way to help others, but a quick pardon, je ne parle pas très bien le français. est-ce que vous parlez l'anglais ou l'allemand? should give you some bonus points ^^ after that you'll still meet lots of a-holes, but there are a lot of nice people there as well.) and if you are taking the gf and have the luck of a bit of nice weather, a nice walk along the seine is always nice... see the painters and the bridge of locks south of Notre Dame will get you romance points, and just walking along the isle in the center is pleasant, when you are away from the hordes of people!
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Rule number 1 : Don't ask anything to people on the street. We, parisians, have other things to do than help you - like spending time with our family & friends. On the other hand storekeepers, bartenders are most of the time really Rule number 2 : If you must ask something, pick your person carefully. Someone with a suit is generally a no-go. Choose students (not teenagers though). Bartenders, storekeepers, and policeman are also a good choice. Rule number 3 : Learn a few sentences of french about directions and use them. Maybe people won't understand anything but French can get very nasty if you don't make the effort. People will often try to adapt to you afterwards.
Have fun
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On January 04 2013 02:25 Otolia wrote: Rule number 1 : Don't ask anything to people on the street. We, parisians, have other things to do than help you - like spending time with our family & friends. On the other hand storekeepers, bartenders are most of the time really Rule number 2 : If you must ask something, pick your person carefully. Someone with a suit is generally a no-go. Choose students (not teenagers though). Bartenders, storekeepers, and policeman are also a good choice. Rule number 3 : Learn a few sentences of french about directions and use them. Maybe people won't understand anything but French can get very nasty if you don't make the effort. People will often try to adapt to you afterwards.
Have fun So true lol.
Oh btw, if you wanna eat traditional french stuff in a really nice atmosphere, go to Bouillon Chartier.
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouillon_Chartier
Not too expensive either (for Paris standards). I loved this place when I was studying there.
And to get an non-tourist impression of Paris, avoid the metro and buses and just walk. For example, start at le village de Saint-Paul, then place des Vosges, then the center of the marais (Rue des Francs Bourgeois, Rue Vielle du Temple, Rue des Rosiers), then walk to l'Hôtel de Ville, cross the Seine, walk the 2 isles, go to Saint-Germain (from the boulevard to the Panthéon), then towards Saint-Germain des Près. And don't be afraid to leave the big streets. The cute, memorable stuff is often in the smaller, one-way streets somewhere off the spotlight.
Have fun!
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On January 04 2013 02:25 Otolia wrote: Rule number 1 : Don't ask anything to people on the street. We, parisians, have other things to do than help you - like spending time with our family & friends. Nah, I disagree. Parisians are just pricks. It's a place where you'll find more antidepressants than people (and there are lots of people, too). I mean of course, you could say that there's just too many people and too many tourists to be nice, but there's that little extra gratuituous indifferent/arrogant attitude that remains unexplained. I just came back from a trip to Quebec and I already can't stand this place. I just want to leave as soon as possible. After spending a couple of months with the nicest people on earth, I simply hate it when I buy something and the cashier doesn't even look at me. It's as if I had died and wandered in a world of ghastly creatures who aren't even aware of my existance.
There's this thing about Paris, the fact that they're actually proud of this attitude too.
"I <3 nothing, I'm parisian".
You know, like anti-intellectual people who are proud of their ignorance. Parisians took their worse attribute and made an international banner out of it. /rant
Back to the OP : 1 ) Best advice yet was to just walk around places. My personal favourites would be the area around the Luxembourg Park, to the Odeon, then straight to the Sorbonne, Panthéon and Mouffetard street which is full of cool bars (I believe a recurring scene in Midnight in Paris was shot there). There are also very cool places around Cluny and Notre-Dame.
2) Here's a map for a trip around Luxembourg and Notre-Dame: https://maps.google.fr/maps/ms?msid=206160020015927930213.0004d26ef98bf9de2634f&msa=0&ll=48.845514,2.341129&spn=0.006065,0.016512 Especially for you !
I added a cool restaurant, but in fact there are many cool restaurants in Paris. But we have to know how much you're willing to put there, or your interests.
3) Otolia's right, if you need something, ask young students.
4) If you're looking for a spot to party, right to the right of Notre-Dame, at the border of the Seine, people gather at night for drinks. It starts around 6 pm I'd say and goes on for some part of the night, but it becomes shady around midnight so I'd advise moving to a bar or some place before that.
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Wow you guys are really helpfull :-D We will use as, many tips as we can
According the prises for the Restaurant,im willing to pay arround 50 euro per person.
We will start our tour today with a visit to the eiffel tower and a walk along the seine
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On January 04 2013 13:50 Kukaracha wrote:Show nested quote +On January 04 2013 02:25 Otolia wrote: Rule number 1 : Don't ask anything to people on the street. We, parisians, have other things to do than help you - like spending time with our family & friends. Nah, I disagree. Parisians are just pricks. It's a place where you'll find more antidepressants than people (and there are lots of people, too). I mean of course, you could say that there's just too many people and too many tourists to be nice, but there's that little extra gratuitous indifferent/arrogant attitude that remains unexplained. I just came back from a trip to Quebec and I already can't stand this place. I just want to leave as soon as possible. After spending a couple of months with the nicest people on earth, I simply hate it when I buy something and the cashier doesn't even look at me. It's as if I had died and wandered in a world of ghastly creatures who aren't even aware of my existence. That's preposterous and false too. Even though Paris isn't culturally representative of the openness of France, it hugely varies from the place you are going to. Places without tourists are very nice to visit. Anyhow it is certainly not the city with the biggest usage of anti-depressants (that's either NY or LA) though people could be as depressed - we still have real psychiatrists in France not just drug dealers. And it's not the worst place to engage a conversation with a cashier. Finland, or even Berlin are WAY worse.
On January 04 2013 23:03 BeWat3r wrote: Wow you guys are really helpfull :-D We will use as, many tips as we can
According the prises for the Restaurant,im willing to pay arround 50 euro per person.
We will start our tour today with a visit to the eiffel tower and a walk along the seine Are you kidding me ? 50 Euros ? What kind of restaurant are you looking for ? Becaause I could recommend as very nice chinese for 6,50€ (drinks and dessert included) or thai restaurant for 60 € ^^
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50€ would be pretty steep.
20-25€ with a glass of wine and infinite water is absolutely doable in a traditional french restaurant.
Andeep in mind that dinner usually costs (several €s) more than lunch.
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@Otolia I still disagree, I'm pretty sure that most of the people I know agree that Paris is a terrible, terrible city from a human point of view (and I've been to quite a few places). I want to leave, my GF wants to leave, my family wants to leave, my friends would leave if they didn't enjoy "the city of lights" so much.
@OP if your budget is 50 per person, then I'd recommend L'atelier de Robuchon, located in Saint-Germain. I've been there for my 20th birthday, and it was just delicious (it's a 2 star restaurant in the Michelin I believe). But you'll end up paying more than 100€ if you want wine... much more. It's a place created by this famous chef by the way : http://www.joel-robuchon.net/#/fr/home/
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We dont drink whine so thats not the problem :-)
tomrrow we plan to visit the louvre and take the tour kukaracha mentioned and we will finish the evenning at the meltdown :-D
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Btw you can also go left from the place de l'Odéon, then arrive at Saint-Germain-des-prés then turn left and you'll be rue de Rennes where lots of shopping can be done. The possibilities are infinite.
Btw forget about the last chunk of my tour, just take the rue Gay-Lussac, much prettier. (Theres also an awesome cheap chinese restaurant around the corner if you want)
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So we finished our trip today and it was a lot of fun :-)
Thanks to all the advice ive got here we were able to make it quite the experience. Ill do another blog for a full report. But first of all i just wanted to thank you guys ;-)
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glad to hear you had a good time! looking forward to reading your recap
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