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Visiting Paris

93 replies

Catnuzzle · 27/03/2023 10:56

I and DD(12) are visiting Paris next week, any hints or tips as I've never been before?
I've prebooked lots of activities but any good restaurants/cafes or shopping area recommendations would be gratefully received.
Anything we should be aware of culturally?
Merci bien!

OP posts:
OhMerde · 31/03/2023 08:05

ZittiEBuoni · 27/03/2023 13:00

All the Parisians I've had dealing with have been fine/lovely incidentally.

Same. I lived there last year. Ate out a lot. Absolutely same as UK.....mostly nice people, the occasional grumps.

AngeloMysterioso · 31/03/2023 08:15

RosaBonheur · 31/03/2023 07:52

Completely depends what your bra size is. If you have small boobs then go to H&M, C&A or Etam for a basic bra. If you're up to an E or F cup then Intimissimi might be your best bet. Any bigger than that and you could try your luck somewhere like Galeries Lafayette where I think they stock brands like Freya, but they are expensive so I'd probably just wear the one you have on until you get home.

I’m a 32E so might have to be Intimissimi. Unfortunately the bra I have doesn’t work with what I’m wearing tonight and I can’t really go without!

RosaBonheur · 31/03/2023 08:37

AngeloMysterioso · 31/03/2023 08:15

I’m a 32E so might have to be Intimissimi. Unfortunately the bra I have doesn’t work with what I’m wearing tonight and I can’t really go without!

If you're 32E then I reckon Intimissimi is definitely going to be your best bet in terms of sizing, quality and value for money. They're not too expensive.

America12 · 31/03/2023 08:39

Cryingovernothing · 27/03/2023 12:59

Parisians are notoriously rude and po faced about life in general. Don't take offence, they can't help it, it's just how they're made.

I've been loads of times, I've never encountered this.

JorisBonson · 31/03/2023 09:14

America12 · 31/03/2023 08:39

I've been loads of times, I've never encountered this.

Me neither, and I've visited tens of times. Everyone I've met has been lovely. I speak minimal French.

I had a good laugh with a waiter last time when I tried to order a margarita cocktail and he tried to bring me a pizza.

Carouselfish · 31/03/2023 10:23

Montmartre. Beautiful view, lovely atmosphere around it. Beware bracelet sellers at bottom of hill, they tie a bracelet on tourists which they cant take off and then have to pay for. Though this was a few years ago now.

Carouselfish · 31/03/2023 10:28

@Cryingovernothing if you think Parisians are rude, try Vienna! Makes them look postively welcoming.
I havent found them bad actually, in Paris. Only time ever encountered rudeness was out at night talking with friends, someone shouted across the road, 'When you are in France, you speak FRENCH!'. So I replied in French.
The metro has some fairly awful behaviour, but not exactly rude...more disgusting.

Karmagician · 31/03/2023 10:34

We took our (just) 12 Yr old twin boys just after Christmas (3 nights Disney, 2 nights Paris) and they loved it, but we did feel they might still be a teensy bit too young to properly enjoy the 'city sightseeing' thing. Mind you the weather was awful! I would question Moulin Rouge too - it's in a really seedy area - but only you will know if ok for your child (who may be more mature than mine 😁). Re: Eiffel Tower I wouldn't bother going in/up. We booked with a guide (group), ended up still having to queue for 2 hours in the pouring rain and then couldn't go to the top level as they had closed it due to wind! We just went with our gut with restaurants and cafes - I'd agree Marais is a great area for this. This is probably the bit our kids enjoyed the most; long lunches in a crowded cafe chatting to the waiters. Have a fabulous trip!

JorisBonson · 31/03/2023 10:47

Pigalle is super trendy now, long gone are the days of locals bars! Lots of influencers queuing to get into cool speakeasies.

TheLadyofShalott1 · 31/03/2023 12:10

BitOutOfPractice · 31/03/2023 07:44

Wow @TheLadyofShalott1 that’s a very extreme reaction to a throwaway comment! Merely a commentary on my experience of Paris and speaking with Parisians. And you know I wasn’t actually laughing. It’s a figure of speech. Would you like to critique my visit suggestion as well?

@BitOutOfPractice, fine, but we are not speaking face to face, and I have no idea who you are or what your character is like, so how was I supposed to know that it was "a throwaway comment", or that you like to communicate in "figure of speeches"? I do believe that it was you critiquing (criticising) what I said, rather than the other way around.

As for me critiquing (or criticising, which I think is what you actually mean?) your visit suggestion, I didn't pay any attention to that as you didn't seem to be addressing me at that point?

BitOutOfPractice · 31/03/2023 12:30

Whichever way you took it @TheLadyofShalott1 I wasn't addressing you at all. You were one of many people who suggested rudimentary French was always warmly welcomed in Paris! I certainly wasn't expecting a complete character assassination as a humourless and sneering! 😁

But hey knock yourself out. I've obviously touched a raw nerve. My experience of France - reasonably extensive since we have a holiday home there - is that a lot of French people are friendly and welcoming of any attempt at French. Many are not - especially in Paris. I remember having my grammar angrily corrected in a Paris shop (I had asked for an item as un instead of une and therefore got the adjective pronunciation wrong as well) much to the open tittering delight of the other customers in the queue behind me. Not welcoming at all. The same day I probably chatted with the people at the next table at lunch (my French is considerably better if a glass of wine has taken the edge off my inhibition to just 'have a go'!). So I have experience of both sides, often on the same day.

Anyway Sainte-Chappelle is still stunning

RosaBonheur · 31/03/2023 13:30

Ok here's a France travel tip.

When you buy a baguette in a boulangerie, don't ask for "une baguette", ask for "une baguette tradition".

They will have two types of baguettes, a basic kind made as cheaply as possible and a slightly more expensive, better quality kind. A "baguette tradition" is the better kind.

NellyNoName · 31/03/2023 16:28

@Catnuzzle please can you tell me how did you go about getting tickets for the Natural History Museum? I can just see the option to buy tickets for all the separate galleries and the menagerie? Do you know if you can get one ticket that covers everything? 🙏

SecondhandMuck · 31/03/2023 16:35

RosaBonheur · 31/03/2023 13:30

Ok here's a France travel tip.

When you buy a baguette in a boulangerie, don't ask for "une baguette", ask for "une baguette tradition".

They will have two types of baguettes, a basic kind made as cheaply as possible and a slightly more expensive, better quality kind. A "baguette tradition" is the better kind.

that's a top tip

RosesInWater · 31/03/2023 16:53

This thread brings me back to my bohemian days when I had little money and lots of confidence. I'm older and calmer now!

There was a place near Montmartre somewhere that served a four course dinner for the equivalent of €10 today. All sorts went there but you had to know someone who told you the password you needed to get in. Mad place full of artists, poets, bin divers, penniless, and some rich pretending they were poor. I so wish I could remember the name, but Madame ran a tight ship and no more than two hours a la table. Funky music by Jonny Halliday and all that. Herbal substances abounded along with the vin rouge which was rough as an elephant's backside.

Anyway, I did the usual things, including Versailles, but the one place that stood out for me was wandering around Pere Lachaise cemetery. I went on pilgrimage to see Oscar Wilde's, Jim Morrison's and the writer Colette's (which is my real name) graves. What a wonderful, interesting and at times spooky place.

I must go again sometime soon. This thread has sparked my interest, but I won't recapture my misspent youth that's for sure!

TheLadyofShalott1 · 01/04/2023 06:16

BitOutOfPractice · 31/03/2023 12:30

Whichever way you took it @TheLadyofShalott1 I wasn't addressing you at all. You were one of many people who suggested rudimentary French was always warmly welcomed in Paris! I certainly wasn't expecting a complete character assassination as a humourless and sneering! 😁

But hey knock yourself out. I've obviously touched a raw nerve. My experience of France - reasonably extensive since we have a holiday home there - is that a lot of French people are friendly and welcoming of any attempt at French. Many are not - especially in Paris. I remember having my grammar angrily corrected in a Paris shop (I had asked for an item as un instead of une and therefore got the adjective pronunciation wrong as well) much to the open tittering delight of the other customers in the queue behind me. Not welcoming at all. The same day I probably chatted with the people at the next table at lunch (my French is considerably better if a glass of wine has taken the edge off my inhibition to just 'have a go'!). So I have experience of both sides, often on the same day.

Anyway Sainte-Chappelle is still stunning

Re-salut @BitOutOfPractice, vous avez gagné!
J"ai enfin réussi à vous assassiner complètement, ce qui a évidemment été l'ambition de ma vie. Alors maintenant que vous avez dévoilé mon horreur à tout le monde, je vais m'éclipser avec ma queue métaphorique entre mes jambes!

But, just before I go, can you tell me please who the "many people" apart from me were, that you were referring to, when you said:

"Oh how I am laughing at the idea that Parisians will appreciate any school girl French. They won't. My French is pretty good. I always get sneered at in Paris."?

asI can't find anyone who mentioned "school (girl) French" apart from me, before your comment. So I think you had to be referring to me at that time?
I do wonder which one of us actually "...touched a raw nerve", maybe we should compromise, and say we both have?
Please bear with me while I quote myself from a previous reply to you:

"well the ones I have had Franglais conversations with told me that even though they might laugh at us for our awful pronunciation etc, they do appreciate it when English people at least try to speak some French. But maybe the ones I have talked with were all lying, and were not just the normally nice and friendly people I like spending time with."

Amongst other things - which you seem to have taken as a character assassination, when that was not my attention at all - I did say "By the way, sneering seems to be an Art Form particular to Parisians..." I was intending in that particular post to you, to respond with the same sort of sarcasm that you used towards me in your first response to me, starting "Oh how I am laughing..."
However, my 'winking face' at the end of my reply to you was supposed to let you know that I was being light-hearted in my tone. Maybe you took it as a passive aggressive emoji, but that was certainly not my attention!

Right, I am only going to read the rest of this thread now, and not comment on it anymore (as I think that both you and I have derailed it enough, and I am therefore sending my apologies to the OP) so I wish you well (not in the condescending manner that Gwyneth used yesterday), and am saying adeiu until another thread. However, I would love to know if you realise yet that I agree with almost everything you have said about the French People, and Parisians, except that I still believe that many Parisians do appreciate it when English people try to speak their language, and don't just assume that all French people speak English.
Au Revoir!

EggBlanket · 01/04/2023 07:18

@BitOutOfPractice @TheLadyofShalott1 can you please take your argument somewhere else and stop derailing this person’s thread?

EggBlanket · 01/04/2023 07:20

Can someone please advise on the best way to do the Eiffel Tower to avoid queueing for hours? We’re only there for 2 days and don’t want to waste loads of time. I don’t particularly want to go up the tower because I’ve been before but my husband has promised our 6 year old son.

RosaBonheur · 01/04/2023 07:25

EggBlanket · 01/04/2023 07:20

Can someone please advise on the best way to do the Eiffel Tower to avoid queueing for hours? We’re only there for 2 days and don’t want to waste loads of time. I don’t particularly want to go up the tower because I’ve been before but my husband has promised our 6 year old son.

Most people don't like this answer and ignore it, but the best way to do the Eiffel Tower is to not go anywhere near it but look at it from a distance instead. The area immediately around the Eiffel Tower is quite run down and there are a lot of pickpockets. When you go up it's always absolutely packed to the rafters with other tourists. Then you get to the top and your view of Paris is through criss crossed wires, without Paris's most famous landmark in it.

I would highly recommend going up the Montparnasse Tower instead. I think you can get a 24 hour ticket which allows you to go up twice so you can see it by day and by night, which is definitely worth doing. You will see all the landmarks from the top, including the Eiffel Tower itself.

EggBlanket · 01/04/2023 07:29

RosaBonheur · 01/04/2023 07:25

Most people don't like this answer and ignore it, but the best way to do the Eiffel Tower is to not go anywhere near it but look at it from a distance instead. The area immediately around the Eiffel Tower is quite run down and there are a lot of pickpockets. When you go up it's always absolutely packed to the rafters with other tourists. Then you get to the top and your view of Paris is through criss crossed wires, without Paris's most famous landmark in it.

I would highly recommend going up the Montparnasse Tower instead. I think you can get a 24 hour ticket which allows you to go up twice so you can see it by day and by night, which is definitely worth doing. You will see all the landmarks from the top, including the Eiffel Tower itself.

I completely agree with you but I can’t convince the other two sadly!

burgledinParis · 01/04/2023 07:31

@AngeloMysterioso you can also try a big monoprix or a darjeeling
@RosaBonheur That is hands down the best tip

@Catnuzzle

If you have time try to see the passages couverts - https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passages_couverts_de_Paris
passage des panoramas is a good one

If you want to go a little of the beaten track you can go to Buttes de Chaumont parc in the 20th and see real Parisians - you can walk to the top and get an amazing vue of Paris - you can also give hommage to @RosaBonheur for recommending the right baguette by having a drink at the rosa bonheur bar there.

If you want a place to have a super Parisian bobo drinks or meal experience check out https://lecomptoirgeneral.com/en/

Enjoy your weekend - don't worry about the strikes or riots or the pickpockets too much. I live here. It's fine.

Visiting Paris
legofrostqueen · 01/04/2023 07:32

The Pompidou Centre is good fun, have a wonderful time!

burgledinParis · 01/04/2023 07:33

OOh and try and have a meal at a bouillon

Bouillon Chartier, there is one near. grand boulevard, one near Montparnasse or Bouillon Pigalle near the moulin rouge.

BarbaraofSeville · 01/04/2023 07:35

That's a great tip and I for one will bear it in mind.

DP is probably the only person alive who went to Paris and never saw the Eiffel Tower as he was working elsewhere in the city.

I did think we'd see it on the train the way back to the airport as I'd had a really good view, quite close up, when I was out and about the day before. However I got confused about which trainline it was on so it wasn't in view.

He hates crowds, queuing and tat sellers so that sounds like a good alternative if we ever go back.

burgledinParis · 01/04/2023 07:41

@Catnuzzle Oh and if you want crepes you should get them either near montparnasse where is all the bretons ( from brittany) arrived in Paris and there is still a breton area round the station ( crepes are from brittany - not Parisian.) or next to centre pompidou next to the niki de saint phalle fountain ( fontaine Stravinsky) is la creperie beaubourg which is decent, or dame tartine for a quick lunch. The crepes from vendors in the streets are crap and made with industrial mixes and have nothing to do with a real crepe.