I'm visiting Paris for the first time and I will be by myself. Any tips? Advice?

Question

I'm visiting Paris for the first time and I will be by myself. Any tips? Advice?

Answer 1

I am too late. All I can add is : Bon voyage !

Answer 2

I'm too late too. Those are all great tips and Paris is a great city and very easy to get around (however I also speak French so that may have helped). There is a lot to do and see and I guarantee you'll want to go back.

Answer 3

I went there in the early '90's.  If you have time (and need to)  take a short language course before you go.  You don't need to know the language but it helps to know a little.  If you don't speak French you can get by OK by reading the cash register display instead of having to understand the cashier, etc.  Bring comfortable shoes, the metro is great but expect to do a lot of walking.  If you are a student or teacher, you can stay in a hostel fairly cheaply,  The one I stayed in was nice - very basic but you're not going there just  to stay in a hotel room, are you?  One more thing, no matter how long you're going for try and a few more days to your stay, Paris is a great place and you'll want to see as much as you can.

Answer 4

Generally speaking the French are more formal than most North Americans.

In everyday speech this means appending "s'il vous plâit" to any request. It means saying "je voudrais" and not "donnez moi" when ordering from a menu. It means calling the waiter "Monsieur" and not "Garçon." It means greeting the staff at a shop with "Bonjour" (madam or monsieur as appropriate).

A little oddity...in Paris one asks for "la note" rather than "l'addition" as one does in most other parts of France and the Francophone world.

The French tend to follow the older practice of not calling each other by first names or using the familiar without at least some acquaintance (although this is not so much true of young people).

The easy presumption of friendship or the discussing of personal matters with relative strangers that is common in North America is sometimes seen as boorish or crude by the French.

Americans in particular who will talk about the intimate details of their love lives, the state of their personal finances, and the cost of everything they own with someone they met ten minutes ago are, for that reason, regarded as utterly outré.

On the other hand, Americans, who have been taught to never discuss politics or religion, sometimes think they are being singled out for abuse when the French express their opinions on such matters. They are not, of course. they are simply engaging in the second most popular French indoor sport (and the one that does not usually require a bed).

On a more prosaic level, you will notice that butter is not served with bread except at breakfast or when served with the cheese course.

Cafe au lait is only called that at breakfast. At other times it is "café crème " or "une crème."

Asking for special preparation of food items is generally frowned on as is the practice of the "doggy bag."

By law, prices must be posted in the window of cafes. You will notice that there are usually at least two price levels. One is for service at the bar (le zinc) and the other for table service. It is cheating to buy a drink at the bar and then take a table to drink it at.

When paying something it is the custom to put the amount tnedered in the little tray that will be there for the purpose rather than placing directly into the hands of the shopclerk, waiter or cashier.

Public rest rooms can be difficult to find and many rest rooms require you to pay a small amount. Keep some change handy for the purpose.

There's also a lot to Paris that is beyond the tourist sights. Its the ambience and the attitude of Paris which need to be lived and felt.

You should spend some time just strolling around the city to appreciate its architecture and to get a feel for its medieval layout, the Belle Epoch improvements of Baron Hausman, and the modernizations seen in places like the Les Halles Forum and the new Opera in the Place Bastille.

You should take a little time to just sit in a cafe in the Latin Quarter or St. Germaine and people watch.

Enjoy some of the nightlife of Paris. Not the tourist ripoffs like the Moulin Rogue or the Lido but the vast number of fantastic music venues, from the jazz joints to discos.

Eat! And be a bit courageous. Go to places that don't cater to tourists and don't have English menus. Just point to things on the menu or, better still, walk into a cafe at lunchtime and ask for the daily special which you'll almost always see displayed on a chalk board. don't worry if you don't know what it is! Try it! The worst that will happen is that you'll have a hilarious story to tell about how you got served a calve's head with cream sauce or something else too weird for you to eat.

Mainly, don't listen to the half wits who tell you Parisians are terrible people or adivse staying in a tight little tourist cocoon..

Strike up conversations with strangers, be open minded, put your map in your back pocket and just wander around, get lost, experiment, learn, take the time to really look at things.

Mainly, enjoy yourself.

Answer 5

I would also recommend knowing SOME French....apart from Bonjour, Au revoir, merci etc I found an important one was "sortie" Exit!! (as in buildings, metro etc!)...silly really....A phrase book would also be useful for in resteraunts, as I found many did not have English versions (so McDonalds was an easy option, you literally point or say "big mac menu")

I found that the museum pass was worth it (especially if you want to go back to the Louvre a couple of times, as its VERY tiring walking around all day...and I would recommend literllay hot footing it to the Mona Lisa first as soon as the place opens ( and having a pre-ticket gets you in faster )to get better views (the guard asked me if I wanted my picture taken in front of it too...without me asking!)...thats if you want...when I went back later there were tons of people.

I would get a guide beforehand and learn about some things beofre you go (or at nights, my tiny hotel room only had French TV...no englsih at all, so I watched the frech version of "friends"!!!...but time to write lots of postcards and travel journal and read up on some things to see)

You will find you will enjoy them better having understood their significance.

Places I liked were

Notre Dame....stunning glass windows...its free (there is a museum there thats cheapish and I quite liked too)

Sainte Chapelle - an amazing room with almost full walls of stained glass

Eiffel Tower...I took the lift....I didn;t see the point of climbing all those steps (and you can't walk to the top)...it was windy up there too and I enjoyed the views.

Arc de triumphe - I did climb this...good views of the Eiffel tower and Sacre Couer ( which I also climbed...good for views only really)

Pare Lachaise - a cemetary with lots of famous people buried there (you can buy a map for a couple of euro outside, otherwise its free)...people like Jim Morrison, Chopin and Oscar Wilde

The Louvre - nuff said...so much to see its overload!

I went on a half day trip to Versailles...I quite enjoyed it ,although I admit it was more bare than I thought it would be as people had ransacked the place a while back, but the tour guide was very good and told us lots of interesting info and things are on an extremely grand scale there. I think I wsent with viator (internet site you can prebook if you were interested and also would have other trips you can do....its nicer in a way as you get to hear english and meet people on the trip..when you are by yourself it can get a little lonely)

I went on a cruise on the Seine...you get great views of Notre Dame....

Just walking the streets (I went in Feb...quite cool and overcast mostly, but still nice walking around).

Great food, you won't be disappointed on that front!

Answer 6

well,you should know french,even a little,cause the people in the street don't want to speak english,even if they know it.the ones in restaurants,hotels,they are going to speak english to you if you don't know french....go to the louvre,eiffel tower,triumph gate,disneyland.....you'll have great time...i love paris! bon voyage!