What do you know about France!!!???

Question

I'm planning a trip to Paris, are there any must-see things there besides the obvious, Louvre, Eiffel Tower etc.???????? also what hotels, cafes, and restaurants do you suggest?

Answer 1

A must see place I believe would have to be the Moulin Rouge. It's in Paris and it's very famous. Many travelers go there for a good time. Another place that would be a good place to visit would be L'Arc de Triomphe and some of the best restaurants you'll find that are tasty and cheap are easily found in the back streets.

Answer 2

Paris is a big city, an old city, and a city filled with political, cultural, artistic and literary hisatory. There are enough "good places" to see that you could stay there for years and not see them all. (I've been visiting Paris pretty regularly for the last 35 years and I haven't seen everything yet.)

So your question is hard to answer because to completely answer it we'd have to write a book.

Luckily, a lot of people have done exactly that and any one of these guide books is pretty much as good as another.

I know this sounds silly but being a "good" tourist is hard work and you should spend almost as much time preparing as you do actually being there.

So get at least one of those books and read it.

And while you're at it, read some of the books written by people about their experiences in Paris. there are a lot of these type of books too. Hemingway's "A Moveable Feast" is a great one but even a funny book like Art Buchwald's "I'll always have Paris" is worth reading.

Make a list of what you want to see based on your personal interests and the amount of time you have. Of course, its fine to come back to this forum with more specific questions after you have had the time to do some research of your own.

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. My favorite hangout is Aux Trois Mailletz at 56 rue Galande. Early in the evening the focus is mainly on classical music and talented young opera singers. At about eleven the empahsis changes to jazz and rock.

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. Try La Méthode at 2 Rue Descartes in the 5th arr. Friendly people and killer food at reasonable prices.



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 3

Its c**p

Answer 4

Rillifane pretty much covered what I would have said in general, but here are a couple of specific suggestions for places to eat.  

Les Philosophes in the Marais

Le Tresor across the courtyard from Les Philosophes

Les Canons des Gobelins outside the Gobelins metro station (try the Panini Rome)

Don't let people tell you that people in Paris are cold and rude.  It's not true.  I've been there four times, and haven't had any issues with that.  Just make a sincere effort to speak a little French; believe me, that goes a long way.

Answer 5

Paris is not France. It is just a city in France.