Wonderfully Paris

Useful Tips

I got back just yesterday morning with the bad luck that you surely heard about, the Fiumicino airport closed because the radar wasn't working! I'll just tell you that I was supposed to be home by midnight on the 16th and I arrived at 7 in the morning on the 17th because Alitalia sent us home by bus from Bologna!

Anyway, let's get to the story: departure from Rome with an Alitalia flight on offer at 173 euros round trip, arriving at Paris CDG. Since we arrived at 23.30 in the evening everything was closed so we took a taxi to the hotel in the 18th arrondissement, taxi cost 45 euros.

The hotel was very nice, right in front of the metro stop, in a room for 4 we spent 20 euros per person per night without breakfast. In the morning we go to buy warm croissants at 80 cents each, the thing that costs the most are the drinks especially in bars, a cappuccino and a croissant at the bar 5 euros!

For transport we had to get the Paris Visite since we arrived mid-week, so 1 Paris Visite for 5 days zones 1-5 at 45 euros, it lets you travel on all means of transport, very convenient, and on top of that it gives you lots of discounts including the boat on the Seine and going up the Tour Montparnasse.

Always in the metro we got the museum card for 3 days at 36 euros per person and I also recommend always getting under the metro the Eurodisney card which costs 42 euros for 1 day.

Absolutely worth seeing beyond the usual famous things: the Latin Quarter, rue d'Alésia where there are outlet stores and big brands discounted even by 70%, Belleville, Marais. If you want to buy clothes at low prices go into the various C&A chains, I think it's like Upim but there are lots of nice things for very little.

Also go to the Saint-Denis area, namely rue d'Aboukir, rue du Caire and rue d'Alexandrie, it's full of little shops and wholesale sales. You can also get great deals at the Saint-Ouen flea market but be careful, it's only open Saturday, Sunday and Monday from 9 to 18. If you don't get the museum card then I recommend not going to the Conciergerie, it's a rip-off!

For the rest, Paris is fabulous and one of the cities where you'll always have the feeling of not having seen everything and wanting to go back. One thing that struck me a lot is the fact of seeing few French people, it's crammed, maybe 80%, with foreigners of all cultures and religions, and this was fabulous because it never makes you feel uncomfortable or out of place.

Don't buy maps in the metro, they're everywhere, and the transport is perfect, the metro comes every 2 minutes and you always find a seat! For other info don't hesitate to send me an email, happy travels everyone.