Paris: Great City for Lovers
Written: Mar 15 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Reasonably clean modern city with tons of history!
Cons: Can be expensive!
The Bottom Line: I like Paris and will visit again. Great for a long weekend!
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| dbhoutx's Full Review: Paris |
Paris is a favorite European destination for many Americans. Paris being the main destination in France, is the gateway for most travelers coming by airplane. As a gateway city, Paris ends up with tons of visitors who spend time within that city alone. Not only is it a great tourist destination, it serves the purpose of being one of the main cities in France and Europe for business. Many French companies have major offices in Paris. It is this mix of business and leisure that help make Paris a cosmopolitan city.
Paris can be reached easily from numerous cities around the USA. Most of the US carriers who serve Europe as well as Air France offer numerous non-stop flights to the Paris area airports. From Houston, you have a choice of two flights, four if you count the code shared flights between Air France and Continental. (Continental and Air France each operate a single flight with flight numbers from both airlines.) LAX on the west coast as well as numerous east coast cities serve as US gateway cities. If you are in London, it is possible to hop on the "Chunnel" and take a high speed train between the two cities.
My Experiences
To my surprise, on my last visit I found the folks in Paris far friendlier than I remember them from my visit 16 years ago. English seems to be spoken more now than when I was there last. It could have been the holiday season bringing joy around the world, or just a change in attitude towards those pesky American tourists who pour money into their economy.
During our stay, I was very happy to be treated so well by the desk agents in our hotel, and the wait staff at the restaurants we decided to visit. Our hotel was a small boutique hotel chosen by my wife's co-worker who was with her on the trip to Istanbul. She and her now husband visit Paris frequently, in fact she even has family there, so she chose the hotel for its quaint setting and the nearby park. Needless to stay the staff treated us very well, and spoke perfect English. The desk agent even made sure that when we headed back to the airport that she came out and spoke in French to the driver of our taxi to make sure he knew exactly where we were going.
We stayed and dined primarily in the Latin quarter. In this area, we found several small cafes that served up great French food. One evening we went down a street full of family run restaurants where menus were displayed in the windows. As we looked at menus we were approached by the servers and owners all offering to serve us a great meal, either from the menu or they will make up a meal of our choosing. My wife was pregnant so we did not drink any of the French wine while there. We did enjoy some great food from the menu. (Unfortunately I ended up coming down with the flu by the end of the weekend, which made for a long flight home.)
During one of our full days spent in the city was filled up with a city tour. We found one of the open top, double decker buses used by tour companies. I believe we ended up on the red bus as it seems like there were yellow busses, from another tour company doing the same tour. The whole circuit takes about two hours if you do not hop off and back on. We decided that hopping off at a couple of the sites was worth it. In fact, we chose our stops before the tour got going. That allowed us to plan out our day. (Weather was very cold and miserable so walking was not too much fun.)
We stopped at the Louve (sp?), the Eiffel Tower, and near a business center where perfume shops were everywhere. If you have allergies those shops can be tough on your body. The tour guide on the Red bus was great. She explained the significance of what we saw as we drove around the city. We cruised down several main streets. We cruised along the side of the river which has many beautiful sites along its banks. The tour guide pointed out the numerous architectural styles we encountered on our tour. All around the Red Bus was a great way to spend a day.
Closing Comments
Paris is filled up with great places to eat wonderful French food. There are numerous places to see and visit while in Paris, which does not even count the destinations within an hour or two by train from the city, such as Normandy. With easy access from most major US cities, Paris can easily become a long weekend getaway destination.
We had a great weekend, despite my coming down with the flu. Our flights on Continental were uneventful, other than a bad weather delay getting out to come home.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Couples
Best Time to Travel Here: Anytime
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Epinions.com ID:
dbhoutx
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 - Top 1000 |
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Member: David
Location: Houston, Texas
Reviews written: 324
Trusted by: 223 members
About Me:
David loves outdoor activities, travel, breeding Registered Texas Longhorns.
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