Visiting Paris a Desi Guide

Living in Paris for a while now, Pamela and I continue to relish exploring the city. Many friends have inquired about our personal opinions before visiting Paris and France for a short stay. So, here’s all the best information I can share without making it too tedious for you.

A Brief about Paris: Paris, divided by the River Seine into the left bank and the right, has 20 districts or arrondissements arranged in a snail pattern starting at the center of Paris.

Top Attractions: [Not in any particular order] Check out lots of photos from Paris on www.santm.com

• Eiffel Tower
• Sacre Coeur
• Arc de Triomphe
• Champs Elysees - and Concorde
• Notre Dame and Saint Chapel - If possible, have a cup of coffee on the top roof of Samaretine (now closed till 2012) for the best view of Paris Center. Alternatively, try Institute de Monde Arabe.
• La Defense - Paris’s version of New York Manhattan.
• The Mega Stores - Galeries Lafayette and Printemps
• Boat Ride. This gives the best magnificent view of Paris architectures
• Pantheon
• Bastille - Best hangout place with lots of bars and food places, a happening spot
• Moulin Rouge or Lido [Both French Cabarets, your choice ;)]
• Tower Montparnasse

Museums:

• Louvre - home of Monalisa
• Orsay - best place to go if you like impressionism artists like Monet/Gauguin, etc.
• Rodin - Sculpture
• Picasso - the name says it all

Outside Paris:

• Versailles

Few Tips:

• Be aware of pickpockets and small thefts.
• Paris is a small city; it is only 15KM by 10KM.
• Ask for a metro map when you get here.
• It involves a lot of walking, so get yourself a good pair of walking shoes.
• There are not many public toilets, and you need to carry change [coins] to use them.
• Get yourself a phone card from “TABAC” [where you buy cigarettes] for calling inside and outside France. There are special cards for India or the US if you need any.
• Metro tickets: You can buy the 10 tickets “carnet” or a day pass depending on your travel plan. You can use the same on any other public transport as long as you are within Paris.
• Each street corner will have road names and tells you which arrondissement you are in.

Getting a Place to Stay/Hotel: Finding a place to stay in Europe, especially in Paris, can be expensive. The rooms are small and pricey. Personally, I think getting a hotel around the Latin Quarter (5th, 6th) is the best as you are close to the city center, and the locality is nice. The 7th and 8th districts are also good, along with the 1st to 4th. Paris is a very safe city in general. I personally do not like the area around the big train stations of Gare de Nord and Gare de l’Est. The 18th, 19th, and 20th should be avoided from my own perspective, and if you happen to stay in the 13th-16th, make sure your hotel is not very far from a Metro Station, as these are more residential arrondissements with metro stations not very close by like the center of the city.

Food: A few lines about French food; if you do not take fish and are an Indian vegetarian, then there are not many choices for you. Fish and seafood are very common in French cuisine, almost considered vegetarian sometimes. But the pastries, bakery products, and chocolates are delicious, I am not joking. There are lots of Indian places to choose from, but make sure you ask for the right amount of spices, as it is very scaled down for locals.