Travel Guide To Paris - The Lity Of Light

Paris is the cosmopolitan capital of France and - with 2.2 million people living in zone 1 (Central Paris) and another 9.9 million people in the suburbs (la banlieue) - is one of the largest cities in Europe. Located in the north of the country on the river Seine, Paris has the reputation of being the most beautiful and romantic of all cities, brimming with historical associations and remaining vastly influential in the realms of culture, art, fashion, food and design. Dubbed the City of Light, it is the most popular tourist destination in the world.

Central Paris is officially divided into 20 districts called arrondissements, numbered from 1 to 20 in a clockwise spiral from the centre of town. Arrondissements are named according to their number. You might, for example, stay in the "5th", which would be written as 5ème (SANK-ee-emm) in French. The 12th and 16th arrondissements include large suburban parks, the Bois de Vincennes, and the Bois de Boulogne respectively.

The very best cheap pocket map you can get for Paris is called "Paris Pratique par Arrondissement" which you can buy at any news stand. It makes navigating the city easy, so much so that one can imagine that the introduction of such map-books might be part of what made the arrondissement concept so popular in the first place.

Getting There

By car
Several autoroutes link Paris with the rest of France: A1 and A3 to the north, A5 and A6 to the south, A4 to the east and A13 and A10 to the west. Not surprisingly traffic jams are significantly worse during French school holidays. Online visual traffic information is available at http://www.sytadin.equipement.gouv.fr/.

The multi-lane highway around Paris, called the Périphérique, is probably preferable to driving through the center. Another beltway nearing completion La Francilienne loops around Paris about 10 km further out from the Périphérique.

It is advised not to drive in the Paris Metro Area. It is better to drive to a metro station with a parking lot and then use the metro to continue your trip throughout Paris. Traffic inside the city tends to be heavy, especially at rush hour, driving however may be rather easy and efficient in the evening; parking also is difficult. Also, the medieval nature of parts of the city's street system makes it very confusing, and traffic will almost never allow one to stop or slow down to get one's bearings. If you are unfamiliar with the streets and still insist on driving in the city, make sure you have a navigator in the passenger seat with you.

By Train

There are several stations serving Paris. You will probably want to know in advance at which station your train is arriving, so as to better choose a hotel and plan for transport within the city.

Gare du Nord, (10th), Métro: Gare du Nord - TGV trains to and from Belgium and the Netherlands (Thalys), and the United Kingdom (Eurostar) and regular trains from Northern Europe.

Gare d'Austerlitz, (13th), Métro: Gare d'Austerlitz - regular trains to and from the center and southwest of France (Orléans, Limoges, Toulouse the long way), Spain and Portugal and arrival of majority of the night trains.
Gare de l'Est, (10th), Métro: Gare de l'Est - trains to and from Eastern Europe

Gare de Lyon, (12th), Métro: Gare de Lyon - regular and TGV trains to and from Southern and eastern France: Marseille, Lyon, Dijon, Switzerland: Geneva, Lausanne and Italy.

Gare St Lazare, (8th) Métro: St-Lazare - trains to and from Basse-Normandie, Haute-Normandie
Gare Montparnasse, (15th), Métro: Montparnasse-Bienvenüe - TGV and regular trains to and from the west and south-west of France (Brest, Rennes, Nantes, Bordeaux, Toulouse the fastest way and Spain)

The SNCF (French national railway authority) operates practically all trains within France excluding the Eurostar to London and the Thalys to Brussels and onward to the Netherlands and Germany. There are also a few local lines of high touristic interest which are privately owned. All SNCF, Eurostar and Thalys tickets can be bought in railway stations, city offices and travel agencies (no surcharge). The SNCF website is very convenient to book and buy tickets up to two months in advance. There are significant discounts if you book early. To get the best rates you should book at least four weeks ahead. Surprisingly, round trip tickets (aller-retour) with a stay over Saturday night can be cheaper than a single one-way ticket (aller simple). A very limited selection of last minute trips are published on the SNCF website every Tuesday, with discounts of more than 50%.
 

By bus
Eurolines is a transeuropean bus company that offers trips to Paris. http://www.eurolines.com 
By plane
Paris is served by three international airports - for more information, including arrival/departure times, check the official sites:

Charles de Gaulle International Airport (Roissy ICAO: LFPG, IATA: CDG) [2][3], to the north-east of the city at the northern terminus of the RER-B line. There is also a TGV stop on the line from Paris to Brussels. CDG is one of the major hub airports of Europe. RER tickets from CDG to Paris cost €8 each. The RER train is the fastest and cheapest way to get from CDG to Paris, but you can also take buses.
Orly International Airport (ICAO: LFPO,IATA: ORY), to the south-west of the city, and served by a southern branch of the RER-B line . This older international airport is used mainly by Air France for national lines, and other international carriers in Europe.

Beauvais (Aéroport de Paris Beauvais Tillé ICAO: LFOB, IATA: BVA), to the north of the city, is a smaller regional airport is used by some low-cost carriers, such as RyanAir. The airport operates a shuttle service connecting with the Métro at Porte Maillot station. Buses leave 20 minutes after each flight arrives, and a few hours before each flight departs. This is important: you should be there waiting for the bus around three hours and fifteen minutes before your flight, and the bus stop has no facilities, it's just a parking lot! Exact times can be found on the Beauvais Airport website. The journey will take about an hour in good traffic conditions, and costs €13 each way (as of October 2006).
In addition to public transport, Air France operates shuttles between Charles de Gaulle and Paris (€10 - €12), Orly and Paris (€7.5) and between the two airports (€15). Note that if you have connecting Air France flights that land and depart from different airports, you would still generally need to fetch your luggage after landing, catch either the Air France shuttle or a taxi to the other airport and check-in again. This altogether could take up to 2 hours particularly if traffic is at its worse. It is also common to lose time during disembarkment as passengers often need to get off at the tarmac and get on buses which will bring them to the terminal building. Be sure to have sufficient time between flights to catch your connection. Note that check-in counters usually close 30 minutes before the flight departs.

You should not discount the time it takes you to reach the city itself. For CDG this means roughly an hour via train (RER) to Metro Chatelet; the price is €8,50. Orly is roughly forty minutes via the OrlyBus, which departs from Metro Denfert-Rochereau; the price is €6.

To get to the city center you'll need a Noctilien bus if you arrive to CDG Airport at night. The bus stops in all three terminals (in terminal 2 it will be the second level in departure section - it is very difficul to find, but it really exists). The bus leaves every 30 minutes after 00:30 (see timetable). The buses you'll need are N121 and N120, the price is 7 Euro.

Places To See

One of the best value and most convenient ways to see the sights of Paris is with the Paris Museum Pass (previously known as Carte Musées et Monuments), a pre-paid entry card that allows entry into over 70 museums and monuments around Paris and comes in 2-day (€30), 4-day (€45) and 6-day (€60) denominations (prices as of March 2007). The card allows you to jump otherwise sometimes lengthy queues and is available from participating museums, tourist offices, Fnac branches and all the main Métro and RER train stations. You will still need to pay to enter most special exhibitions.

Note that most museums and galleries are closed on either Monday or Tuesday - check ahead to avoid disappointment! - and most ticket counters close 30 - 45 minutes before final closing.

All national museums are open free of charge on the first Sunday of the month; note, however, that this may mean long lines and crowded exhibits. Keep away from Paris during Easter week. It's really crowded. People have to kew up at the Eiffel tower for several hours.

These listings are just some highlights of things that you really should see if you can during your visit to Paris. The complete listings are found on each individual district page (follow the link in parenthesis).

A good listing of almost everything to do in Paris are the 'Pariscope', the 'Officiel des spectacles', and the much hipper 'Zurban' , weekly magazines listing all concerts, stage plays and museums. Available from many kiosks. Unfortunately their website is of no use at all. If you prefer a web version, you can visit Cityzeum, with maps of Paris, audio tours to download freely and more than 2000 visit and entertainment points.

Landmarks

the Eiffel Tower (Tour Eiffel) (7th). One of the most famous landmarks in the world.
Père-Lachaise Cemetery (20th). See the grave of Jim Morrison amongst many others.
Catacombs (14th). Used to store the exhumed bones from the overflowing Paris cemetery.
Arc de Triomphe (8th). The grave of the unknown soldier is under the arch.
Notre Dame Cathedral (4th). Impressive Gothic cathedral that was the inspiration for Victor Hugo's novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Saved in the 19th century by the best-known french architect Viollet-le-Duc.

Sacré Coeur (18th). A church perched on top of the highest point in Paris. Behind the church is the artists' area, in front are spectacular views of the whole city.
Sainte Chapelle (1st). Far more beautiful than the famous, but gloomy, Notre Dame. Make sure you go an a sunny day, as the highlight of this small chapel in Rayonnante Gothic style are the large stained-glass windows which soar up to near the vaulted ceiling. Also of interest is the extremely ornate lower level. If it happens to be rainy or cloudy, give Sainte Chappelle a miss, as the play of colored lights on the floor are well worth the wait for a sunnier day.
Pantheon (5th). Underneath, the final resting place for the great heroes of the French Republic; above, a marvellous view of the city.
Chateau de Versailles (Versailles). On the outskirts of the city, the "must see" home of the Sun King Louis XIV.
Grand Arche de la Defense (La Defense). A modern office-building variant of the Arc de Triomphe. Has a viewing platform.

Museums and galleries
The Louvre (1st). One of the finest museums in the world of art, art-history, and culture
Musée d'Orsay (7th). Home to the great artists of the 19th century (1848-1914) - Impressionists, post-Impressionists, and the rest...
Centre Georges Pompidou (4th). the great museum of modern art, the building an attraction in itself...
Picasso Museum (3rd). Contains the master's own collections.
Rodin Museum (7th). His personal collection and archives, in a charming hotel and sprawling garden.
Delacroix. National museum housed in the home of painter Eugene Delacroix.
Invalides (7th). Museum of arms and armor from the Middle Ages to today.
Carnavalet (3rd). Museum of Paris history; exhibitions are permanent and free. Noted for its collection of French Revolution artifacts, such as David's famous painting Serment du Jeu de Paume. Located in the Marais.
Cluny (5th). Paris's medieval museum, housed in a part roman, part medieval building.
Le Musée de l'AP-HP (5th). Paris's medical history.