"Paris Survival Guide" a Paris Travel Page by Librex

Paris is superb. Paris is the best. But without some basic prep work, Paris can be a bit too tough to handle.

A visit to Paris at least once in a lifetime is a must but the problem is that a lot of tourists come unprepared, with false expectations, and end up sorely disappointed.

I will try to give you some tips on my page so that you are better able to navigate through this wonderful place and enjoy the city as much as I do, with hope that you will leave Paris thinking about how soon you can come back...

You will probably find the best tips on the specific Paris attractions on other VT pages so I recommend to sort through them for details. I will stick with a more generic approach to the City of Lights..

First, Paris is not what you see in musketeers movies or Hunchback of Notre-Dame (that Disney thing). There is a reason why historic films are shot in Prague and Eastern Europe : Paris is modern. Most of the buildings and monuments you will see date back to the second half of the XIXth century, when Paris was undergoing major changes. So dont expect anything medieval.. (except of course in some areas like Marais but still, it is not what we could call Medieval architecture)

Now let's bust an old cliche : people having an expresso on a quiet 'terrasse' in front of a 'bistro' with some accordion player in the background. It barely applies to France smaller towns, and almost not at all to Paris. You won't find that. Unless you really know where to look for. But chances are slim you'll find it anyway. So expect a bustling metropolis and people walking all around. Expect you wont be left alone with your thoughts (even in church!) and that the traffic will be maddening. Some people will find all this activity a real pleasure while others will cry for home. Let's make sure you're in the first category.

So then what about the legendary infamous snottiness and rude behavior? Yes, it's true, or at least some part of it is. But it's not much worse than NYC for example. Big cities mean that people tend to feel a bit too close to each other and can sometimes lash out. And just remember that waiter/clerks/etc see thousands of clients, not of them all that polite, in a single day. While this is hardly an excuse for rude behavior, it can also explains that subtle irritating tone that some would consider as insulting. French themselves know when to retort and this will balance things out a bit, but the non-French speaking tourist will probably feel frustrated...

Most people don't realize that Paris itself is in fact quite small. You can walk all the way from Arc de Triomphe to the Louvres and then to St-Germain without too much suffering. So please, if you can walk from one place to another, do it. Metro is nice, and stations are spread all over the city, but a metro is just a tunnel... Dont be afraid to walk down narrow streets, especially in the St-Germain area. After the very busy Champs-Elysees avenue, there is nothing like a quiet walk in the alleys of St-Germain..

I would recommend spending at least 4-5 days in Paris, with this being the strict minimum. With 4 days, you will be cutting corners and you will have some tough choices to make. Less than 3 days is plain silly if you do not plan on coming back as you will pay a good sum of money (Paris ain't cheap!) just to get an eiffel tower souvenir...

Have fun reading my tips...I'll try to compensate for this very bland and insignificant intro with something more fun in the tips..(see for yourself!)

NOTE : tips are not in yet! I need some more time! (*INSERT UNDER CONSTRUCTION SIGN HERE*)