"PARIS - One of my favourite cities! " a Paris Travel Page by oneonta_ni

Paris is one of my favourite cities. We usually end up going once a year for a weekend. This years first trip was in April and our second trip is in August.

Why do we keep going back? It is a brilliant place just to wander around in and look at the architecture and watch people. The first time you go there, of course you have to see the Eiffel Tower (after you have stood in the queue for 4 hours), the Louvre or the Museé d'Orsay (after you have stood in the queue for 4 hours) and Notre Dame Cathedral (after you have stood in the queue for 4 hours). But after you have done that, you can enjoy yourself and walk through the many beautiful parks and eat in one of the delicious restaurants.

Many people think that Paris is expensive, but it can be affordable as well. There are many nice hotels which are reasonably priced (for a large city) and lots of good restaurants where you can get a delicious meal that won't cost the earth. The main thing is to look around and avoid the touristy areas. You will probably find much better service and friendlier people, too.

For some excellent advice from a Parisian, visit Guyon's Paris Page. He has some really excellent off the beaten path suggestions and I always have a look when planning a visit to Paris.

We have gotten into a routine when visiting Paris. Since we normally go for a long weekend, we try to pack as little as possible and not check any bags. One bag we always bring is a small rucksack to carry around during the day. We like to stay in the same hotel and we are familiar with the area around it.

Parisian hotels tend to charge around EUR6 or 7 for breakfast which normally consists of a piece of baguette, a croissant, orange juice and tea or coffee. Since this is not very good value for money, we prefer to go to our favourite boulangerie (bakery) and buy different breads for breakfast (and usually a nice pastry, too!). We buy a bottle of water or juice and sometimes buy fruit as well. All this costs around the same as the hotel breakfast but will keep us going longer than a croissant and coffee. We then head to the Jardin des Plantes or one of the many other beautiful parks in the city to eat. We have been lucky so far in that we have never been rained on for breakfast - even during visits in November and February.

For lunch we tend to eat something light, like a pastry or a sandwich from a boulangerie or a bar. They are cheap and delicious. Dinner is usually at one of our favourite restaurants for the first couple of nights and then we try one or two new places. We tend to avoid restaurants near tourist attractions as they tend to be overpriced and not very nice food.

For getting around Paris, we usually walk. It can be very tiring but so much more enjoyable than being stuck down a Metro tunnel! When we do use the Metro, we buy a carnet of tickets to use as we go. We can also save them to use for future visits. For us, they are the best value. Public transport in Paris is excellent and the easiest way to get around.

One of our favourite things to do each time we visit is to go to the mosque and have mint tea. It is very refreshing after a long day of walking around the city.

For more information on any of these tips, please see the rest of my Paris page or feel free to email me!