1[[ro:Paris]] 2 3<div style="float:right;margin:0 0 1em 1em;">[[Image:Paris-seine-center-200px.jpg|Paris/The Seine]]<br>''The Seine River, Paris''<p> 4</div> 5'''Paris''' is the capital of [[France]] and - with 2 million people living in the center and some 10 million people in the suburbs (''la banlieue'') - one of the largest cities in [[Europe]]. 6 7The city is divided into 20 districts called ''arondissements''; these are numbered from 1 to 20 in a clockwise spiral from the center. 8 9==Understand== 10 11==Districts== 12 13*... 14*[[Paris/Montmartre]] 15*... 16 17==Get in== 18Paris can be reached by car, bus, train, plane. <!--boat?--> <!--I think that would be in Seine.--> 19<!--Arrival and departure details. Try and include as many options as you can think of. Also include getting to and from transportation centers to the destination. --> 20 21===By train=== 22The '''Thalys''' high-speed train, which runs to daily to/from the [[Netherlands]] and [[Switzerland]], is a bit expensive, but if you book more than a week <!--?--> in advance it can still have a reasonable price. 23 24The high-speed '''TGV''' train (''Train à Grande Vitesse'') runs several times a day to [[Nice]] and [[Avignon]] in the south, [[Geneva]], Switzerland and [[Dijon]] in the east, and connects with trains and ferries for the passage to [[England]] in the west. 25 26Intercity and local trains leave for all parts of [[Europe]], including overnight trains to [[San Sebastian]] in [[Spain]], [[Porto]] and [[Lisbon]] in [[Portugal]]. 27 28The Eurostar ( http://www.eurostar.com/ ) connects Paris with [[London]] and [[Brussels]] and many others. Travel time between Paris and [[London]] is approximately 3 hours. 29 30There are several stations serving Paris, so make sure you confirm where your train leaves from: 31* Gare Austerlitz 32* Gare de l'Est 33* Gare du Nord - to Belgium and the Netherlands 34* 35 36===By bus=== 37*[[Eurolines]] 38*[[Gullivers Travel]] 39 40 41===By plane=== 42 43* Charles de Gaulle 44* Orly 45 46For more information, including arrival/departure times, check the official [http://www.parisairports.com/ Paris Airports] site. 47 48==Get around== 49 50Paris has an excellent metro system. For short visits, a ''carnet'' of ten (slightly discounted) tickets can be bought for 10 EUR at any station. 51If you're staying a bit longer it might be interesting to get a ''Carte Orange Hebdomadaire'' (1 week pass, 14.5 EUR for zone 1 and 2) or ''Mensuelle'' (1 month pass). For the Carte Orange you need one small photograph, for which there are cabins in most bigger metro stations. Note that an ''Hebdomadaire'' (''eb-DOH-ma-DAYR'': in [[French phrasebook|French]] you don't pronounce the H) starts on Mondays and a Mensuelle on the first of the month. 52 53The Carte Orange is also valid in the ''Noctambus'', the night bus, where tickets normally cost 2.5 EUR. Women travellers should probably avoid taking the Noctambus on their own. Fortunately taxis are relatively cheap, especially at night, when there are no traffic jams to be expected. 54 55[http://www.ratp.fr RATP] is the regional train system. 56 57==See== 58 59===Main Attractions=== 60* Eiffel Tower 61* Chateau de Versailles 62* '''Pere-Lachaise Cemetery''' (Cimetière du Père Lachaise). See the grave of Jim Morrison amongst many others. 63* '''Catacombes''' Used to store the exhumed bones from the overflowing Paris cemetery. 64* '''Arc de Triomphe''' The grave of the unknown soldier is under the arch. 65 66===Churches=== 67* Notre Dame 68* Sacre Coeur 69 70===Museums=== 71*[http://www.louvre.fr/ the Louvre (le Musée du Louvre)]: On par with London's British Museum and New York's Metropolitan Museum, the Louvre is a showcase of world cultures throughout history. Its exhibits come from such diverse origins as ancient Egypt, classical Greece and Rome, medieval Europe and Napoleonic France. Its most famous exhibit, of course, is Leonardo da Vinci's painting of the "'Mona Lisa (la Giaconda)'", generally to be found surrounded by hordes of camera-flashing tourists. 72 73 74*[http://www.musee-orsay.fr/ le Musée d’Orsay] 75 76*Centre Pompidou 77 78==Do== 79 80* Disneyland Europe 81 82==Learn== 83Paris is an excellent place to learn French. 84 85Paris also has many universities, where you can learn about anything. 86* Paris II 87* Paris III - Sorbonne 88* Paris VI 89* Paris VIII 90 91==Work== 92 93==Buy== 94 95==Eat== 96 97For '''vegetarians''' eating in restaurants will require some improvisation. When mentioning that you're vegetarian you usually will be proposed something fishy, since there are hardly any restaurants with vegetarian plates on the menu. 98 99In Rue des Rosiers (4th arrondissement) it is possible to get delicious falafel in the many Jewish restaurants. Another falafel place is at Rue Oberkampf 112 (11th arrondissement). Also, in Rue Belleville, close to Place Frehel there is also a little falafel place. 100Usually take away falafel goes for 4 EUR or less. 101Another low budget option is to ask for a ''barquette frites'' in the omnipresent shoarma places. 102Also look North African restaurants which often serve vegetarian couscous. 103 104For '''seafood''' lovers, Paris is a great place to try "moules frites" (steamed mussels and French fries), oysters, sea snails, and other delicacies. 105 106'''Meat''' specalties include deer, boar, and other game (especially in the fall and winter hunting season), as well as French favorites such as lamb, veal, beef, and pork. 107 108*'''Padova''', near RER station Port Royal. Good and ''big'' Italian food in this family-style restaurant. http://perso.wanadoo.fr/padova 109 110<!--*'''Name of Restaurant''', Address (''extra directions if necessary''), phone number (''email, fax, other contact if possible''). Days and times open. One to three sentences about the food, service, atmosphere, view, specialties, music, what have you. $lowprice-$highprice (''extra price info''). http://www.restaurant.example.com/ --> 111 112==Drink== 113 114<!-- Mention any local specialties or oddities. --> 115 116'''Monaco''' is a mix of beer and lemonade with a bit of grenadine syrup added. 117 118'''Kir''' is a sweet apertiff of white wine or champagne (''kir royale'') and cassies (blackcurrent liqueur). 119 120===Wheres=== 121<!--Specific bar/club info, or general idea of good areas of the destination to try. Invent groupings/lables as needed (Gay friendly, student, hipster, fancy-pants, etc). Good things to mention: dress code, entrance fees, safety concerns, solo-woman friendly or pick-up bar, good/bad nights)--> 122 123'''Bars''' 124*Buddha Bar 125<!--*'''Name of Bar''', Address (''extra directions if necessary''), phone number (''email, fax, other contact if possible''). Days and times open. One to three sentences about the food, service, atmosphere, view, specialties, music, what have you. $lowprice-$highprice (''extra price info''). http://www.restaurant.example.com/ --> 126'''Clubs''' 127*Fleche d'Or (20th) 128*Bateaufar (13th) 129'''Events''' 130*Techno parade 131 132Information about (usually leftist) manifestations can be found at Paris' [http://paris.indymedia.org Indymedia site]. 133 134==Sleep== 135 136Generally one should be aware that Paris hotels, almost without regard to category or price, observe high and low seasons. These differ slightly from one hotel to another, but usually the high season roughly corresponds to late spring and summer, and possibly a couple of weeks around the Christmas season. 137 138====Budget==== 139 140There are still lots of bargains in Paris. If you have time it might be worthwhile to scour the city in search of a nice undiscovered two star. You should be aware that the quality of hotels varies widely, and is only vaguely connected with the star system, which only guarantees that certain services exist and does not exactly reflect quality. 141 142It's probably wise to ask to see a room if you are considering a night in an unknown two star, or maybe even three. Once you enter the four and five star level this is probably not necessary. 143 144Be aware that being listed in a guide or website will eventually make it a bit harder to get a room. That means that you will probably need to book ahead for anything you read about here, especially in the high season. However, if they don't have a room they sometimes know another place closeby that does have a free one. 145 146When with two it can be a much better deal to find a hotel room than to get 2 hostel beds. More privacy for less money. 147 148*'''3 Ducks Hostel''' 6, place Etienne Pernet (''metro:Commerce''). A fun hostel with a great atmosphere. Has a shared kitchen, a bar and an interior courtyard. http://www.3ducks.fr/ 149 150*'''Hotel Eldorado''', Rue des Dames 18, ''17th'' (''metro: Place de Clichy''), +33 1 45 22 35 21. The Eldorado, a former ''maison de rendez-vous'', was once home to the kept women of the 19th century bourgeois. Now a very cute ''no'' star hotel, its charm more than makes up for what it lacks in amenities (who needs a TV in Paris anyway?). The staff is super friendly, the decor is garage sale chic, and there’s a lovely courtyard that fills with neighbourhood hipsters on warm evenings. It also has a very good location & you can easily avoid the noise of Pigalle or Montmartre's high prices, but they’re within stumble distance if you decide to explore. For early risers breakfast (5 Eur., until 10 am) is served in the attached restaurant/bar. Some English spoken, especially for those who pet the cat sprawled across the reception desk. 23/39 Eur. - 49/79 Eur. (''singles/doubles'') 151 152*'''Hotel de Lille''', 2 rue du Montholon, (''metro: Poissonière''), +33 1 47 70 38 76 fax: +33 1 48 00 04 55. Hotel de Lille is a cheap, family-run fairly spartan yet charming hotel in the centre of Paris, near the Gare du Nord. 153 154Sometimes you may find that you can't book ahead. In that case after a few calls you may find that all of the cute, charming places recommended by this and other guides are full. You may still have the option of shopping around on foot as we've mentioned above, but if you'd rather sacrifice charm for convenience there is the chain hotel option. The '''Ibis''' chain in particular serves the budget-to-mid price niche. 155 156*'''Ibis Gare De Lyon Diderot''', 31 Bis Boulevard Diderot, ''12th'' (''metro: Gare de Lyon''), (+33)1/43 46 12 72. This particular branch of the Ibis chain is a bit more comfortable than most, especially worthwhile if you have just arrived at Gare de Lyon. The website has current price information, and links to their 650 sister hotels across Europe. Breakfast (10 Eur., until 10 am) is the pretty ordinary buffet faire. [[http://www.ibishotel.com/ibis/fichehotel/gb/ibi/3211/fiche_hotel.shtml Ibis Gare de Lyon Diderot]] 157 158====Mid-range==== 159 160====Splurge==== 161 162==Stay safe== 163 164In general Paris is a safe city. 165 166There are some areas, like Barbès (18th), where it's better not to hang around alone at night, but they are easily recognizable by their raunchiness. Also some parts of the ''banlieue'' are better to avoid. 167 168The metro is relatively safe. 169 170[[WikiPedia:Paris]] 171
