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Paris museum pass (available in English).

The intermusees web site provides a list of museums included in the pass, and all the places that are included are places where you can buy it. You want to buy it at a small museum to avoid the long lines at the Louvre, and the Musee D'Orsay. However, at the Orsay, you can buy it in the bookstore and still avoid the long ticket-buyers' line. You can also buy one at major metro stations, at the Tourist Information Bureau (Carrousel du Louvre, at the National Tourist Bureau: 127 avenue des Champs-Elysées, 75008 Paris (open daily from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.), at railway stations: Information-Tourist Bureaux located in the Montparnasse, Nord, Est, Lyon, and Austerlitz stations. I bought one at my hotel front desk with no extra charge.

As I read once in an article written by a hotel concierge, the best thing you can do for your trip is to identify what you like; knowing what I like doesn't really help you since we don't know each other.

When you start to plan, ask yourself what interests you: Do you like art museums? Historical sites? Churches? Architecture? Gardens? Beaches and other resorts? What two or three things have you always dreamed of seeing? Which appeals to you more for this trip: leisurely strolling and relaxing or more task-oriented sightseeing?

What is your budget for hotels and restaurants, and/or for the entire trip? How much time will you have?

What are the ages and stamina level of everyone in your travel party? How do you feel about public transportation (trains, buses) vs driving? Most urban underground train (subway) systems require a lot of walking through station corridors and up and down multiple staircases-can you all handle that? Can your budget handle taxis or car services? Will each person be able to handle his/her own luggage? Do you have to bring a stroller or a wheel chair?

How might each person be affected by changes in schedule, changes in sleep pattern, new foods? Do you want to allow time in your schedule for naps or chill-outs during the day?

Do you and your companions want to see a few places in depth or more places superficially? Do you like to plan ahead, or decide things more spontaneously? How might you and your friends tend to react when things go wrong, for example if you miss your train or the hotel doesn't have a room for you or you get lost on the road? Do you all tend to have compatible habits regarding getting up early in the morning or staying up late at night, drinking wine with meals vs not, splitting bills vs itemizing them, eating a lot vs eating a little, spending freely vs frugally, etc. Are you all people who will express feelings and work out a compromise, or are some of you whiney or silent-sufferers? Are you willing to go off on your own for a day or an afternoon while the other person does something else?

What do you all like in restaurants: what kinds of food, what kinds of ambience and service, what kinds of prices? What kind of clothes will you prefer to pack and wear?: Strictly casual, like jeans, shorts, and sneakers, or less casual than that? Will you be primarily in cities, or in the countryside?

When choosing a hotel must your room have a view? An ensuite (private) bathroom? Do you want a shower or a tub? (You don't always automatically get both). If you had to make a choice between room space and old-world charm, which is your priority? Should your hotel have an elevator, air conditioning, and/or food available on the premises? Do you prefer that the hotel have a central location, or more away from the hustle and bustle?

These are just some of the questions that come to my mind when I plan a trip, and they may be helpful to your planning as well.

www.ratp.fr. metro info, metro passes
www.subwaynavigator.com/bin/select/english/france/paris

In any metro station you can ask for the Grand Plan de Paris (grahn plahn duh Paree). It is an excellent bus map, and a metro map. Also good is the Michelin number 11 Paris Plan, available at newsstands.

When you take a metro you'll need to consult a station metro map to know the end points of your line, and the end points of any line you will be transferring to.

Depending on where you're starting from, you'll want to be heading in the Direction of (toward) one end point or the other. When you consult the metro map, find where you are. Then find your destination stop. Then keep your finger moving past your destination point to the end point of that line, that's the direction you want to head toward. A correspondence is an opportunity to transfer to another line, but again, you need to know which end point you want to head towards. La sortie (la sor-tee) is an exit.

By the way, a "gare" (rhymes with English "bar") is a railroad station. In French a "station" ("pronounced sta-see-own, sort of) is a metro station or train stop.

Large metro stations (Chatelet is only one example that comes to mind) that offer many opportunities to transfer also require much walking up and down several flights of stairs and long distances in corridors. Even smaller stations require stair climbing. Not recommended for the infirm, nor for people with luggage. The wheels you love on the bottom of your suitcases will become useless on those flights of stairs.

It is sometimes pleasanter and faster to take the metro to a station that if a little farther from your destination (or even leaving the metro and walking a few blocks) rather than climbing many stairs and taking long walks within the same station to transfer to another line to go only a short distance.

The metro stations can be very warm, even when the weather outside is quite cool. In summer they can be awful. Metro trains do not run from approximately 1:00 am to 5:30 am. A few night buses run during those hours.

NB: you must keep any RER ticket until you exit at your destination. You have to use it to go through the exit turnstile. You should also keep your metro ticket until you exit because theoretically someone could ask to see it.

A single ticket currently costs 8 francs and it is valid for one journey. It can be used for the metro, bus and RER within Paris. If you're going via RER outside the city, such as to Versailles, you'll have to buy the necessary separate ticket. A ticket used on the bus is not useable for transfer to the metro or RER.

Tickets are sold individually at tabac stores, ticket windows or via machines, and are also sold as a pack of 10 called a "carnet" ("car-nay") which in Dec 2000 cost 58FF. Most people who combine transportation with walking and spending time in museums, restaurants, etc. find that a carnet is more cost-effective than a pass. See more info on passes below.

Using one ticket, your complete journey must not take more than two hours, but you can transfer within the metro system as many times as you wish. On the RER system within Paris, your single metro ticket can be used, but outside of Paris the price of the RER ticket depends on the distance.

The transport network is divided into fare zones. A single ticket or travel pass must be valid for all of the zones through which you wish to travel. Zones 1 and 2 correspond to the city of Paris itself and a little of the suburbs. Make sure you buy a ticket with the right number of zones when you travel outside Paris. A 4-zone ticket will include Versailles, Orly and St. Germain-en-Laye. CDG airport is in zone 5. A 6-zone ticket will include Fontainebleau.

If you get to Paris and have forgotten your transformer and plug, one place to buy one would be in the basement hardware department of BHV department store, 5 rue de Rivoli.

French telephone numbers have 10 digits. Paris numbers begin with 01. If you are calling Paris from abroad, leave off the first 0. For example, to call a number in Paris from the US, dial 011 33 (country code for France), then 1 (0 is dropped), then the rest of the number. To call places within Paris, dial 01 then the number. To call other places in France, dial the entire 10-digit number.

Most public telephones in Paris now require a phone card Telecarte rather than accepting coins. Telecartes can be purchased at Bureaux de Tabac (tobacco shops), post offices, and newstands.

To use a Telecarte phone:
The digital readout says Decrochez, which means pick up the receiver. Insert the card into the slot, some have a little door that has to be closed. Message will read "Patient svp" which means you should wait. When the readout changes, dial your number. After your call is finished, hang up. The little door will open so you can remove your card.

Directory information in English for all of France, call toll free 05 20 12 02, Monday-Friday, 9-5.

1. Bateaux Mouches, Seine Cruise: www.bateaux-mouches.fr
Pont de l'Alma, Right Bank, Paris 8th. Metro: Alma-Marceau
Reservations: 01-42 25 96 10, Information: 01-40 76 99 99 Large boats, upper deck is open. Taped commentary. Departures: Mar-Nov:10am-10:30pm (every 30 minutes) daily. Nov-Mar: 11am, noon, 2:30pm, 4pm, 9pm.
Cruise lasts: 1 hr, 15 mn.
Lunch cruise: 15 Apr-15 Nov: 12:45pm Sat, Sun. Cruise: 1 hr, 45 mn. Reserve.
Dinner cruise: 8:30pm, daily. Cruise: 2hr, 15mn. Tie and jacket required. Reserve. Food is quite expensive, and mediocre at best.

2. Bateaux Parisiens, Tour Eiffel. Seine Cruise:
From Pont d'Ina, Left Bank, Paris 7. Metro: Bir-Hakeim
Reservations, information: 01-44 11 33 44
Departures: Mar-Sep: 10am-11pm daily (every 30 minutes) Oct-Feb: 10am-6pm daily (every hour) No commentary
Cruises last: 1 hour Lunch cruise: 12:30pm Sat, Sun. Cruise: 2 hours. Reserve.
Dinner cruise: 8pm, daily. Cruise: 2 hr 30 min. Tie and jacket required. Reserve. www.bateauxparisiens.com/english

3. Vedettes du Pont-Neuf : From Le Pont Neuf, Square du Vert-Galant, Paris 1. Metro: Pont Neuf. Small boats. Live commentary. Highly recommended as a boat choice.
Reservations, information: 01-46 33 98 38. www.pontneuf.net/
Departure: from 10:30am-6:30pm daily (every 30 minutes)
Lunch cruise: Noon or 1:15pm. Cruise: 1 hr. Reserve.
Dinner cruise: 9:30pm. Cruise: 2 hrs. Reserve.
There are also evening cruises without dinner. Recommended.

4. BatoBus is a trip along the Seine without commentary. April through September. Phone 01 44 11 33 44. You can get on and off at any of the stops: Eiffel Tower, Musee D'Orsay, St Germain, Notre Dame, Hotel de Ville, and the Louvre.
You can take the boat for only one stop, or buy an all-day ticket and get on and off as you like.


Yachts de Paris dinner cruise, said to have much better food than Bateaux Mouches www.lepaquebot.com/GB/bateau/

Seine river cruises: from Paris to other towns and back:
http://giverny.org/cruises/camille/index.htm
www.croisiere.com/pages/english/seine.htm

Paris Canal - www.pariscanal.com/


Fodor's forum, Jan 2001
"My favorite boat ride ever is the one on Canal Saint Martin. My wife and I took it on a beautiful summer day. We first visited the Musee de la Musique at La Villette in the 19th. Anyone who is interested in music and history should visit this museum. The boat leaves form a dock near the La Cite des Sciences et de l'Industrie. I believe it is about 40ff per ticket and is a lovely 2 hour meandering cruise through some very interesting parts of Paris, beginning in the 19th and ending up, after passing underneath the place de la Bastille, the surprising Port de Plaisane de Paris Arsenal which borders on the 4th. The entire time they play classic Edith Piaf and other French songs of the period. There is also a description of the passing sights. It is much more intimate than the Bateaux Mouches and more French than tourists.

Note that in May there is a national holiday nearly every week. On national holidays most stores and all banks will close; some museums remain open on some of them, but usually on a "holiday" schedule. Sometimes banks and stores will close early on the day before the holiday.

http://www.national-holidays.com/ dates of holidays around the world, including Paris

These high-tech self cleaning toilets come complete with muzak. When you push the button, the door automatically opens (just like on Star Trek) and you step on a wet, freshly sanitized floor. In fact the whole toilet is sprayed with disinfectant after each use, which means the seat will be wet. Once you've paid your money you have 15 minutes to finish; after 15 minutes the door will automatically open and expose you to passing pedestrians. A lot of travelers think they can use these toilets for free by sneaking in while someone else is leaving. Don't do this! If you don't pay, the toilet thinks it is empty and will clean itself while you are in there. Expect the toilet bowl to disappear into the wall while you are sprayed with disinfectant.

(Use the Cite (see-Tay, my keyboard doesn't have accent marks) metro stop). Notre Dame was started in the 12th century and it took almost 200 years to build. If you want to you can climb 386 steps to the top of the Towers for a wonderful view, including the Eiffel Tower in the distance. You will see the famous gargoyles up close. This may have changed since the terrible storm in late December 1999 which inflicted heavy damage on some of the gargoyles. However decorative they are, most gargoyles were built to be rain spouts to funnel water away from the building. The English word "gargle" comes from the same root word.

In front of Notre Dame you can find an unlabeled staircase at the far end. It leads to foundations of the original Roman city of Paris (Lutetia). Behind Notre Dame is a park dedicated to Pope John XXIII and there is a clean public bathroom for which you'll need a 2-franc coin. Behind that park is the Deportation Memorial to French people who were deported to concentration camps during WW II. It is reached via a steep staircase. A crystal represents each individual (approx 200,000) and in the center is a tomb for an unknown victim. The Memorial is open from April 1st to Sept. 30th from 9am to noon, and from 2pm to 7pm. From Oct. 1st it closes at 5pm.
phone 01 46 33 87 56

To the north of Notre Dame, on Quai aux Fleurs along the river, you will find at numbers 9 and 11 the former home of the ill-fated lovers Abelard and Heloise. If you keep walking east on Quai aux Fleurs, you can cross the Pont St-Louis, to the Ile St-Louis. See more on Ile St-Louis below.

At the Cite metro stop you will see the Flower Market which on Sundays becomes a Bird Market. The colors in either market are gorgeous. From the Cite metro stop you cross a street and face the Palais de Justice. Tucked behind that is Sainte Chapelle, a masterpiece of gothic architecture and stained glass. If possible go on a sunny day to see the glass in its glory. You can buy a combined ticket for admission to both Sainte Chapelle and the Conciergierie (see below). Ste Chapelle features candlelit evening concerts occasionally, as do a few other churches. Again, this may have changed since the December 1999 storm which inflicted some damage. For Ste. Chapelle concert info, call 01 43 54 30 09. The Palais de Justice has been the headquarters of the judicial system for centuries, although much of the building was rebuilt in 1860 following a fire.

From the Palais de Justice, it's only a few steps around the corner to the left to the Conciergerie where many prisoners of the Revolution were held before execution. You can see Marie Antoinette's last cell, a guillotine blade, the Salles des Gens d'Armes (an impressive medieval hall), the kitchens with their huge cooking areas, etc. Spring, summer, and fall, open daily 9:30-6:30, winter 10-5.

If you've been in the country less than 6 months and you are not a resident of a European Union country, you're entitled to a refund on the Value-Added Tax on purchases made in France. You must spend at least 1200 F in the same store, but it doesn't have to all be in the same day. Food, wine, and tobacco don't count. The refund will amount to between 13% and 16%. The refund is granted only on purchases you are carrying home with you. The department stores and most stores that are used to dealing with American tourists can assist you with this. The store will fill out an export document, a triplicate form. You'll also be given a stamped envelope addressed to the store. Go to the airport or train station early, in case there's a line at the Detaxe counter. You will need to present your passport, and may be asked to show your plane/train ticket as well as the merchandise itself, so don't pack it in your checked luggage. The French customs official will stamp your form. Detach the pink copy, insert it into the envelope, and mail it in a mailbox (boite aux lettres= bwot o lettr) in the airport or train station. Keep the green copy as your receipt.

Giverny is a small town which contains a museum of American Impressionism, as well as the last home of painter Claude Monet. www.giverny.org/
http://giverny.org/giverny/index.htm has lots of info, including cruises on the Seine from Paris

Fondation Claude Monet
open April 1-Oct 31 Tues-Sunday, 10-6, closed Monday
call 33-2-32 51 28 21 Wednesday is the lightest day in terms of crowds, but that doesn't mean it won't be crowded.

By train: from Gare St Lazare, take train toward Rouen, get off at Vernon. The ticket/information office at St. Lazare SNCF station will give you an English brochure about Giverny as well as complete train and bus schedules.
From Vernon, take a bus or cab to Giverny.

By car, drive along the A13 Paris-Rouen. Exit after the first toll from Paris and follow the signs to Vernon, and then to Giverny, crossing a bridge over the Seine.

The website for Paris to Giverny (Vernon) rail service is:
http://www.raileurope.com/cgi-bin/fscgi.pl?F=Paris&T=Vernon&M= 6&D=15&Y=1999&C=US&submit.x=24&submit.y=1

This website has a lot of information on Vernon, including transportation options, even boats:
www.destinationserver.net/mbna/er/dest_er_france.asp

Bus tours to Giverny (it's less expensive, more under your own control, but less convenient, to go on your own): Cityrama, 4 pl des Pyramides,phone 01 44 55 61 00

Or, Paris Vision 214 rue de Rivoli phone 01 42 60 31 25
www.parisvision.com
American Express 11 rue Scribe phone 01 47 77 77 37

I've read that the RATP (metro system) also arranges tours to Giverny: from pl de la Madeleine, phone 01 40 06 71 45

If you go to Giverny on your own, try to avoid the days that Paris Vision and Cityrama run their tours, or at least go very early in the day before the buses arrive. If you can't avoid the bus tour days, or even if you go on a bus tour yourself, leave the crowds at the house when you arrive and follow the signs in the garden to the water lily pond (Bassin aux Nympheas). While the crowds are going through the house, you will see the pond and bridge with more tranquility. You can go through the house and gift shop before you leave. You will not be lost or abandoned as long as you know what time the bus is departing.

Not far from Monet's house and garden is the Musee Americain at 99 rue Claude Monet.

It is open from April October, closed on Monday. The collection includes works by American impressionists.