Traveling To Paris

[msk1986911]

I am flying to Paris for work on Wednesday (4/11/07) and will be returning on Sunday. At this point, I have a customer meeting on Friday afternoon and possibly Saturday morning as well. Any suggestions on things to see (Thursday is wide open for me to recover from the flight). Any idea how much cab fare is from Charles de Gaulle airport to downtown Paris (southeast, I think)? Do cabs take credit cards? I was planning on using credit cards for most of my purchases, wanting to keep the amount of money I exchange/carry with me to a minimum.

[techweenie]

Last time I took a cab from De Gaulle to central Paris, it was about $90 US. There is a Metro station in De Gaulle that will get you into Paris for closer to $25.

There is nothing *not* worth seeing in Paris. You'll probably need to give an indication of what your interests are (culture, history, art, etc.) in order to give better indications...

[MRM]

Don't take a cab. Take the metro. There are very reasonable and are as quick as cabs at a fraction of the price. Get a big pack of metro tokens and use it to get pretty much anywhere. For cash use your credit card or bank card at ATM machines (that work with your bank) to get local currency at the best rate. Otherwise you get raped. There's a lot you can do in a day or two. You won't want to sleep.

Go to Notre Dame as early as you can, preferably on a Sunday. Any time will do, but a Sunday early morning mass at Notre Dame is not to be frgotten. From Notre Dame walk down the Avenue of Grande Armee to the Arch d'Triumph and climb up it. It is an amazing view. The Avenue of Grand Armee turns into the Champ Elysese at the Arch, keep walking up there to the downtown stuff. At the city square you'll see the Opera house, the Church of Magdeline, all the stuff you saw in the Madeline children's books. They look as good as in the pictures of the book.

Somewhere along that route is the Rodin museum. It is outstanding, even if you're not much into Rodin. Grab a brew at the snack counter and head out to the scuplture garden and contemplate The Thinker. You can do all of this so far in a morning.

Allocate at least half a day to the modernist museum D'Orsay. It sounds like Musay DorSay, I can't spell in French. Anyway, it is in an old railroad terminal and houses works by Monet, Tolouse Letrec, Degas, etc. It cuts off with artwork after WWI, so it is very period specific to the late 19th, early 20th century modernists. And try to spend a half day at the Louve. I think it is reduced rates on Thursdays. Everywhere you go, spring for the extra cash and rent the audio guides. If you can, beg borrow or steal a French person to show you around. The Louve is mind blowing but you can get lost in a heartbeat. The Mona Lisa was worth the trip, in my opinion. The French have passed a law allowing anyone to slug any American who sees her and comments "She's so small. I don't like it".

And finally, for one last mind blowing experience, walk up and down Pigalle (pig alley), the red light section. It is just down the street from Sacre Couer (The Church of the Sacred Heart) but a world away. There are chicks literally attacking you trying to grag you into their stores or booths, or whatever. Don't step off the street into any place you can't see sunlight for anyone. You'll walk right past The Moulon Rouge. Don't bother with a show there, it is light Vegas lite. You might want to try Crazy Horse. It is a bit wilder than the Moulon Rouge. Last I heard their telephone number was bal-6969.

Tell them I sent you.