[bleucamaro]

And I'll second that the French were very warm and friendly. Luckily my wife was able to speak some french with them, and I think as long as you try, you won't come off as an ugly American, and they will probably just speak back to you in English.

Also, you should download the Tripadvisor "City Guide" for Paris on your smartphone as it doesn't rely on wifi. A neat tool for looking stuff up (w/o internet access).

And my earlier gripe about the trains/metro is based largely on lugging a stroller through the train stations that have very narrow turnstiles / gates, and confusing machines, we had to transfer from a train to metro and bought a day pass at the machine. The ticket we bought was not valid to use at the station we bought it from. not that big a deal, but had to wait in another line at the other machine to get the right ticket. In Germany, it was much easier, they use the honor system and you buy a ticket and stick it in your pocket, don't go through any cattle gates, just wide tunnels to the platform. If you are packed light the trains are fine, but more difficult if you are lugging a couple roll around bags. Cabs are pricey too. Cost 60eu to get from our hotel to CDG (about 30km drive).