A couple of Paris questions...

Old Aug 30th, 2017, 12:51 PM
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A couple of Paris questions...

In researching transfers from the airport online, I find I am suddenly getting advertisements from Welcome Pickups who advertise pre-booking a taxi for the same price as a "regular" taxi. What do you think? Pre-book or taxi rank?

What about eating at the "classic" places like Le Procope, Cafe de Flore, etc? Tourist traps or classic beauties?

And other restaurants, do we need to reserve months in advance, or can we wait until we get there in November? Not looking at Michelin stars, but a few nicer ones...

And finally, I am not sure about going up the Tour Eiffel. Can I wait and see if it's a nice day, or do I need to book it ahead? Again, this is for early November.

Thank you all again...
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Old Aug 30th, 2017, 01:07 PM
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I never take prearranged shuttles. There can be a no show or you can wait ages to find it or you find that yes you the same price but you are 6 in the shuttle and the last to be dropped. Now I don't like uber either. Taxis stands at official airport place cost a fixed price and are reliable. Taxi for me no bummer here.

Never been to these kind of 'classic' yet been to about 259 restaurants.

Never reserved months in advance. Must do it for la tour d'argent I have promised a lunch to 2 colleagues. Apart from these iconic overknown restaurants I usually reserve a few days or the day itself. Or I don't reserve.
The fork (la fourchette) can help you reserve on line. They only omitted my reservation once in 20 times.

Tour Eiffel. I took the lift only once. Had to wait fir ages. Last I went there (2-3 months ago) we went on foot - 4 minutes queue and a few euros to climb. I think it goes about 200 steps. I liked it and you are not in the crowd.

Imo worth it even when I did on bad weather (ok nicer when clear weather).

Have a nice trip.
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Old Aug 30th, 2017, 01:43 PM
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The drawback to climbing or taking an elevator to the top of the Eiffel Tower is that the Eiffel Tower is not visible from itself. I have also heard that terrorism has caused security backups there. Better: View Paris from the front of Sacre Coeur or the top of the Montparnasse Tower, the latter having the added benefit of not having the Montparnasse Tower in the view. My favorite view was from the tethered balloon in the Parc André Citroën:

http://www.ballondeparis.com/fr/ball...0-presentation

http://www.ballondeparis.com/fr/info...nfos-pratiques

(Use Google Translate if you have limited French. The Chrome browser has GT integrated in it.)

The two best close up views of the Eiffel Tower are from the park at its base (Champs de Mars) and from just across the river, by the way.
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Old Aug 30th, 2017, 01:43 PM
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>>> What do you think? Pre-book or taxi rank?

What value do you think you are getting from a prearranged transfer? If you look at their web site, the prices match the taxi, 55EU to left bank. 50EU to the right bank. However, the terms are different. The transfer says you must cancel 12 hrs before to get out of the game and they would wait 60 min max and monitor the flight. How do they handle if you are flying in on a different flight because your carrier put you on a different flight itinerary? Given that one has additional constraints, which one would be go with?

>>> What about eating at the "classic" places like Le Procope, Cafe de Flore, etc? Tourist traps or classic beauties?

In a city with ever emerging lists of excellent restaurants, I have never felt need to visit restaurants with name recognition because of the meal offerings. However, it should not stop you from visiting them because of historical mentions.

>>> And other restaurants, do we need to reserve months in advance, or can we wait until we get there in November?

There is no one answer. Some not so high-end restaurants heavily mentioned in travel articles can get booked up by tourists. If the restaurant offers online booking availability, you can get an idea of how far ahead in time they get booked up. If you have a definite idea, you should reserve. Even at restaurants that I probably did not have to reserve, I got a better table.

>>> I am not sure about going up the Tour Eiffel. Can I wait and see if it's a nice day, or do I need to book it ahead?

There is no one answer. Here, you can go to the Eiffel Tower site to see how far ahead they are being booked to get some idea. Right now, Most of the September online slots are already taken. Late October are open online. You can still get them on the spot by waiting indeterminate amount of time in the ticket queue.
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Old Aug 30th, 2017, 01:44 PM
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Tour Eiffel. I took the lift only once. Had to wait fir ages. Last I went there (2-3 months ago) we went on foot - 4 minutes queue and a few euros to climb. I think it goes about 200 steps. I liked it and you are not in the crowd.>

Is it free to climb to the first level?

Can you buy tickets for levels 2-3 there and avoid potentially long lines down below?

Anyway in November I cannot imagine always long lines - certain times of day are less -they used to say in mid-afternoon.
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Old Aug 30th, 2017, 02:31 PM
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Eiffel -go in day and be awed and go after dark and be awed- go around sunset and get the best of both views!

Night is great but I'd rather see the expansive daytime views of all the landmarks and monuments of Paris though they are also gloriously illuminated after dark.
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Old Aug 30th, 2017, 03:20 PM
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You can just take a regular taxi from the airport.

We drop into Cafe de Flore or Les Deux Magots now and again for a glass of wine. Fun for the history but I don't think I would plan to go for a meal. They are a bit pricey and there are so many great restaurants in the area. You don't need to book most restaurants too far in advance. If there is a restaurant you really want to try, you can usually just book a few weeks in advance. For most, you can have your hotel make a reservation or stop in a few days ahead and make a reservation.
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Old Aug 30th, 2017, 04:05 PM
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I guess I was wondering if having someone standing there with your name might make it any easier what with jet lag. LOL. The taxi ranks are easy to find? I know some places you have to watch out for illegal/unregulated taxis.

I'm sure I'm overthinking the restaurants...

I think I'll just play it by ear about the tower. Maybe just climbing to the ?second level will be enough.

It is always great to crowd source here!
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Old Aug 30th, 2017, 04:11 PM
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I was disappointed with my experience in going to the top of the Eiffel Tower -- the views weren't that great (I preferred views that included the tower) and I was pushed, shoved, crammed, and worse in the process. YMMV.
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Old Aug 30th, 2017, 05:06 PM
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Why UP the Eiffel? Have you never been in a tall building? Not much different. Better to see it from across the Seine at the Embarcadero, or at night from its park after getting off the Batobus
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Old Aug 30th, 2017, 05:51 PM
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Cafe de Flore <3 Their French Onion Soup is quite literally the best thing i have ever eaten. My fiancee and I are looking forward to returning to paris JUST for that meal.
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Old Aug 30th, 2017, 06:11 PM
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Agree with tomboy about Eiffel. Actually being close to the base isn't a whole lot of fun. Across the river is a mich better experience, especially when it's twinkling!
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Old Aug 30th, 2017, 10:04 PM
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Hi,

We did not prearrange any taxis or tickets to the Eiffel Tower. However, we did not take the elevator, so we walked up and didn't queue for too long. This was in December and the weather was relatively overcast, but it was still a good view.
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Old Aug 31st, 2017, 01:04 AM
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You'd have to be blind to miss the signs to the official taxi stand. Just don't let any random person within the airport persuade you to take a rogue cab.

The "classic" eating establishments are of more value for their history than their food.

If I want a view, I go up the Tour Montparnasse, from which you can get a stellar view of the Tour Eiffel. It's a lot easier than standing around waiting to go up the TE itself, and Le Ciel bar is a treat.
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Old Aug 31st, 2017, 01:18 AM
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>

Trocadéro, perhaps?
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Old Aug 31st, 2017, 03:32 AM
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Going from the airport to Paris, the easiest thing is to take a taxi right at the door, very easy to find. Going from Paris to the airport, I have used several different types of services including shuttles and Uber.

The two places you name as classics are not particularly known for their spectacular food, although who konws, you could get something you loved, which is true just about anywhere. My experience with nice but not luxury restaurants in Paris is that I can reserve the day before or even the same day almost everywhere. The ones that fill up tend to be tiny restaurants so if you are determined to eat in a particular place, especially one that has very limited seating, you might want to reserve earlier.
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Old Aug 31st, 2017, 03:59 AM
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Regarding your first paragraph, manually clear all "cookies" from your computer. Sometimes that will help obscure your electronic footprints.
Regarding restaurant reservations, many Paris restaurants do not take direct reservations on-line (some do, of course.) For a few years I used La Fourchette/The Fork, a reservation service. It has been absorbed by Trip Advisor, although still operates on its own. I tested it a couple of weeks ago and thought it worked smoothly, with an option for the restaurant to ask for direct re-confirmation, and also follow-up on how the booking went. One tip: You can enter your hotel telephone number, indicating dates of residence. One nice place, tiny, called me at my hotel on the day I had reserved to be sure I still wanted to occupy one of their precious seats.
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Old Aug 31st, 2017, 04:34 AM
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Thanks again everyone. I think the Eiffel Tower thing is first, because of the architecture inside, not the view, but second..it is the one "iconic" Parisian thing I did not do 25 years ago. Not married to the idea, just putting it on the back burner.

Just downloaded La Fourchette. Merci, Southam.

Two other random questions:

1. In the UK and I think in Italy, there were concessions for oldies over 60. In Paris, it seems only for the youth and "job seekers". At the risk of being flamed, shouldn't job seekers be seeking jobs?

2. Concerts: In London, it was fun to go to a play at night. My French isn't good enough for that, but what about a concert? I see there are ones at Notre Dame, and the philharmonie. Are there some others I should be looking for?
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Old Aug 31st, 2017, 06:19 AM
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Look for concerts at la Sainte Chapelle. Lovely.

Reserve on that site for discounted rates.
http://www.billetreduc.com/

Contrary to London Paris speaks french but Concerts get translated into ... Concerts.

In 'departement' indicate 'Paris 75' Screen refreshes.

On top of the screen in the red square you type in 'Sainte Chapelle'.

'Affiner par date' gives you access to a field that selects the date.

Works for other things than Ste Chapelle...
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Old Aug 31st, 2017, 06:34 AM
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There is absolutely no wait for regular taxis at the aiport. I cannot imagine why anybody would prebook.
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