Katie_H

Great suggestions---

Including yours kerouac.. a good tip is a good tip- thanks for posting it. I believe there's a master thread related to Prems---I'll try to find it.

I went ahead and created a quick google map of all of the cities everyone mentioned for the day trips. I was curious if the majority of the destinations mentioned fell within a specific region. Looking on google maps, I found myself drawn personally to all of the spots located close to water---they look so pretty and peaceful in Google maps.

Here's the map if you want to check it out and recommend others:

http://preview.tinyurl.com/2vh8ps

Nikki

I'm just back from a week in Paris. My new favorite thing to do in Paris is to attend courses at the College de France. They are excellent courses taught by leading scholars, with no registration or fee. The lectures can be attended one at a time, no need to go to a whole course, so it works for a short term visit. The three I heard were held in a large, comfortable modern lecture hall in the historic building near the Sorbonne, and were extremely well attended by French people, many of whom were over 40. The schedule can be found at http://www.college-de-france.fr/defa...enda/index.jsp. This does require a fairly good knowledge of French. If you want to see if you would understand and enjoy these lectures, you can listen to podcasts available at http://www.college-de-france.fr/defa..._pod/index.htm.

In the same neighborhood, the Musee National du Moyen Age (Cluny Museum) is now open free of charge. On many Fridays at 12:30 and Saturdays at 4:00, there is a concert of early music on original instruments at the museum for a cost of six euros per ticket. The group, Ultreia, is in residence at the museum and is wonderful, energetic, and entertaining. Schedules can be found at http://www.musee-moyenage.fr/ang/hom...0721_u1l2.htm; click on events and then on l'heure musicale.

jonmck

bookmark

raspberryberet

reconsider the season you visit. this may sound totally counter-intuitive, but we went to paris this January, and in order to stay warm, we wound up spending probably more money to go indoors at cafes to get espresso, chocolat chaud, food, etc., and to stores and museums, than had we gone in a warmer month where we could have enjoyed simply sitting outdoors on a bench, along the seine, in a park, etc.

i wound up getting quite ill with a bronchial infection, and spent more money on cough medicines and french cough drops than on souvenirs for myself!

so though we got a tiny apartment in the 3rd arrondisement for only 55 euro/night, i think had we gone in a warmer month and perhaps spent more on lodging, we may have actually saved in the long run (our trip also included london and rome, and we felt the same about those cities as well).

Ricardo_215

For really cheap rail fares book early on-line - 90-92 days before travel. Great if you're sure of your travel dates. Includes journeys to Italy & probably other nearby countries. I got Nice-Paris €25 (TGV) single 92 days before traveling - they soon went to €45, then €60. Avoid hotels- get a night train with couchette for under €50. Wake up in a new city. I got €35 Paris-Venice. voyages-sncf.com. Try the idTGV link to book some tickets 5 months early

Ronda

I have not used these services, but found a tip for:

FREE WALKING TOURS IN PARIS

Paris Greeters:

http://www.parisgreeter.org/home/

and

http://newparistours.com/index.php?o...&Itemid=27

paulrouse

Don’t bother with the famous (and expensive) Parisian cabarets like Bobino – you’ll find cruise-ship entertainment, bad food and French “humour” all hard to digest. You’ll soon realise why the service at your table is so poor: the waiters and waitresses also turn out to be the performers, deserting you just as you are about to order coffee to take their places on the stage. If they were mega-talented, you’d just about excuse it, but I don’t think Simon Cowell will be beating a path to their door anytime soon. If I’d wanted endless costume changes, poor dancing and lip-synching, I’d have gone to a Spice Girls concert. Save your money and find a great restaurant with a live pianist like Le Music Hall (63 avenue Franklin Roosevelt 75008 Tel: +33 1 45 61 03 63).

avalon

You might try eating at the various culinary schools in Paris. Some do require reservations but the food is top notch and good value for the price

Ecole Gregoire Ferrandi
28 rue de l’Abbe-Gregorie
Menu 18, 22, Thus evening only also 35 Euro


Institut Vatel

122 rue Nollet 75017
01 42 26 26 60
Mn-Fri Lunch and dinner
26 ,30,33 euro menu


Ecole de Paris des Metiers de la Table, du Tourisme et de l’hotellerie

12 rue Jacque-Ibert 75017
Lunch Mon-Fri 12:30-2:30 Menu 10 and 13 Euro


La Table d’Albert
3 rue Pierre Leroux
01 43 06 33 09
Lunch and dinner Tues-Thus

Ceproc ( Centre de Formation des Professionnels de la Charcuterie
19 rue Goubert 75019
Lunch Mon-Fri 25 Euro includes wine and coffee

Maggi

Katie, I don't know if it's too late to respond to this thread, but I will enter my two cents. We are visiting Arcachon next May to meet some distant relatives. I was researching where to stay and found a two bedroom apartment, comprising of the entire top floor of the building, surrounded by balconies for $700 per week. We are traveling with another couple, which means our accomodations will only be $350 each. It is owned by a professional American woman, a Francophile, who has already given us lots of money-saving tips. For instance, just down the street is her friend, a local oyster purveyor. Obviously we will save lots of money on food by cooking in much of the time. I love shopping at markets because it enriches the local economy. And, if I do say so myself, often it ensures a better meal. (Although I'm not sure I can say that about France. I've some of the best meals of my life there.)
Maggi

nukesafe

Bookmarking.

BTW, Katie, that Google Map thing is a winner. I've got to learn how to make one for myself for my next trip.

poetess

Two more suggestions to add to the great ones about Paris already on this thread:

If you are traveling with a companion or family member who is amenable to the idea, sharing a plate of cheese or charcuterie at a wine bar or a salade compose at a cafe or a savory tart and dessert at a tea room, along with your drinks, can save on meal costs, especially if you do not stick too rigidly to eating at the usual lunch and dinner times. Wine bars and cafes have wonderfully quirky hours, in particular, the less-celebrated ones patronized by locals.

My favorite day trip outside Paris, traveling by train, was to Laon. It had everything; charming access to the town by funicular, a very fine cathedral, and not many tourists.

artnuvo

train tickets-the eason rail euopre and dER rail tickets are so much more expenive than buying locally/in country is that the prices are negotiated a yar in advance.

local cheese: be careful eating unpastueurized cheese-in Barcelona e wound up with e coli and a bad night dealing with our urchase at a local pleina ir market.

Michael

The Sunday brunch, all you can eat, in the Musée des Arts et Métiers is hard to beat--assuming that I did not fall into a onetime thing. I think that it was 15€, excluding wine but including juice.

As for leasing versus renting, a comparison is always necessary. If the traveler is willing to go with the smallest standard shift car available, it usually will take a lease 45 days to break even (but the lease car will be larger).

chebourashka

Hello everyone, As I used more than once fodors site, I would also like to add a tip for families in this great thread.

We stayed in a camping in France and had a very great experience. Many of them are really inexpensive as compared to hotel or BB family rooms, plus you have your own kitchen, space to seat outside and access to a pool or complex, and other entertainment. Some are also located a very walkable distance to the town or city (it was 800 meters in our case), where you can have your meal at a restaurant. You basically don't need to pay for intown parking. Many also offer pizza, roast chicken, bread that you can order and have delivered to you for low price, and even a restaurant or a cafeteria when you can get your snak.Plus they often have deals on canoe or bicycle rentals, so you save there too.
This is my trip report: http://www.slowtrav.com/tr/tripreport.asp?tripid=1839
We usually rent apartments too for long stays, but a camping is a good saver too, so you can rent a car and visit surroundings.
I have several trip reports published on that site and they have links to our photo album too.

kerouac

I agree that it is a great idea for families who are afraid that France (or other European countries) are too expensive. There is also an excellent and friendly mix of people from all over the continent, and lasting friendships are often made, just by sharing a few drinks at sunset or having a barbecue together.

nukesafe

That is a very good trip report! Thank you for posting it, but could I suggest that you post it as a separate trip report here on Fodors? I'm afraid that most people will not see it, buried as it is on the bottom of a very long, and long very old, post.

DebitNM

This is old, but some good ideas and hopefully, still accurate.