Eager to walk the streets of Paris, but without a budget to visit the city in person? Try Google Maps.

I was looking at Google Maps recently, and tried the street-level views (what you get when you zoom in all the way on a street, if Google has photographed that particular street). The satellite photos of Paris are already very good, but the street-level views are brand-new, razor-sharp digital photos. From the things I've seen in the street-level views, it is clear that they are only a few months old at most. And unlike street-level views of many other cities, which tend to be rather blurry and disappointing, the Paris photos are crystal-clear, allowing you to see the city exactly as it looks in real life.

So if you are low on cash but still want to see Paris, you can walk the streets on Google for free.

It is also a great way to see the streets around where you might want to stay. You can even print the pictures. That way, when you are there, you can look at the pictures and go to the front of the hotel, which is sometimes hard to distinguish. Also, when someone talks about a restaurant, you can see what it looks like, what the metro stop looks like, etc. It is a wonderful source of information.

Hi, Anthony -

I like <u>your</u> street-level views much better. But you knew that

http://www.atkielski.com/ParisStreetScenes/display.php

I've done this for my trip to Paris in two weeks. I wanted to get an idea of the hotel's surroundings and it was so helpful.

This is also VERY cool:

http://www.geoportail.fr/