I'm glad that you found and liked Flo. It is out of the loop of many tourists.

What an adventure! I'm giddy just reading this.

I hope it all works out for you. I must say when reading about how you corralled friends into meeting you there my first thought was Uh Oh! I did that way back when a few times when I was a novice European traveler, and mostly wanted to kick myself for not just having gone alone. I really hope it works out for you. Let us know!

cigalechanta---- loved the cartoon, I do feel different in France!

Sigh... I typed a fun response in CDG while waiting for our 4 hour flight delay, but thought the computer would give me a one minute notice to sign off... it didn't so -I lost the whole message :( I kept a good journal & we made top 10 do & don't lists - half useful to Fodorites, half inside jokes! I hope they will be posted by the weekend. Anyway...

I survived Paris! I would even say we thrived - how could one not with all that amazing food? Why don't we know about macaroons in the States? Or true leisurely meals anytime of day? Or cheese trays any time for any reason? Or boulangeries (bakeries) on every corner (though they do close too early!)?

I don't think I offended too many people (expect one crotchety old English fellow), and had an excellent time overall! Language wasn't an issue, but it wasn't easy. Very sorry I hadn't bought a cheap In Flight CD to listen to in my (short) month of planning. We termed it that people were helpful, but were not at all congenial and conversational like in other EU countries.

We kept the mellow theme, and even missed most of our 'top 10 to do's', but we kept moving and seeing things nonetheless.

I don't have any luggage yet (PHL lost the whole plane's), and of course that made for a fun line at 1AM in our small regional airport. Meaning I didn't get in my door until 2AM (8AM Paris time) after leaving the hotel at 10AM... but if that and a 5 day metro-eating-coat-pocket were the worst troubles - the trip was damn near perfect!

My only fear on the luggage is my bottle of Absenthe - bought it at duty free after searching high & low for it in Barcelona this summer, so I will cry profusely if it doesn't turn up... but since I rechecked it in PHL I assume it will be delivered today.

Au revoir! Plenty more to come (should I post as separate report??)

OH! The M update was in the lost CDG post... her family member had 2 valves replaced due to infection, is in ICU for another 5 days, but fingers are crossed that all will be ok. It's still touch and go...

josser - Francophobe definition below. I'm the fearful version, not the hater!

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) -
–adjective 1. Also, Fran·co·pho·bic. fearing or hating France, the French people, and French culture, products, etc.

–noun 2. a person who fears or hates France, the French people, French culture, products, etc.

[Origin: 1890–95; Franco- + -phobe]

Welcome home! Good luck with your luggage. Please post the report on the same thread, makes it easier to find it.

Exciting :D from begining to end!

Hope the luggage shows up with bottle intact!

I think Fracophobe could be a useful one - someone with a morbid fear of a fracas.....

I didn't catch the Fracophobe joke - I was really trying to be helpful with the reference, lol. Blame it on jetlag!

That's what I get for not doing enough Fodor's reserach before I left - I don't even know the names of the common France commentators!

Trying to get some writing ing... the 'don't list' is probably the funniest, but will make us looke a bit naive at best!

#1. Don't interrupt a streetdrunk peeing on a wall by saying "so that's why this section of the city smells so bad". Especially not when he knows how to answer you in English. Colorful (slurred) English, but he didn't have kind things to say when we gave him 'stage freight'! (1:30AM on the way home from dinner at Flo)

I may end up making these a separate post of (shortened) do's & don't's!

#2. Don't try to outsmart the 300 ppl waiting in line for the down elevator at the Eiffel Tower. There clearly are reasons why they aren't attemtping the walk down. Winding (dizzying) staircases, WIND, blinding lights - just to name a few. We didn't walk the WHOLE thing, but from level 4 I believe.

Eiffel overall - beautiful when lit. It's amazing at night - I wouldn't go any other time. I was shocked at how 'busy' it was even in low season and the end of ticket sales for the day (9PM? 10?).

When seeing it from a distance at other points in the trip we were estatic we went at night. When it 'blings' on the hour - too beautiful for words.

#3. Don't try to exist solely on drinks & macaroons. Many cafes do not serve food, so if you want to keep stopping for a drink a t random points in the day (vin, to hell with cafe!), plan a meal in as well. Do remember you are in the food capital of the world, everything you try will be amazing, and the 'sights' will be there later.

We ended up not seeing a lot of 'things' in 4 full days/nights, but we enjoyed our time immensely.

#4. Learn not to ask everyone who talks to you "Parle Italiano"? If & when that doesn't work, no, they most likely will not know sign language (ASL) either. Stick with English, it gets to the point much faster!

If I look back at the top 10 list, we hit only 6 of ten, but did wonderful things I hadn't listed too - like spending a whole day in Montmarte wandering through shops & up sidestreets.

We truly did walk so much our legs hurt. I'm a gym nut & K chases 2 kids under 3 & walks a manufacturing floor everyday - so we were surprised to be bothered by it & even changed day 3's plans to rest our shins/calves!

We made frequent use of our Metro passes as well - K was even lucky enough to buy 2! LOL. Her coat pocket had a whole in it just small enough to let the card fall out :( A 'stupidity fine' as we termed it.

Of course the Metro was closing within 30 mins as we discovered it was missing. A nice (young & cute) Frenchman had K squish through with him in one swipe. Good gawd could that had been a $$ fine! I had tried to pass my card back through, but the machine 'knew' it was in use.

Actually, the Frenchman only helped K as she was trying to buy one from the machine but it was broke & there was no attendant. So we tried to be lawful visitors - and the next day she bought a 3 day pass to finish out the trip.

Prices: my metro card was 47 EU, which seemed pricey. However, we used them daily, to/from the airport & to/from Versailles. So that was the extent of my transportation costs for 5 days.

Disjointed, very disjointed... sorry dear readers.

My computer has a penchant for overheating & shutting off... so posting in bits is my way of saving...

I hope this will help folks who are planning a trip too. I try to throw a bit of info in with my embarrassing moments!

It looks like you more or less expected and received (and appreciated) a trip full of surprises.

In my book, that is so much better than the people who plan every second of their trip and start bitching the moment anything isn't according to plan.

travelphile,

Thanks so much for all the updates throughout your trip! I hope you intend on posting a trip report!!

47 euros? It does seem pricey to me, but that's because we bought carnets(packet of 10 metro tickets) while in Paris - do they still have carnets?

Hi Anna - I'm glad you're still following!

Paris is phasing out the 'Carte Orange, but they do have the carnets. They were only good for zones 1-3, and the 5 day pass is good for zones 1-6 (Paris Viste it's called).

We used the outer zones on 3 days. Airport (day 1), Versailles (day 4) and returning to the airport (day 5) were all out of zone 3. It may have been a bit cheaper to buy the airport pass and then a carnet for around town, but it was easiest to make just one transaction.

kerouac - Even though we got home 4 hours late with no luggage, I'm lucky enough that I had taken today off, so I am not stressing! I hope that comes through in my musings.

I truly am refreshed and used the time for R&R. (I'm sitting at my 'work' desk right now even though I'm off. I'm much less stressed than last Thursday, even though my to do list is the same or larger! I asked for luggage to be delivered here, but it's still missing!) Again, we didn't see as many sights as we had hoped (Sewer tour, Catacombs, Arc de Triumphe, Latin Quarter, etc), but we ate wonderfully & were never really worried about missing anything.

Hotel du Nord, Atmosphere, Chez Prune - all in Canal St. Martin are other meals I will write up and recommend them all!

gg!

This is so exciting to read! Although our trip is months away, now that the airfare and hotels are booked, I made a solemn vow not to overplan! Your report is reminding me why! What a fun and exciting trip!

What a fun thread to read! I'm going to be in Paris in September. Can't wait to read about your meals! :)

The most exciting or simple wonderful times happened to us when without plans.
More, travelphile!

I hate computers!! I had typed quite a bit, and my laptop shut off. I keep saying I'm getting a new one, but then I keep booking trips across the pond every few months :) Where are my priorities??

I was typing to cat that earlier I was thinking that kerouac is right - it was the lack of planning & expectations that made this trip so wonderful! I didn't leave Paris thinking of it as my favorite city and needing to go back soon. But I did leave with a love and appreciation for it's layout, culture, people & 'wow' factor.

Give me friendly Dubliners who will greet and join you at your table anyday - and then they will ask you to meet their whole family... but since my last name is very Irish & not French, perhaps that accounts for my choice!

It is odd to me that we are very social and outgoing, we spent time in parks, cafes, restaurants, the hotel bar, etc and spent 5 days in a city and did not meet a single local. Well, I suppose the waitstaff at Flo did invite us out with them, but being 3 ladies by ourselves, we didn't think that was the wisest choice at 1AM!

Back to the top 10 'do not' list! A this rate I'll never get to a real report - or to the 'top 10 do' list!