Brenda

Our thanks to all of the fodors.com folks whose comments helped us have a great first trip to Paris and Portugal. We have a few comments to you and other new travelers to those places. <BR> <BR>You all were right! One carry-on bag was perfect. Just make sure it really meets the measurements. Air France would not let my friend board with her carry on. Despite the sales tag saying it would fit under seats, it was too large for their rules. <BR> <BR>The laundry tip of balloons inside hand washed clothes really did speed up the drying time. I also took 2 thin wire coat hangers and 6 clothespins. I used all of them since the hotels had those hangers that can’t be removed from the closet rod. <BR> <BR>The zip lock bags were the best! Each garment neatly folded with the air pressed out of the bag let me pack twice as much. The zipper style bag was much easier to use than the one where tracks press together. The bags were handy to zip up the dirty clothes for transport en route. <BR> <BR>Again you were right about taking a folding umbrella. It was used often and gladly in Paris. <BR> <BR>My English only was no problem. Every where there was always someone who could speak enough English to help me. <BR> <BR>The rumor about rude French people in Paris is bogus. We found nothing but helpful friendly people. We were approached with offers to help us before we could even ask when we looked lost or confused. <BR> <BR>The Comfort Inn Bastille’s “standby rate” at the 1-800 number was 354FF for a twin room, just like Ross had said. Great location & savings. About 5 min. walk to the metro. Heads-up though re the breakfast. They charged 100FF per person for the meager hotel breakfast buffet. We thought it was included, but not so. A street café would have been better and cheaper. <BR> <BR>Fodorites were also right about the US tourists sticking out in their white tennis shoes, ball caps, and ‘comfortable’ clothing. I was embarrassed for some of the people I saw from the US. <BR> <BR>Again you were right about the quiet speaking voices. What a pleasure to not have to listen to other people table and cell phone conversations. The dignified murmurs of the French were impressive. <BR> <BR>A couple of encounters that some of you might enjoy: <BR> <BR>We were at the village near Sacre Coeur & looking at a map. An elderly lady asked in French if she could help. She spoke no English but pointed us to the church. Then she said “Anglaise”? I said no, not England…the US. She looked amazed and said with great gestures… “Non! You are not fat. You can’t be from the US!” We have a real reputation for being loud and fat. <BR> <BR>We were walking on one of the main boulevards in Paris. In front of a department store were several vendors doing sidewalk demos & sales. One was a vega-matic kind of guy. It was really funny to hear his routine in French while he was slicing and dicing. An older man who looked like a thin version of Maurice Chavalle (spelling?) said something to us in French and laughed about the guy with the slicing machine. I told him we couldn’t speak French. He said “Anglaise?” And we said no, not English. We’re from the US. He smiled brightly and said Ah! US! Then he wrote something in the air and said something in English. After repeating it I realized he had written the letters WWII in the air, touched his heart and said “I thank your boys for my freedom.” He bowed, tipped his hat, and smiled and then we parted ways. A moment to remember from Paris. <BR> <BR>Thanks again for the pages and pages of comments I read at fodors.com prior to our first trip to Paris and Portugal. <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>

Sue

Hi, Brenda! I was just wondering about you and your trip. Glad to see you had such a good time. Sorry about the breakfast ripoff--100 FF is steep even for a French hotel. That's why we usually go to a cafe (loved breakfast on Mickey-D's patio looking out on the bay in Cannes). How was Portugal? <BR> <BR>Sue

Thyra

Brenda, bravo, what a concise and interesting report on my all time favorite city! I am so glad you shared your experiences with the people of Paris, we have always found them wonderful beyond the call of duty... Hope you have many more trips ahead of you.

Brenda

A couple of things I failed to post in my original message: <BR> <BR>We had a brief encounter with a band of young girls at a metro stop. They were sad, dirty looking gypsy children about 8 or 9 years old. They had sweaters wrapped around their hands and arms & were trying to brush against us in an effort to pick pockets. We shooed them away. <BR> <BR>Also <BR>The first day in Paris it was raining and we ducked into a restaurant at the Bastille. A man took the table next to us. I asked if he spoke English, and he said “a little”. Well, he was totally fluent, just modest. He was from Luxembourg but had lived in Paris for 20 years. He helped us read the menu. Thank goodness! I thought the photo on the menu was a soup. He said it was fish eggs. Not for me! We enjoyed chatting with him. He is a film producer. He offered to take us to the Champs Elysse , and we accepted. (Now keep in mind I’d never jump in a car with a stranger at Shoneys, but for some reasons it seemed ok). He took us on a wonderful tour of the Left Bank, including to the Ritz, then retraced the path of the car into the tunnel where Princess Diana was killed. It was like have our own personal tour guide. <BR>

Mary

Brenda, <BR>Thanks for such wonderful postings! Those stories really gave a glimpse of what to expect in Paris (we leave for London/Paris next week). <BR>I'm going to do a search now on balloons and laundry because I have no idea what you mean....intriguing! <BR>

kw

I, too, am curious about laundry and balloons......can you enlighten?....Thanks

Capo

Brenda, thanks for your wonderful comments about one of the world's most beautiful -- and my favorite -- city; they were a pleasure to read, and I especially loved your retelling of your encounters. <BR> <BR>Glad you found the rumor about rude Parisians to be bogus. I think it's sad how prevalent this rumor still seems to be; myths tend to die a hard death. Sure, I've run into the occasional rude or brusque person in Paris but, after all, it's a big city and I'm sure one would find the same in any big city in the world. <BR> <BR>Thanks again!

Brenda

This is a reply to the 2 questions about balloons. I had read in this forum that a helpful was to dry clothes in your hotel room was to take a regular party balloon, blow it up, and place it inside the wet garment. This separates the wet back of the garment from the wet front, thereby increasing air flow. Of course, I did lose one out the open window in a brisk breeze! But the T-shirt remained in the room since I had mashed the hook of the hanger to close around the curtain rod. <BR> <BR>I tried to blow up a zip lock bag for the same purpose after losing the balloon, but it was difficult. <BR> <BR>Another point. They did not stamp our passports in France or Portugal. I finally thought to ask on my last transfer if France would stamp it. They did. So if you want your passport to show the countries as a souvenir of your travels, ask that they stamp it when you enter the country. <BR> <BR>Another wonderfully friendly person was working in a mall travel agency in Lisbon. We asked about hotels near the airport for that night. Not only did they arrange for the hotel, provide driving maps (yes I know they make a commission), but the agent and his co-worker insisted on taking us to lunch in the mall. I asked him about the passport stamps. He said it is very hard for the Europeans to enter the US without close scrutiny. But US travelers can move freely. I inquired "what if we were criminals!" He shrugged and with his wonderful accent said "it does not matter--just so you are US!" Another funny moment. <BR> <BR>

Melissa

Brenda...thanks so much for your balloon tip! I'm anal when it comes to details and I want to be totally prepared for our trip to France and Spain in June! <BR>Thanks again...Melissa

Justme

Brenda, <BR>I enjoyed reading your reports. I surmise that you and your friend are a couple of cute, sweet girls. Not everyone gets that kind of attention!

aimee

Brenda, Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful stories. It sounds like you had such a great experience. I can't wait for my next trip to Paris (in September). By the way, did you follow the restaurant advice from this board and if so, what did you think?

Brenda

Reply to "Just Me"...yeah, we're both cute & sweet---just don't ask where we were when the Big Bopper died! ha ha <BR> <BR>Reply to "Aimee"...we tried to find one of the restaurants noted on this board which was near our hotel/Bastille metro. We never could find it even with the hotel desk clerk's help. The food in Paris was wonderful everywhere from a hole-in-the-wall soup shop to the regular restaurants. I can't imagine going wrong at any restaurant in Paris. Since we were always on the move, looking for specific restaurants would have hampered our style anyway.

Shanna

Brenda, thank you SO MUCH for your postings! I'm about to embark on my fourth trip to Paris and, while all my previous visits were fantastic, with so many posts about crime, rudeness, etc., I was feeling reluctant and wary. Your remarks returned to me the sense I used to have about Paris: wonderful, delightful, charming! Thanks again.