Georgia

Hello everyone. <BR> <BR>1. Is it safe to sleep on the train for example traveling from Paris to other places in Europe. For one thing I know it is economical. Since it will be the two of us should we take turns guarding? <BR> <BR>Or is it safer to go on First Class as opposed to Second class ? <BR>How big a gap is it anyway? <BR> <BR>2. Any Music Store suggestions in Paris where we can buy jazz, French vocals, and World music? <BR> <BR>3. I love chocolate? Where are the best places to get chocolate in Paris? <BR>Whose chocolate is better, Switzerland's or France's. <BR> <BR>

Eileen

Hi! To answer your questions: <BR>1. It is safe to sleep on trains; you do not have to worry. Just make sure you lock the door. <BR> <BR>Since 2 of you will be traveling, I suggest that you take a first class cabin with 2 beds. (Wagons Lits) They are more comfortable as compared to the ones with couchettes. (bunk beds) <BR> <BR>2. There is a Virgin Megastore along Champs-Elysees; I presume they sell different types of CD's, etc. <BR> <BR>3. Every year, I get the chance to visit Paris. "La Maison du Chocolat" has become an absolute favorite. You can find their shops in rue du Faubourg St-Honore, blvd de la Madeleine and in other locations, too. <BR> <BR>I also like Christian Constant which is located at rue du Bac. <BR> <BR>It's quite difficult to say which chocolates are better. I love Sprungli in Zurich and I also love La Maison du Chocolat in Paris. Both are great. I guess they just have their own specialties and it will be up to you to judge which one you like better. <BR>

elaine

Georgia <BR>I have not traveled on sleeper trains but I have friends who have and some have had their baggage rifled. I hesitate to mention this because in <BR>general I am not an alarmist about crime. However, I would arrange if possible to keep my luggage near me as opposed to the luggage racks at the end of each car. Also, travel companies <BR>like Magellan (they have a website and an 800 number) can sell you thin, lightweight cables with locks that can help secure your luggage to whatever rack or pole it happens to be next to. <BR> <BR>There have been some on this Forum in the past who have actually recommended against using the night trains. I understand your feeling about the savings, that would attract me to. However, some feel that you miss seeing all the scenery by traveling at night, and that it's hard for many to get any significant sleep. <BR>If you do a search on this forum on <BR>(night) trains you may find the previous postings. <BR>My two chocolate recommendations in Paris. <BR>1. La Fontaine de Chocolat <BR>rue St Honore, in the first, just west of rue des Pyramides. Slick and luxurious shop, outstanding chocolate. <BR>It converted me to liking dark chocolate which I do not like in the U.S. Chocolate bars available to take home as gifts, including a bar embossed with Paris <BR>landmarks. <BR>2. A la Mere de la Famille, a very old <BR>family-owned shop in the southern part of the 9th, 35 rue du Faubourg-Montmartre. Wonderful old-fashioned atmosphere. Chocolate and other goodies as well. On my last trip I discovered it is closed on Mondays. <BR>

elaine

Georgia <BR>I have not traveled on sleeper trains but I have friends who have and some have had their baggage rifled. I hesitate to mention this because in <BR>general I am not an alarmist about crime. However, I would arrange if possible to keep my luggage near me as opposed to the luggage racks at the end of each car. Also, travel companies <BR>like Magellan (they have a website and an 800 number) can sell you thin, lightweight cables with locks that can help secure your luggage to whatever rack or pole it happens to be next to. <BR> <BR>There have been some on this Forum in the past who have actually recommended against using the night trains. I understand your feeling about the savings, that would attract me to. However, some feel that you miss seeing all the scenery by traveling at night, and that it's hard for many to get any significant sleep. <BR>If you do a search on this forum on <BR>(night) trains you may find the previous postings. <BR>My two chocolate recommendations in Paris. <BR>1. La Fontaine de Chocolat <BR>rue St Honore, in the first, just west of rue des Pyramides. Slick and luxurious shop, outstanding chocolate. <BR>It converted me to liking dark chocolate which I do not like in the U.S. Chocolate bars available to take home as gifts, including a bar embossed with Paris <BR>landmarks. <BR>2. A la Mere de la Famille, a very old <BR>family-owned shop in the southern part of the 9th, 35 rue du Faubourg-Montmartre. Wonderful old-fashioned atmosphere. Chocolate and other goodies as well. On my last trip I discovered it is closed on Mondays. <BR>

Georgia

Thank you for Chocolate suggestions. If I can manage it I'll try all suggestions and see how I can get to all suggested places. I'm a chocoholic (and Beanieholic - I'm so glad there are no Beanie Babies available there). <BR> <BR>Thanks for the tip on the Virgin Megastore on Champs ... <BR> <BR>Now, it's looking like it is suggested and maybe safer to get a cabin. <BR>I guess traveling sitting up is out of the question. <BR> <BR>What I will suggest to my friend Kim is do an overnighter at Lucern at the most reasonable lodgings (short of a DORM) available. I will check my Fodor book. <BR> <BR>Thanks one and all and I hope to buy lots of chocolates. <BR> <BR>Elaine, I don't like dark either but I'll try dark chocolate there. <BR>Sounds like it's made fresh. <BR> <BR>My sisters who've all been to Europe swears by fresh chocolate from Belgium. I love Belgian chocolate but maybe someday I can go there. <BR> <BR>Merci mon amies (sorry, for the grammar)

Hillary

Bonjour Georgia: <BR> <BR>Though you've already all the help you need, I thought I'd just add my two centimes. First, if you're planning on going to the Louvre, there's another music store (pretty sure it too is Virgin) in the "mall" underneath the glass pyramid. And second, if you are an equal-opportunity chocolate lover, two must-eats: the chocolate ice cream at Berthillon, on Ile St Louis; and the hot chocolate at Angélina, rue de Rivoli, which runs along the Jardin de Tuileries and past the Louvre. Much has been posted here about the wonder that is Berthillon ice cream-it's, IMO, the best in the world, and the first time I had the chocolate I began spontaneously jumping up and down for joy. And as for Angélina, it's the perfect space for hot chocolate or tea-all pink and gold and mirrored- you'll feel like Eloise in the Plaza. Then the waiter brings the heavy silver pitcher of molten chocolate and the bowl of fresh cream and you'll think you've died and gone to gustatory heaven. On the way out, you can buy their special mix so you can make your own when you come back home. (And don't worry about getting flak from the waiters. It's normal to go there and just order hot chocolate. But if you want, there are some sinful pastries,too....)

lisa

Georgia: You will find lots of different opinions about sleeping on trains because everyone is different in terms of their ability to fall asleep in strange environments. When I went to Europe with a railpass, I did many different versions of the "sleeping on trains" thing -- sometimes just had a regular seat, sometimes had a couchette in a 6-bed compartment, and once had a sleeper car. Here's what I think. I find it very easy to "doze" in a seat on the train for an hour or so, but difficult to really get a good night's sleep regardless of whether it's in a seat, couchette, or sleeper. The problem with a couchette is you're in a confined space with 5 other people, who make their own noise (rattling around searching through their belongings for this or that, snacking, snoring, whispering, whatever). It wasn't bad but it wasn't terribly restful either and I'm not sure it was much better than having a regular seat, in fact. The sleeper car was much quieter and that is the way to go if possible -- but I personally found it to be awfully expensive, and still awakened several times during the night due to the train noise and had a hard time falling back to sleep. It was fun to do it once for the experience, but personally, I like travelling on trains during the daytime better because (1) you can see the scenery!!!, and (2) no worries about what's happening to your belongings while you're asleep. Plus you get a better night's sleep in a hotel or B&B. On the plus side, I never had anything stolen while I was asleep on a train. I tended to use my small pack with all my valuables in it (return plane ticket, currency, traveler's checks, passport, credit cards, etc.) as a pillow -- not very soft, but eased my mind!

anne

I second the reco for Angelina's - a wonderful experience both visually and for the taste buds! <BR>FNAC is another large record store <BR>(like Virgin) - there are several around Paris. <BR>And we have gotten "hooked" on Belgian chocolate, after carefully sampling (!!) selections from Switzerland, France, Austria, Germany, Italy...you get the idea! You can find Belgian chocolate shops in Paris - Leonidas is a well known brand, and they have a shop near the Hotel de Ville.

Ben Haines

I have on disc a note in sleepers and couchettes in Europe. If you'd like a copy please e-mail me. Welcome to Europe. <BR> <BR>Ben Haines, London <BR>

elvira

1) If you take an overnight train, definitely get a cabin/sleeper thingy. You can spread out your stuff, lock the door and get a fairly decent night's sleep (there's a net pouch on the wall next to the bed where you can put your glasses, water, kleenex, etc.). The conductor will let you know in plenty of time that your stop is coming up. As for cost, it'll be expensive. Consider, if you will (visions of Rod Serling), how much other train travel you'll be doing. If it's a lot, a train pass could save you money all around, and with sleepers, you pay only for the sleeper, not the train trip (that's covered by the pass) <BR>2) FNAC is a big whatever store in Paris, and has lots of music (if you're American, and used to our CD prices, be prepared for sticker shock in Paris). Le Printemps department store has a music department, too. <BR>3) I am a Belgian Chocolate lover myself; Jeff de Bruges has stores all over, and the chocolate is wonderful. I also like Christian Constant. Someone told me the reason European chocolate is so much better is that they can use cream in the chocolate and the FDA won't let American chocolatiers use it - anybody know if this is true?

lisa

I don't know, but along the same lines, I heard it was because American chocolate companies put paraffin in their chocolates and European makers don't. I think maybe it's just that American makers tend to use less expensive ingredients that don't taste as good. All I know is, even regular inexpensive candy bars are better in Europe than they are here!

martha python

I read about a big EU dust-up over what to call chocolate containing paraffin (as in wax, to our UK friends, not kerosene), which British chocolate manufacturers use and continental ones don't. <BR>I second Elvira's recommendation for Jeff de Bruges, and not just to pander in hopes of becoming a Loon. <BR>When I took a couchette from Florence to Paris, the conductor collected our passports and other valuables to guard overnight, so it was safe. But I'm one of the ones who dozes well but sleeps less well on trains, so while safe, I wasn't especially chipper the next day.

Georgia

Hi everyone I'm back ! <BR> <BR>Sorry I have not responded. Thanks for all the advice. We still don't know what to do about the Swiss leg of our 1 week in Paris trip. <BR>But for sure I'm going to go to all the suggested chocolate places plus ANGELINA's. Ooooh !!! It sounds sooooooo gooooood !!! <BR> <BR>I wrote up my travel plan last Sunday night - a draft and Kim came over and added her notes to it. <BR>She practically listed 11 places to go for the first day and I have yet to tell her "Can't do that gurl !!!" <BR>Well, will see cuz I do have my itinerary of going to all the chocolate places and now I have a Belgian place to go to. Awesome !!! I think I just died and gone to Chocolate heaven. I'd be so wired. <BR> <BR>Thanks for all the tips on the music places. <BR> <BR>Georgia

Eileen

I forgot to mention Angelina on my first posting. <BR> <BR>You really have to try their Hot Chocolate. One sip will make you feel like you're in chocolate heaven. Please make sure you're not very full when you go to Angelina. Otherwise, you may not be able to finish drinking the hot chocolate. It's very very rich. <BR> <BR>If you cannot go to their rue de Rivoli cafe, you can also find an Angelina at Galeries Lafayette. <BR> <BR>Enjoy all the chocolate! <BR>