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My tips from helping distressed tourists in Paris

My tips from helping distressed tourists in Paris

Old Oct 14th, 2008, 10:35 PM
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My tips from helping distressed tourists in Paris

I recently moved to Paris and this past three-day weekend was in a position to help a number of distressed American tourists. I thought I'd share what I learned -- a lot of this will be obvious to seasoned travelers, but I figure it's always good to have a reminder.

1. ALWAYS KEEP YOUR ACCOMMODATION INFO WITH YOU -- Especially if you are staying in an apartment. Each traveler should have a slip of paper with the address, phone number, nearest metro, and any other pertinent info.

2. MAKE A PLAN IN ADVANCE -- You may get separated. Even if you don't plan on it, it might happen. Create a plan so that if this happens you don't panic. For example, on the metro, my family and I know that if the doors snap shut leaving one of us behind, the person on the train will get off at the next stop and wait on the platform NO MATTER WHAT.

3. TRY TO CARRY A CELL PHONE -- It really, really helps. Especially if the missing person said they'd be back at a certain hour, but they go to the pub and get drunk and then forget where their hotel is, and have no way to reach anyone... (but see #1 to prevent this.)

4. IF YOU ARE LOST, TRY TO CONTACT SOMEONE ASAP (within reason) -- Don't wander the streets for hours, throughout the entire night, trying to find your hotel. Your loved ones will be worrying about you. Even if you don't have your hotel tel number, or have forgotten your husband's cell number, try to call someone at home to let them know you are okay and to ask for phone numbers that might help you. Go to the nearest police station and ask to use their phone. At the very least they will let you call the US Embassy, who may be able to help you make an overseas phone call.

5. IF YOU LOSE YOUR PASSPORT YOU WILL HAVE TO WAIT -- unless there is a real health emergency, US citizens will have to wait until the next business day to get a new passport.





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Old Oct 14th, 2008, 10:51 PM
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It sounds like there are some poignant stories behind each of those tips. The one about "wandering the streets all night trying to find one's hotel" really grabbed me.

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Old Oct 14th, 2008, 11:34 PM
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While these are good tips, I suspect that they fall in the similar categories as pickpocket warnings, "if it hasn't happened to me, it will never happen to me."

Regarding the tip one, I have traveled with those who felt it was below their dignity to be carry something written.(They had superior memory to remember such trivial matter...) What I ended up doing was to give a hotel stationery with hotel address and telephone number to someone who was going out with the "superior memory" person who was most agreeable to keep the written hotel info.

Regarding lost passport, I always travel with all possible precautions, money belt, passport copies, extra pictures, in route consulate addresses. Even so, I cannot do anything about the next business day constraint. Thought of having to stay an extra weekend is always in my mind. I never hope to execute this contingency plan.
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Old Oct 15th, 2008, 04:17 AM
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Nukesafe -- there were some worrisome moments, but all's well that end's well, thank goodness.

Greg -- you're right, even if you are the most well-prepared, you will still have to wait until the next business day for a new passport. If you really need to get back home, I guess another tip could be -- don't lose your passport on Friday evening of a long weekend. Oh, also the US Embassy is closed on French and American holidays.
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Old Oct 15th, 2008, 08:54 AM
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Well, I think one key point is not getting drunk - either in a strange cty or at home. Besides forgetting where you're staying, you can easily be mugged or end up in a DUI.

I'm glad you were able to help these people. BUT - they really should be more resourceful that this if they're traveling without a guide (or leaving home at all).
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Old Oct 15th, 2008, 09:11 AM
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I can tell you the "make a plan in advance" is an excellent one.

My partner and I were separated last year while on a day tour in Tokyo and it was a frightening nightmare for him. Fortunately, he was able to get back to the hotel in a taxi with a lot of effort.

I would add that nobody should be out and about without some local currency, a business card with the name of the hotel printed on it (in the local language of course), and probably some form of identification.

Thanks very much for posting these tips.
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Old Oct 15th, 2008, 09:34 AM
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Excellent thread.

Part of our checking-in ritual is to get each family member the hotel's card from the front desk, and a map (the free ones from Galeries Lafayette or RATP are fine) with the hotel's location indicated. These are kept in their day bags* along with water and cash.

* An over-the-shoulder catchall that contains their gameboys and mp3s.
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Old Oct 15th, 2008, 10:17 AM
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Great tips for tourests in ANY city!

We also have the rule about getting off at the next stop if we're separated.

If you are staying in a hotel, each of you should grab the matchbooks or stationary and carry it with you. Great to give cab drivers if you need to get "home" and there's a language barrier.
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Old Oct 15th, 2008, 10:26 AM
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Getting off at the next stop may not always work. In some cities, not all trains stop at all stations.

Our rule is to get to the next destination by whatever means necessary - even if there's a sudden service disruption on the Circle Line or RER B while you're trying to re-unite.

If you can't get there, then back to the hotel so the others can be sure you're safe.

Cell phones are a good supplement - we use the text mode so one person can inform the others for 40¢ total.
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Old Oct 15th, 2008, 11:01 AM
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I got lost from my mother on the Paris Metro on line 10. The doors closed and she was on the train and I wasn't. We did not have a plan and things got tricky. I had all the metro tickets, and anytime we went anywhere, I was the one who led the way.

btw, I had metro tickets, but nothing else on me. No money, No ID, no card key.

She went directly back to the hotel. I spent an hour between metro stations looking/waiting for her before I headed to the hotel to find her.

Next trip, London, we made a plan to go back to the place you got separated if it happens. So for the example in Paris I mentioned above, I would have stayed put and she takes the train back to me.
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Old Oct 15th, 2008, 11:11 AM
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My parents were not "logical" either one time. I got on the metro and they missed it. I got off at the next stop and waited for the first train, then the next, then the next, then the next. No parents. So I rode back one stop and there they were, still waiting.

I told them that EVERYBODY in Paris knows that you get off at the next stop of you get separated, but THEY did not know this. Many older people just stay put and wait to be found.

So definitely discuss separation strategy with any traveling companions.
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Old Oct 15th, 2008, 12:02 PM
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This is one of my (somewhat irrational) fears - that I will get separated from one of my kids on public transportation. When we were in Paris last spring, I used the "get off and wait for me" approach on the Metro with DS, who is 10. I think the traveler has to be taken into account. I did not want him trying to turn around and possibly getting even more confused, especially in a station with correspondances. When he's had a few more experiences with mass transit, maybe I'll rethink! (No such thing here in Tallahassee, I'm afraid.)
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Old Oct 15th, 2008, 12:29 PM
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With my friends and family we make plans on where to meet in any crowd or building in case we get separated.

It has helped so many times because it is so easy to get separated even by lingering in a museum while the others go into different rooms.

It is now automatic to say, we will all meet exactly "here" if we get separated.
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Old Oct 15th, 2008, 12:41 PM
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I guess not having to worry about getting separated is one of the bonuses to solo travel - I'll have to add it to the list. Hotel info and not trying not to lose your passport apply to everyone of course. (I keep a copy of the picture page apart from the real thing, and I'm even considering scanning it in and sending it to my email account.)
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Old Oct 15th, 2008, 12:59 PM
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You have to use your head, though. If you're on your way to CDG, for example, the straggler's train might not stop at the next station up the line.

My boys and I got separated on our way to Antony last year. We hurredly squeezed into different cars at Châtelet, they didn't know I intended to change trains at Bourg-la-Reine, and so took the wrong spur.
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Old Oct 15th, 2008, 01:33 PM
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I have kept a scanned copy of my passport for years in an email file and have also sent it to family members so that they can forward it anywhere if necessary. I started doing this after being mugged in Johannesburg.

Therefore I worry much less about the real thing now and usually leave it in my hotel room.
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Old Oct 15th, 2008, 02:02 PM
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petitepois, you have started a useful thread.

Many years back, a friend and I arrived in the Gard du Nord in Paris and told the taxi driver that we were going to the Hotel Lutetia (lovely digs) on Avenue Raspail on the Left Bank. Driver said he never heard of the place or the street!

Of course, it was our terrible French that was to blame. We finally sorted it out. Since then, I always have the names of all hotels with me on European travels. I also was separated from my group on a tour of Versailles one time. Was able to phone the hotel where we were staying for the front desk to contact tour director.

To be continued....
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Old Oct 16th, 2008, 05:45 AM
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What a great post. Thank you for your tips.

My husband and I once spent hours walking around Milan, convinced that the next street would lead us back to our hotel. And we had a map! Exhausted, I finally swallowed my pride and asked a woman if we were anywhere close to our hotel. She explained where we were (very far away!) and suggested I go to a nearby hotel & request a taxi to return us to our hotel. We learned our lesson: no more wandering the streets for hours. If you haven't figured out where you are after 10-15 minutes, ask someone!
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Old Oct 16th, 2008, 07:07 AM
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Last summer, when we arrived in Paris, we took a cab to our hotel. I had the info. printed out from the hotel -name and street address. The cabbie had never heard of Rue Dr. Babinski. Luckily, this cab had gps and he punched in the address and away we went. We were staying at the Etap.

We always have the hotel address with us plus any contact information if staying at a B&B.

When lost, our rule is all should go to the place we all were at last, unless other arrangements have been made. If that will not work and we have a car, go to the car and wait. When children were smaller, we took walkie-talkies with us. We used them to keep in contact.

We had a bad day once when our son went wrong way out of a store and was lost for 4 hours!!!

I email passport page to self and son. I also email to self and son credit card numbers and numbers on the back. (Scan front, flip scan back and email). Also email self copy of plane info, and all documents received from hotels about lodging and receipts of prepayments. Basically, all my paperwork that I carry is duplicated in email.

Everyone has local currency -about 50 dollars- that is not to be spent til last day at the airport. It is to be used to get cab home if lost.

No. 4, been there - in Brussels. Tried to get a cab-he was eating dinner and would not give us a ride. Hired a local to walk with me to the train station so we could get back to our hotel.

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Old Oct 16th, 2008, 09:02 AM
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Make a copy of your passport and write the name of hotels you'll be staying at on the back side of the copy and carry the copy.
I've run into many distressed tourists over the last 30-plus years and it just amazes me how things that seem common sense to many of us are just not common sense to others.

I also carry an official copy of my birth certificate when I travel around the world. And wear a money belt! I'm female, but always wear one, so I don't pack dresses...which I don't like anyhow. I need to be able to get to the emergency money easily if I need to. Happy Travels!
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