My husband has a business meeting in Paris in Feb. I had planned to go with him but because of flight schedules etc it looks like it will be best for me to fly in 3 days ahead of him. I have never visited such a city on my own. Should I try it? What should I plan?

You'll undoubtedly get every sort of advice in terms of what to do and where to go but I wouldn't hesitate to go ahead of your husband. And, perhaps for once, you'll have the opportunity to learn that you can do all of those things on your own and by yourself...a real self-confidence re-affirmer. Go for it!

Absolutely! Whenever I have a business trip aborad I try to add a couple of days vacation on and it's almost always by myself. A couple of suggestions:

If the hotel to be used for the business trip is not in a good tourist location get a different hotel for the days by yourself. Also, locate some pleasant neighborhood restaurants in advance - you may prefer not to travel too far from the there to your hotel by yourself in the evening. Also, always take a book or magazine to the restaurant with you in case people watcing gets boring.

Plan some activities for the evenings so you don;t end up just sitting in your room - in Paris several of the museums are open some nights. Or consider taking in a movie (Paris has lots of festivals with the movies in the original langage).

Consider doing some things that your husband might not want to - shopping, special interests etc.

Lastly, be open to making new friends that you can do things with. I almost always end up meeting people in the hotel at breakfast - to have a drink with at least.

Especially in Paris there no reason to be concerned about being on your own.

From your other thread on hotels, it sounds like you've already decided to go, which I think is the right decision. But just in case you need reinforcement, I thought you might like to read a couple of previous Fodor's threads on traveling alone. They make such good reading, I've bookmarked both of them. They're at:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...41&start=0

and

http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...4&start=50

I think that's a good idea. At least your husband will be joining you afterwards.