Paris for a week
 

Anyone know exactly wher Golden Tulip St. Honore Hotel is (read nearest cross street so I can locate on map) I know the address is 218-220 Rue Du Faubourg. I'm trying to plan an itinerary for sightseeing. We're going with friends that have been to Paris several times and we are on our own days for sightseeing. Is the Metro(?) the way to travel? Is it anything like the Underground in London. Should we buy passes in the States before going? Any help along those lines would be appreciated. Title any e-mail "Paris" so it won,t be deleted. Thanks

Ashley <BR>As far as I can tell the hotel is on rue du Faubourg St Honore, about halfway between Etoile (Pl Charles DeGaulle) and the Parc Monceau <BR>The Paris metro covers a much smaller geographical area than the London underground. <BR>I have notes on Paris, including <BR> transportation; if you'd like to see them, email me

Hi. For convenience of purchase and use, my wife and I found that a carnet of 10 tickets was the easiest way. <BR>There is no special action needed to buy them. Just walk up to the window in a Metro station and ask for une carnet s'il vous plait. (Un or une?) <BR>Singly the tickets are 8 ff. We paid 58 ff for 10. Tickets are dispensed in a strip of 10, which you separate and use singly one time. They are good on bus and Metro. <BR>Perhaps the cards are cheaper, but the carnet is quick and easy and does not require any knowledge of French, which I don't have. My old cat spoke more French than I do. <BR> <BR>As for getting about, I reached the conclusion that I liked the bus better. <BR>I could take it on the street and see where I was going. There was no need to descend into long tunnels, steps, and corridors. <BR> <BR>I suggest that you study a good map before you get there. Then close to your hotel there will be a bus route. <BR>Most of the bus stops have a very complete colored map of Paris with all of the routes. <BR> <BR> <BR>

PS. Some of the larger Metro stations have ticket vending machines. If you have 55 ff in coins, it is easy. <BR>When you get on a bus, find the cancelling machine and insert your ticket. I have never seen one of the so-called "contollers", but the French people are very faithful to cancel their tickets. <BR>I also got into far more conversations on the buses than on the Metros. Perhaps it is my age, perhaps it is my wife's easy going demeanor, or perhaps it is the fact that I look helpless riding along, map in hand, identifying the stops. But more than once, people offered to help, in reasonable English.

For the exact location, go to www.pageszoom.com and look up the address. Handy to print this map for taxi drivers. I second the recommendation on using the buses!

If you are going to be there a week, I would consider getting a Carte Orange--unlimited travel on buses and metro in Zones 1 & 2 for a week for 85FF. Only drawback: they are only good from Monday-Sunday, purchasable (?) starting the preceding Friday. You need a small photo (Photomaton-type OK). You can buy them at any large Metro station

That hotel on rue du Faubourg SAINT HONORE. It's about at the end of rue Balzac probably (the cross street) and about half way between the Ternes and Philippe du Roule metro stops; it's also only a few blocks to the CDG Etoile metro/RER stop, that's probably about as close. It is an underground rail system, that's for sure (ie, subway, underground, UBahn, metro); no, don't buy a pass before getting there. It's probably the easiest way to travel for distances; walking is easier if convenient. Buses are nice if they are going where you want, but I personally think they are harder to figure out for a newcomer, espec. the routes; if there is a bus stop near your hotel, you should be able to go over to it and look at the map that should be posted there to figure out where it goes. From that hotel, you will probably use the main E-W metro line across Paris a lot (no. 6), which goes from the Arc de Triompher east to the Tuileries, Louvre, Hotel de Ville, and Bastille. At the Chatelet stop you can transfer to go to the Cite (Notre Dame, etc) or the Left Bank; you can go on a different line from the Arc across the bank to the Eiffel Tower area (Bir Hakeim stop). You may not even need a metro pass if you are doing basic sightseeing in those areas as a first-timer.

The E-W line is No. 1; No. 6 is the southern loop from Etoile to Nation.:) I like the buses, too. I find the Metro especially handy when you have walked miles from where you started (so easy to do in Paris, since everything is "just over there"). However, I do almost anything to avoid the Chatelet transfer since that stop is so huge that you can find yourself walking miles *underground*.

Hi Ashley <BR> <BR>If you're spending a whole week in Paris I suggest you buy a "Carte Orange" which will make life much easier for you. The Metro is very practical, but as all undergrounds it is very stuffy,stinky and crowded. Buses are a good way to see more of the city, but you waste some time sitting around waiting for them to come. Your hotel is very well situated and you can't be very far from a store called "Colette" which is THE fashionable place to go. There everything from a mineral water bar to the latest Prada shoes. Very expensive but worth seeing. I know Pris very well so if you need tourist-free places to go or practical advice feel free to E-mail me. Bye

Thankyou to all that replied. This is a great site that I just had discovered. I have already passed on tips to others who are going to places that we have been.

I am off to Paris next Friday, (12/22), and will be there for Christmas Day. Does anyone have any information about Mass at Notre-Dame, or any other Holiday events that my traveling companions and I could enjoy? We will also be there for New Years Eve. I cannot wait for a roasted chestnut! Thanks! Happy Holidays, Chefrick

Hi Ashley, <BR> <BR>Christina suggested walking and we second that option! We recently spent three weeks in Paris and took public transportation just twice. Within the city there's so much you would by not walking, if you are able. <BR> <BR>Put yourself in the mood for Paris by enlarging the picture in the upper right at http://www.thetravelzine.com. It's really THAT beautiful! Go for the light show on the hour at dusk! <BR> <BR>Regards, <BR>Don and Linda <BR> <BR>TheTravelzine.com is non-commercial

HI, <BR> <BR>I recently stayed at the Golden Tulip - Hotel Washington Opera on The rue de Richeleau. The one you refer to is about a 10 minute walk from there - also in a very nice area. The Wash. Opera is walking dist. to the Louvre, the major shopping, the St. Germaine area, l'Arc de Triumphe, etc. While we were there, we did not need any additional transportaion other than walking - we must have walked 12-15 miles per day. That saved us so much time. <BR> <BR>The thing to look out for at the Golden Tulip hotel - when you arrive, they'll try to send you to another hotel because "somehow" your reservation was incomplete. They pulled it on me, hoever, I insisted that they provide the rooms I contracted for (after they suggested that they could have booked me in the 3* hotel down the street - the Golden Tulips are 4*). Don't stand for any nonsense. Politely reinforce your position and do not move off the point

Fodors <BR> <BR>The Paris Plan booklet published by Michelin shows house numbers along streets. If your hotel is at 218 to 222 rue du Faubourg St Honore then it is next to the church of Notre Dame de l'Annonciation, across the small triangle from the metro station St Philippe du Roule, on metro line number 9. <BR> <BR>The metro is comparable to the London tube, though the network is denser and stops are shorter distances apart. As in London, the Paris one week or one day runbabout ticket includes local trains (in Paris called RER) and busses. So long as you get a bus map from the RATP kiosk in front of any main station the busses (as in London) give good views and are the better choice for short trips, as Mr Brown says. <BR> <BR>Please write if I can help further. <BR> <BR>Ben Haines, London <BR> <BR>