Paris info required
 

We are 2 adults and 2 children of 14 and 13 years. We will be visiting Paris for the first time.
We have booked at Rue des Ecoles in 5th arrondissement.
We will be staying for 4 days/5 nights.
Need some advice for :
1. How to reach Charles de Gaulle airport? - I have read that the cheapest way is to travel by RER B line. Do children need tickets or they travel free?

2. Want to visit Eiffel Tower all the way to the top? What is the ticket to be bought? Is it reachable by foot from where we are staying or should we used metro to reach? Name of metro station?

3. We want to go one day to Versaiiles. Can we club it with some other attraction?

5. Can someone advise us what attractions we can club together. Yes, we would like to go to Louvre but not to any of the other museums. Also, we do not want to go to Disney.

6. Lastly some names of restaurants close by nothing fancy but places that serve good portions meals. Names of some grocery stores close by would help.

Thanks.
SKPKCP10

1. reach CDG? You mean reach Paris from CDG? Taxi/arranged pickup/RER. RER info is at the airport site http://www.aeroportsdeparis.fr/en/pa...blic-transport. Ok, RER is the cheapest, but it will not bring you to your accommodation. Is it ok? Children 4 yrs and above need ticket. Above 11 yrs pay adult price.
2. Eiffel tower ticket info? They have a web site for this http://www.toureiffel.paris/en/prepa...onditions.html. Reaching Eiffel tower from your accommodation? Reachable by foot? I don't know your criteria for what is reachable by foot. Even if your accommodation is closest part of Rue des Écoles it is still about 2 miles. Look at a map, for example, Google map and turn on "transit".
3. Club Versailles visit with other attractions? Perhaps in Paris after you return, but I am not sure you realize how enormous Versailles is.
6. Good portion meals? I am curious how others answer this one. I didn't think "good portion meals" was the forte of French restaurants.

Greg provided some good basic information and I do think you may benefit from doing some guidebook research for your attraction planning. The guidebooks usually list metro stops as well, and maybe the attraction's website for additional information (such as hours, admission, etc.) as those can change (metro stops usually don't).

Consider purchasing a paper (or tangible, not electronic) map of Paris (just about every bookstore should have one), which will help you plot along routes and plan your attractions. They usually list metro stops on the maps as well.

If you want suggestions for attractions, it would be helpful if you provide more information regarding your interests. And I agree with Greg, Versailles will likely take an entire day, if not for navigating through the crowds in addition to seeing the palace.

Also, when are you going? If for example, the summer may impact your schedules with the popularity with the tourists. And if you go in August, for example, some restaurants may be closed.

"Good portioned meals?" Huh? I'm lost. Europeans typically have smaller-portioned than North American restaurants, but I don't want to assume you're North American to fully gauge my answer.

Europeans usually eat smaller portions than Americans but they eat more courses.

Look on the blackboards which are universal outside restaurants, particularly at lunch, and you will see the words "formule" and "plat de jour." A "plat de jour" is a daily special, one plate. A "formule" is a 2 course (main plus appetizer OR dessert) or 3 course (main plus appetizer AND dessert) meal. These are generally a good deal. They sound expensive sometimes, but what you see is what you pay: the price includes all taxes and tip.

Now the hard part. What we call a "menu" is called a "carte". What they call a menu is an alternative for "formule." You may see "Menu €13" or "formule €13". If you ask for the menu, they will be waiting for you to tell them what courses you want.

You can ask for the carte, but the kinds of places we are talking about are very busy at lunch. You should make up your mind what you want from the board outside BEFORE you go in. If you don't know French food terms, you can no doubt find them on the Internet. The waiter will not have time to explain what each dish is and what goes into it.

Drinks: water is free, but you have to ask for a a "carafe d'eau". They might have milk for the kids, but I have never seen it in a cafe. Soft drinks are generally outrageous. People do not drink coffee along with their meals as Americans do in the Midwest, and good luck trying to get any. So have a glass (or small pitcher) of house wine or stick with water.

Every bakery will have sandwiches at lunch, as you will see from the lines out the door. They are usually excellent and a good deal. Though many parks prohibit picnics on the grass, you can find a bench. Many museums have cafeterias where you can point to what you want; some also have fine dining.

You will have a great time!

Great advice above, if you want a specific try this one http://chezjaafar.fr/en just on a side road. Go for a Meze and a Tagine with extra couscous and you'll barely be able to stand.

Just checked the menu and they've stopped the meze

This Lebanese is pretty good (and it has Meze) http://www.aldar.fr/ again very close. It is very much nothing fancy but gives you a feeling of being abroad.

I think you are worrying about some things too much, like having to know names of grocery stores, etc. Just look around your hotel when you arrive, you'll find something.

I can name one place with good portion meals, the chain of steak places named Relais d'Entrecote. They give seconds on anything if you want it (meat and French fries, anyway). I really like that place. It's not super cheap, of course, but reasonable for what you get. I go to the one in Montparnasse, but there is also one near St Germain church which would perhaps be closer to that location.

As a word of advice, it would help to actually say where the location is, not just giving a street as many streets in all cities can be very long. If you are at one end of it, a close grocery store won't be close to the other end. Rue des Ecoles is perhaps 10 blocks long (about 800 meters), running E-W from bd St Michel to the university at Jussieu.

I wouldn't combine Versailles with anything major that day, it will take up most of the daytime. If you only want to go to the Louvre and no other museum, the Paris museum pass does include attractions also, you can check it out. It's pretty expensive, though, and the kids will get in free many places, so probably not worth it.

Actually, the pedestrian area near the Seine on rue de la Huchette, etc., has a lot of cheap restaurants that you may find suitable for you family. Kids probably won't mind them and they are definitely casual.

With a menu/formule, you can choose an entree and plat (starter and main dish)--if you are still hungry, head out to Amorino for gelato. :-) There are a number of them in Paris.

Note: Entree in France is a starter unlike in USA where it is a main course. The main course in a formula is called the plat.

And take the time before you go to learn a little French. While you will enjoy Paris in any event, a little French goes a long way toward making your visit more fun. You don't need much...just the basics...and learn the customs of greeting people before asking for something, saying please and thank you, and saying au revoir when leaving.

SS

It might take an hour to walk to Eiffel Tower from your neighborhood. I'd jump on the 87 bus as it goes west on Boul St-Germain; the line terminates at Champ de Mars. Alternately, you could take #10 Metro towards Boulogne, get off at La Motte-Picquet stop. Emerge, look around, and there you are.

Possibly by "good portions meals" you don't really mean you just want a lot of food for your money. We found gyros and other mediterranean fast food places in the Latin Quarter, like Maison de Gyros, give you good value.

PS: you might find that you enjoy spending that day in Paris more than a day at Versailles.

We've just come home from a trip that included 5 days in Paris with an 11 yr old.
We found the metro very easy to use. You can buy a 3 or 5 day travel card that can be used as often as you like or you can buy books of 10 metro tickets. We used the 3 day option and it was great. You can buy these from ticket booths at the train stations. The metro map is very easy to follow.
We bought tickets to a behind the scenes tour of the Eiffel Tower through Viator. It didn't cost much more than the cost of going up the tower and it enabled us to skip the queue. I highly recommend it. Also, if you want to see the Eiffel from a distance ( or at night when it lights up and sparkles), take the metro to the Trocadero station and view from across the lawn. It's spectacular!
The RER train from CDG will cost you 40 Euro for the 4 of you. You can book a shared shuttle for about 55 that will take you to your door and you won't have to worry about lugging your bags on the train.

Chez Papa serves "good portions."

http://www.chez-papa.com/

Kwaussie...

I don't think I ever heard of a 3 or 5 day travel card isold by RATP ..only the 1-week (Mon-Sun) "card" that I have loaded onto my Navigo card.

Is this something new?

SS

Kwaussie is probably referring to the tourist transportation pass, the Paris Visite. It does come in 3 or 5 day versions and RATP sells it.

It would be cheaper to just buy daily transportation all inclusive Mobilis tickets than the Paris Visite, even for 5 days. I think the Paris Visite can actually work out for chlidren as they have reduced rates and there is no reduced rate Navigo (or Mobilis) for tourist children.

But the Paris Visite is overpriced for all the other things it supposedly covers, and you probably don't want to see anyway, particularly in a short visit time!!

A good restuarant, french food :
Pramil Rue du vertbois, 6, 3rd
in the fifth : l'estrapade, very nice.
one of my faves (not just for Kerouac) :
Iperiber rue Montmorency 3rd

Enjoy Paris

In any case, nobody goes hungry in Paris, but we are all taking wild shots in the dark without knowing what you think is a reasonable price for a meal. For some people, it is less than 20€ per person and for others it is 50€.

I don't know what the card was called but it just covered the metro, it was not a Paris Visite. It worked out cheaper for us because there was a reduced rate for our son, and it was so easy to just jump on and off the trains.
Everywhere we ate served 'good' portions. There's food priced to suit all budgets and menus are displayed in the windows.

Thanks all for your valuable inputs. We have booked at Hotel Familia.
I am struggling to book Eiffel Tower tickets to the summit but all our dates are unavailable.
If we go and stand in the queues will we be allowed to get in? My kids are very keen to go to the top and they will surely be very disappointed.
Also is there a rate difference between buying tickets online in advance v/s standing in the queue?
Also do you recommend that I buy tickets for Louvre and Versailles online? Is there any discount if the tickets are bought online?
Frankly speaking I am not very familiar with google maps. Can someone recommend the metro / RER station close by, if any.
Also, recommend any local markets nearby.
Kind regards,
SKPKCP11

Maybe you bought a "Mobilis" ticket?

The Mobilis ticket allows unlimited travel between the beginning of transport service in the morning until midnight, over the course of one day. Mobilis tickets are also available for longer periods.

It's a very good option for people who will be going in and out of different Metro stations all day, which would require separate tickets.

The Mobilis ticket also allows people to ride on any bus line, going in any direction, transferring from one line to another, and you can even hop on and off the same lines as many times as you want to.

If you want to use the same Mobilis ticket to transfer from Bus to Metro, you can do that too.

The only restrictions are these:
You might sign and date each ticket before use.
You must validate the ticket each time you get on Bus or Metro.
Travel must be completed by midnight.
You must be able to produce your validated ticket if asked by a transport agent.

Some people love this option - some are afraid they'll lose the ticket.

Closest Metro to Hotel Familia is Cardinal Lemoine on line 10 -- about a 2 minute walk.

Jussieu (lines 7 and 10) is a 4 minute walk.

RER B (to CDG airport) & C (to Eiffel Tower) station Saint-Michel/Noter Dame is an 11 minute walk.

Hope this helps.

SS

Thanks Manouche and ssander for your quick and informative replies.

Any advise on Eiffel Tower tickets? We are really keen to go to the top summit. Should I check on a daily basis? I thought I would buy the behind the scenes tickets but that option cannot be bought online. Kindly advise.

Kind regards,
SKPKCP11

For Eiffel Tower tickets I would advise that you show up at 08h30 to 09h00 to preferably the East pier which is likely to have the shortest lines as it is farther from the métro/RER stations. Purchase tickets to the summit which I believe cost 15€ each and hope for the best.

It might be fun for the family to watch MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, a spoof which came out a few years ago directed by Woody Allen. Great intro to the most famous sites in Paris which the kids would enjoy noticing during your adventure.

There is always the stairs also.

We've never purchased tickets online to the Eiffel Tower and the wait has never been all that bad, maybe 35 minutes at the most.

Last June, our grandkids, around the same age as your children, enjoyed sailing small boats (rented there) on the pond at the Luxembourg Gardens. They also enjoyed Notre Dame. We went inside first (the line to get in was long but moved very quickly), had hot dogs in baguettes at one of the cafes outside the Notre Dame, then to the Gardens. You can hop on the Metro or walk. Any route you take between Notre Dame and the Luxembourg Gardens will be interesting--probably the most direct route is along the boulevard Saint Michel and takes about 20 minutes, depending on how fast you walk. The Gardens close at dusk, I believe.

What dates will you be in Paris?

Re: market nearby

From your hotel, walk south on r. Cardinal Lemoine about 8 minutes, and you will reach r. Mouffetard.

Continue down r. Mouffetard, which is a very nice market street:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rue_Mouffetard

SS

Thanks all for the very helpful replies. Please advise the reasonably priced chocolate brand names.
We love to go to sports stores and home cookware stores. Any names and where are they located?

Any must eats and must take homes? Please suggest.

Where do we get french perfumes (regular ones) and local clothing not the high-end stores? Kindly advise?

Kind regards,
SKPKCP11

Reasonably priced chocolate brand names? Do you mean a chocolatier, or the packaged brands you see in the grocery stores? Our family had lots of fun doing both. Walk into every chocolate shop you see, look at the display, and let everyone try one piece. Walk into a grocery store, and check out the chocolate (or cookie) aisle, and buy one you've never tried. It's really simple. No need to prepare for this level of detail.

Don't know about sports stores.... and personally can't imagine spending my Paris time in a sports store.

Home cookware stores.... David Leibovitz has a great list here:
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2010/06...king-supplies/

Remind me again, but I think you're only in Paris a few days, and trying to take a couple of day trips to Disney and possibly Versailles? You aren't going to have much time for shopping, too.

I read upthread also that you want to do the Louvre but no other museums. Really? The Louvre is enormous... if you're going to show your kids something they're learning about in school, I get it. But just as a place to wander around through, it's overwhelmingly huge. Do your kids like art? You might enjoy the Musee D'Orsay or the Orangerie--much smaller venue.

Don't worry about pre-booking tickets to the Eiffel Tower. You probably won't have to wait more than 30 minutes, which includes going through all narrow queue for security.

Do you have a book on Paris. A pocket map with a map of the metro?

FLUNCH Restaurants are nothing fancy but serve cafeteria style down-home French food - unlimited portions of non-meat items - veggies, bread, pasta, etc for a cheap price - probably the cheapest rstaurants in Paris and you won't levea feeling hungry as is oft the case in fancy French restaurants.

http://europeforvisitors.com/paris/articles/flunch.htm

Thanks all your quick replies. Much appreciate it. We are definitely excited about our trip. Counting the days. I believe there is a street from where you can buy perfumes. Any idea about the name of the street. One has to select the fragrance and they fill it up for you. Any idea??

Kind regards,
SKPKCP10

13 and 14 sound like good ages to let the children loose on

http://goparis.about.com/od/transpor..._and_Buses.htm

http://www.ratp.fr/en/ratp/c_21879/visiting-paris/

and particularly
http://www.ratp.fr/plan-interactif/

so they can help plan trips by public transport (I wouldn't go overboard about buying tickets and passes from abroad as the RATP site rather pushes you to do, but other people may know more about that than I)

"Don't know about sports stores.... and personally can't imagine spending my Paris time in a sports store."

If you are travelling with teens, and particularly boys, you would appreciate the need for this shopping!!

Go to the Les Halles underground shopping complex for sports superstores - I would imagine there is one there as there is on any major commercial shopping area in France I've been in. Or trek out to La Defense for one of the Parisian area's largest shopping malls with everything imaginable - short metro or RER ride - plus there is the Grand Arche de la Defense which I think has been just reopened for its viewing platform with a eagle's eye view of the broad avenues leading to the Arc de Triomphe and down the Champs-Elysees to the Tuileries garden.

http://www.go-sport.com/magasins/PARIS_REPUBLIQUE

GO Sports is one big French sporting goods chains - there are others as well.