benitakaren

The night we got stuck for 20 minutes in the elevator of a famous site. Just returned from 10 days in Paris and, of course, it's early a.m. and I am wide awake. For anyone contemplating Paris Perfect apartments, they are great. My daughter and I stayed in Sancerre. It would have been very comfortable for four people but six is doable but would have been tight as it only has one toilet but does have two baths. The apartment was exactly as the pictures indicate. It was immaculate but whoever stayed there before had some stinky cheese and the refrigerator had a slight odor. Wonderful bed linen and down covers.

A few observations:

l. As ATM's seem to only give 50e at a time - get change anywhere you can. No one wants to make change. Taxi's and grocery stores will ask for correct change.

2. Count change from Taxi's - they will cheat when they can.

3. There is occasional dog poop.

4. Saw public urination only once and that was on taxi ride from airport upon arrival.

5. Always, always carry an umbrella.
Even when the day starts out sunny.

6. Cabs, although expensive, can save time. Metro can sometimes be confusing.

7. You will see small dogs everywhere. Even the finest restaurants. They are in pocketbooks, baskets, backpacks, inside coats and on leashes.

8. Do not drive a car in Paris. Interestingly, only saw one dented car. But it is like watching bumper cars with no collisions. Repeat, do not drive in Paris.

9. You can wear anything you want. Young people wear jeans. No one except Americans and joggers wore white sneakers. Some Parisian women will wear high heels while driving a motor scooter. Their heels are so pointed I can't imagine that their feet aren't screaming for help. Wear comfortable shoes.

10. It's cheaper to order wine than a soda in a restaurant. Waiters will bring tap water if you ask.

We went to a ballet performance at the
Bastille and a modern dance at the Opera house -- magnificant building - recommend you visit the building.

The cooking class at le Violon d'Ingres with Chef Christian Constant was absolutely the best. When we woke up Monday morning, my daughter I who love to shop (and we did shop and "window lick" almost every day) were wondering if we made the right decision to give up a day to cook. Absolutely we did. Only 9 people in the class. It was one of the major highlights of our trip. If you are going to be in Paris on the first Monday in May or June, sign up for the class. You will not regret it.

We ate at l'Angle du Faubourg one evening. Had the tasting menu which was wonderful.
About seven courses. Also ate at le Violin d' Ingres. We were sitting across from a Parisian couple. The woman just looked at us and wouldn't acknowledge that we were even human beings. But after
Christian came to our table several times to talk to us (with an intrepreter) and woman was very friendly, smiled at me and ordered the same dessert I had ordered after she heard me rave about it. I am sure she wondered how these Americans could possibly be so friendly with the owner and chef.

As I have never posted this much before, don't know what my limit is. Will continue with the elevator incident later. Thanks for listening. I do love Paris.

Intrepid1

Please tell us which "famous site" you are talking about.

Dave_in_Paris

Great report! But I do have one objection/question. Did numerous cab drivers try to short-change you or just one? And are you sure it wasn't an honest mistake? We use cabs quite often. Nineteen years of cab rides. And to the best of my recollection it's never happened.

benitakaren

Dave in Paris -


Thank you for your comment. This only happened once. The driver apologized and gave me the correct change. I should not have generalized. Perhaps you can answer a question for me. Sometimes we were asked by the driver where we wanted to go before we allowed to get into the cab - other times we just hopped in. What might be the reason for this? One night we saw a woman waiting for a cab, she spoke with the driver, was not picked-up. Another cab came along and picked her up. Thanks.

missdaisy

wonderful report so far!

i am absolutely howling this morning with your "window lick" description...i think i will adopt it as my new favorite silly thing to say!

more, more...we want more details!

jody

TAxi drivers asking where you want to go first is not uncommon. SOme are going off shift and don't want to have to drive miles back to their base or home..some don't ant to go too far out where they won't be able to pick up a return fare. I don't know about PAris..never had it happen there..maybe we just get in too fast.. but in London , if you get into the taxi, the driver is required to take you where you want to go.

Dave_in_Paris

I'm not sure of the law in Paris, but otherwise I second Jody's thoughts on possible reasons for this question about where you're going. Sometimes the driver also will also ask after departure if you have a preferred route. The "best route" -- that is, shortest in time -- may vary depending on traffic conditions, and we usually leave this to the driver. We have, on rare occasions, been taken a little out the way, but never very far, and if this happens we simply don't tip.

hanl

I *believe* that Paris taxi drivers are legally allowed to refuse to pick up a passenger if they are at the end of their shift and the destination is not on their route home.

Scarlett

Hi, welcome back! I sort of started to like my jet lag, getting up so early and walking around in a daze LOL

We enjoyed meeting Christian Constant at Le Violon also, but I noticed that he went to all the tables. We had friends with us who speak fluent French so I do know he spent a bit more time at our table because our friend was making him laugh ( Lord knows what he said to him! probably something about the bumpkins he was with LOL)
The linens in those apts are nice, aren't they! I loved the comforters. Did you have a Nepresso espresso maker in yours? I want one

benitakaren

Sorry this trip report is in bits and pieces but my head is spinning and this is the best I am capable of.

Security: I bought a money waist belt at Target before I left and was extremely happy using it. I kept my ATM and one credit card in it. I realize I looked pretty dorky raising my shirt (just a little and maybe exposing l/4 inch of my waist - but heck I'm almost a senior citizen and come to think of it, I really no longer have a waist). We both used Ameribags and they worked out very well. When we wanted our hands free, on the Metro or shopping we would carry them around the front of our body. We referred to them as our "bagpipes". I carried a copy of my passport and since the apartment had a safe, kept passport and extra credit card there. My daughter lives outside of NYC and spent several years in downtown Chicago so is fairly streetsmart. One day, while shopping near Louvre, a man was watching us. When we moved from one store to the next he moved along with us and just leaned against the outside post of the store. My daughter saw him before I did and she gave him a look right into his eyes "sort of the hairy eyeball look", looked at him up and down just to let him know that we knew he was watching us and we were watching him. He immediately disappeared. Again were asked if we spoke English by a gypsy at the Arch, said no, and she started to follow us. Again, hairy eyeball routine and immediately a new victim was found. Because I recently had knee surgery (eventual knee replacement coming), I carried a cane. Was actually glad I did, as there are lots of cobblestones and just gave me some extra support. Especially helpful with all the Metro stairs. Does anyone know how many levels of the Metro system there are? My daughter couldn't understand why Paris hasn't collapsed into a big "sinkhole" and vanish into the Metro system. Every Parisian looked at my cane. Nothing special about it, just a black collapsable Rubbermaid cane. Only saw two other people with canes. But was offered a seat on the Metro by a lady older than me and also by a young gentleman. Carrying a cane was sort of like the "parting of the Red Sea". That was not my intent, just didn't want to fall.
We just tried to be always aware of who was around us especially at night.

mamc

I am surprised at your experience with ATMs. I have been to Paris many times and ATMs give you as much as you request up to about E300 and maybe more. You do have to make a choice and maybe if you didn't choose, you would get E50.

benitakaren

Scarlett:

Thanks for the welcome back. We had the machine that takes the ampules - is that the machine you had? Whatever we had, I want one too. The handbags in Paris are beautiful aren't they? I limited myself to three and one Longchamps. Now I am going to have to spend hours changing handbags every day. Have always just carried one bag year round because I hate to schlep all my junk from one to the other. But they were just too unique to resist.

benitakaren

Mamc:

Must have been unclear in my writing. At the ATM machine I used I could get E300 but it was all E50's. It would have been easier if I was given E20's. Do certain ATM's give smaller demoninations? I used the same ATM when I wanted cash because it was around the corner from my apt.

Travelnut

I think she is saying the ATM dispenses larger bills, ie. 50€ rather than 10s or 20s..making it more difficult to spend for smaller purchases.

Scarlett

Yes, that is the Nepresso. They are $395 at Williams Sonoma so I want to find one just like them but for less!
Which Longchamp bag did you get? Color?
I admit to giving in to the Pink craze and bought a small pink Longchamp clutch

Scarlett

The Elevator story, please

janis

Great report so far, keep it coming.

one comment about only getting €50 at a time from ATMs. if you mean you could only get €50 total I really don't understand - I've gotten as much as €500.

But if you mean the machine only issues €50 notes - if you ask for an amount divisible by 50 that may be true (I don't remember for sure). But if you ask for a different amount -- €230 for instance you would definitely get smaller bills.

janis

benitakaren - we were posting at the same time. Yes, all machines have smaller bills . . . . .

jsmith

We have twice been refused a taxi in Paris because the trip was too short

benitakaren

Am hoping to take my 14-year old son to Paris next year and will definitely request an odd amount from the ATM machine. Thanks. If anyone is wondering, there is a 20-year difference in age in my children. It is called "inappropriate planning".

Now the elevator story. It is our last night in Paris. We have had a wonderful view of the Eiffel Tower for days but just couldn't seem to walk over for the trip to the top. Finally, this is the night. It is cold, rainy and windy. With umbrella in hand, off we go.

There is no line and we walk right to the elevator. Up to second level and walk one flight up to get the next elevator to the top. I am usually unafraid of heights but it is so cold and light rain that we decide to walk around second level to adjust. Outside was rather nice, no wind, took pictures and enjoyed the view. Then walking to other side and huge gust of wind, umbrella inverted, felt like we were going to be "Mary Poppined" over the edge. Immediately back inside to regroup. Both decided that we had done enough and we could live, on this particular night, with the second level and not the top. Waited for the elevator down, got on with about 15 other people. Doors closed and we started to move, then stopped. The elevator operator started pushing buttoms and nothing happened. He started making verbal and hand gestures to the man outside and just stood there. He was very calm (thank heavens). After about five minutes and still more hand gestures I asked him to interpret. He said there was a mechanical problem and the doors wouldn't open. It would be a few minutes. My thought was, are we going to go rocketing down to the bottom. Finally man came to side we were standing on and told people waiting for the elevator to go to the other side for their ride down. Then shut off the standing area to get on our elevator. I knew at that point, that we had a slight problem.

The wife of the couple standing next to me was sheet white and her lips were trembling. What started out as people chatting suddenly became very quiet. The operator was finally pushing all the buttons, nothing happening and said we just can't open the doors. So there we sat. I'm thinking, why didn't we ride to the top. It couldn 't have been worse than this. The outside operator is walking back and forth just shaking his head at our operator. After about 20 minutes, the doors opened and we were told to get off and take another elevator. Like I was going to stay on that elevator!

Walked to other side and waited for new elevator and when it came people were so upset that it was a stampede to get on and almost got trampled. That was almost scarier that being trapped.

Was very relieved to get to bottom. My daughter said she never has to go to the top.

We were never told what happened. Don't really know if it was a door problem on not.

Does anyone know if this happens regularly?