France - tips and info

[petetherock]

Looks like I can see it...
Got my cheesy motel booking, now onto the TGV booking...


http://parisbytrain.com/files/2009/01/tgv_map.jpg

Mr Soong,

The photo festival starts from 7 July... Here's the website. http://provence-hideaway.com/news/?p=56

It is an international annual photo festival... very famous... but looking at your schedule, you are gonna miss it by a few days... haa.. maybe can consider shifting around the itinery?

 

[plsoong]

Okay folks,

tomorrow 7am, i'll be leaving for berlin and then flying off to Nice and from there hope i can topo my way around

I will also need to call La Miramar as they possibly will reply my email NEXT YEAR....well, if they are fully booked, I'll head straight for Chez fon fon too

Thanx heaps to Deadpoet, Hongwen and others who've helped me with all the advice!!!!

PL

 

[hongwen37]

Safe Trip... and takes loads of photos ya...

 

[plsoong]

Safe Trip... and takes loads of photos ya...

thanx for the safe greetings...

haiz...i just finished printing more or less some MAP routes to backup incase the GPS unit refuse to gimme a better route!
now oredi 3:48am here liao...


and buay sai take loads of photo...my kit lens pai liao.... now dio stuck with 50mm and 105......

 

[krissears]

Find a good composition and shoot. Be it in crowded places or not. Bend the rules.

Agreed. People in the streets are interesting subjects. I just found this out not so long ago when I was in Mexico. I did not know swine flu was in an outbreak at that time though. But nonetheless, passersby are interesting subjects.. there are so many stories you can fit in a frame.

 

[bruggink]

I like Strasbourg and Provence... Will definitely be back to Strasbourg as I had missed out the Xmas market.

 

[petetherock]

Greetings from Provence
Where the theatre festival is, and sunflowers, lavender and lots of sunshine...
Oh Bastille day - National Day is 14th July....

Thanks for all the tips..

 

[hongwen37]

Hey.. Enjoying yourself in France huh... Wish i can be there again...

Nice photo! haa.. seems to me like the 2 bees are greeting us from that side of the world.. enjoy the rest of your trip!

 

[petetherock]

14th July

Shaky hands.... but let me assure you the fireworks are spectacular!

 

[subwirl]

Hi,

I will be sort of "passing" thru paris this november for 3 days on my way to morocco. Was wondering shud i bother get the transport passes? E.G: the Paris Visite pass?:think:

Main aim is to Get me to Disneyland and then to the CDG airport. Other places include the normal Eiffel Tower and louvre and some shopping..

Will the Paris Visite cover the rides to the places mentioned? :dunno:

Thank you

 

[nostrovia]

Hi,

I will be sort of "passing" thru paris this november for 3 days on my way to morocco. Was wondering shud i bother get the transport passes? E.G: the Paris Visite pass?:think:

Main aim is to Get me to Disneyland and then to the CDG airport. Other places include the normal Eiffel Tower and louvre and some shopping..

Will the Paris Visite cover the rides to the places mentioned? :dunno:

Thank you

I was in Paris last summer. I went to Versailles (very good for pictures because of the huge gardens and Château de Versailles and Queen Marie Antoinette's castle) and in Paris itself I went to the Lourve, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Arc du Triumph, Champs Elysées, Invalids, Moulin Rouge and Montmarte. These are the places I'd recommend visiting. As for nightlife - Parisian clubs are very ex. I went for a college students party in a business school at Versailles and its 30 euros for entry.

For Lourve and Eiffel you need to get passes to tour around and see the Mona Lisa portriat/go up the Eiffel tower which has an amazing view of the city. The Paris Visite pass sounds good but I did not get it as my friend has a car and we'd drive sometimes. The Parisian transportation system can be quite confusing though... there's the metro, then RER etc. I notice that my pass can often be used repeated (dunno why). So usually I check if the gates open before I get a new pass... LOL

 

[hongwen37]

Hi,

I will be sort of "passing" thru paris this november for 3 days on my way to morocco. Was wondering shud i bother get the transport passes? E.G: the Paris Visite pass?:think:

Main aim is to Get me to Disneyland and then to the CDG airport. Other places include the normal Eiffel Tower and louvre and some shopping..

Will the Paris Visite cover the rides to the places mentioned? :dunno:

Thank you

Let me direct you to this website...

http://www.ratp.info/touristes/index.php?langue=en&rub=decouvrir&cat=paris-visite&page=tarifs

http://www.ratp.info/orienter/cv/carterer.php


Disneyland and CDG Aeroport is in Zone 5.. so you have to get the 3 days Zone 1-6 Paris Visite pass if you want to get to these places and that will cost you 39,70 Euro...

For your info, normal tickets from the airport to and back from Paris Central cost around 16.40euro... and normal tickets to and back from Disneyland cost around 12.90euro... and a carnet of 10 Metro tickets cost 11.40euro (prices as of March this year)... but i doubt you will use up all 10 Metro tickets in 3 days... Paris is meant to be walked to enjoy the scenery and the activities...

But of course.. the Visite pass gives you some discounts to some places...

 

[subwirl]

thank u for the insight and recommendation nostrovia and hongwen. to me getting the paris visite pass is convinient as it so calls covers "all" paris transport..but for the cost...and time available to spend there i am holding back...still trying to work it out..

 

[hongwen37]

thank u for the insight and recommendation nostrovia and hongwen. to me getting the paris visite pass is convinient as it so calls covers "all" paris transport..but for the cost...and time available to spend there i am holding back...still trying to work it out..

Yah.. you dont have much time.. 3 days only.. Since you said you are going to disneyland, eiffel tower and the Louvre plus shopping, you only have one day left to explore other places of Paris... so,

One day --- Disneyland
One day --- Eiffel Tower and the Louvre plus some shopping
One day --- I personally love the Montmartre area, so half a day will be here... plus another

​

half day at the Ile St Louis and the Notre Dame Cathedral area...

 

[lifestyle1881]

Just came back from Paris after 1mth there.

Advice: Don't go to Disneyland on weekend or arrive late in the morning, it is very very crowded and waiting time is like average 1hr for each ride (even worst in some kids rides where adults needs to accompany the kids. I guest last month was a school holiday so that does not help also. Another advice is to get the ticket from the hotel and enter via the Disney Studio as it is less of a queue and start from the end of the park where less people start off.

Eiffel tower is a must to go up (better at the highest)...best is to go around 5-6pm...watch the sunset and night time light up. The evening light is still there around 10pm at most places due to the summer time now. Other must visit include Louvre and Chateau de Versailles...expect even more crowds there as it is very popular. The Louvre is free entry for the first Sunday of the month and we was surprice as we did not know when we got there...but expect lots of people that free entry day. Tips for Versailles is to get someone queue for the ticket and another person to queue for the entrance. It can be 1hr for each queue.

Get a 10 ticket (total cost Euro 11.60) one way Metro...otherwise individual Metro ticket is like 1.60 Euro.

Eating generally expensive compares to Singapore as most items are like double the price here after conversion. Taxi ride & roaming telephone cost are expensive. Best is to get a local sim card (like SFR or Orange) which has expiry of 1 year and top up when you run out of credit. Cost of card is Euro 20 (with 5 euro credit included).

Will add more later...

For my trip pics see slideshow at

 

[petetherock]

The sunset at the Eiffel will depend on the season...
I was there in July and it got dark there about 9.30pm...