Tips needed for trip to Paris

bainbridge

bainbridge

bainbridge

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Hi all

The plan is to take the GF to Paris for a surprise 2 night midweek stay in May to celebrate our anniversary.

I've been a couple of times by before but everything was organised for me, hence me asking for a few tips in this trip which I'll be arranging.

The plan is to set off early on a Wednesday in the car with her thinking we're heading to the UK south east coast for a couple of days, but then take the Eurostar over to France.

From here, I'm in 2 minds on what to do:

1. Do some sort of long stay park and ride on the outskirts and then get public transport/metro into central Paris and stay there.

2. Find a hotel on the outskirts/suburbs of Paris with parking, and use this as a base.

Once there, my plan is to go up the Eiffel tower, maybe visit the Louvre, have a meal somewhere and head home.

We're saving to remortgage and I'll need to watch the pennies, so hoping to do the entire thing for under a grand.

I will really appreciate some guidance of where to stay, eat and any other info.

Thanks :)
 
tom_nieto said:
I didn’t realise that the Eurostar didn’t stop at Ashford any longer.

Don’t drive to Paris, get a train to London and connect there on the Eurostar.
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We could do it that way but is there a substantial benefit regarding time or cost by doing it that way?

I'd rather be sat in a comfy car than a train tbh.
 
If you can add any more days in, then if you are with car then can recommend driving down to Reims/Épernay - visit one of the Champagne houses and have a nice lunch. We went to Moet and was a well organised tour and quite interesting. Even add in a night as its a nice area to visit in itself.

Then its a drive over to outskirts of Paris. On both occasions we went to Paris we stayed on outskirts within waking distance of a metro station and metro'd in fairly seamlessly. Horses for courses I suppose. Car gives you some flexibility on the way back, if you wanted to take in a bit of the coast before you get your Eurotunnel and allows you to make a bit more out the trip. Load up the car with some hypermarket wine and cheese!

Depending on your car, you do need to be a bit careful of Crit air/congestion zones for Paris these days. But its nice and quick to sort out via an online form and then the car is covered going forwards for any future trips.
 
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bainbridge said:
Thanks for your responses so far.

@poosemon which area did you stay in?

I will buy a Crit d air if needed, but parking up somewhere outside the zone will be ideal.
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Last time we stayed in Noisy-le-grand. I will say, hardly the epicenter of romance so really depends on what you want and if your planning to fall out a restaurant into your hotel then maybe look elsewhere. But, for a budget approach putting money into other things it did the job... if you have the car and approaching from the east (i.e Disney/Reims) was easy to get to. The station there was on the line which gets to Arc de Triumph without need to change so got have good access. Accomodation is fairly cheap. We were with our daughter and didn't feel unsafe whereas some areas of Paris (like any big city) can feel a bit sketchy.

I'm completely aware that this won't be a lot of people's approach to going to Paris. But worked for us and had a great time exploring and with the car allowed us to add in Reims/Eperny and the coast of France on way back so wasn't just a straight city break! :)

The one time we did Eurostar was returning on train from Marseille so did an overnight in Paris in between TGV from south of France, then Eurostar back to London next day. It is fairly seamless, for those who don't use it regularly, it is a odd one getting on train in France and arriving back into London!

Can see it working well for people well connected to London but if your coming from Bristol once you add in extra rail fares, parking, potentially a night in London to give leeway on train delays etc having to consider rail strikes if your training from Bristol to London I would be inclined to put it more in your own control and drive.
 
Surely flying is the sensible option here? Fly from Bristol with EasyJet. £70 per person return. Leave at 7.15. Arrive at 9.35. You’ll be at the Eiffel Tower by 11am.

Though if it’s only five hours on the train, definitely do that. I bet the Eurostar is more comfy than the car!
 
Just bare in mind Lourve and Eiffel are the two biggest tourist attractions. You will be cueing for hours.

The other important thing with the Lourve. It's massive, you could easily spend several days in there so make sure you have a plan.

I haven't been to Paris so about 10 years so can't recommend specific places. But the Latin Quarter has loads of places to eat.

I would also echo. Eurostar is very civilised and gets you right into the centre. Although the Metro and RER are great, complicated transport systems that are in french are not going to be stressful.
 
@Ahleckz Thanks for your reply.

I did indeed look at flying as an option, and though it will admittedly work out cheaper and quicker than driving there, the fare is double the amount you mentioned.

I do have other reasons for leaning towards driving there:

The GF is a nervous flier and if I spring a flight on her she'll panic, plus I'll have to get some of the travel tablets she takes when we fly. If I forewarn her we'll be flying somewhere it'll put a damper on the surprise.

We did an 18 hour flight to Bali last autumn and are still recovering from jet lag. Joking of course but driving will make a change from being cattle.

I have a little convertible car and if the weather gods smile on us (it'll be May after all) we can get our sunglasses on and the wind in our hair. Tempting as it might seem to me to be cruising around the Arc d Triumph on a sunny day with the Eiffel tower in the background, apparently driving in the centre is murder so the plan is to park up on the outskirts.

Though saying that, a night time drive around the centre might be doable...

Neither of us have been through the channel tunnel, so there is some novelty value there.

So it's about the journey this trip, as well as the destination.
 
@K.C. Leblanc Thanks for your reply.

Yes that's a good point, I did see a "front of queue" option for the tower but it was about £100 per person. To go up a tower. The GF doesn't like heights and though I'm sure she'll pluck up the courage to make the ascent to keep me happy, I've been up and it wasn't that exciting. I reckon she'll prefer a wander around the plaza on which the tower sits and a nice lunch somewhere with the tower in the background l. Maybe a pic with the tower in her hand :)

Regarding the Louvre, I did list this in the opening post but tbh I don't know why, neither of us are very artistic and I just thought Paris = Le Louvre. We have no pictures up at home! I went there in my teens and just remember the pyramid and traipsing around, and the Mona Lisa being tiny. I do think the undoubted artistry on display will be lost on us.

I do remember visiting a square containing lots of artists busily sketching away and if I remember correctly there were also lots of cafes around. I reckon she'd love going there.

I think she'll also love a walk along part of the Champs de Lysee and going in a couple of those fancy shops and maybe buying a bottle of perfume (though Paris tax will undoubtedly be crippling). Not too much shopping though :)

When I went to Paris with work 8 years ago we did a restaurant boat cruise in the evening with dinner along the Seine. It must have been very expensive (I wasn't paying) and it was ok, but I distinctly remember seeing lots of couples walking along the river bank hand in hand, and being told that this is a thing in Paris. I also remember learning that there is one of those bridges covered in inscribed padlocks, possibly the first of it's kind. Maybe a romantic walk along the Seine after dinner and a visit to this bridge would be a fun thing to do.

It might be worth getting the Dremmel out before we go :)
 
bainbridge said:
Regarding the Louvre, I did list this in the opening post but tbh I don't know why, neither of us are very artistic and I just thought Paris = Le Louvre. We have no pictures up at home! I went there in my teens and just remember the pyramid and traipsing around, and the Mona Lisa being tiny. I do think the undoubted artistry on display will be lost on us.
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The thing about the Louvre is it it almost several museums in one. Like the National Gallery, British Museum, V&A and The Tate Modern but in one place. The place is huge. But, with only 48 hours in Paris I'm not sure it is necessarily a must visit. Musee d'Orsay is is a nice visit and probably won't have the queues of the Louvre. It's possible to do a city break in Paris, but you could quite easily spend a week there and still not see or do everything, much like London there is so much to see and do and you'll barely scratch the surface in 2 days.

Foodwise I'd go for one of the entrecote places, steak + frites + salad + sauce. Tasty but without getting ripped off for a super touristy place.

Moulin Rouge or Crazy Horse in Pigalle is obviously an institution, might be one to tick off. Expensive, but everything is now.
 
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Quick update: For accomodation I've booked an Ibis in Clichy-Batignolles, which is, Northwest of the very centre of the city, but just inside the big orbital road. It's cheap and cheerful but apparently the included breakfast is nice and it's 150m from the metro. Also it has on site parking for €20 for 24hrs, but it does not take reservations so as a back up there is a multi storey about 75m away for €25 for 24hrs which according to the reviews usually has spaces.

Clichy-Batignolles is just past Pigaille, which is the seedy bit I think, but the bit where we're staying looks quite nice.
 
bainbridge said:
Quick update: For accomodation I've booked an Ibis in Clichy-Batignolles, which is, Northwest of the very centre of the city, but just inside the big orbital road. It's cheap and cheerful but apparently the included breakfast is nice and it's 150m from the metro. Also it has on site parking for €20 for 24hrs, but it does not take reservations so as a back up there is a multi storey about 75m away for €25 for 24hrs which according to the reviews usually has spaces.

Clichy-Batignolles is just past Pigaille, which is the seedy bit I think, but the bit where we're staying looks quite nice.
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Hope you have a great time. Looks well connected from that metro to all the main areas you could want.

Frequently use ibis when travelling in Europe and usually find they are a good level and breakfast is good, certainly enough to pocket some buffet items for snacks later in the day ;)
 
Update: I've booked a restaurant cruise for our anniversary meal there. It'll be the most money I've spent on a meal for 2, but it's Paris and our 10th anniversary so at least it's booked.
 
Public transport is very good and easy to use. One tip, pickpocket are everywhere and very sophisticated. If you're approached by anyone, my advice would be to turn around and walk away. They will put things in your hands and cut bag straps, especially near the Eiffel tower. Also don't walk around with your phone out, I was nearly a victim to that one
 
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