Okay, after all of the responses about my Paris photos I thought I%26#39;d get on the ball and start my trip report. I will post in parts over the next couple of days.
For those of you who haven%26#39;t seen the pictures, here is the link (broken out into sets):
flickr.com/photos/…
Overall Impressions
While the trip was not a relaxing one (ours never are!) it was great overall. The people of Paris were wonderful to us. For us, having a grasp of the language was essential to our experience. Our personal goal was to use English as little as possible, which worked out for the most part. All of the people at shops and restaurants we spoke to were very impressed with our language skills, and we had some great conversations as a result. If the conversation became too complex, they often interjected English into the conversation to help us along, which was helpful.
Transportation
As much as I realize the metro is easier than other forms of transportation, I really hated all of those stairs. When we saw escalators to exit the stations, we both were very happy. In the second half of the trip, we used the buses almost exclusively and preferred them to the metro. We found the buses to be much more relaxing and it was nice to be able to see the city while in transit. We also used cabs a few times, which was very convenient, but of course more expensive. This was reserved for late nights when we were exhausted, and time crunches on the way to our dining reservations.
Apartment – Paris Address
I was very nervous about the apartment rental process since I had never heard of it until coming onto this board. After weeks of searching, we finally decided on an apartment from Paris Address on rue de l’universite in the 7th, right by the Quai Branly museum. Overall, I’m very happy with our decision. We saved a ton of money compared to the hotels we were considering (paid 905 euros for 7 nights), and the view couldn’t be beat with the Tour Eiffel just a couple of blocks away and in full view. We were greeted at the airport by the taxi we had arranged through the agency, and driven right to the apartment with no problems. When we arrived, the cleaning was in progress, and a plumber had been called since the toilet had been badly clogged by the previous renters. After about a half hour, they finished and left. Later that night, while showering I realized that the shower drain also was clogged (unrelated to the toilet) but it was too late to do anything. I called our greeter, as well as emailed all of the other people at the agency I had previously corresponded with. We went out the next day (Saturday) after giving them instructions to let themselves in and fix it while we were out. When we stopped in after lunch, it was fixed with a note from the plumber, “Tout va bien” (all goes well). Thankfully, that was the last of our issues, and I was very happy with their response. I would recommend Paris Address to anyone looking for an apartment.
Still to come - what we did, and what we ate!
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Ours are never really relaxing either! Can%26#39;t wait to see the rest.
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HURRY!!!
As I stated before I live in Paris constantly thru
everyones reports!!!!!!
Can%26#39;t wait
Curves
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What fabulous pictures. I have been to Paris a few times and am going back in 3 weeks. Seeing your photos and reading your post has given me ideas, Thanks
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Anna, I can%26#39;t wait to read the rest of your report. We leave 2 weeks from today (!!!!!) for 16 days and your pictures have just about made the wait unbearable for us. I especially loved the food pictures (like so many others) and have taken note of a few of the restaurants and added them to our list. Can%26#39;t wait for all the wonderful details...........Jo
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I%26#39;m thinking about using buses next time too. I%26#39;ve almost always used only the subway, and really don%26#39;t know my way around with buses, but I think it is worth a try because we can see much more of the city.
Can%26#39;t wait to read Parts 2, 3... :)
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Hi there,
sorry to bother you, but I was really hopping to read Part 2 of your trip report. Will you be kind enough as to share with us your gastronomic experiences? I enjoyed so much your pictures that I had to ask you this... :)
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Sorry! I%26#39;ve been so busy catching up at work and I%26#39;m about to go on a business trip (my first!) to Atlanta. I will get to work and have the hubby work on it while I%26#39;m away. I didn%26#39;t realize people were waiting for me! :)
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