View from Tour Montparnasse
Allo Allo! C'est moi encore! My travel experiences in Paris seem to have scare some of you off travelling there alone. Well.. all I can say is Paris is a very safe city for lone travellers especially for females. I'd travelled there 7 times and almost half of that on my own. And none of these experiences will deter me from visiting the city for the eighth time. It's best that I will concentrate one post on Paris and continue to share some of my Parisian tour experiences with you.
(1) Encounters with a Chinese con-woman on Champs Elysees.
More than once, I've been approached by this lady (who looks like she's from China) for a little favour. What she will offer you is 10% commission once the deal is completed. This little favour involves you, the tourist, to purchase a couple of LV items (tourists get discounts for purchasing bags at Louis Vuitton shop in Paris). I'm never into earning money this way and I don't like to play around with the laws of another country. So I just ignored her and told her I don't speak Chinese or English!
(2)Politeness is the key.
French are pretty particular about being polite. Do learn a few words of French before you decide to bomb the French with your powerful English. Simple words like "Bonjour" (Good day) for greeting, "Merci" (Thank you) and "Bonne journee" (Have a nice day) when you are leaving an establishment. They appreciate these little gestures. And if you tell them you can't speak French, they will still kindly help you. A little fact about French: they learnt English in schools for 11 years and they can speak perfect English (of course!).
(3)There's no need for Taxis.
The impressive French undergound Metro can get you to anywhere in Paris and the outskirts. You can purchase it at the ticket office at each station or at the self-automated machines. Just signal the number of tickets (or "billets") you wish to purchase and if you are not sure whether your destination is within the First Zone (flat rate throughout this zone), inform the ticket officer the name of your destination. Be sure to equip yourself with a Metro map as it can get pretty confusing. The underground stations are huge and clearly indicated. To know which exit to get out or transmute to, keep in mind the number of the line you are going to and the final stop on that line. You can never get lost this way.
(4)Voulez-vous couchez avec moi ce soir?
That was the most frightening experience I ever had in Paris. I was with my mate, Louise on this trip. We booked a hotel that is close to the train station Gare du Nord (which is the main station for Eurostar) out of convenience. And that was my first time travelling at night in that area. It was about 8-ish after a nice sumptous dinner at a restaurant nearby. We decided to walk all the way back to the hotel. Before realising what happened, a drunk fella of Middle-Eastern origin grabbed my arm and wanted to pull me somewhere else. Lucky thing Louise won in this tug-o-war with this nuisance and we quickly ran back to the hotel.
I shall end off here today. Enjoy your stay in Paris and do come back for more!
4 comments:
You are so right about the excellent Metro system, which puts the London underground to shame.
My wife and I have been to Paris several times and always use the Metro for easy and rapid travel.
Learning a little of the lingo is also a great idea, as the French do appreciate us making an effort, and it's a beautiful language to learn.
Sorry you've had a few bad experiences in Paris, I guess all cities have their con artists and trouble makers. But it's made worthwhile by the warmth of the French and the vibrant Parisiene night life isn't it.
I really enjoyed this post, as it brought back memories of our last trip. A word of warning though, we stopped at an outside bar on the Champs Elysees, and paid £15 for two medium bottles of beer.....
Oooops!
Yes! I even like the little purple tickets. It beats the London Underground Orange tickets. Imagine how much more waste is generated for printing bigger tickets and the printing costs.
Paris Metro stations do have more intimidating gates as a lot of French leaped over them to prevent paying1
I really like the friendliness of the French whichever part of this beautiful country I travelled to.
Glad we share similar wonderful memories of Paris!
Heheh, #1 and #4 count as "unlucky."
Wow, seven visits to Paris. That's about as many times as I've visited Tokyo.
Hmm...London and Paris...
Hee hee.. I love the French country so much. I was known among my mates as Francophile! He!
I've never been to Tokyo. What a pity.
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