10 things Not to do in Paris

So you have ONE measly day in Paris....what to do!? I'll tell you what I've learned NOT to do:

1. Order water (eau, pronounced "oh") at a restaurant. You'll get a glass bottle of "Vittel" that costs about $6. I'm cheap, so I've learned to order 'l'eau du robinet' which is tap water - after googling it, France has very good tap water to drink! Free, but still comes in a fancy bottle with cute little glasses.

2. Leave the airport without any Euros. All we had is dollars and a credit card, and our purchasing power was greatly diminished...see #3. And if you exchange in the airport, the fees seem astronomical. Watch the exchange rates before you leave on your trip, and bring some with you!

3. Take a taxi to your hotel from the airport. Apparently there was a free shuttle, but the lady at the information desk at the airport told us all the wrong stuff, so we ended up at the taxi line not knowing what to do. We showed the address to the taxi cabby who happily charged us $45 for a 5 minute trip...even though his first price was $30. As he loaded our bags in the back, he proceeded to try to explain his 'commission' he owed if we paid by cash or by credit card since we didn't have Euros. Look for your hotel logo on the Courtesy Shuttle floor!

4. Come here before researching how the train system works. After a day of riding back and forth, backtracking because we took the wrong line, and desciphering several maps...I think I have it figured out now. Don't expect to just be able to read the signs, even though most things have an English translation. Best thing we did though was buy the 1-day pass so we can hop on and off as much as we wanted.

5. Don't forget your spandex pants, tiny shoes, and a scarf! It's June and almost 60 degrees, but EVERYONE (yes, even the men) is wearing a scarf. I felt SO out of place without my tight jeans (which I don't own) and a skin tight winter coat and of course a scarf wrapped around my neck like a movie star. I caved, and bought a scarf on our way back just in case Hungary is "cold" like this too. I didn't think to dress up for our 5 mile walk around the city....but I guess I should have known this is Paris! You could sure tell who was American by their tennis shoes (see picture above).

6. This may be obvious, but I'll reiterate: don't skip the Eiffel Tower! It was built to be the entrance to the World Exposition in 1889, held in celebration of the French Revolution in 1789. It was the latest construction technology back then, and is a wonder to see in person today...even though it was originally intended to be dismantled after the Exposition. We waited in line for about 45 minutes to pay $20 Euros to ride the elevator to the first and second floor where we walked around and could see all over the city, eat an ice cream cone, and take some pictures of hidden treasures (for Jill & Shawn to find when they come to Paris in a couple months!) Random fact: Did you know 50 tons of paint are added to the structure every 7 years to protect it from rust, since it's iron? Hint: if you want to do something cool, bring a metal padlock with your name engraved in it and attach it to the fence at the top. Sieske & Kevin (whoever they are) left this padlock, and I'm guessing they are in love. :)

7. Don't talk when you go through Notre Dame! Signs saying "Silent!" are posted everywhere, and they were actually in the middle of a real Catholic mass when we walked through (making a loop around the perimeter). This one was FREE so we couldn't pass it up, as you know from my cheapness...er, frugality. Everyone did a pretty good job of staying quiet at the beginning...but as the group came to the end most people were talking at normal conversational tone, so that made the other quiet, obedient people (like me) keep turning around and saying "shhhhh!". Apparently 60 people saying "shhhh" to the other 200 people is just as loud as the talking. Poor priest trying to hold a mass. Sorry Jesus! The whole unguided tour (otherwise known as unsupervised wandering) through a holy place with no supervision, a bunch of tourists who mostly had no respect for the holiness of it, and the realization that this place was 850 years old! really struck me as disrespectful. However, it was very cool, imagining how all the different cathedrals were used 8 centuries ago, and appreciating the amazing stone sculpture architecture. How long did it take for them to carve all this!!?

8. Don't forget to save some French bread from lunch to feed the pigeons. These guys are humongous! Very entertaining too...I think the boy's favorite thing all day was playing with the pigeons and watching them strut around, fly right in front of people's faces and making them scream, come right up to you and peck at food.

 

9. Don't miss the life-size labrynth outside The Louvre! The trapezoid shaped bushes are positioned in a type of maze that you can walk through...but wait! There are little holes in the side of some of them, and if a little sparkly-eyed kid wasn't with us we would have missed that you can go INSIDE the bushes and they have seemingly carved out little paths in and out of all the bushes! This was even better than the pigeons for the boy, and we could have stayed there all day if it wasn't getting late already. What fun!!  ...oh yeah, we are at THE LOUVRE! I forgot. Well, we are out of money and time for today, so we didn't go in to this one. Just looked through the glass at some of the sculptures inside, which were again amazing.

On the way out from the Louvre...dad is such a nurturer. He found a sad statue and just had to try to comfort her. Doesn't that sound like him?

10. Don't leave home without the Ratatouille movie! You MUST watch this while you are in Paris, and go out for pasta afterwards. We even found a place by the Seine river that looks like exactly the place where Alfredo Linguini took Remy out of the jar and he scampered away. We thought we saw a rat run by when we were walking away...ha.

...now back to "the pod" to get some sleep (trying not to bump my head again) so we can fly to Hungary in the morning! To the three people reading this blog - leave some comments so I know you are out there!!