Paris Trip

I had a good trip to Paris during the Christmas holidays this year with my wife and a couple friend of mine. All four of us spent 3 nights and 4 days in the city of lights.

Day 1: ICE from Frankfurt to Paris. The superfast train covers the distance of more than 600 kms in 3 hrs and 45 mins. Paris is not as tourist friendly as some other European cities. One needs to wait in a busy queue to get a feeling of the transport system and required tickets. Also unlike Germany the metro system is quite cubersome and crowded. Each time you want to enter the station, you need to punch your ticket which is not a smooth process especially for beginners. Paris offers a 1,2,3,5 days pass to tourists to explore the city. However, if you are planning to spend most of your time in the main city, I would recommend that you dont buy any day pass. Instead buy a book of 10 or more coupons. It costs much less than a day ticket even if you make 5-6 trips a day.
The first day, we spent some time getting ourselves acuianted with the city. We visited the Louvre gardens and had a walk upto the Corcorde square. We also walked to Champs Elysee and to Arc de Truimph. Then after a lunch and a quick nap, we were charged up for Eiffel tower in the evening. Luckily the queue was not long and the weather permitted us to visit the top floor of Eiffel.

Day 2: We started with Notre dame which was very close to our hotel. The hotels are very costly and hardly value for money. A night stay will easily cost you 60 Euros for a double bed room with shower. But the room would be as clumsy as the hotel. Anyways, there are a lot of websites offering cheap hotels. If you are lucky, you will get a cheap and a value for your money room. Also dont expect the Parisians to be very hospitable. Anyways, after visiting Notre dame, we visited Sacre Coeur and Moulin Rouge. Again we came back to our hotel for lunch and a nap. Our evening was very interesting with a river cruise.

Day 3: Disney Land. We were lucky that we got a contact of a desi sweeper in Disney land and he could arrange tickets for us at half price. Dont forget to make maximum use of your fast pass in Disney land and dont make a fool of yourself buying a 1 day - 2 parks ticket. Disney land is big enough to keep you busy throughout the day and you will never have enough time to visit the Walt Disney studios.

Day 4: Louvre museum. Get an audio guide for 6 Euros. Do a tour of the most famous exhibits like the Mona Lisa using this audio guide. The history is interesting. Dont try to cover the whole Louvre museum in 1 day. You wont be able to do that. Instead of that choose a floor and go through the exhibits at your own pace seeking the help of the audio guide wherever possible.

Our snaps can be found at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/pratik.gala/Paris23122008To28122008?authkey=FOlqG18xXWU#