Thetownend.com

Hello mighty and knowledgable TEF.

I'm taking my lovely girlfriend to Paris for the weekend. Any tips on places to visit and things to do?

We are staying at this hotel: http://www.lesjardinsdumarais.com/uk/index.php

You could do the typical touristy stuff like:

Eiffel Tower
Notre-Dame
The Louvre
Champs Elysees
Arc de Triomphe

Or, maybe you'd like to take a trip to the Pont de l'Alma tunnel...

Plenty to see and do Jayo as you would imagine. Of course it depends on what you are interested in.

But its a great City to wander about. Of course the obvious things are there, Eiffel Tower, Arc du Triomphe, Notre Dame etc etc.

Price of wine/beer/food gets much pricier the nearer you get to the Eiffel Tower. I'm sure we paid about 15 Euro each for a cheese baguette (it was nice but not really worth 15 Euro!).

I can't remember where we stayed but it had a bohemian feel to it. The underground system was quite good from memory.

Be warned that the Parisians are a law unto themselves though. Check out the parking there as well, talk about bumper to bumper!!

Trololololol

Yeah I've heard of all the touristy bits, was hoping for some hidden gems. Eateries, bars, fun stuff etc

Watched a documentary about Paris suburbs the other day. Avoid wandering around freely. Asking for trouble. Serious decline set in.

I would disagree its no worse in Paris than any other big city, there are Parts of London or Manchester I wouldn't wander around.

We stayed in Monmartre a couple of years and whilst it was a bit of an eye opener at times, it was also more interesting as you got to see Paris as it really is, not jut the touristy bits.

However one bit of advice, if you go up to Sacre Couer watch out for the bange sellers (mainly on the steps below) who will try and put one on your wrist and demand you pay for it, they are no hassle if you say firmly no, but are a pain in the arse.

I'd agree with that. Also stayed there, no hassle though it was 10 years ago!

Also, if you take the train watch out for the "let me help you buy a ticket" merchants. They basically take your money then get a useless receipt out the machine pretending it is your ticket. Or at least, they did 10 years ago.

Have a wander round the Gard de Nord

Where are you staying?

When are you going?

The metro is dirt cheap and gets you everywhere. You can buy a book of 10 tickets for about 10 euros (was in 2007), if you do the Eiffel Tower definatly do it at night when its lit up.

Well you're staying near a great part of town for a start. The Marais is full of brilliant cafes and restaurants - just follow your eyes/nose, but if you want a small traditional bistro try Gaspard de la Nuit in the rue des Tournelles. My favourite eatery is the Square Trousseau, 1 rue Antoine Vollon, and there's a famous brasserie for seafood and sauerkraut called Bofinger by the Bastille. The best Saturday nightlife in town spills out onto the pavements in the nearby Oberkampf quarter - look up my English friends at Chair de Poule.  And for Sunday lunchtime, wander round the buzzing street market on the Place d'Aligre, followed by a bottle of wine and oysters on the pavement outside le Baron Rouge in the rue Theophile Roussel. In between eating and drinking, you can walk to lots of the sights - the Pompidou Centre, Louvre, Notre-Dame, but if you're not big into art, the military museum at Les Invalides is interesting. Not worth going up the Eiffel Tower unless the weather's clear. Don't let your lovely girlfriend out of your sight. If the shops don't get her, the locals will.

And ignore the comments about safety - central Paris is one of the safest cities in the world. But I'll stay off the streets this weekend as you'd beat me up for trying to get you banned from the TEF.  ;)

Yes, that's the crux, CENTRAL PARIS, wander around the peripheries, which you'll have no call to visit, think they're referred to as Banlieus(?), hell-hole crime infested souless tower block ghettos, and you'll be asking for trouble.

Spent half my Erasmus year studying there in 2000/1, I always loved Rue Mouffetard in the 5th arondissement. Loads of cafés and odd little bars, always lively! Quite a steep hill though so much better once you've had a few beers to dull the pain...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rue_Mouffetard,_Paris

The McDonalds there serve beer, and the French fries are called Frites.

Yes, we're entirely at one in recommending that Jayo and his lovely girlfriend do not spend their weekend travelling in stinking trains from their boutique hotel in the Marais to the drug-ridden and crime-infested sink estates of the northern suburbs.

Glad we've cleared that one up before he made a huge mistake.

Think you might need to rethink your wording.

I'm going to Paris for a 'romantic' break next week - only 3 days - that's all I can manage at my advanced years   :romantic:

Going on the train - only £59 return from Ashford.

Getting from here to Ashford is another much more expensive  matter  :plane: :drive: :doh:

Well, just as a cautionary note, it merits mentioning. My brother and his lovely girlfriend made a similiar error in gastronomic Lyon, by going off the beaten track, and that resulted in them being assailed by a mob of Mahgrebians.  

I'm going tomorrow... hoping to try Le Refuge des Fondues at some point, and basically eat, drink, and be merry all weekend.

I've been attacked in Lyon, back in 1990. I think there was a lot of tension in the city back then. Followed from a metro station, verbal abuse (from them) which I returned :) - probably wasn't the best thing to do  :D

Yeh, similiar scenario, these youths were verbally abusing my brother's girlfriend and he stood up to them. Got a pasting but sometimes there's no backing down.

I didn't get a pasting, there were only four of them  ;)
Scummy gits though!

Blimey - didn't expect all this  :(

Wonder what OUFC Eric is doing next week  :D

One tip, is make sure the wife doesn't find out.

Its just a question of common sense, what does irritate me is this suggestion that Paris is any worse than any of the cities in this country.

On that basis as i got the shit kicked out of me in Witney in 1993 for no reason, i would suggest no one walk around the centre of there at night.

Ooh. Riddled right? Drug-riddled and bed-ridden. Damn copywriters.  :-[

This. A night out in most English town centres feels a lot more edgy than Paris ever does. As a general travelling tip, it's sometimes a good idea not to act like a mouthy English tourist though.

Copyrighter?

I think he was more thinking that describing somewhere as drug-ridden (or drug-riddled) might not be quite the deterrent you were perhaps thinking it was, bearing in mind who originally asked about a weekend in Paris :)

Brussels is another place you would be well advised not to stray into off the track communities. Whilst you might lose a few Hampsteads, in the parlance of Danny Dyer, in places like Witney, you're more likely to be surrounded by knife wielding, deeply disillusioned feral youths, with an almighty chip on their shoulder in the likes of Paris.

Just go steady, a few bevvies and you could find yourself in the wrong part of town where your kind are not welcome after hours.

No numbnuts. I'm saying that describing any place as drug-riddled is hardly going to perturb Jayo. If anything he's more likely to make a beeline for the area.

Ha. "Oueuche", as they probably say round here. Still, he'll find a better class of drug round Oberkampf (I expect  ???).

Hahah some classic TEF gold in here. Thanks everyone, especially Red Frog.

My one piece of advice is don't knock her up or it'll be goodbye romantic weekends away and hello soft play areas with ball pools...

My only advice is that I went to some famous nightclub in the Pigalle which some 80's indie band had played in a few months before, and the drink was eye wateringly expensive, but cant find out the name of the venue or who played there..  Anybody help m out as its driving me crackers

I enjoyed Les Invalides/Tomb of Napoloeon.  Possibly not a romantic attraction though....

There are loads of concert halls at Pigalle - the best-known ones are the Elysee Montmartre, la Locomotive and la Cigale. All great little standing only venues, with scarily sprung floors.

Dostoyevsky / Red Frog, I'm going to Paris in April, staying in a hotel outside the volontaires metro line. Will I get stabbed, bum raped and left for dead by algerian immigrants the minute I step onto the pavement? Because I will NOT tolerate that.

Sofiene and Mehdi are awaiting you

I don't know. Are you attractive?

Not Overly. But you know what those rapers are like

I lived in the banlieues of Paris, including the 93, for 10 years. Never once had a problem.

Elaborate please. Watched a documentary last week where a journalist went there. Whilst he was interviewing a few local figures his car was rifled of all camera equiptment, and the chaps from that manor left him in no doubts what would befall any outsiders venturing into the community. Take it by the "peripheries" I mentioned you lived in Versaille :hmmm:

I used to feel a bit gloaty taking Arsenal fans to see our trophy cabinet whilst I glanced sideways at their sullen faces before Town's long list of Wiltshire Shield triumphs.

Although our record in Wiltshire is unmatched in English professional football, it is none too shabby in Europe where STFC has distinguished itself as a rare British team to have been 3 times winners of European Cups.

Whilst the whole football world recalls Town's Euro triumphs against AS Roma and Napoli, not everyone recalls that it was in Gay Paree that STFC lifted their first European trophy.

Dubonnet Cup 1910 Newsflash   STFC 2 (TWO)  Barnsley 1.  There was no You Tube then so Reg will have to help bring to life the Harold Fleming brace.

Accordingly, I recommend a visit to the Parc des Princes, the exact site of this first triumph but now home of PSG. Obviously don't wear an OM replica shirt or the certain stabbing you would suffer in the banlieus would be like a walk in "le Parc".

it'l be like the movie TAKEN.

Liam Neeson might have to come and save you.

He will find them. And then he'll kill them

I got a kicking in Pangbourne once. It was pwopa nawty. And there wasn't even a documentary or anything to warn me about it. True story.

Red Frog, any decent nightclubs?

Not really my speciality these days, but there are four main areas for clubbing. Nearest to you is around Oberkampf (11th arrondissement) (again), but I don't have any specific recommendations. 4kms north-east there's some good stuff around Belleville/Telegraphe (20th arrondissement). These areas in the east of the city will have the coolest crowd, mixed locals and exchange students. There are masses of clubs in the north around Pigalle, but it's very touristy - La locomotive is the biggest and best-known. And if you want pricey lounge chic, head for the wealthy 8th arrondissement off the Champs-Elysees to places like the Cafe Costes or the Buddha Bar. Look on http://www.timeout.fr/paris/en (http://www.timeout.fr/paris/en)

Football question for you, RF.  How many league clubs are there in Paris?  Similar sized city to London (if you include the suburbs of both) but I could only name one: PSG.  Are there any other clubs in Paris that draw crowds at least as good as ours, for example?

(Note: I'm expecting the answer is yes, by the way!  Inconceivable that somewhere as big as Paris wouldn't have a few others.  I'm just ignorant.)

Didn't one of our ex French players (maybe Sabin) play for a lower league side called Paris FC?

Red Star and Paris FC are two other clubs I can think of.

Thanks.

Who was the French RB we had that I think died not that long ago? I can't for the life of me remember his name, its driving me mad!

Darras?

Thats the fella thanks!

He went from Swindon to Red Star.

Yep, Frederic Darras. I seem to recall a few years ago he did a walk around the CG at half time?

There are a few that drift between the second and third divisions - notably Red Star, the old communist team from the north, great little gritty stadium, now fallen on hard times. Then Paris FC, Creteil, Lusitanos (for the Portuguese community), but none of them will often get over 2000 to turn out. Outside a few hotbeds (Marseille, St Etienne, Lens) most people will watch on telly but rarely go to games.

Someone from my work is from Amiens but when I asked why he doesn't support his local team his reply 'because they are crap'.

Think that pretty much sums up the French football fan.

And to be fair about a quarter of a million people living in Swindon also >:(

Sadly yes Leefer.

Wasnt Razak from Red Star as well?

Survived our trip intact but too knackered from my Wife's tour schedule to go out after dark.

There are large gangs of North Africans selling a variety of tat at major sightseeing spots which we suspected lead to pickpocketing once they have distracted you. They run away en masse at the sight of the police. There were also groups of women going around with what looked like sponsor forms - have no idea what that was ! The other 'con' is that they drop what looks like a gold ring behind or in front of you and ask if you have lost it - when you say no they say they can't take it to the police as they have no papers - suggest you keep it and give them money 'for a coffee' - the first time we gave someone a couple of coins to get rid of him but he got arsy wanting notes - after that we just laughed - some of them were very amateur !

This has been your latest Crimewatch Paris report.  :busted:

Ah, the looky-looky guys. It's funny when the police turn up and they all leg it. Most of them have their wares laid out on a cloth that has a drawstring to enable a quick getaway.

Back in the 90s when laser pens were all the rage, on a trip to the Eiffel tower one of them offered me ten laser pens in exchange for my personal CD player he spied in my pocket. I declined.

Barcelona is awful for pickpocketing, got divested of my wallet whilst getting onto a bus. Some guy had quite obviously brushed past me moments before. Various tourists that I encountered in the Catalan city angrily recounted similiar scenarios that had happened to them and vowed never to return. Shame, because Barcelona's otherwise a great city!

I've heard that the preying upon of tourists by thieving gangs is even worse in Sevilla.

A pickpocket once tried to rummage around in my Mum's handbag when my folks were waiting for the Metro... She felt the slightest movement and being particularly sensitive about this threat had a look over her shoulder... Lo and behold there was a teenager trying to nick something.  He got an earful and a couple of whacks around the head with said handbag.  Which was rather large (and full)!  I missed the whole thing because I was doing a stupid Uni class.

Anyone who talks to looky looky men or gets pickpocketed deserves it. Have some nouse people.