Paris Tips & Tricks

Hi friends! So now that it's been a month since we were in Paris...I'm finally going to write about it! But first, I have some tips for you if you're planning your own amazing vacation :)

1. AIRFARE: I used SkyScanner to find our airfare. I have it as an app on my phone, but they also have a website. Basically, you just tell it where and when you're going, and it tells you airfares from all the different airlines. I checked airfares for almost a year before we actually went, so that I could make sure that I got a good price! Going along with that, being open to flying out of different airports can actually save you a ton of money. For example, by flying out of Las Vegas instead of SLC, we saved almost a thousand dollars on our flight! So, even with the extra gas money and staying in a hotel the night before, we were still better off (side note: if you do end up doing this, do your research on hotels; there are lots of them that will let you keep your car there for free so that you don't have to pay for airport parking!)

2. LODGING: So, again, I was checking hotel prices for a long time before we actually booked anything. I wanted to be near the center of town, but I also wanted to be able to stick to our budget AND have a nice, clean place to stay. This seemed like it was asking a lot. Every time I found a hotel that was within our budget and relatively nice, it was too far away from the city center...but then when I found one that was relatively nice and in a good location, it was way out of our budget. You get the idea. Well, in talking with my friend, she suggested that we look on airbnb.com. This is a website where people rent out their homes (or rooms or couches) to people who are looking for somewhere to stay. There are literally places ALL over the world! And it's not shady or anything...they website is very well-run and there are tons of reviews for each home AND for each guest. Seriously, CHECK IT OUT. It took me almost no time to find a nice, clean apartment that was right in the center of everything. It had great reviews, and was totally within our budget! If you want to check it out, HERE it is. She's raised the price since we booked it; we only paid $81/night. It seriously was perfect. It was a couple minutes from the Opéra Garnier, 10-15 minutes from the Louvre, near several shops and restaurants but off on a quiet side street. The ONLY thing that wasn't great was the lack of air conditioning, which is very typical of European apartments, but does bring me to my next point...

3. SEASON: Obviously, we went to Paris in the summer. More specifically, the beginning of July. I WOULD NOT EVER DO THIS AGAIN. Not only was it sweltering hot (between 90-100 degrees and humid), but everyone and their mom and their cousin and their dog were on vacation at the same time. There were lines for EVERYTHING. And I don't just mean like, oh-this-line-isn't-that-bad-we'll-be-there-soon kind of lines. I mean, like, HOURS-LONG lines. For example, we waited 2.5 hours just to see the catacombs. If you don't know, the catacombs are basically an underground labyrinth filled with bones. The only reason we actually waited in the line was because we walked an hour to get there. So if the line for the catacombs was that long, I'm sure you can only imagine how long the lines were for things like the Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay, and the Eiffel Tower...none of which we actually went into because we had already waited several hours in the blistering heat for one attraction, and neither of us were keen on doing it again. So when, you ask, is a good time to go? Personally, I would recommend April or May. I went on a study abroad to Paris in the spring of 2009 and it was perfect. Not only was it way cooler, temperature-wise, but we didn't wait in line for ANYTHING. In fact, for a comparison, we walked straight into the catacombs without standing in line for a second. I've heard that fall is a similarly good time to go, but come on...Paris in spring? Isn't that the ideal? (Note: I would generally assume that all of Europe is pretty similar in July and August...especially because that's also when all of Europe ALSO goes on vacation.)

4. FASHION: Being someone who is somewhat obsessed with fashion, I overstressed about what I was going to wear. Consequently, I overpacked. And then I found out that it didn't matter as much as I thought it did. And here's why. First of all, you're not going to be the only tourist there. Chances are, there are definitely going to be some people there who are dressed much more touristy than you. Second of all, Parisian street fashion is much more relaxed than a lot of travel sites will tell you. For example, most websites will tell you to keep to neutral colors, ie-grey, black, beige, etc. While this is sometimes true (and probably more true in colder seasons), I saw TONS of color while I was there. Now I wouldn't recommend bringing your neon orange hoodie...but inserting a little color into your vacation wardrobe is not going to hurt anything. ALSO, I remember reading somewhere that under no circumstances should you EVER be caught dead in overalls in Paris. I just want to let you all know that I saw SEVERAL Parisian women wearing overalls. Granted, overalls are back in right now, but I just wanted you all to know that you shouldn't believe everything you read. So along with that, you can also probably dress more casually than you think. A lot of websites that I read said that Parisians don't wear shorts. I don't think this is true at all. I saw TONS of people wearing shorts. And jeans are fine. And t-shirts are fine. The only thing I would really avoid is sweats/athletic wear. But other than that, like I said, you really don't have to stress that much. That being said...remember your destination. Paris is the fashion capitol of the world, so you might want to use it as an excuse to dress amazingly. Just saying.

5. PLANNING: Before we left, we made a list of things that we wanted to see. My list was basically a list of leftovers that I didn't get to on my study abroad, along with the major tourist sites, since this was Hans's first time in Paris. Hans did some research, and found some things based on what interested him (ie-history, military, etc.). Try to make your list based on how much time you'll be there. You don't want to have a twenty-item list if you're only there for a weekend. Likewise, if this is the only time in your life that you're ever going to be in that city, make sure that you go see the big stuff. For example, you wouldn't want to go to Paris and at least SEE the Eiffel Tower. So, once we had our list, I went through and grouped things together by how close they were to each other. That way, we could plan our days a little better instead of just wandering around all over the city. Now, this definitely doesn't mean that we stuck to the plan. There were a few days when we only did one thing, then came back to our apartment because we were very possibly going to die of heat stroke (catacombs day...). But it gave us a good starting place. However, on the other side of this, you don't want to OVERplan your trip. Vacations are for relaxing, and you'll just stress yourself out if you're constantly going. Give yourself time to wander and explore. You'll see the coolest things that you were never expecting to see, and you'll have some down-time to unwind. And don't feel bad if you need to go back to your apartment/hotel/house and take a nap. Especially is you're suffering from jetlag. And also especially if it's hot. The last thing you want to do is make yourself sick on vacation!

6. TRANSPORTATION: Before you go anywhere, do some research on transportation within the city. For example, Paris has one of the best/most comprehensive metro systems in the world. It's a little complicated, but once you figure it out, you can get anywhere you want to go! They also have a bus system, which I've only used a couple of times, but it's the same idea. Hans also did some research and found some tour companies that allow you to buy a pass and then hop on and off whenever you want. Now, all of this is great, but if you're going somewhere like Paris, I would say just WALK. We only took the metro maybe 3 times while we were there, and they were all towards the end of our trip. Other than that, we walked EVERYWHERE. Of course, this isn't possible in every city (obviously), but Paris is so [relatively] compact that the longest we had to walk to an attraction was an hour. Most places were between 15-30 minutes. And, as mentioned, you see so much more of the city that way! Plus, you can burn off some of those delicious pastries ;)

7. FOOD: This is where renting an apartment instead of a hotel came in handy. Food can get expensive when you're on vacation. So to save some money, we went and got some basic foods at the grocery store: cereal, sandwich stuff, etc. AND WATER (always remember to stay hydrated!). And don't think that you're missing out on the food experience. You can still eat like a local. In fact, probably more so. In Paris, there are so many cute little grocery shops with fresh fruit, amazing baguettes, and local cheese that it's definitely worth it!

8. APPS: Before I left, I looked up useful travel apps on several websites. I downloaded a few, but the one that I found the most useful was Ulmon CityMaps2Go. You can download a map of the city you are visiting and use it to navigate offline. That way, you won't have to use any expensive overseas data! The map includes tourist sites, restaurants, shops, etc., so you can find all kinds of places while you're out and about!

So those are my travel tips! Obviously, most of them pertain to Paris, but you can definitely apply most of them to any trip you're planning to take! If you have any other questions, please leave a comment and I'd be happy to get back to you :) Stay tuned for details about our trip!