Just Landed in Paris!

[BeWillDeR]

So I just got off the plane and the weather is muggy and it hot here.
I love it. What should I do in paris??

 

[Kanga]

Go to the Seine, left bank. Walk. Head towards the Ile de la Cite. Walk. Find the Pont Alexandre. Walk. Visit Notre-Dame, look up at the middle portal, the Portal of the Day of Judgement, and say hello to St James who is second from the right of Christ. Walk. Go to the Musee d'Orsay. Walk. Visit the Opera House, see an Opera if you can. Walk. Find a local market and buy some fruit. Walk. Go to Momartre. Walk. Sit in a sidewalk cafe, drink a cafe, and watch the world. Walk. And if course there is the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Tuilleries...... So many wonderful galleries, museums, it goes on and on. And everywhere look for St Jacques - churches, streets, references, shells and signs (there are many).
I am sooooo envious!

 

[mspath]

BeWilDeR,

Take a deep breath, relax and just enjoy it! As an American who has lived close to 35 years in France both in Paris and Champagne still for me as Thomas Jefferson once said “a walk about Paris will provide lessons in history, beauty, and in the point of life.”

Visit the cathedral of Notre Dame and give thanks for the wonderful camino that you are about to begin. When on the parvis or place facing Notre Dame cathedral below you underground lie Roman ruins and visible to your right across the Seine begins the rue Saint Jacques which medieval pilgrims trod to leave the city; walk it a bit and ponder history. ...In your heart you will be following those pilgrims footsteps as you, too, cross, France and eventually Spain.

Carpe Diem,

Margaret Meredith

 

[petitewalker]

All of the above suggestions are great! Also depends on how long you will be there. If you are interested in Impressionism (there is none in the Louvre), don't miss the Musee D'Orsay. Whatever you do, walk (that is... once you are in Paris central) from place to place. And if you have lots of time, the catacombs are also an interesting visit as long as you aren't claustrophobic.

 

[naplesdon]

Do everything my compatriots have suggested if you have the time. For a first time visitor I would suggest taking one of the double decker tour buses (GOD FORBID) but it is a good way of getting the an overview of the city and you can get off and on at every stop. If I was there today I would be eating and drinking and enjoying life in Buci.

 

[BeWillDeR]

Not sure if I will make it to those. Just got to my hotel and the jet lag is getting me fierce. I will just get some food and rest up I have an early train to Bayonne. Then I have to figure out what bus to take to St. Jean Pied de Port because the trains are still closed due to landslide. Any suggestions??

 

[bystander]

Blow the architecture, the religion etc - you'll get a bellyful of that on the camino. Save all that stuff for a dedicated stay in Paris.

Instead go blow the budget on a top notch meal in a bistro like Le Voltaire or La Gauloise!

“A man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.”
(Ecclesiastes 8:15)

 

[mspath]

Not sure if I will make it to those. Just got to my hotel and the jet lag is getting me fierce. I will just get some food and rest up I have an early train to Bayonne. Then I have to figure out what bus to take to St. Jean Pied de Port because the trains are still closed due to landslide. Any suggestions??

At the BAYONNE train station they will sell you the correct ticket for the substitute train/bus connection to SJPdP. The train station is small and the staff who are used to tourists and pilgrims are most helpful.

Bon voyage,

Margaret Meredith

 

[naplesdon]

I could name some better less expensive bistros/restos in Paris, but rest assured you have no worries about the train and/or bus service from Bayonne to SJPdP because they are one in the same. A 10 euro tickets gets you SJPdP, pas de problem!

 

[bystander]

I could name some better less expensive bistros/restos in Paris

Please, I wasn't being proscriptive in my suggestions.

I am not a French or Parisian resident so my suggestions are only based on some of those I have been to.

I deliberately didn't mention such tourist traps such as La Coupole, Les Deux Magots or Brasserie Lipp etc........

 

[naplesdon]

Please, I wasn't being proscriptive in my suggestions.

I am not a French or Parisian resident so my suggestions are only based on some of those I have been to.

I deliberately didn't mention such tourist traps such as La Coupole, Les Deux Magots or Brasserie Lipp etc........

Sorry I wasn't being cheeky and no offensive was intended. I think depending on which part of town you are staying in you can stumble into a place that is 3 stars above anywhere else in the world.

 

[bystander]

Sorry I wasn't being cheeky and no offensive was intended. I think depending on which part of town you are staying in you can stumble into a place that is 3 stars above anywhere else in the world.

No offence taken and, in any case, didn't think it was intended!
I totally agree with you on "you can stumble into a place that is 3 stars above anywhere else in the world."
But I have also been served some dire meals in France!
However nothing as truly ghastly as the microwaved pap sold as "home-made" fine-dining in the soi-disant gastropubs of Britain

 

[wayfarer]

I would agree with Bystander, rest up have a good meal, you have a long walk ahead. Paris is better enjoyed when you have a longer stay.
Buen Camino.

 

[FastBarra]

Buen Camino BeWillDeR, hope you get a chance to rest up and recharge those batteries before you head off on your pilgrimage. I'll be a week or so behind you so will be interested in hearing how you're going.