What to see and do in Paris.

more

more2

more3

more4

more5

http://www.paris.org/Expos/PereLachaise/

I have just returned from London and Paris, here is what I have posted so far.?

 

http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=451911

 

 

Paris is a wonderful city, have fun.

Hi Dave,

 

I went to Paris last summer, and if there is one thing I can recommend to you, it's this:

 

Don't go up the Eiffel Tower.

 

Not only is the view mediocre at best, but when I went (In the summer, could be different now) there were pickpockets everywhere at the base and the lines were so long it took about 4 hours to get up, then back down. Or longer. Waste of time. Take shots from the river if you want something to remember this great piece of architecture with. Also every night or so (I can't remember clearly) the Eiffel was lit up with strobes on the tower for about 20 minutes or something. If you have a tripod and set up at the Trocadero around that time (ask a local or something) you can take a cool-looking long-exposure of the tower with this lighting.

 

I second visiting Marais. It is simply beautiful.

 

I also agree with taking the metro. People who say the metro is slow or annoying probably haven't ridden on any other subway system in the world. Paris is by far the most efficient and quickest, and systems like New York and London aren't even close. You will not wait more than 5 minutes for a train, unless it is late at night and the trains are being taken off. During peak hours and regular daytime operation the trains are in perfect sync and never far behind each other. There are zillions of stops all across town and there is always a station nearby. Definetly take the metro and get a map.

 

The views from the Notre Dame and the scenes around the Ile de la Cite are pretty neat. I also took one of those river tours there as well and if you catch one during the evening at around sunset you can get really nice shots of the Eiffel, bridges, and other buildings around the river. Don't go to the Bastille because it doesn't exist anymore, check out the Arc de Triomphe for views of the main avenue, and:

 

Always wear your camera or bag around your neck. Never just sling it on one shoulder. My dad's camera was nearly stolen when these three young men came strolling up the street. They seemed to be walking and dancing up the street in a formation with all sorts of tourist items around their neck and waist. One came right up to my dad and lifted the camera right off his shoulder. Luckily my dad was staring right at him and grabbed it back in time. Paris is a nice city, but it's not nice to the point where these pickpockets and other people don't exist. Exercise caution with your equipment!

 

Otherwise, I hope you have fun and be sure to enjoy yourself!

 

-Jimmy Jin

<i>Don't go up the Eiffel Tower. Not only is the view mediocre at best...</i>

<p>On even a mediochre clear day the view is stunning. You might get a clear December day, you might not. The panoramic view over Paris from 1000' up is just beautiful.

<p><img src="http://www.barrythomas.co.uk/eye-ful-1.jpg"><br>

May 2001, D30, full frame, 135mm, F8, 1/350s. Large version (750k) <a href="http://www.barrythomas.co.uk/eye-ful-2.jpg">here</a>.

David,

 

I know I annswered shortly above, but heres some real pointers.

 

Money: Do your homework to get the best deal on buying Euros, In the ststion I got 60 for $100 us, but around Notre Dam I got 46, a 24% difference in a town that I already am paying 100% over is a real stinger. Pizza slice: 3.10 Euros, do the math.

 

Travel: Rely on the Metro and get the multi-day pass, I got a Mobius and it was great, I even used it on the Tram up Sacre Coeur. Lots of steps. I paid 5.10 Euro a day for a pass, but multi days are available.

 

Food: Do you like bread (Baguettes)? It will help to eat breads, cheeses, wines, etc. Restaurants are expensive, and I read your post on spending. Pastries are big as well. Wines is relatively inexpensive. Pizza joints are around as well, I ate in one on Blvd de Montparnasse, somewhat more costly, but doable.

 

Film: I brought 100 Fuji Slide film, 100 Kodak slide film, 400 Kodak slide film, 400 TriX B&W, 400 Ilfords. It gets dark in Paris early (like here) and I used a mini tripod alot. Inconspicuous, small, and indespensable. I rean out of 120 for my Holga and had to buy yhere. I paid 4.40 Euros a roll ($8.00!!!), In NY I paid $1.99 US. Bring ALOT of film. Get a XRAY bag and they (airport security) will spot it in carry-on xray, from there It pretty much forced a hand check, something that was impossible just by asking. They say 3200 is in danger, but I did not want to chance my trips films to thier word. It takes more time, but its worth it. Bring good quality 400, maybe even some 800.

 

Cameras: Be careful, like any major city crime is high, and focused on tourist. I used my Domke black J2. It was heavy, but I carried everything I needed, Nikon 8008 body, Leica M2, Holga 120N, 28mm Nikkor, 50mm Nikkor, 21mm Cosina, 50mm Summicron, 35mm Summaron, fils, tripod, filters, everything. I was always aware of it on my shoulder and always listened for the seperation of velcro which holds, as well as the clip locks.

 

I tried to do NON TOURIST imageryf on this trip, I used my new toy, (literally) a Holga 120N. I loved its freedom, and its images are like nothing I have done before, nothing.

 

All in all it was a great trip and I can't wait to go back. I am currently working on my scans and adding daily. Email me if you have more questions.

 

http://www.photo.net/photodb/presentation.tcl?presentation_id=268276

Hi everyone.

Thanks to every one of you who replied to this Question. I must have read through this entire thread twenty times before we left. After reading a lot of other guides and websites we came up with a rough plan on how to arrange the weekend. The primary purpose of the break wasn't photography, rather a nice romantic weekend away with the missus. Nevertheless, I managed to get through 12 rolls of film. I'm a complete novice to photography and only took a cheap digicam and my film Olympus XA, so what I've seen of the results aren't spectacular thus far, but I still have about 10 rolls to have developed when I can get the cash together.

 

Here's an outline of the weekend in the hope that it will be useful for others. I'll post some of my pictures shortly, but as I said, the vast majority haven't yet been developed. If I get an particularly good ones I'll post them in this thread. One more thing - I should have mentioned in my original post that I'm from the UK, not the USA. Apolgies for the oversight.

 

Friday:

 

Flight arrived around 5pm at CDG airport. Took the RER-B train from the airport into the city (Les Halles station). Cost was about 8 Euro. Our hotel was in the Latin Quarter (on the Rue Monge), so we got the Metro to one of the nearby stops and checked in without issue. Then we hit the streets and made our way up to the river and Notre Dame. Both were beautiful, but the temperature was within a couple of degrees of freezing, which somewhat dampened our spirits. The temperature remained like this all weekend, so we reluctantly adapted.

 

Nearby to Notre Dame, in the Latin Quarter is a small street called something like Rue De La Huchette. This narrow street is part of an area called "Little Athens" and makes for a nice lively street scene into the early hours. Greek restaurants on opposite sides of the street compete for customers by smashing plates onto the street, startling tourists. This is a well-lit area, but very tourist orientated.

 

On walking back to the hotel we noticed that numerous cafes were still open, several having a small Crepe stand out front where for about 3 Euros you could order a large sweet or savoury crepe to take away. These were very fattening, but tasty and importantly, cheap. Nutella and banana was a favourite.

 

Saturday:

 

This was our big walking day and we were knackered by the end of it. We walked through the Latin Quarter, past Notre Dame and through Ile de Cite, and across the river. We then made for the Marias, which again provided some interesting street scenes. Look out here for Jews in traditional dress ambling down the streets past boutiques and chocolate shops. Street photography was somewhat limited here due to the tall buildings blocking a lot of light, and the narrow pavement (sidewalks) and traffic. We made our way to Place des Vosges which was frankly disapointing. I suspect that this was due to the season rather than anything else.

 

We then made our way to the Rue de Rivoli which was a very major road and featured a lot of the shops that I recognise from British High Street. However, there were some small street markets which might have made for good photo oppurtunities.

 

I feel that I should stop here to make it clearer that I'm providing a very much slimmed-down account of our weekend here. We spent the vast majority of our time utterly lost, despite having a map, and this provided an excellent oppurtunity to really get a taste of city (or so we told ourselves).

 

Continuing down the same road we passed through a couple more Quarters and found our way to Les Halles and the half-underground shopping mall. The surrounding area was wonderful for street photography. I haven't had the pictures back yet, but there were street markets, skateboards, street performers, Saturday shoppers, and rollerblading policemen everywhere I looked. When I next go to Paris for photography and shopping, I intend to visit this area as a priority.

 

Photographers should stop at the FNAC branch in the mall here. An excellent selection of tripods, film, and all of the other junk that we love. It was quite easy to stock up on Ilford HP5 bw film and Fuji Superia 800 here, although dozens of other varieties of film were on sale here too. Prices will inevitably be higher here than whatever you pay in the USA, but they were comparable if not cheaper than here in the UK. I paid under 15 Euros for three rolls of Fuji Superia 800 in a pack. If visiting again at this time of year I would bring bringing 400 speed black and white for the day and 800 (at least) for after dark (sun set around 4-5pm).

 

After Les Halles we more or less stuck to the main roads whilst aiming for the Champs de l'Eysees. This area was beautiful primarily due to the Christmas lighting on the trees leading down the avenue. After a significant walk we reached the end of the avenue and climbed the Arc de Triomphe. This was very tiring but entirely worth it, although I suspect that the view might not have been as impressive during the daylight hours as it was after dark. Bring a mini-tripod wit flexibe legs to allow you a fairly stable attachment to the fence at the top of the Arc. There was no flat surface to use a rigid mini-tripod on, and a full-size tripod would have obstructed walkways and was prohibited.

 

After descending the Arc we caught the Metro back to the area around the hotel and passed the evening strolling and eating around the river and Ile de Cite area. Just as an aside, bring a good guidebook with a map, but keep it hidden when not in use. Not for fear of crime, but just to ensure that you don't warrant any more attention from bums and beggars than you have to. The few beggars that we did encounter were seemingly very polite, although more persistant than I'm used to. Citing an inability to speak French will not get you far, as many seemed able to beg in English quite competently. Shop around for a good price on an evening meal, and if you look around for a while you'll easily find several restaurants offering menus written in both French and English in the Latin Quarter. Do brush up on your basic French greetings and polite words before arriving though. Trying to speak a little French will please waiters much more than expecting them to speak English. Don't worry too much though, language was rarely a barrier in restaurants and shops.

 

Sunday:

 

Caught the Metro to a stop near the Eiffel Tower, and walked towards it. The gardens near the tower make for some scenic, but overdone photo oppurtunities and snap shots. Queuing for a ticket for the tower took 20 mins (expect much longer queues in hotter weather), and ascending the tower by elevator took a similar amount of time. The view from the top was terrible due to the fog, but from the second floor we had a good view of the nearby city. Expect to pay a lot if eating at the cafe in the tower. It has somewhat of a monopoly. There's little that I can tell you about the tower that you can't read elsewhere. Beware however that the nearest Metro stop is a brief but not insignificant walk away from the tower. Research this further if you have mobility issues, but don't worry about actually ascending the tower. I saw at least two wheelchair users at the top of the tower, both seemingly unaccompanied.

 

Back on the Metro to Ile de Cite, this time to climb Notre Dame. This is a difficult climb for the unfit up a very steep and narrow spiral staircase. Try to keep to the back of large groups if you expect to be amoungst the less physically fit visitors. Notre Dame was impressive inside and at the top. Again, I can't say much here that hasn't been said alrady. The view was excellent, being a little under the main fog.

 

Sunday evening was spent first in Montmatre (get the Metro to Abesses and ask for directions and use a map to approach the Sacre Couer from the rear and avoid having to climb the stairs. This allows you to descend the steps leading down into the streets and away from the church. This is not only less tiring, but also affords you a good view of the surrounding area before descending into it. Montmatre was at the same time touristy and incredibly seedy. Sexodromes are aplenty, if you go in for such entertainment. To leave this area, head towards the Pigalle Metro station and go from there.

 

Sunday evening and Monday morning were again spent in the Latin Quartier. A final note for comic book fans - there are at least 7 decent comic book shops in the main area of the Latin Quarter. Look out for Rue Dante for a couple.

 

I'll post again as and when I have some good pictures. Please ask if i've been unclear or if you have any questons.

 

Thanks.

Take a picture of their elite military troops...that should only require a 50mm. I think they only have 3 or 4 of them left.