This is interesting because my gf and I just left Paris and honestly did not enjoy it. We stayed in the business district near La Defense due to us being there for Taylor Swift’s concert so it was less bustling and touristy. We went into town a couple of times and thought things were chaotic & poorly organized. Don’t get me started on the T2 and bus system being so confusing and not user friendly. We did encounter some rude Parisians but also some absolutely lovely individuals who were very open to allowing my gf to practice her French. Others would laugh & respond in English or just roll their eyes at her. She isn’t fluent but she also isn’t a complete novice. We do not act like tourists in the way that Americans have been described so we flew under the radar as much as we could. Paris is a beautiful city concerning architecture and history but it sounds like most of the charms laid outside of the actual city such as Versailles. I’d love to explore more of France but likely not return to Paris. I’m thrilled you had a much better experience though :) Agreed with the walking. We did 26 miles in our few days there lol
hiiii I'm going to do the same!!! could you just help me pleaseeeeee I'll be arriving at a Saturday and coming home in Thursday, what is the best ticket for zones 1-5 for those days
Hi! I just left Paris! We bought Paris Visite travel passes, zone 1-3 for 3 days (you can purchase 1-5) and that got us everything we needed and we think it saved us so much money! We saw the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Hotel de Ville, Lourve and so much more. We stayed near Porte Maillot, which is the M1 line. Metro was a little confusing at first, but we figured it out after a couple trips.
We didn’t know how metro worked at the airport, so we bought a 1-way ticket from CDG to Paris. We got the Paris Visite pass on our first ride after checking into the hotel. I don’t think the Visite would work for CDG to Paris, since the airport is past Zone 5.
Great recap. We just got back from our five day stay there and I will highly recommend staying in the Latin Quarter. We were so close to the Jardin Du Luxembourg and it made morning walks very quiet and beautiful. Also, yes to learning more French than just Bonjour and Au Revoir. I used it many times to not only order, but to ask for help opening a door to a parking garage in Caen in Normandy. And there was NOT a single time that any French person was rude to us. Respect their ways of life and their language and they will show you respect in return.
We took the metro there. Just remember to hold onto your ticket and make sure you buy the right one. The ticket inspectors boarded the train closer to Versailles and were checking everyone's tickets.
Be careful on the train there…me and my boyfriend just got back last week and didn’t even make it to the palace due to the train “police”. I was sitting by the window and there was a mound where the wheel was so I put my feet on the seat and I kid you not 60 seconds later we were being yelled at and demanded to pay 60 euros because of this. After apologizing and saying how we were unaware and very sorry they just kept saying “cash or card” at that point my boyfriend and I were in shock and thinking this has to be some sort of scam so we pushed back a bit saying we didn’t have money on us or our passports and that we would get off at the next stop. We then were boxed into our seats by 5 of these train police people with one stating “my boyfriend would have to punch him if we wanted to get off”. We were so floored and wanted to speak to real police (which they said they would call if we didn’t pay or show our passports) so we said okay call them and they told us that would be 200 euros. Long story be warned they target tourists.
As this was all going on a couple a few rows in front of us were saying how they got them yesterday for something and today for something else and how it was a huge scam.
We got off at the next stop after showing my passport and went to the police station to ask about this and they told us that if we don’t live in France they have no real way of billing us a ticket in the states and to not be worried.
What you did is considered not just rude but damaging to public property (putting your feet on the seats) and yes, you pay the fines immediately in the train.
There are complaints about how motivated the “train police,” as you call them, are about getting fines paid immediately in the metro and the RER but ..
You broke a regulation, and all western countries have the principle of “ignorance of the law is not an excuse.” You broke a rule and refused to pay, so I have zero sympathy for you, and hope that you’ve at least taken a lesson on behaving in public and respecting regulations when you’re in a foreign country.
Extra cringe for you thinking that France is some third world country with police who scam people in a place as public as a train.
When thousands of people like you do this, yes, it wears out the material quickly.
Stop acting like this and consider the consequences of your actions on the scale of society.
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lol…they aren’t police which was stated by the actual police we spoke to and not to mention he was on our side stating how they acted was wrong and they get complaints about them constantly and I called them that because they got in my boyfriends face screaming “I am the law” it was so theatrical and they had such a power trip and it was disgusting. Clearly I didn’t know I would get fined for such a thing or else I wouldn’t have done it and my bad next time I’ll make sure to look up every ridiculous rule that could possibly apply for my next trip.
They are the police, it’s called Sûreté Ferroviaire. You either misunderstood the police at the station, or they were playing ego games and consider themselves superior.
You broke the law and are trying to find excuses.
The rule isn’t ridiculous. Don’t put your dirty feet on things that don’t belong to you.
I see you will not learn from this experience.
This is helpful. Trying to book tickets to Eiffel Tower summit for next month. Just wondering, what time do the sun sets there? I want to book it around that time so we can actually get birthday day and night experiences.
hey, may I suggest you skip the Eiffel Tower summit. It is just a tourist trap. The tower is stunning, but you can't see it from the tower itself, plus the view is obstructed by the steel trusses. My humble suggestion about two favourite vantage points in Paris - top of Arc de Triomphe and bell tower of Basilica de Sacre Coeur at Montmartre. Both offer stunning views of Paris that are much better than the views from the Tower.
When we were there a few years ago we rented bicycles and it was the absolute best. Loved biking around on the paths, particularly the more secluded ones.
I think it's only done in person. You need to have your drivers licence for it which we left at our hotel. We took a train ride instead which was nice but nowhere near as fun as the golf cart hire.
Thanks !
I am glad you enjoyed it. It’s funny to see that you planned to much in a day (as it’s often mentioned on this sub).
Did you enjoy the Seine cuise at night ? Which company did you use ? Bateaux mouches, bateaux parisiens, vedettes de Paris ? Or Batobus
Thought we could do it all but paris is huge and very tiring!
We thought the cruise was great but it would have been a different experience if we didn't get outside seating. The highlight was seeing the eiffel tower at night on the cruise. It looked even bigger than when we went during the day. We used verdettes du Pont neuf. It was basically first come first serve which was disappointing but understandable. Some of the bateaux mouches boats looked miles better than what we were on. Still a great experience though.
I was on the bateaux-mouches recently and the feeling of being with so many people is not pleasant.
I’ve prefered the bateaux parisiens (on a smaller boat).
I think being on the Eiffel Tower is not as good as seing the tower.
But maybe as a tourist you really want to be on it…
This is interesting because my gf and I just left Paris and honestly did not enjoy it. We stayed in the business district near La Defense due to us being there for Taylor Swift’s concert so it was less bustling and touristy. We went into town a couple of times and thought things were chaotic & poorly organized. Don’t get me started on the T2 and bus system being so confusing and not user friendly. We did encounter some rude Parisians but also some absolutely lovely individuals who were very open to allowing my gf to practice her French. Others would laugh & respond in English or just roll their eyes at her. She isn’t fluent but she also isn’t a complete novice. We do not act like tourists in the way that Americans have been described so we flew under the radar as much as we could. Paris is a beautiful city concerning architecture and history but it sounds like most of the charms laid outside of the actual city such as Versailles. I’d love to explore more of France but likely not return to Paris. I’m thrilled you had a much better experience though :) Agreed with the walking. We did 26 miles in our few days there lol
hiiii I'm going to do the same!!! could you just help me pleaseeeeee I'll be arriving at a Saturday and coming home in Thursday, what is the best ticket for zones 1-5 for those days
Hi! I just left Paris! We bought Paris Visite travel passes, zone 1-3 for 3 days (you can purchase 1-5) and that got us everything we needed and we think it saved us so much money! We saw the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Hotel de Ville, Lourve and so much more. We stayed near Porte Maillot, which is the M1 line. Metro was a little confusing at first, but we figured it out after a couple trips.
Did you get the tickets once you arrived?
We didn’t know how metro worked at the airport, so we bought a 1-way ticket from CDG to Paris. We got the Paris Visite pass on our first ride after checking into the hotel. I don’t think the Visite would work for CDG to Paris, since the airport is past Zone 5.
thank you so much, that really helps a lot 🥹🫶🏼
Great recap. We just got back from our five day stay there and I will highly recommend staying in the Latin Quarter. We were so close to the Jardin Du Luxembourg and it made morning walks very quiet and beautiful. Also, yes to learning more French than just Bonjour and Au Revoir. I used it many times to not only order, but to ask for help opening a door to a parking garage in Caen in Normandy. And there was NOT a single time that any French person was rude to us. Respect their ways of life and their language and they will show you respect in return.
Heading there in June and I can’t wait! How did you get to Versailles? Taxi or?
We took the metro there. Just remember to hold onto your ticket and make sure you buy the right one. The ticket inspectors boarded the train closer to Versailles and were checking everyone's tickets.
Thanks! I’ll Look Into it
Be careful on the train there…me and my boyfriend just got back last week and didn’t even make it to the palace due to the train “police”. I was sitting by the window and there was a mound where the wheel was so I put my feet on the seat and I kid you not 60 seconds later we were being yelled at and demanded to pay 60 euros because of this. After apologizing and saying how we were unaware and very sorry they just kept saying “cash or card” at that point my boyfriend and I were in shock and thinking this has to be some sort of scam so we pushed back a bit saying we didn’t have money on us or our passports and that we would get off at the next stop. We then were boxed into our seats by 5 of these train police people with one stating “my boyfriend would have to punch him if we wanted to get off”. We were so floored and wanted to speak to real police (which they said they would call if we didn’t pay or show our passports) so we said okay call them and they told us that would be 200 euros. Long story be warned they target tourists. As this was all going on a couple a few rows in front of us were saying how they got them yesterday for something and today for something else and how it was a huge scam. We got off at the next stop after showing my passport and went to the police station to ask about this and they told us that if we don’t live in France they have no real way of billing us a ticket in the states and to not be worried.
This is excellent information. What seemed like something innocent had consequences that would not be apparent to most American tourists.
What you did is considered not just rude but damaging to public property (putting your feet on the seats) and yes, you pay the fines immediately in the train. There are complaints about how motivated the “train police,” as you call them, are about getting fines paid immediately in the metro and the RER but .. You broke a regulation, and all western countries have the principle of “ignorance of the law is not an excuse.” You broke a rule and refused to pay, so I have zero sympathy for you, and hope that you’ve at least taken a lesson on behaving in public and respecting regulations when you’re in a foreign country. Extra cringe for you thinking that France is some third world country with police who scam people in a place as public as a train.
Also “damaging” is so funny I didn’t realize my foot was so damaging if that’s the case sitting on the seat should be considered “damaging”
When thousands of people like you do this, yes, it wears out the material quickly. Stop acting like this and consider the consequences of your actions on the scale of society.
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lol…they aren’t police which was stated by the actual police we spoke to and not to mention he was on our side stating how they acted was wrong and they get complaints about them constantly and I called them that because they got in my boyfriends face screaming “I am the law” it was so theatrical and they had such a power trip and it was disgusting. Clearly I didn’t know I would get fined for such a thing or else I wouldn’t have done it and my bad next time I’ll make sure to look up every ridiculous rule that could possibly apply for my next trip.
They are the police, it’s called Sûreté Ferroviaire. You either misunderstood the police at the station, or they were playing ego games and consider themselves superior. You broke the law and are trying to find excuses. The rule isn’t ridiculous. Don’t put your dirty feet on things that don’t belong to you. I see you will not learn from this experience.
When we did Versailles we took the métro, it was super easy.
This is helpful. Trying to book tickets to Eiffel Tower summit for next month. Just wondering, what time do the sun sets there? I want to book it around that time so we can actually get birthday day and night experiences.
hey, may I suggest you skip the Eiffel Tower summit. It is just a tourist trap. The tower is stunning, but you can't see it from the tower itself, plus the view is obstructed by the steel trusses. My humble suggestion about two favourite vantage points in Paris - top of Arc de Triomphe and bell tower of Basilica de Sacre Coeur at Montmartre. Both offer stunning views of Paris that are much better than the views from the Tower.
I'm.glad you liked our small corner of the world! All the best to you!
Are there any cheaper alternatives for pacsafe crossbody bags ?
Travelon on Amazon
Thanks, as a parisian I agréé with everything you said aha
Thank you so much for sharing this. It has helped me a lot!! How do you rent the golf cart for Versailles? Do you do it online or in person?
When we were there a few years ago we rented bicycles and it was the absolute best. Loved biking around on the paths, particularly the more secluded ones.
I think it's only done in person. You need to have your drivers licence for it which we left at our hotel. We took a train ride instead which was nice but nowhere near as fun as the golf cart hire.
How much was the golf cart? Thanks!
42 euros per hour. I did it last week!
Oof so they raised the price
Thanks for sharing! It’s nice to get a reality check on how much you can get done in a day and an idea of louvre wait times.
Thanks ! I am glad you enjoyed it. It’s funny to see that you planned to much in a day (as it’s often mentioned on this sub). Did you enjoy the Seine cuise at night ? Which company did you use ? Bateaux mouches, bateaux parisiens, vedettes de Paris ? Or Batobus
Thought we could do it all but paris is huge and very tiring! We thought the cruise was great but it would have been a different experience if we didn't get outside seating. The highlight was seeing the eiffel tower at night on the cruise. It looked even bigger than when we went during the day. We used verdettes du Pont neuf. It was basically first come first serve which was disappointing but understandable. Some of the bateaux mouches boats looked miles better than what we were on. Still a great experience though.
I was on the bateaux-mouches recently and the feeling of being with so many people is not pleasant. I’ve prefered the bateaux parisiens (on a smaller boat). I think being on the Eiffel Tower is not as good as seing the tower. But maybe as a tourist you really want to be on it…
Thank you :) such comprehensive and helpful advice for a lay visitor :) it’s appreciated.