Paris Vacations


	Paris intrigues, astonishes, provokes, overwhelms, and ultimately gets under your skin. The City of Light is the apex of architectural beauty, artistic expression, and culinary delight, and it knows it. As drop-dead arrogant as the Arc de Triomphe, as disarmingly quaint as a lace-curtain bistro, it seduces newcomers with a Latin-lover style -- and its subtle siren song invites unhurried exploration. Paris is a city of vast, noble perspectives and intimate, ramshackle streets, of formal espaces verts (green open spaces) and of quiet squares. This combination of the pompous and the private is one of the secrets of its perennial pull. Another is its size. Paris is relatively small as capitals go, with distances between many of its major sights and museums invariably walkable. Paris related links: Paris Hotels \| Paris Vacation Specials Europe Vacations

Weather & When to Go

The major tourist season in France stretches from Easter to mid-September, but Paris has much to offer in every season. Paris in the early spring can be disappointingly damp, though it's relatively tourist free; May and June are delightful, with good weather and plenty of cultural and other attractions. July and August can be sultry. Moreover, many theaters and some of the smaller restaurants and shops close for the entire month of August. If you're undeterred by the hot weather and the pollution, you'll notice a fairly relaxed atmosphere around the city, as this is the month when most Parisians are on vacation. September is ideal. Cultural life revives after the summer break, and sunny weather often continues through the first half of October. The ballet and theater are in full swing in November, but the weather is part wet and cold, part bright and sunny. December is dominated by the fêtes de fin d'année (end-of-year festivities) and a busy theater, ballet, and opera season into January.

Attractions & Excursions

Paris owes both its development and much of its visual appeal to the Seine River, which weaves through its heart. Each bank of the Seine has its own personality; the Rive Droite (Right Bank), with its spacious boulevards and formal buildings, generally has a more sober and genteel feeling than the more carefree and bohemian Rive Gauche (Left Bank) to the south. The historical and geographical heart of the city is Notre-Dame Cathedral on the Ile de la Cité, the larger of the Seine's two islands (the other is the Ile St-Louis).

The best way to get to know Paris is on foot, although public transportation -- particularly the métro subway system -- is excellent. Serious explorers should buy a Plan de Paris booklet, a city map-guide with a street-name index that also shows métro stations (note that all métro stations have a detailed neighborhood map just inside the entrance).

For the first-timer there will always be several must-dos at the top of the list, but a visit to Paris will never be quite as simple as a quick look at Notre-Dame, the Louvre, and the Eiffel Tower. You'll discover that around every corner, down every ruelle (little street) lies a resonance-in-wait.

You can stand on the rue du Faubourg St-Honoré at the very spot Edmond Rostand set Ragueneau's pastry shop in Cyrano de Bergerac. You can read the letters of Madame de Sévigné in her actual hôtel particulier, or private mansion, now the Musée Carnavalet. You can breathe in the fumes of hubris before the extravagant onyx tomb Napoléon designed for himself. You can gaze through the gates at the school where Voltaire honed his wit and lay a garland on Oscar Wilde's grave at Père Lachaise.

If this is your first trip, there's no harm in taking a guided tour of the city -- a perfectly good introduction that will help you get your bearings and provide you with a general impression before you return to explore at leisure the sights that particularly interest you. By the time you have explored the city, you should not only have had your cultural fill but be downright exhausted and hungry, too.

Entertainment

The City of Light truly heats up after dark. So, if you want to paint the town rouge after dutifully pounding the parquet in museums all day, there's a dazzling array of options to partake of. Whether you're a jazz fiend or a dance freak, a patron of the arts or a lounge lizard seeking refuge in a bar where the model count is high, Paris provides ample destinations for nocturnal creatures. From opulent opera houses to low-key bars, dance floors in 17th-century cellars, or just the light-splintered Seine, you can find it all in Paris after dark. The hottest nightspots are near Menilmontant and Parmentier, the Bastille, and the Marais. By comparison, the Left Bank is definitely a minor happening scene. The Champs-Élysées is making a comeback, especially with stylish singles bars on its side streets, though the clientele on the main drag itself remains predominantly foreign.

Shopping

Don't be surprised to see speedwalking Parisians slow to a crawl as their eyes lock on an attractive store window. Window shopping is one of this city's greatest spectator sports, and the French have come up with a wonderful expression for this highly cultivated art. They call it lèche-vitrine -- literally, "licking the windows" -- which is quite fitting because many of the displays are good enough to eat.

Truth is, shopping here can be a contagious joy, and if you don't buy something -- bottles of fruit-flavored eaux-de-vie that Hemingway and Fitzgerald loved so much, antique brooches from the 1930s, modern vases crafted from Parisian rooftop-tile zinc, rare artwork -- you're missing out. Who can resist the thrill of seeing a Chanel evening gown displayed in a boutique where even the doorknobs are shaped like Chanel crystal perfume-bottle stoppers?

Happily, the shopping options in Paris are endless and geared to every taste. You can price emerald earrings at Cartier, spend an afternoon browsing through bookstalls along the Seine, tour the high-gloss department stores, or haggle over the price for one of those flea-market "Souvenir de Paris" bracelets. Today, every neighborhood seems to reflect a unique attitude and style: designer extravagance and haute couture characterize avenue Montaigne and rue Faubourg St-Honoré; classic sophistication pervades St-Germain; avant-garde style dresses up the Marais; while a hip feel suffuses the area around the place des Victoires.

In addition, there are the delightful flea markets and brocantes (secondhand shops) where you'll always have the chance of finding Art Deco brooches or old copies of Paris-Match. At such markets, or in antiques stores, bargaining is accepted. So if you're thinking of buying several items, you've nothing to lose by cheerfully suggesting to the proprietor, "Vous me faites un prix?" ("How about a discount?"). Other bits of lingo to keep in mind: braderie or fin de série (clearance); occasions or brocante (secondhand); and nouveautés (new arrivals). Finally, most stores in Paris -- excepting department stores and flea markets -- stay open until 6 or 7 PM, but many take a lunch break sometime between noon and 2 PM. Although shops traditionally close on Sunday, regulations have been relaxed in recent years, and you'll find many stores are open, especially in the Marais.

Dining

Generally, restaurants are open from noon to about 2 and from 7:30 or 8 to 10 or 10:30. It's best to make reservations, particularly in summer, although the reviews only state when reservations are absolutely essential. If you want no-smoking seating, make this clear; the mandatory no-smoking area is sometimes limited to a very few tables. Brasseries have longer hours and often serve all day and late into the evening; some are open 24 hours.

Assume a restaurant is open every day, unless otherwise indicated. Surprisingly, many prestigious restaurants close on Saturday as well as Sunday. July and August are the most common months for annual closings, although Paris in August is no longer the wasteland it once was. Places where a jacket and tie are de rigueur are noted. Otherwise, use common sense -- jeans and T-shirts are not suitable in Paris restaurants, nor are shorts or running clothes, except in the most casual bistros and cafés.

Lodging: Hotels & Accommodations

The luxury hotels in Paris are located in the central part of the city near the Arc de Triomphe, Seine River, and the Louvre Museum. Enjoy a Paris vacation package at the top luxury hotels!
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	Museums Visit the many museums of Paris, from the massive Louvre, home of the Mona Lisa, to the Musee D'orsay. Ile de la Cite Explore the charming historic neighborhoods of Ile de la Cite, home to a daily flower market, cheese shops, and many of the best restaurants. Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore Shop along the Rue du Faubourg St-Honore, lined with the fabled shops of Hermes, Dior, and Laroche. Montmartre Discover the pleasures of Montmartre, such as the world-famous Moulin Rouge. Luxembourg Gardens Spend a day in the Luxembourg Gardens, where lovers and families lounge on chairs scattered throughout the historic formal gardens.


	Four Seasons George V Paris Hotel De Crillon Park Hyatt Paris - Vendome Hotel Plaza Athenee Hotel Du Louvre Hotel Vernet Hotel San Regis La Villa Maillot Radisson SAS Hotel Champs Elysees Victoria Palace Hotel Hotel Napoleon Paris

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