gay paree

[hathycol]

Paris! That is a place I will ACTUALLY BE AT in less than two weeks. This is officially maybe the most exciting thing ever, now that I have sorted all the boring stuff (i.e. travel insurance, checking baggage allowances, hoping beyond hope I haven't lost my passport etc) and am now free to peruse a travel book. Unfortunately, I have perused it but once and have basically panicked and put stickers on nigh on every page.

Since we're only going to be there for three nights I obviously cannot look at all these things, and since the weather over Europe is still a bit iffy then a lot of the outdoorsy stuff is out. Whilst I am generally pretty good at getting my bearings in new cities and working out what things I want to do, I have to admit that I have found myself at a total impasse about What I Want To Do. Obviously I'd like to do all the usual fun touristy things, as well as hurl myself with gay abandon around Paris pretending to be Lalla Ward, but other than that the ciy is my proverbial oyster.

So, wise flist! You are well-travelled sorts who know Stuff About The World. Is there anything specific you would recommend, or avoid? Food I should try? (Before you ask, the one thing I am working really hard to learn in French is all the words you might find on a menu - it worked in Italy.) I'm staying in the Latin Quarter, if that makes a difference. Is the metro as terrifying as the description makes out? Will Converse cut the mustard is terms of shoes?

So, um, if anyone has any helpful advice now is the time to howl it at me! Now, if you'l excuse me I'm off to poke at my guidebook and hopefully makes the forest of highlighted stickers more sensible.

(And yes, I have finally finished cleaning. I AM QUEEN OF THE MOP BUCKET.)

Comments

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Paris! Shakespeare & Co, the bookshop of AMAZING. All the restaurants and little shops around Sacre-Coeur. Sunday morning bird market on Ile de la Cité. Just everything, basically; you can do the Louve and the fountains and the Eiffel tower and whatnot, but get off the Metro at Cité or Chatelet or around the Gare du Nord and just wander around, there's so much just to look at. Ditto the Latin Quarter - just wander around! You'll have fun.

The Metro is not complicated, and the wrought-iron decor is pretty cool. Yay, Paris! You will love it, honestly. This is what I said at the time.

[hathy-col.livejournal.com]

I am so sold on that bird market, it sounds amazing! Thank you for the hints, and for re-assuring me about the Metro. (Lonely Planet makes it sound very tricky indeed.)

[tashmania.livejournal.com]

My supervisor went with his girlfriend a few weeks ago and recommended the Musee d'Orsay - tis the Impressionist museum of Paris, if that tickles your fancy :-)

[hathy-col.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the recommendation! :-)

[emerald-embers.livejournal.com]

OOOH. Okay, immediately, put Notre Dame at the top of your to-see list. I was underwhelmed by the Arch and by the Eiffel Tower but Notre Dame was GORGEOUS. :D

Oh, and if you got to the (excuse my hideous spelling) champs-elysees, RAID THE PERFUME SHOPS OMG. Seriously, there was one there that was just WALLS AND WALLS of every smell you can possibly conceive of, it was just porn for the nostrils. :D

[hathy-col.livejournal.com]

Oh, yay! I was really keen on the Notre Dame, I'm glad to hear that it's worth it. :-)

[elyim.livejournal.com]

Go to a restaurant called Chez Gladines, near Place D'Italie. It is cheap (for Paris) and you get masses of food and get there early because it opens at 7pm and by 7.30 there is a queue, despite it being too early for the French to eat.

In Montmartre, near Sacre Coeur, there's a square full of artists, with half of them selling expensive paintings and half of them doing portraits. It's fun to wonder around, peering at all the portraits in progress and comparing what each artist does wrong - this one gets them slightly too fat, this one too thin, this one gives them a murderous stare - and to whisper things like "oh, but she doesn't have a moustache!" or glance back and forth between the drawing and the subject with a confused look.

Also near the Sacre Coeur there's a shop called Zut! which mostly sells massive clocks (from train stations).

Also, book everything in advance because there are mega queues. Also, you are under 26 so you can get in everywhere for free (or reduced), and where free you generally don't need a ticket so can join straight into the entry line and skip the ticket one (which is always much longer).

[hathy-col.livejournal.com]

Yay for food advice! Cheap and plenty is my kind of cuisine. The rest of the hints are very handy indeed, too; any kind of queue skipping sounds good to me.

[goingxmissing.livejournal.com]

i agree with someone above who suggested notre dame, it is really a rather moving experience. it's completely beautiful. i would also recommend musee d'orsay above the louvre, depending on what kind/whether or not you even enjoy art. the mona lisa is of course, the thing the louvre is most famous for because of the da vinci code, but it is wholly underwhelming. musee d'orsay however, has many of the impressionists and toulouse lautrec <333 and many, many others. it is fantastic. oh gosh i do love paris! have a fantastic time<3 also! montmatre! for the sacre coeur and the moulin rouge and the street markets, oh!

[hathy-col.livejournal.com]

I sort of want to see the Mona Lisa mostly because of the stuff about it in Doctor Who. If it's good enough for Tom Baker, it's good enough for me! (Oh, god, I'm so sad.)

I'm so glad to hear other people being so enthusiastic; it makes me even more excited!

[purplerainbow.livejournal.com]

If you have time for a day trip, GO TO VERSAILLES. It will make you want to live in a castle and need a carriage just to get around because the grounds are so big. It is really amazing.

Ditto Notre Dame - if you can stomach the stairs there are great views from the top of it.

The Louvre is worth seeing. Yes, see the famous things, but then choose a floor that interests you (you will never see the whole thing in a day) and marvel at how quiet it is everywhere else.

Other than that, just wander along the river and enjoy the atmosphere! Drink in a cafe! Talk pretensiously about philosophy and smoke fancy cigarettes! Have a great time!

[hathy-col.livejournal.com]

I'd love to go to Versailles, but we're not there for long enough. WOE. Thank you for the rest of the advice, though - I'm so excited!