France Trip One

This is titled “Trip 1″ because from the moment I touched down at Charles De Gaulle airport, on a rainy morning in Paris, I knew it would not be my last trip.

Paris is beautiful! Hands down. The city is nicely arrayed into 20 arrondisements which are like neighborhoods in the United States. Except arrondisements don’t really mean much if you’re there because most people get around on the metro (subway). Paris has got to have the best public transportation of any big city I’ve been to. I did not even get to try the buses as I was on the metro train -or walking- the entire time I was there but it was so easy and efficient to use. Everywhere you need to get to is close to a train station. You can buy tickets for one trip, the entire day, or an entire week.  You can probably buy tickets for longer periods of time if you live there but I didn’t delve that deep. 

 My first experience with the trains was at the airport.  My cousin who was in France for a semester abroad came to meet me at the airport and then we headed back on the train.  I would not suggest getting into the city by train unless you know where you’re going or you are really familiar with the city as travel from the airport will usually require a change of train lines for anyone needing to get to Paris central. 

 Paris in mid-March is definitely a little rainy with temperatures ranging from the 50′s during the day to the mid 30′s at night.  However, every once in a while the sun pops out and makes it all worth while. Plus it rains on and off so it’s not a constant downpour and therefore it does not interrupt much of the day.

 On the first day, I met up with friends at their charming hotel off the Champs Elysees. The Francois Premier is a boutique hotel with smaller rooms per the European style but definitely nice with great service.  The Champs Elysees is to Paris what Fifth Avenue is to New York with gorgeous huge sidewalks, sweeping views of the city and lots of high end stores. I popped my head out at the train station exit and bumped right into a Louis Vuitton store.  However, at the time of this writing the euro is at an all time high against the U.S. dollar.  That’s always good to keep in mind while spending money abroad and Paris is not cheap by any means.