Need Info re: Paris

[Alioops]

I realize this is not the place to post this, but Odin needs the info asap. He tends to plan for his trips the same way he packs, quick & dirty, hoping he didn't forget anything. One thing he forgot was to book a place to stay on his arrival in Paris.

He arrives into Paris at 7 a.m. (10 p.m. tonight, AK time) and has no place to stay. I found a few hostels on line and have some of that info for him, but if anybody knows of a good, cheap place to stay, please post the info. He would like it close to the airport (CdG), but anything cheap will work for him.

Thanks

[Rusty Nails]

Ali,

I gave him the phone number of my best buddy who owns a nice flat in the heart of Paris and is expecting to hear from John if he has any troubles (or needs a free place to crash, for instance). Have him call Pascal. If any coordination needs to be done, PM me for phone # and address of said Pascal.

Rusty

[Yossarian]

Ali,

CDG is not actually very close to town itself. It is, if memory serves, on a Metro line though, which is pretty easy to navigate into Paris. Where is he headed? Is he exploring Paris, or just passing through? If he's headed to the French alps, etc, it probably means he is coming in to CDG then headed for a train to Cham or Geneva or something? If so, I believe they depart from Gare Lyon...which is in the east part of Paris, so he'd need to get into town anyway... Hostels and hotels aplenty in town, not really anything much out by CDG... There is a chain/type of travel hotels that would be perfect for him, funny name...gimme a minute to remember... They're the French cross between a motel 6 and a hostel. Small cheap individ rooms but with a common kitchen and bathrooms etc... Formula 1 or something like that... hang on, digging into memory...

[PNWbrit]

http://www.hotelformule1.com

But only as a last resort.

[Yossarian]

Ok, more info to spew as it comes. I'm sure the Euros can do much, much better, but they're all asleep for a bit longer. So I'll do the best I can:

CDG is at the end of the Blue (B3) line in the Paris metro rail. There are two rail systems, however, in Paris. The RER, which runs out into the suburbs, and the Metro itself, which is more city centric. The RER Blue (B3) line is the one that ends at CDG, which is NE of Paris proper, and quite a ways out. The system is set up on zones. Cost depends on how many zones you travel through. He'll be out in Zone 5, I think, and Paris itself sits in Zone 1. You can buy tickets from automatic machines which can be used in English as well as French, or, if you know precisely where you're headed, you can go to any ticket booth and ask for a single ride ticket to the destination needed. If he's going to be doing some exploring, spending some time to figure out the machines is worth it, because you can buy a 10 pack of say, Zone 1 tickets (within Paris), for cheaper than individually.

He can also take a cab or bus into town from CDG. The cab will cost somewhere (don't quote me on this) around 35 Euro, I think. But that could be off. Once in Paris, it's very easy to get around. Metro tickets within zone 1 are cheap, and the city can be covered on foot very easily, particularly for an active guy like him.

The formule 1 thing is definitely a last resort, but a good one to know about. However, they largely exist only in the suburbs, as they are intended for travelering motorists passing through, and not so much the tourists or visitors to a city. I don't think he'll find any in town, but he might just find one between CDG and town, out in one of the burbs. Depending on his travel plan, that might work well for him.

As for specific places to stay, I'm not a ton of help. I can vaguely paint the better known areas of Paris though. Centrally south of the river is the St. Michel/St.Germain/Notre Dame area. Very cool for exploring, upscale, poo-poo trendy, filled with the beautiful people but not in a pretentious way. Very charming. Classic Paris. Probably too expensive to find a cheap room, however. Up in the north-center of Paris is the Opera/La Fayette area. Pretty healthy shopping/local/tourist area, probably could find something in here. North and east of the Opera stop. In between, on the north bank of the river, due south of Opera, and running to the NW, is the Champs Elysees (spelling?), the main tourist stretch between the Louvre and the Arc de Triumph. No obvious lodging here, but a good strip to navigate by. L'Opera is due north of the Louvre, which sits at the SE end of this strip, and is more or less across the river from the first area I mentioned (St. Michel). Another great area is Montemarte, which almost certainly will have a place to stay with some real character (this was the bohemian area) - north of Opera in the north part of Paris; A place to avoid in my opinion in the Les Halles area, which has become pretty seedy and perhaps a bit dangerous, and is just east of the Louvre. Not really bad, just sort of quasi-Amsterdam red light ish. It's the yellow light district of Paris. Fine in the day, maybe not a great place to wander at night.

That's the extent of my Paris knowledge, sorry it isn't more. I was only there for a weekend. Oh wait, there is a chain of hotels that is pretty good, I think they may have a couple in and around Paris... Accor Hotels ... probably can look them up, don't know about price range though... Here, wait, this is good, if for no other reason than the breakdown of the city: www.accorhotels.com

For what it's worth, I would point him towards Opera, perhaps near the Gare de Nord (north station). It's close(r) to CDG, relatively safe for the most part, and reasonably but not horribly touristy. It's a good start to the city.

[Foggy_Goggles]

When in France always where the puffy shirt.

[ak_powder_monkey]

When in France always where the puffy shirt.

sorry just had to catch the spelling mistake its wear when referring to clothes (although I probably spelled something wrong here)

Ignore this post

[Stu Gotz]

Tell Odin to speak slowly and very loudly.

And he should pepper his conversations with lots of phrases like "cheese eating surrender monkey" and "you'd all still be Germans if it wasn't for America" and "y'all got an Applebees around here?"

[snorkeldeep]

might be able to find cheap lodging in montparnasse as well.. there are some funkier hotels down that way. tell him to get a map of paris by arrondisement that will have all of the streets if he's doing exploring - and should touch on tourist attractions as well. easier to use than the tourist maps that dont necessarily have every street on them. it will include a map for the metro/rer as well and its really easy to get around.

one other tip (ask me how i know....) - keep the stub from the metro, and make a note of the one you used to get in - you'll need it to get back out in some stations and you'll waste a ride if you have to use a new one instead.

if he's into museums, the carnevale museum is in an old private residence in saint paul (ENE part of the city - rive droite) and is really cool aside from all of the normal stuff. beaubourg, or the pompidou centre - is just a few blocks away from there as well. i believe carnevale is on rue frank bougeouis or something.

and tell him to stop by gallerie tra in saint paul on rue de la turenne - our friends place. they have very cool t-shirts.

if he gets really stuck, PM me for local contacts.

[Alioops]

Thanks Rusty and thanks to everyone else for the info.
I know he will appreciate all the help.