Paris tips

[Boissal]

We did a bit of time in Annecy and Lyon. Lyon was great, but has a lot of conceptual overlap with Paris.

Our french friends were surprised we went to Annecy (forgetting perhaps that one of them recommended it) as it is not a destination many Americans make it to but is a popular domestic tourist destination.

Very cute town on an alpine lake with some picturesque canals (some say the "Venice of the Alps" although that might be stretching it). Multiple 1-2 michelin star restaurants.

If I had planned ahead better, I really would have loved to have secured a sailboat rental to go out on the lake. Would have also loved to rent bikes and do the ~42km loop around the lake with stops at cafes and the like.

And late october/november is almost certainly too late (probably starting to snow on summits), but there's supposed to be some good MTB as well--you can take a city bus up the Semnoz for shuttled riding back into town and I remember seeing a lot of other stuff on trailforks.

Annecy is one of the coolest towns ever. I went to college there, my sister lives there, it's paradise. Beautiful, still not blown out by crowds, unreal access to the mountains. Late Oct is definitely not too late to ride, snow comes pretty late to most resorts in the Alps due to their low elevation. Riding in the Semnoz in the fall is spectacular, there are endless miles of great trails. The lake is a real beauty, biking around it or sailing is super fun. Excellent hiking all around as well.
The Venice of the Alps is definitely a stretch but the old town has a few canals and incredible eateries. If I had to move back, Annecy would be top of the list.

[Danno]

I asked my Parisienne friend when to switch from bonjour to bonsoir, and she told me about when it gets dark.

"hello" is so much fucking easier

[riser4]

"hello" is so much fucking easier

And the ever popular"good-bye".

[Meadow Skipper]

"hello" is so much fucking easier

So is staying home.

French is hard. For one thing, they don’t pronounce half the fucking letters in their words.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

And the ever popular"good-bye".

Ciao works just about anywhere

[Danno]

So is staying home.

well shit, I screwed that one up.

[riser4]

Ciao works just about anywhere

Tschüß.

[Meadow Skipper]

well shit, I screwed that one up.

[mcski]

So is staying home.

French is hard. For one thing, they don’t pronounce half the fucking letters in their words.

English has entered the chat

[XXX-er]

Paris is where I seen THE best dressed woman ever wearing high fashion on a bike,

she probably wasn't going far so she just grabbed a rental bike from one of those on-street rentals

I rehearsed ordering a beer from a waiter in french but I got the wrong waiter so when the other one shows up suddnely the script goes out the widow and I m lost, the GF shows up sorts it out and everyone laughs

[Meadow Skipper]

Paris is where I seen THE best dressed women ever…

Truth.

[Boissal]

Paris is where I seen THE best dressed woman ever wearing high fashion on a bike,

she probably wasn't going far so she just grabbed a rental bike from one of those on-street rentals

I rehearsed ordering a beer from a waiter in french but I got the wrong waiter so when the other one shows up suddnely the script goes out the widow and I m lost, the GF shows up sorts it out and everyone laughs

Ms Boissal used to rehearse her restaurant orders with me and always thought she was ready for anything and everything the waiter would throw at her. She'd still get caught off guard 100% of the time. The nail in the coffin was ordering water, theoretically the easiest thing ever, and get offered 3 different options she hadn't though about (plate, minerale, gazeuse, ie flat from the tap, flat from a fancy bottle, bubbly). After that I had to handle all the orders.

Re: bike fashion, my sister isn't in Paris any longer but she'll ride her cargo bike with both her kids on the way to daycare or school drop-off while wearing outfits you'd expect to see at a high end NYC law firm. With the e-cargo she's taken to riding in heels, it's hilarious. Style is definitely a thing over there.

[old goat]

I read veau and knew it meant veal. I ignored the rest--turns out it was sweetbreads--pancreas--which tastes as bad as liver.
I gave up trying to order in French when I tried to order water but was ordering a carafe of god. Fortunately the waiter knew to bring water. God doesn't fit in a carafe.

[frosted flakes]

Also check out the coastal town of Saint Malo.

If you’re up near Saint-Malo, and you like oysters, it’s worth driving over to Cancale for lunch. It’s a famous oyster town, and just relaxing there with the cheap local oysters, tons of other cool seafood bites, great wine, and a great view was probably my favorite thing to do across all of my France trips so far.

[warthog]

Funny, my sister lives there, and she is about as fashion backwards as they get. I think she goes more for the Sportif look.
We always scratch our heads how she ended up in Paris and still doesn't have any fashion sense.

Annecy is amazing. So is Strasbourg, which is a fun gateway to a whole different France. The German France. Further down South East, you get the Italian France. Paris is Paris. North is Viking, South West is Spain. So many cool regions and influences. You need months.

Lyon is an amazing city, but I wouldn't consider it much of a tourist destination, unless you are a foodie. Lyon is the gastro centre of France, but I wouldn't plan a trip around it. Read the book DIRT if you are interested in cooking and Lyon. https://www.amazon.com/Dirt-Adventur...63bd28a8ad080a

[warthog]

Annecy is one of the coolest towns ever. I went to college there, my sister lives there, it's paradise. Beautiful, still not blown out by crowds, unreal access to the mountains. Late Oct is definitely not too late to ride, snow comes pretty late to most resorts in the Alps due to their low elevation. Riding in the Semnoz in the fall is spectacular, there are endless miles of great trails. The lake is a real beauty, biking around it or sailing is super fun. Excellent hiking all around as well.
The Venice of the Alps is definitely a stretch but the old town has a few canals and incredible eateries. If I had to move back, Annecy would be top of the list.

Can I take your spot? I would live in Annoy in a second.

Funny story-
We sat down for dinner at an outside bistro. Seating is tight, so we had a couple basically sitting with us, as you do. Cool scene. Everyone around us was from EVERYWHERE, and they were all speaking English, which was rare last time I was there in the early 00's. So we start speaking a bit of Franglais with this couple, and they find out we are going to Nice- AIX by car. They recommend we stop in Cassis. Can't recommend it enough.
FF to our trip from Nice. We stop in Cassis and QUICKLY realize this is a French tourist town. Almost no one speaks English, or at least they aren't letting the secret out. The only other english speaking couple was Australian, and they were as lost as we were. Had a great time. One of the best Bouillabaisse I have ever had, but we just can't shake the feeling that that couple was laughing about it later saying, "I wonder if those Americans actually went to Cassis."

[Iowagriz]

Thanks for all the tips so far. Keep them coming.

So far, 5 nights booked in Paris, Latin Quarter. Maybe a 10-minute walk to the restaurant of Singlesline. We are going to skip the dinner cruise, but found a Friday happy hour cruise that sounds fun. Versailles for a day, Louvre for a day, wandering and seeing other sights in between.

Then thinking of TGV to Tours, but staying in Amboise for 3 nights. Chambord and Chenonceau, for sure, apparently 3 others nearby and a day of a wine tour.

Then it gets tough to get to Chartes and Mont Sant-Michel. Either go back to Paris as a hub and take trains each day, or (my preference) rent a car in Tours and make a loop of Malo, Sant-Michel and Chartes (I'm sure other fine places could be added). Sightseeing small towns along the way is a great bonus. Return the car to Tours for the TGV back to Paris.

Annecy sounds great, and I've added it to a future Germanic/Swiss trip. Strasbourg has been on our list, and we had thought about it for this trip, but we decided to hold it for the future.

[Meadow Skipper]

^ I think your idea of a car rental is a good one. A lot of my best times in France have been driving around to smaller towns.

[warthog]

Although a quick day trip to Marseilles might be quite the adventure, I think you meant Versailles.

My sister and Frere in law et familie love to hike there and walk the grounds. If you watched the horse events at all in the Olympics, all of that steeplechase terrain is hiking trails. They say to skip the palace tour (it has been closed EVERY time I have gone) and just walk the grounds. It is a full day.

[skaredshtles]

<snip> They say to skip the palace tour (it has been closed EVERY time I have gone) and just walk the grounds. It is a full day.

That's what we did... 'cause it was closed the day we were there as well.

[Iowagriz]

You are correct on Marseilles vs Versailles, corrected on post

[mcski]

Although a quick day trip to Marseilles might be quite the adventure, I think you meant Versailles.

My sister and Frere in law et familie love to hike there and walk the grounds. If you watched the horse events at all in the Olympics, all of that steeplechase terrain is hiking trails. They say to skip the palace tour (it has been closed EVERY time I have gone) and just walk the grounds. It is a full day.

As amazing as the grounds are, no way do they eclipse the palace tour. So much interesting detail inside it’s hard to believe. The grounds kind of overwhelm me. They’re just to fuckin big to fully appreciate. Maybe if I have a horse next time!

I highly recommend the Paris Catacombs. It’s The most mind blowing experience underground in Paris. When I was in school, there wasn’t much of any tourism of it, but there were frequent wild parties. Miles of tunnels down there. The amt of bones there is impossible to comprehend. L’empire de la mort!

[riser4]

Can I take your spot? I would live in Annoy in a second.

Funny story-
We sat down for dinner at an outside bistro. Seating is tight, so we had a couple basically sitting with us, as you do. Cool scene. Everyone around us was from EVERYWHERE, and they were all speaking English, which was rare last time I was there in the early 00's. So we start speaking a bit of Franglais with this couple, and they find out we are going to Nice- AIX by car. They recommend we stop in Cassis. Can't recommend it enough.
FF to our trip from Nice. We stop in Cassis and QUICKLY realize this is a French tourist town. Almost no one speaks English, or at least they aren't letting the secret out. The only other english speaking couple was Australian, and they were as lost as we were. Had a great time. One of the best Bouillabaisse I have ever had, but we just can't shake the feeling that that couple was laughing about it later saying, "I wonder if those Americans actually went to Cassis."

But you got the Bouillabaisse, so does anything else matter?

[warthog]

But you got the Bouillabaisse, so does anything else matter?

Funny it autocorrected to Annoy.

It was fucking amazing, BUT we showed up at 2pm and the staff was unpleased, but they had just sat a french couple and had to seat us and the Australians. I told my wife, whatever happens, we finish before the french couple. We were successful, and the waiter was pretty chill after the initial WTF moment when we got sat.
Whoops. Stupid Americans.

[Boissal]

I highly recommend the Paris Catacombs. It’s The most mind blowing experience underground in Paris. When I was in school, there wasn’t much of any tourism of it, but there were frequent wild parties. Miles of tunnels down there. The amt of bones there is impossible to comprehend. L’empire de la mort!

Agree on that. I went in with a buddy about 5 years ago and it was still a self-guided thing, not even sure they do actual tours. Wandering around in tunnels lined with skulls, held together with columns made of bones, in fairly dim light and complete silence, is a very odd experience.