Originally Posted by
benzguy80
One thing to know is Paris is not at its best during the middle of August. Many of the locals flee the city for holidays elsewhere. Definitely make sure your hotel room has acclimatization (air conditioning)!
A first timer might have more fun staying on the Left Bank (Rive Gauche in FR). This includes
arrondissements 5-7 and 13-15. Each has its own particular flavor. The Latin Quarter (5eme) is lively albeit touristy. I like the St Germain area (6eme) and Montparnasse (15eme) myself. On the other hand some good deals for lodging can be had in Montmartre (18eme).
Hotwire is a good resource for getting a nice hotel at a discount but it requires blind booking. You might do better going through Venere. I'd advise thumbing through
TripAdvisor reviews.
HTH,
benzguy80
Good tips, benzguy. But I must disagree with Paris in August (and July). Those are very good times to travel to Paris, PRECISELY because a lot of Parisians are gone.
Having lived there for five years I can tell you that the Parisians are a pretty tough crowd. So when you have all the Parisians in the city they go onto each others nerves a lot and things get worse from there; like a bad vibe reverberation. In July and August one half of them is gone and cannot bother the remaining half. So those who remain are much easier to deal with. In addition, the other half being replaced by tourists brings even more color to the city and the tourist revenue is welcome. In my experience Parisians are friendlier to tourists than to their own kind.
Of course, your Air Condition argument is perfectly valid. I'd recommend that, too.
Till