First time in Paris
 

Dear FTers,

Me and the wife is planning our first trip to Paris in Sep. Booked 5 nights at the Paris Marriott Rive Gauche Hotel, not sure how convenient is the location, any thoughts ?

And we're also wondering if there are any tourist pass for visiting museums and transportation. Any help is appreciated.

Your location will be fine - Paris has a wonderful Metro system and you will be able to get wherever you wish to go. That said, one of the best parts of Paris is walking around the city and that will also be possible (except for the more remote areas).

Museum passes are available for 2 days or more. They are not cheap but the major advantage is that they allow you to bypass what can be very long lines for tickets. I usually purchase the two day passes from the hotel concierge - longer passes usually need to be purchased at a tourist bureau.

Two issues here. First of all, when you have the passes, there is an urge to make the most of them and we tend to run our rear ends off - it can be exhausting! Second, you may find that you really don't need them in September when the big crowds should be gone and museum lines much shorter. We are returning in December and will not buy them this time.

Our friends stayed at the Marriott Rive Gauche and loved it. If I recall, they negotiated club access on arrival and felt it was definitely worth it. Have a great time!

The Marriott Rive Gauche gets high marks from many in the Marriott forum.

Since the OP is a Marriott Gold, he should automatically get club access, no?

Thanks Stevens, we'll check online for the 2 days/more days options online. Is it a better idea to purchase them in advance online or should we just wait til we get there and work with the concierge ? Any chance that those might be sold out ?

One more question, since this is out first time and we most definitely wants to visit the Eiffel tower, any good tips and tricks in buying the best deal and view in going up ?

Thanks again.

Not sure about GLD, I know PLT will definitely get access to the lounge, it will be nice if they let us in. Which will save us a lot of trouble looking for breakfast and afternoon drinks. lol.

I purchased the PMP and it was one of the best things I did in Paris. We went in March when it was not tourist season and it was invaluable being able to hop to the front of the line since we only had a few days in Paris. We purchased ours at the Lourve.

If you want, PM your e-mail address, I can send you some Paris stuff I just sent to someone else to help plan your trip.

The hotel is not in the center of Paris but it will be just fine. It's a nice hotel with nice rooms and the metro and bus stops are almost across the street. The exec. Lounge is decent as well.

You can get the museum passes when you get there. There's no need to buy them on-line. As someone else said, you might not even need a pass in September.

Hope you have a wonderful time.

Bobette

If you need tips, info related to the Marriot area (such as restaurants, metro, bus or other shops) feel free to ask me: i used to live a few blocks away

Many find this a plus for the hotel (it's in Paris, just not by all the touristy stuff - it's very near Denfert-Rochereau, a major transportation connection point with lots of "more-local" shops and cafes on/near Ave du General Leclerc). There are lots of reviews on the Marriott forum and on TripAdvisor if you want to get a better feel of the place.

I've stayed there so I have a feel of the place.

Bobette

I was in Paris last year for the first time. I had a limited time there and didn't want to deal with transportation issues, getting lost, taking wrong metro and so on.
I found out the hope on, hope off bus tours were a very good way of seeing the town. Their ticket per person is about 35$ and it is good for 2 days. They hit all of the major sights, they have headphoness and a tape explaining what you are seeing and if you want to get off someplace, there will be another bus every 15 minute until around 7-8 PM, depending of seasonal schedules.
I spent one tour, about 2 hours seeing all of the sights and starting next time around got off at places that I had marked as interesting on my time around.
I was lucky in that one of the stop was walking distance to my hotel.
It may not work for all but it worked form me.
Enjoy the city, it is beautiful and i didn't have any of the issues with rude people you hear all the time. May be I was just lucky.

I've read all the reviews and decided to spend all my 120,000 points for 5 nights in this property, hopefully it's worth it.

SO how does you feel about it ??

I too have heard stories of friends being treated poorly in France. Both my wife and I don't speak a word of French, let's just hope that we will be as lucky as you're and be treated fairly during our trip.

I liked it and it is worth the 120K points. The staff was great. I would stay there again. Don't worry about not speaking French. Almost everyone speaks English. You'll have no trouble at all. I've been to Paris countless times and have not been treated rudely.....to the contrary. If you know bonjour, merci and s'il vous plait, you'll be just fine.

As I said in my first post, it is a bit out from the center of Paris but that is not a negative with this hotel.

Report back and let us know how your trip went.

Bobette

Most people I have dealt with in Paris have been welcoming; most people, even Parisians ;), appreciate the demonstrated attempt to learn a few basic words in the local language. The only people who are likely to treat one badly in Paris, IMO, are the con artists (dismiss out of hand anyone who "finds a ring" and tries to approach you, or the "deaf / mute" kids with their phony petitions), if you allow them to take advantage of you.

I think many of the stories are 1) urban legends, retold myriad times, and 2) stories told by people who themselves were rude or insensate. French do have higher standards of courtesy than the average American, just as occurs with Latin Americans, Middle Easterners, etc. More handshaking, greetings, etc. - just observe how others interact.

Etiquette Lesson from a Frenchman
 

The French are very conscious of certain niceties. It's important to say "Bonjour" upon entering a shop. Similarly, make sure you say, "Au revoir" upon leaving a shop. And definitely, say, "Bonjour" before blurting out your question.

Despite knowing all of the above, I got a bit flustered one day when trying to exit a French department store. I wanted to exit the same way I had entered (the main entrance), but couldn't find the way. I saw a security guard and asked where the main entrance was.

Instead of answering, the security guard leaned over to look me straight in the eye. With a huge grin, he said, "Bonjour!" I understood immediately and apologized for my lack of manners. He gave me the directions I needed and we parted amicably. I almost gave him a hug for his gentle reminder.

Enjoy France!

We learned it at the Metro station, twice asking for help without first saying, "bonjour." We finally figured it out!

I'm sure that somewhere in France is a French FT bulletin board with threads about teaching courtesy to Americans!