It was my first time in Paris in the summer of 2009. The architecture and old buildings are over whelming. La Louvre is outstanding. Go up the Eiffel Tower about an hour before sunset. Enjoy the view of this magnificent city, as it looks cleaner from up there -- otherwise Paris is very dirty. Watch where you walk and sit, even in the Metro. Wear good walking shoes that are easy to clean. There are lots of Gypsies especially in tourist areas -- just walk away. Yes, local Parisians can be rude too. Oh and some French would help but you get laughed at with Québécois French.
Just two tips for Paris: Take a bottle of red wine, some bread, and cheese up to the top of Mont Martre to the steps of the Sacre Coeur at dusk and just gaze. And two: do a Fat Tyre night bike tour from the base of the Eiffel Tower, a great way to review everything you've seen that day as the sun sets in summer!! A truly beautiful city!
Paris is good only to get quality French perfume. All the rest in this awful city is not worth even thinking about it.
The Montmartre area is the "real" Paris, away from all of the tourist and stuff. Eat at a cafe. Watch out for pushy guys in the Red Light District.
You could stay in Paris forever — if you can afford to — and still not get enough. I ran the whole time day and night and did not see the half of it. And remember, please at least try to speak a little French and you will be surprised how pleasant Parisians will be—don’t try and you will experience the stereotypical aloofness. My advice, buy one of those language learning cd’s at your local book store before you leave home and get the basics like “Ou se trouve le WC”, the last part is pronounced VC (Where’s the restroom.)
You can't really go wrong as far as location goes when you're looking for a hostel in Paris. They're pretty much all within a few blocks of a metro stop, which means you're always about 10-15 minutes from anywhere in Paris. By the way, buy a multi-day metro pass rather than paying for each trip to save money.
Hostelz.com is the only hostel guide with complete information on all youth hostels and backpackers in every city around the world.
