Paris, France

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Paris can be reached in 3 ½ hours by riding a Thalys train from Amsterdam or Rotterdam. If you book in advance, chances are the price for two-way ticket is 65 euro. A normal price ranges from 120 euro to 170 euro depending upon the season. It is also possible to reach Paris by plane landing at Charles de Gaulle airport. However, a train is better because the final destination is Gare du Nord, Paris central station. The route is from Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Brussels, Paris Nord.

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ARRIVAL GARE DU NORD

Upon arrival at the main train station, go downstairs so you can use a toilet for 50 euro cent and buy in one of the stalls a travel card for three days which costs € 21.70 euro zones 1-3. If you plan to explore La Defense, a business district with modern architectural buildings then you have to buy zones 1-6. for € 41.70.

TOURIST SPOTS

Montmartre, line 12 Abbesses. Go to Bateau lavoir which used to be an atelier complex of great painters. Then head off to Moulin de la Galette, Paris windmill, Go to famous Place du Tertre. Walk to Sacre Coeur church. Enjoy the view of Paris from the top of the staircase. Get back to Abbesses metro station down the stairs and through Place Saint Pierre. Enjoy the shops and cafes.
Basilique du Sacre Coeur, to reach the church you can either climb steep stair or ride an elevator (mostly jump-packed with tourists)
Place du Tertre (square where artists gather to paint/sketch tourists for a price).
Museum Dali is nearby.
Île de la Cité is a natural island within Paris where you can find Notre Dame, Sainte Chapelle and Conciergerie.
Notre Dame cathedral, Cite metro station on line 4, free entrance except climbing tower.
Sainte Chapelle, gothic cathedral, entrance fee, Cite metro station on line 4, close to Notre Dame.
Conciergerie, a medieval building and used to be a prison, Cite station, line 4. Chatelet station, line 1, entrance fee.
Eiffel tower, a must to reach the top for 13.40 euro, station Bir Hakeim on line 6.
Montparnasse tower (alternative for Eiffel), entrance fee, Montparnasse Bienvenue station line 4,6,12,13, address: 33 avenue du maine, opposite Eiffel tower.
Place La Concorde, a square with Egyptian obelisk and a fountain with middle eastern looking black statues, Concorde metro station line 1, 8, 12.
Louvre Museum, metro station Palais Royal on line 1, entrance fee is lower every Wednesday and Friday evenings from 6 pm to 9:45 pm.

Museum D'Orsay, an impressionist museum and alternative to Louvre museum, 1, Rue de Bellechasse, Metro station Solferino.

Jardin des Tuileries is a big garden for strolling and for seeing nice statues, near Louvre museum
Centre Pompidou, a museum for modern art, just strolling in the square is worth it.

Champs-Élysées, a long pretigious avenue where you can experience Paris ambiance with its cafes, restaurants, cinemas, architectural buildings, specialty shops, expensive stores.
Arch de Triomphe, is a famous monument and honours those who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionary and the Napoleonic Wars, located at the foot of Champs-Elysees
Hotel Les Invalides, Varenne metro station on line 13 or from Champs Elysees, cross the bridge Alexander III
Hotel de Ville, municipal hall of Paris

Palais de Chaillot, Trocadero metro station on line 6 and 9, opposite Eiffel tower, entrance fee
Ile Saint-Louis is a lovely and old Paris district, Pont Marie, line 7 (5 minutes walk across the Seine river).
Boulevard Saint-Germain, a major street on the left side of Seine river. Visit Saint German de Pres abbey church.
La Defense, a business district with modern architectural buildings, metro 1.
Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, most fashionable street in Paris. Go to nr. 55., Elysee Palace, the officiel residence of the president of France
Markets (Tuesday to Saturday)

Food markets

-Mouffetard Paris food market, Censier Daubenton line 7
-Buci Paris food market, Mabillon line 10
-Aligre Paris food market, Ledru-Rollin line 8, 9am -12:30 pm http://marchedaligre.free.fr/

Flea markets-Puces de Saint Ouen
Saturday and Sunday: 10 am until 5 pm, Monday: 11 am until 5 pm
How to get there: Metro: Porte de Clignancourt, Line
-Porte de Vanves, Saturday and Sunday mornings until 1 p.m. How to get there: Metro: Porte Vanves, Line 13
TIPS

- Enjoy a cruise in Seine river, by ordering a ticket in the internet using this website to save euro: http://www.vedettesdupontneuf.com/

- Stroll along the long road of Champs-Élysées by starting from Place de la Concorde until finally reaching Arc de Triomphe or vice-versa. You will pass by beautiful spots. Look for location of La Petit Palais at Avenue Winston Churchill (station Champs Elysees Clemenceau, line 1, 13) This side street of Champs de Lysees has lots of imposing buildings. You also find bridge of Alexander Ponte with Eiffel tower as background. When you cross this bridge, you find Hotel Les Invalides.
-At Arc de Triomphe, go downstairs, enter the tunnel.
-Most French eateries have a combo meal known as Formules. It is around 15 euro. Being a budget traveler, I prefer buying in supermarkets, bakeries, drinking coffee a few blocks away from a tourist spot and eating in Chinese eateries or French turo-turo. It saves unnecessary expenses in my case. By the way, I notice that Chinese eateries/restaurants adjust the food taste according to the taste buds of locals. The food served tastes like a real French food. Foods catered by Chinese in Holland taste different.
-a normal travel card has a limited zone. If you plan to visit La Defense, a district where there are modern architectural buildings, buy this specific zone.
-At Place du Tertre, beware of con-artists pretending to be painters.
-At Notre Dame church, beware of gypsies asking if you speak in English. Just ignore them or say "no". If you respond by saying you do speak English, they will let you read something in English and will not go away until you give money.

FREE THINGS TO DO IN PARIS:

Every first Sunday of the month are the following museums for free:

Louvre, D'Orsay, Pompidou, Rodin.

Climbing tower in Notre Dame is free every first Sunday of the month.
Saint Chapelle en Pantheon (from Oct-March)
Madame Curie museum, no entrance
Musée Carnavalet, no entrance

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