Guest Notes for Episode 456: Surviving Paris for Newbies

Category: First Time in Paris

Erin Tridle’s Guide to Paris

This is a short guide pointing out some of the things I have noticed or enjoyed while getting to know Paris. If you put together all the time I’ve spent in Paris throughout my lifespan it totals up somewhere around 10 to 12 months. That’s not all that much in reality. So take this guide with a grain of salt. I do not know it all, and do not wish to pretend that I do.

DAILY LIFE

Here are a few tips to make your time a little easier, not all of them will come to use but they do come from my personal experience or the experiences of those around me. Paris is a wonderful city but the more informed you are, the better.

• Watch where you walk. For two reasons. First, people do not walk on the right side of the sidewalk here. They walk wherever and it’s kind of your job to make sure you’re not in the way. Never force a couple holding hands to break hands to get around you. This is a huge faux pas. Second, there’s a lot of poop on the sidewalk. Be careful! Over time you sort of develop a poop radar and instinctively walk around it (I swear to God I’m not making this up) but at first you need to keep your eyes on the ground.
• It is absolutely acceptable to take up an entire table or two if all you want is a simple coffee or soda. This is perfectly normal and does not make you an asshole. If anything, the simple joys of this pastime is seen as almost a right in French culture, so take full advantage of it.
• If you are introduced to a French person, they might expect to do “La Bize” with you. This will *most likely* be two “kisses” on the cheeks (more like touching cheeks), one starting on the left and the second one on the right. This pattern could change depending on what region this person comes from. If you are a man and are meeting another man for the first few times, you will not do this. Usually, this is done between a man and a woman or two women. Men who know each other very well will sometimes do La Bize as well. A lot of people have stopped doing this because of COVID.
• You *technically* don’t need to tip. Your waiter, your barista, and your cab driver all make living wages, so tips aren’t necessary, but it’s considered very kind if you fork over a few bigger coins at the end of your meal, coffee, or ride. Please be the person that chooses to tip, especially in Paris. The rent there is astronomical and not in line with the living minimum wage so tips are massively important, helping service industry workers pay their bills. Never tip someone with a copper-colored coin, only silver or gold. Copper-colored coins are considered an insult. If you’re doing the fine dining scene you should absolutely tip like an American typically does. If you’re in a tourist spot, they will probably spot that you’re American and expect you to tip.
• People might come up to your table while you’re eating and ask you for money. Obviously, be fucking kind to this person, they’re going through a harder time than you. However, I advocate for not getting your money out in this specific approach. My suggestion is, politely shake your head ‘no’ and say, “Zjay Ree-On”. This means, “I have nothing”. I say this because one of two things might happen: You might dig through your purse and put your phone down on the table while you’re searching. That phone is gone now. Or you may take out your wallet and immediately get it snatched out of your hands. Be smart about who you give your money to and how. This doesn’t mean this will happen. 90% of the time this person means no harm but people have been known to approach in this manner in order to steal so you just have to be careful and assess the situation. This can happen more often if you choose to dine outdoors regularly.
  • Another popular approach is to come over with a clipboard. They’ll ask you to sign their petition and put their clipboard on top of your phone. Once you’re done signing their totally bullshit petition, they take off with your cell phone in hand.
• Speaking of dining outdoors: If you do this, people WILL smoke around you. Deal with it. 25% of the country smokes but it’s illegal indoors so whether you want to get away from the smoke or the smell, it’s best to sit indoors if this is something that bothers you.
• Get a contactless credit card that has zero international fees. I know Capital One has one and so does United. Everywhere you go, people will expect you to have contactless because it’s the standard in Europe.
• Don’t put your phone on the table when you dine. You are asking for someone to take it. That phone is whispering a pickpocket’s name. Be careful about where you put your things. Don’t leave your purse hanging from the back of your chair and all that.
• Try to stay out of the 19th and 20th if you’re by yourself.
• Not all parks allow you to walk on the grass or have a picnic. Make sure you are paying attention to signage. If you sit on grass you’re not meant to sit on, someone WILL come talk to you about it and tell you to move. If you want to have a nice picnic, I suggest the Champs de Mars right in front of the Eiffel Tower. Note, the grass at the Champs de Mars is blocked off in the winter to let it recover.
• I have a couple of key items with which to gauge when a place is overpriced. A plate of 6 escargots should cost no less than 7 Euros and no more than 13 Euros. Anything below is low quality, anything above is just them ripping you off. A glass bottle of coke should cost no less than 3.50 Euros and no more than 6.50 Euros. 5 Euros is average and the most realistic price. Anything above 6.50 is a tourist trap or a hotel bar. A glass of good wine should be somewhere between 5 Euros and 9 Euros.
• Most of the men you see around tourist spots selling bracelets and Eiffel Tower key chains are immigrants from other countries who pay what little money they can to stay in group dorm rooms and send the rest of their money back home to their families. Be kind to them. My best suggestion for when you find yourself the target of their salesmanship, and you’re not interested, is to say “No Mair-See” in your best French accent and walk away. These salesmen can be very persistent but if you keep saying ‘no thank you’ in French and continue to walk away they’ll eventually leave you be. Do not let them put a bracelet on your arm. They’ll tie it so you can’t get it off and then demand payment.
• Do not walk into a restaurant or bar and immediately ask if they have an English menu. French people hate it when people waltz in and immediately expect them to speak English and provide materials in English. Instead, greet your host by saying, “Bone-Zjure, Day-Zo-Lay, Zjuh Nuh Parl Pah Frahn-Say.” This means, “Hello, I’m sorry, I do not speak French.” Then you can ask, “Par-Lay Voo On-Glay?” which means, “Do you speak English?” This approach will win you much more favor (and better service) than immediately speaking in English.
• Be careful with your things on the metro. There are A LOT of pickpockets there and they would love to take your money, passport, or cell phone. Look out for guys wearing a hat with a bill to cover their eyes, nondescript clothing, carrying an empty bag, who look unsure of where they are going.
• You may see people selling bottles of water out of buckets in the summer. Don’t buy this water. These guys are known to fish used bottles out of trash cans, fill them with tap water, and resell them.
• Walk everywhere you can. As my father has always pointed out, it’ll save you money and it’s good for you. But really the reason I suggest this is not for your physical health but rather for the purposes of adventure. It’s very hard to come upon that charming hole in the wall in Paris you always tell people about if you’re taking the metro everywhere and not stretching your legs. Walk around, get lost, get to know the city. You can always turn your cell signal on later if you end up needing GPS. My favorite thing to do in Paris is to put in some headphones, listen to one of Anthony Bourdain’s audio books (they’re all about travel and food, so the vibe fits), and traverse through the city on foot, getting into little corners I’ve never seen before.
• Speaking of walking, you may notice that people cross streets kind of whenever they want here. That’s fine for small streets, but please USE YOUR JUDGEMENT. No big streets, no roundabouts. I usually like to wait until another person is also crossing against the light, but yes, jaywalking is super normal here and no one will ticket you for it. Please note something else that is common in Paris: running red lights. It’s so common that they have a city-wide advertising campaign to ask people to stop. So watch where you’re going.
• Hey you! American! Wanna know why I know you’re American? Because you’re loud as shit. Stop being so loud. Americans have a reputation of being loud in foreign countries and guess what? It’s accurate. I’ve witnessed it dozens of times. I’ve even participated in it. But let me tell you, few things make me more embarrassed to be American than when everyone in the Louvre stares at the American group who is yell-talking next to the Venus de Milo (true story). Don’t do it. Be different. I beg of you.
• If you’re here on a week(s)-long vacation, make sure you’re planning to do all the big museums on a weekday so you’re avoiding the crowds. Frankly, this should go without saying.
• On June 21^st of every year is my favorite holiday in France: Fête de la Musique. On this day, no matter where you go in Paris, you will run into blasting live or recorded music. That’s because this is the celebration of music. This is the kind of night where people stay out until 5am, so enjoy yourself! I suggest finding a good bar with live music early on and gathering as many friends there as possible. Most bars and clubs close around 2AM but if you’re lucky, you’ll find your way to an afterparty.
• Google maps is your friend because you can download an entire city’s map for offline use so you don’t have to turn on your cell signal and spend money.
• Don’t be that person that wears heels for a full day out in Paris. I know it’s tempting because you want to look great but my friend, your feet will hurt!!! Not to mention, you might break an ankle on a cobblestone. Everyone I know who has been in Paris a while wears sneakers or at least, very walkable shoes.
• While we’re on the subject of not being that person… don’t buy a red beret. Don’t do it. Please. If I’ve seen 1 red beret at the Louvre, I’ve seen 1000. It’s a tourist move. As much as I think a red beret is fashionable (I earnestly do), the tidal waves of red-beret-wearing tourists have made this decidedly cool item an easy target marker. If you’re wearing a red beret you’re either doing something on camera or you’re a tourist and it makes you very easy to clock.
• Careful on the Metro. For many reasons. First, pickpockets: they’re very good at their job so be smart. Watch your purse and don’t have your phone out when the doors are about to close – grabbing your phone and ducking out right before the doors close is a classic move.
• KEEP YOUR METRO TICKET!!! Fun fact, you should never throw away your Paris Metro ticket until you are at your destination and outside of the Metro station. If you throw it away earlier than that, you put yourself in a bad position should you be “controlled” as the Parisians say. To be “controlled” is to have a Metro employee demand to scan your ticket. If the ticket comes back as too old, unused, or even worse, you don’t have a ticket at all, you will end up with a very hefty fine.

WHERE TO STAY

I’m not going to give you actual hotels or AirBnb’s to stay in, as I stay in an apartment, not a hotel so I don’t have a good rec. However, I would suggest that you stay somewhere in arrondissements 1 through 8. These are the most central areas of Paris and they also offer the most sights to see with the notable exceptions of Montmartre and Père Lachaise which are in the 18^th and 20^th arrondissements respectively. Don’t stay in Montmartre. It’s a very cute area but it gets old after the 3^rd back-breaking hill you have to climb or the 5^th portrait artist you had to dodge today. Avoid staying anywhere near a train station.

THINGS TO DO

Luckily Paris offers more things to do than almost any city in the world, so prepare for a long list but be warned – I’m only listing the things I’ve been to recently!

TICKETED

• The Louvre (art and artifacts)
  • It’s the Louvre. I don’t really need to tell you to go. You should already know you need to go. It’s the most famous art museum on the planet for a reason. And if you get bored of art you can go feast your eyes on some royal diamonds or look at all the stuff the French likely stole from Egypt. My personal favorites are the Napoleon III apartments.
  • You’ll need to create a login at the official Louvre site and purchase your tickets online.
• Musée d’Orsay (art)
  • In a former train station, has a great impressionist and expressionist collection (Degas, Lautrec, Van Gogh…). It’s a beautiful building and there’s a café on the top floor that sits behind one of the large clock faces.
  • Easy to purchase tickets on site.
• Musée Jacquemart André (art and preserved 18^th century rooms)
  • Housed in a former mansion, this museum is small but displays fantastic specialty art exhibits and also features preserved rooms from the period it was still a mansion.
  • Can buy tickets online or on site but you’ll wait more with on site.
• War Museum (War Artifacts)
  • Famously features Napoleon’s grave. Also features exhibits on France and other countries’ conflict history including uniforms, guns, swords, cannons, etc. Exhibits range from the 1500’s to WWII. I’ll be honest the WWII exhibit is well done but pretty shocking as it features a lot of Nazi artifacts including flags, uniforms, armbands, guns, etc. If you don’t want to see that I suggest you skip both WWI and WWII as one exhibit leads into the other.
  • Easy to buy tickets on site.
• Versailles/Trianon (17^th and 18^th century palace of French kings)
  • Make sure to get the ticket that gets you access to the chateau, the gardens, and Trianon. Wear good shoes!!! You will walk a lot. Get there as early as possible, there’s a lot of see. You will take the RER C to the Versailles Château Rive Gauche station. HOLD ON TO YOUR TRAIN TICKET. You will need it in order to exit the station. The Château is a quick 5 minute walk from the train station.
  • You can buy your ticket on site or online, but I would suggest online in the busy season.
  • Trianon, Marie Antoinette’s living quarters are off to the side of the Versailles property. It’s a bit of a walk but nothing crazy. This place is worth your time!!! The gardens are incredible, there are way less tourists there, and they even have a small farm with pigs, goats, horses, donkeys, and more.
• Petit Palais (art)
  • The main area of Petit Palais is actually free to enter. The ticketed part is usually the latest specialty art exhibit they’re housing. In back it has a park featuring large-scale sculptures including a massive Jeff Koons of a hand holding flower balloons.
• Opera Garnier (architecture and opera)
  • This is, personally, my favorite building in all of Paris. The architecture inside is incredible and for only 10 Euros it’s the best ticket in town! The opera theater features a large Chagall-painted dome and lush red velvet seats. This building is where the original idea for the Phantom of the Opera came from!
  • Buy tickets on-site.
• Musée des Arts Forains (museum of fairground rides and attractions)
  • Housed in a massive warehouse, this privately owned museum is home to merry-go-rounds from the 1800’s that you can actually ride and various fairground games. But this place is only open to unguided tours once a year during the two weeks surrounding Christmas and New Year’s.
  • Buy your tickets online ahead of time!
• Jardin des Plantes (Park with various attractions)
  • While the park itself is not ticketed, the attractions it houses, are. First there is the Natural History Museum which holds massive rooms full of animal skeletons. The creatures range from modern day to extinct. There is also a zoo in the park but I’ve never been to it. Additionally, there’s a tropical rainforest greenhouse in the park but again, I’ve never been to it.
• Jardin Sauvage (Comedy Club)
  • Don’t worry – they have English comedy nights! Check out their INSTAGRAM for the next week’s lineup and make a reservation on their website. Often times, the English comedy night is free.
• Musée Rodin (Sculptures and other art by the famed artist)
  • Here you can see Rodin’s famous Gates of Hell, The Kiss, and of course the iconic The Thinker.
  • You can easily buy tickets there.
• Le Centre Pompidou (Modern art)
  • This place has a clear escalator tube on the outside of the building that overlooks all of Paris at the top. So, it’s not a bad way to start the visit. They have everything from Picasso to Warhol to Koons here and also everyone you’ve never heard of. They have fabulously strange and confusing modern art and I positively love it here.
  • You can easily buy tickets on-site.

NON-TICKETED

• Jardin de Tuileries (Garden)
  • This is in the 1^st right next to the Louvre. These gardens are meant for strolling or for what I call, “The French Art of Doing Nothing,” which is basically sitting in a pleasant environment and letting the world pass you by. They have tons of chairs by the fountains and in the upper levels of the park.
  • During the summer months, this park is home to a carnival. It has a Ferris wheel, small rollercoasters, bumper cars, bow and arrow shooting, and tons of food stalls. The carnival is free to enter but you’ll need to pay cash for tickets to the rides and for the food, of course.
  • If you want to eat in one of the restaurants in the garden, prepare to pay extra for the pleasure. Your waiter may even ask you about a tip because they’re so used to tourists here that they know who they can nudge for some coin.
• Carrousel Du Louvre (Mall)
  • This is a cute little shopping mall that’s fun to hit on your way out of the Louvre museum.
  • The real reason I’m pointing this one out is that they have ushered toilet stalls here. It costs a Euro or two to use the bathrooms, but they are immaculately clean and open to the public. Also, they sell a handy little pack of feminine products if you’re ever out and about and in need.
• Chatelet (Mall)
  • This is the biggest mall in Paris and has pretty much everything you need here. Basically, if you need clothes, home goods, or electronics this is a good place to go. I do not suggest getting a meal around Chatelet. While there are plenty of restaurants there, most of them are rip-offs.
  • Do not come here at night unless with a group.
• Jardin du Luxembourg (Garden)
  • Another park for another beautiful day in Paris. This park features a large collection of statues of famous women from throughout the ages. You cannot sit on the grass in this park.
• Shakespeare and Company (Bookstore)
  • This is the only fully English bookstore in all of Paris, so if you’re looking to get some books checked off your list while in Paris, this is the place to buy them. They’ve also got a healthy travel section so it’s not a bad spot to grab a guidebook. Note that the line to get in to the 500-year-old book store can be somewhat long.
• Palais-Royal (Garden and Permanent Art Installation)
  • This is home to a small garden with walkways of trees, a few shops and restaurants surrounding, and a courtyard that features art installations from Daniel Buren and Pol Bury. To clarify, this is the place with the black and white striped columns of different heights that is very Instagram-able.
• Versailles Garden (Garden) *WINTER ONLY*
  • This is only free and unticketed in the winter when the gardens are very bare.
• Sacre Coeur (Church)
  • This is the iconic stark white, domed church in Montmartre. It is free to enter but be respectful of clothing choice and the volume of your voice.
  • If you are going to climb the famous Sacre Coeur steps, be prepared: at the bottom of the steps when you first enter, there will be bracelet salesmen waiting for you. They may grab your wrist and try to put a bracelet on you. DO NOT LET THEM. Once it’s on you, they’ll make you buy it. Just rip your hand away and sternly say, “No Mair-See!” If you want to avoid them, consider taking the stairs down the street to your left if you’re facing the bottom of the main steps.
• Champs-Élysées and the Arc de Triomphe (Street and Monument)
  • The Champs-Élysées is a great place to window shop and walk around, though it’s a lot of designer shopping. Don’t bother getting something to eat or drink on this street unless you’re conveniently looking to pay more than you should for everything you buy.
  • The Arc de Triomphe is free for a visit to the ground floor. You can access it using the tunnel entrance placed on the outside sidewalk of the large roundabout. DO NOT try to cross the roundabout. You will die. Tickets to the top of the Arc can be purchased in the tunnel that leads you to the ground floor.
• Champs de Mars (Park)
  • Smack dab in front of the Eiffel Tower, it’s got the best view in town. Grab a blanket at a tourist shop, buy some wine and cheese at a local grocery store (personally, I think large Monoprix’s have the best cheese options), and go sit for a couple of hours and watch as people come in and out of your view and the engulfing shadow of the tower. There are often people there selling wine and *sometimes* even blankets but don’t bet on them always being there.
• Montmartre (Neighborhood)
  • It’s home to so many lovely things: the famous Moulin Rouge, the “I Love You” wall, the Sacre Coeur and is a haven for bohemian artists trying to make a buck. Once you reach the top of the stairs of the Sacre Coeur and you’re facing the church, wander down the street to your left. Take another left at the first street. You’ll see a tourist shop on your right and an Irish pub on your left. That Irish Pub has some of the best fries I’ve ever eaten in my entire fucking life. BUT it’s only that good when the old lady who works there is making them. Look out for her. If she happens to be in, do yourself a favor and spend 5 Euros on some fries to go. A little ways down there’s a small crepe shop (painted midnight blue on the outside) that does raclette crepes to die for. Grab one of these crepes and head down the street until you reach a larger street/opening. Take a left and follow it down the hill a couple hundred yards and you’ll find yourself at a dog park. Go pet a dog and eat your delicious raclette crepe and remind yourself how good life can be.
  • You will deal with artists standing around wandering these streets telling you how beautiful or handsome you are and how they, “must draw you.” As beautiful as you may be, these guys are full of shit and will try to charge you a crazy price for a quick sketch. You want your portrait done? After you get the crepe and walk down to the larger street/opening, take a left and then a right. You’ll come to a big square with a bunch of artists sitting with easels. Now, these are the guys you wanna fuck with. It’s expensive (50 to 80 Euros per person drawn) but they do good work and will spend several hours on one single drawing. Someone in the square can sell you a poster tube for the flight home. It should cost 5 Euros.
• Le Bon Marché (Store/Mall/Specialty Grocery Store)
  • Looking for the best herbs in Paris? This is the place. Want some Spanish nougat with almonds? Again, it’s here. Peckish for some truffled pecorino? Le Bon Marché, bébé. This is the best grocery store in town, it just happens to be housed in a multi-floor mall that sells everything from couches to Le Creuset. It’s honestly just fun to look at all the things available there even if you’re staying at a hotel and not really able to grocery shop.
  • There’s a lovely little mini restaurant inside called Artisan de la Truffe. Go eat there. It’s like 15 Euros for a mushroom risotto to die for that’s topped with delightful, delicate, full slices of truffle.
• The Seine (River)
  • Is the weather nice? Can you get your hands on some wine? Is there air in your lungs? Are you in Paris? If the answer was ‘yes’ to all these questions, you should probably get your ass over to the Seine river and have yourself a seat. Grab a lover or some friends, mark some territory down by the river with a blanket or well-placed jacket, and sip some wine from paper cups until you inevitably sense it’s time to drunkenly stroll home. And yes, you can drink in public in France. It’s one of the many things I love about the country. Unless it’s a specific holiday with security concerns, chances are no one is going to tell you where you can and can’t drink. Just don’t be that American who abuses the privilege.

RESTAURANTS/BARS

• Petit Bao (Bao and other Chinese cuisine)
  • Look, I get it, you’re in Paris and you want French food. And I’ll get to that. But I put this first for a reason. Their XiaoLongBao is a thing of beauty. Their Char Siu Bao? To die for. Their beef chow fun is always a delight and they do things with a couple of bok choy leaves that I can’t even begin to understand. This place is worth your time if you want a break from French food.
• Café Louise (Modern French fare)
  • Lots of seafood on the menu as of writing. It’s a charming bistro with fantastic vaulted stone ceilings that I adore. Interesting cocktails but also good for a glass of wine. Simple yet charming and in a good area of Paris; Saint-Germaine-de-Pres.
• Bistrot Vivienne (Modern French fare)
  • With a fabulously decorated upstairs and its pleasant, quiet placement on a side-street, this place is ideal for a low-key night out. It has lots of seating so as to have the added benefit of being able to squeeze you in on a busy Saturday night.
• Guisé Trattoria (Pizza and other Italian food)
  • If you happen to be looking for authentic Italian pizza on a random night in Paris, look no further. Made in a brick oven with the best Italian ingredients, these pizzas are of the highest echelon. There’s a reason that the place constantly has cars worth the price of a modest home parked out front. They’re the best around, so they attract very wealthy clients. It’s worth making a reservation if you’re coming here on a Saturday night.
• Le Chat Blanc (Cocktails and modern French fare)
  • Around the corner from Guisé. Their IG doesn’t do a great job of showing it but this is a space that is highly Instagram-able if that’s what you’re looking for. If it’s not, no big deal, just move right along. The food it good but not special.
• La Fontaine de Belville (Modern French fare)
  • This is a true gem. A small little diamond in the rough that has gotten lost in the jungle of restaurants available in the city. The chef here is classically trained but the prices are incredibly low for what you’re getting. Always inventive, please, I beg of you, go with the plat du jour. It’s the only way forward here. Or if you’re like me and you enjoy a quiet, simple breakfast, grab a tartine and an oeuf à la coque (soft boiled egg) and a coffee for all of 9 Euros total.
• Frenchie (Michelin starred French restaurant)
  • o They do a 5-course meal for around 115 Euros that is the most insane thing I’ve ever eaten in my life. The menu is whatever the chef says it is that day. You just tell the server whether you have food allergies or anything you can’t eat. The food is fresh, the service is impeccable, and the wine is still only 6-10 Euros. If you’re lucky, the chef, Grégory Marchand, may even sit at your table for a moment and speak with you.
• Player One (Theme bar)
  • I don’t normally go for theme bars, but this place is the DisneyLand of bars and I love it. With a general pop-culture theme, they’ve got specialty rooms like the Star Wars/Alien room, Harry Potter rooms complete with a tree swing hanging from a womping willow, and a Lego bathroom. They have board games and video games scattered throughout the two-story bar but my personal favorite is the Mario Kart setup hidden in the corner of the Star Wars room.
  • I almost forgot to mention: this place has the single greatest collection of themed drinks I’ve ever experienced. Each drink comes in a custom-made mug to match the name of the drink, so for example, the Hedwig drink comes in a Hedwig mug that gets placed in a little carrying cage before it’s handed to you. The Hulk drink comes in a mug shaped like the Hulk’s fist because of course it does. Careful though, that drink will knock you out.
• Street Bangkok (Thai)
  • Street Bangkok is a chain of Thai restaurants in Paris that I simply adore because they have the best egg noodles I’ve ever eaten. Get the Pad See Ew, you can thank me later.
• Rue de Buci (An entire street of restaurants)
  • From Maison Saugvage with their beautiful floral décor to the seafood towers of Atlas, this street has everything you need. Honestly pick any restaurant along the main block of Buci and you’re sure to have a good time. Go to Maison Sauvage for cocktails, Atlas for seafood, Café de Paris specifically for their scallops, or Maison Thevenin for desserts after dinner.
  • This is also a late-night spot, so places tend to stay open longer here.
• Le Châteaubriand (high-end French restaurant)
  • To be fair, I’ve never been. But I do know they do a multi-course dinner for 75 Euros that is apparently, the stuff of dreams. This comes on the back of this being specifically recommended by Anthony Bourdain – he not only recommended this restaurant in his final book (World Travel, released posthumously), he actually visited this restaurant on camera for one of his shows.
• Le Dauphin (French tapas restaurant)
  • Le Dauphin is the sister restaurant of Le Châteaubriand (it’s right next door even!) and therefore strives for the same quality. This one I have been to and I can say, it’s utterly, astonishingly delectable and unexpected. The plates are mostly small plates meant to be shared and don’t show up here expecting duck confit. If this gives you any idea of the level of interesting food we’re talking about at this restaurant, I had goose-neck barnacles here. Had to Google it? Exactly. If you have to Google your food, you might be in a really cool place.

AIRPORT

Some CDG airport tips before you go.

• You can take the RER B train from the airport into the city. You’ll want to use your phone’s GPS so you know what stop to get off at for your destination. The ticket costs 10 Euros which is a lot better than the 40 Euros that an Uber will cost you.
• If you’re willing to fork over the cash, I definitely recommend an Uber. The RER B often breaks down or has staff on strike so it can be unreliable. If you’re catching a flight at CDG, just get the Uber there. I’ve actually missed my flight before because of RER B issues.
• Taxis have fixed rates from the airport, but the rates are insane. Skip the taxi.
• Depending on which terminal you’re flying out of, you may not have a lot of food options once you’re in the airport. Eat before you get to the airport.
• If you’re flying international on Delta/Air France, you may run into the same annoying issue I did – turns out, they WEIGH YOUR CARRY ON. Yep. Super annoying. Be sure to check the current weight restrictions before you go or you could end up like me; having to return to the check in counter, go to a specialty counter, and wait forever to check a 2^nd bag for 100-something dollars and nearly miss your flight because of it. Don’t do this, 10/10 would not recommend.

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Category: First Time in Paris