« Paris is a moveable feast », wrote Ernest Hemingway. Paris is one of the cities which are present in everyone’s mind, which provide a lot of images when is evoked, whatever if you have always been there or not. Paris is one of the cities where a lot of travelers dream to go to, a city which charms the people’s imaginary for generations, which is attractive thanks to its symbolism, its beauty and its secrets.
For Hemingway, Paris was a moveable feast. For foreigners, Paris seems to be the grail, a city almost mythical. For French people, Paris is Paris, a capital, a strong symbol of the country, sometimes close, sometimes far away. For both of us, while we are writing these lines, Paris represents one of our next destinations, not for travelling but for staying and living there. However, this has not always been the case. Not a long time ago, we saw Paris through our traveler’s eyes, dumbstruck and captivated by this impressive city, especially when visiting it for the first time. In this article and the next ones we are going to share this point of view: the Paris for tourists, the must-sees, the Paris of dreamers. But we also wish to share our experience as inhabitants in order to show you all of the possibilities Paris gives when you get off the beaten track. Thus, when we will be settled in and after a few months, we’ll talk again about this city from another point of view.
We start this series of articles with means of transportation. Paris is the most accessible city in France: airports, train stations, buses… We are used to do the journey from Bordeaux, which lasts about two hours, for around 32€ round-trip ticket. Book them a few months in advance because a one-way last minute ticket costs more than 100€. Paris has a lot of train stations. The most famous is probably the Montparnasse Station. You cannot miss it, as it is located just next the Montparnasse Tower, one of the highest buildings of the city which works as a landmark while walking. From this station you can join the metro network, run by the RATP group, in Montparnasse Bienvenue.
When we first arrived at the station a year ago, we were surprised by the expensive price of the transports tickets in Paris. Indeed, a one-way ticket costs 1,90€. The ticket is even more limited than in other cities: the bus-bus connections, metro-RER (within Paris only) and metro-metro work. But you cannot do Bus-RER connections and vice-versa. This fare does not allow you to take the shuttle to Orly and Charles de Gaulle airports. You can also buy 10 tickets for 16,90€ which is a good option if you have to use transports several times. The “Pass Navigo”, which allows you to use unlimited transports, can be bought per month (between 65,20 and 75,20€ depending on the zones), per week (between 19,85 and 22,80€) and even per year (but we’ll talk about it later). If you are in Paris only for touristic reasons, a fare Paris Visite would probably be advantageous and costs 38,35€, giving you the permission to use unlimited transports during 5 days.
The metro network is very easy to take if you pay attention to your direction and your stop. Everything is very well explained and well-made. The main problem with the Parisian metro, beyond the smell and the dirtiness, is the fact that the long white tunnels weave a lot and sometimes seems never-ending. You also need to be careful with the pickpockets.
What one often ignores is also that Paris allows you to go to many foreign countries: you can go to European cities with a cheap train, which is more ecological than the plane: here are a few examples, with the lowest prices that we found on the SNCF website:
| Destination | Travelling time (direct) | Outward journey price | Return journey price |
| Brussels | 1h22 | 29€ | 29€ |
| Luxembourg | 2h45 | 21,50€ | 21,50€ |
| Cologne | 3h20 | 32€ | 32€ |
| Amsterdam | 3h55 | 35€ | 35€ |
| Stuttgart | 3h40 | 39€ | 39€ |
| Düsseldorf | 3h45 | 32€ | 32€ |
| Frankfurt | 4h45 | 39€ | 39€ |
Concerning the accommodation, we are not the best to guide youthis time. We chose to stay not in the city itself but outside, in a friend’s flat. The advantage of staying outside is that the prices are way cheaper (you won’t have any doubts if we tell you that Paris is not the cheapest city to stay in). For example, Palaiseau and Paris are linked thanks to the RER B, within 30 minutes you arrive in the center. In Clichy you need 40 minutes to go to the center with the metro lines 10 and 13. Thanks to the RER C you can stay in the Quai d’Orsay and arrive within 19 minutes in the center. Pay attention to the different zones while taking your transport tickets: a RER ticket does not allow you to go outside the area indicated on the ticket. Concerning accommodations in Paris itself, the prices are quite high, even in youth hostels. It is difficult to spend a week in Paris without paying less than 250€ for the accommodation for two. A little tip: take a flat with several people in order to have a lower price per person.
Paris is thus an expensive and imposing city. However, we consider that it is to be experienced once in your life. See you in our next articles to discover our must-sees and the visit of Paris in 4-5 days.
Useful links:
RATP: https://www.ratp.fr/
2 Steps Abroad 