Hot answers tagged france
37
As a French native, I discovered this practice in North America. I never asked for a doggy bag in France, nor have I seen someone do it. So it is likely restaurants don't even have boxes.
You can obviously take out food from fast-food restaurants but for regular restaurants I don't think it is correct behaviour. I usually finish my dishes, I only order what ...
25
I never found the stereotypical rude Parisian I was warned about. Several people went far out of their way to help me in ways I wouldn't expect in my own city.
I did not find a great number of people outside the tourism industry in Paris that spoke English.
I did always use the French words and phrases I knew "excusez moi", "salut", "merci", and if I could ...
18
I do recall Paris metro tickets being available on the Eurostar and at the information desk in London, but that was a few years ago and may well no longer be true. The price is rather more expensive than if you get them in Paris.
There generally isn't that much of a queue in Paris Nord, especially outside peak hour. This is one of Paris's busiest stations ...
17
I'd suggest a few things:
Learn to how to say "Do you speak english?" - "Parlez-Vous Anglais?" and "¿Hablas inglés?"
Learn some basic pronunciations in the two languages (they may have the same letters but they don't always sound the same!). Reading through a guide then listening to some examples online should help with this
Bring a common phrase book, and ...
15
I would recommend summer.
The weather is warm but not too hot, less than in Italy or Japan. See this minimum/maximum graph in Nice (in Celsius, 25°C=77°F):
During summer touristic places are open everywhere, even in the South, the warmer the better.
During summer people working in Paris leave for the South, but Paris still has a lot of activities, even ...
15
General case — yes, you can travel from UK to France with just national ID card. If you got one that is. UK does not issue ID cards to it's citizens, so if you're Her Majesty subject you're out of luck. Passports and national ID cards are the only documents, which are valid for travel.
On the other hand, many other documents that are valid as IDs are ...
14
I think it's relatively easy to find en English-speaker in France or in Spain. According to this table, 36% and 27% speaks English. It seems to me sometimes they just don't like to use English because they find it disrespectful that you don't use their language. According to my experience if you learn a few phrases and start the conversation using French or ...
14
Tuesday is national museum closing day in France. Many state-owned museums are closed on Tuesdays, as are many local museums outside Paris. In Paris, most city-owned museums are closed on Mondays. Some museums are open later on one night a week, usually Thursdays. Most museums close on some public holidays but not all. There are many exceptions, so always ...
14
It's a common problem I had in South America - I really wanted to improve my Spanish while travelling as it gives you a much better insight into your travels, and can talk to locals more. But so often they'd just switch to English because they welcomed a chance to learn English themselves.
You can either do the obvious (ask them to speak French so you can ...
12
First Class on the TGV means a wider seat, power sockets, less people (so a generally quieter environment), and that's about it.
Standard Premier on the Eurostar is pretty much the same, except you get a small cold dish and a cold alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverage.
The difference in price is more due to demand than the actual cost of the service.
...
12
You would be surprised how many parisians speak English (and German btw). When I lived in Paris for two years, I volunteered to help in teaching English. Often I noticed that the level of English understanding was quite well.
In my opinion, the stereotype of "parisian arrogance", should actually be called insecurity on their proficiency in English.
Like ...
12
It's normally the driver's duty to bring the "éthylotest" (or "alcootest"), but some renting companies are providing one or two.
Otherwise it costs 2 € in shop / pharmacy.
Links (in french) for companies saying they provide it (in brackets, price you pay if you used it):
Avis (? €), Budget (? €), Europcar (6 €), Hertz (5 €), Sixt (5 €).
Always ask to be ...
11
Parks in Paris' vincinity: Bois de Vincennes and, a bit wilder, the Bois de Boulogne. Even though large and not in Paris center, these are both city parks, and you should not expect anything wild there.
Closest “real” forest to Paris: Fontainebleau forest. This one has a few deers, but you should not expect to see any (French Wikipédia says less than one ...
11
There are some good opportunities, for example:
Fontainebleau (outer suburbs to the south-east, about 45 minutes by train from Gare de Lyon + 30 minutes of bus from Gare de Fontainebleau-Avon to the palace)
Vincennes (inner suburbs to the east, terminal of metro line Ⓜ①)
Chantilly (northern suburbs, about 1 hour: take a train from gare du Nord (or the ...
10
I speak enough French to be able to read road signs, order food, and buy things. I can read almost anything and figure it out, given a little time. (I'm Canadian.) In Paris, the street vendors who are all around the Eiffel Tower accosted us every time we went by. Umbrellas, mini towers etc etc. "Non, merci" I said every time. They would melt away and leave ...
10
First off all you don't have to take the TGV, you can still travel around on local trains, better known as TER. It requires some planning, but it can be quite charming. For example to get from Lille to Paris, you can take the quick TGV, or you take the local trains which will take you from Lille to Maubeuge and then to Paris.
But to answer your question ...
10
Le john says most of what I would answer. As I have already said in the related question.
The key to cheap traveling in Europe is planning all your traveling ahead and online. If you have to revert to counters you are doomed to pay a lot.
If, as you have indicated, you don't want to plan. The options are hitchhiking, cycling, or walking. I have just seen a ...
10
There are no systematic border controls within the Schengen area. There are occasional spot checks, but the odds are low. Note that the UK is not in Schengen; if you want to travel there, your passport will be checked in both directions. If you travel by plane, an airline employee will usually check your passport; if your visa is not valid, you may be denied ...
10
First of all I think 5-6 weeks is a lot of time to see part of Eastern Europe. From Lyon you can reach a lot of places in Europe in one day. So if you have 5 weeks to travel you can easily see a lot of Eastern Europe if you're willing to spend some days traveling from one destination to another.
The fastest connection between Lyon and Vienna by train takes ...
10
Transeuropaferries often offers very interesting offers from Ostend to Ramsgate. Unfortunately they don't allow boarding on foot.
A different solution would be to use Eurolines, you only need to board further away from Calais or Dover I just checked, a one way ticket from Brussels to London on June 20th is as cheap as 4 Eur one way. Don't board the bus in ...
10
Don't even try it, it may send an already obnoxious Parisien waiter over the edge. He'll likely pretend to not understand what you're saying.
European portion sizes tend to be manageable for most normal people unless you go to an American themed 'restaurant' that engages in the likes of rib eating competitions.
10
Bus 100 (Nice - Monaco - Menton) is a very good option and costs a mere 1 €. It runs every 15 minutes mostly, and the trip takes 30-45 minutes. It takes an absolutely scenic route along the coast, passing through seaside towns such as Villefranche and Beaulieu.
(There's also express bus 100X which takes the motorway and costs 4 €; obviously not as good for ...
9
When I had a week (about 7 years ago) we decided it wasn't going to possible to see "the key sites" in such a short time. So we took 2 days in Paris, 4 days outside, and then the last day back in Paris. The 4 days outside had a single theme. For us it was the Loire Valley and the chateaux. You might choose a specific wine region, or the Mediterranean ...
9
You have to confirm with your rental agency that you're allowed to do that. In Europe most agencies allow you to travel in all countries of central and western Europe, but forbid you to visit countries in the East, like for example Belarus, Poland, Croatia, etc.
However, it will be likely that your rental agency will bill you an extra fee if you want to ...
9
I used to just take my documents to the city hall and ask to have them certified. The term to use is "certifier conformes". You will need both the copies and the original so they can verify that they are, in fact, exact copies. They will then sign the copies and stamp them with "certifié conforme".
Mind you, I moved to the US 13 years ago so things may have ...
9
Good grief no, it's not far at all. London to Istanbul (Turkey) takes 4 hours - if you've come from Australia, it'll feel like nothing ;)
Check on kayak for lots of cheap EU flights. And also RyanAir and EasyJet for low cost flights - although always check what airport they use, as they quite often use unusual or out of town airports - their flight to ...
9
Gazole and Diesel are synonyms. They both mean diesel fuel, as opposed to essence or super (short for supercarburant, nobody uses the long form) which means usual car gasoline.
You must use the type of fuel that's appropriate for your car, either gazole or super. I think that diesel engines are more common in cars in France than in most other countries.
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