Cruising the Seine

Nearly everyone who visits Paris hops aboard a Bateau Mouche, an open-air sightseeing boat that meanders up and down the Seine. The boats move slowly enough to take in views of the city’s major sights – Notre Dame, the Louvre, and the Eiffel Tower.
Vedettes du Pont Neuf is a good option for frugal tourists. Although a snack bar is on-board, there are no obligatory meals or drinks. You may bring your own instead, stopping at a grocery store (epicerie) in advance. BYOB alcoholic beverages are permitted on board (hey, this is France!).
The departure point is from the western tip of the Île de la Cité, under the Pont Neuf adjacent to le Square du Vert-Galant (named after Henri IV) – just take the steps down from the bridge. From there you can get a sense of intimacy with the river, for this is how the Romans knew the Paris islands, not from the present ground level of the Île de la Cité, which has risen 23 feet over the centuries.
There are twenty departures a day between 10:30 am and 10:30 pm, so you can drop by whenever it's convenient (roughly every 45 minutes). I recommend in particular the late evening cruises, a great option after dinner when you’re not ready for bed, but your feet are weary from intense sightseeing. Buying a ticket does not commit you to a particular time, but you can get a 4-euro discount off the 11-euro price by buying your ticket in advance online. That’s only 7 euros for a one-hour cruise with commentary in English. There is also an option to print out a coupon for a 2 euro discount for those who would rather not buy a ticket in advance using a credit card.
The web site also has a link for Canal St-Martin cruises (Canauxrama). The site has French, English and German language options, and you can print out an English language description of the major sights in the order they will be seen on the cruise. There are videos of a fast-forward day cruise (sound track is Gershwin’s An American in Paris) and a night cruise (Beethoven).
Excellent!
http://www.vedettesdupontneuf.com

The Incredible Shrinking Dollar

STRETCHING YOUR EUROS AT Crêperie Beaubourg

In late April, 2003, the Euro was worth $1.09. In late April, 2008, the Euro climbed to $1.59 against the US dollar. That means that, in five years, the Euro has risen 46% in value against our beleaguered dollar. In July of 2005 a non-stop flight from Washington, DC, to Paris cost $789 R/T; this summer those same flights are about $1350. So how can we, as tourists, cope with this staggering increase in travel costs while visiting Paris?
It’s easier than you think. For most people, the greatest cost savings will result from downgrading hotels – just by lopping off one star. When an average French family comes to Paris for a vacation, they stay in 2-star hotels. I stayed in a delightful one in January, 2007, in the 5th arrondissement, just a short block from the Censier-Daubenton metro stop. What differentiated this property from the typical 3- or 4-star hotel I usually stay in? Space and the lack of air conditioning (not a problem in January). Period. The bathroom had only a shower (no tub), but everything was modern and scrupulously clean. The room had less than two feet of space on either side of the queen size bed, and maybe four feet at the foot. There was a minuscule desk with a chair by the window, a free-standing wardrobe about three feet wide, and that was it. The cable- TV was placed inside the wardrobe on the top shelf. Small, yes, but I had everything I needed, including a hair dryer, and the buffet breakfast cost 10 Euros instead of 14 (a typical price in a 3-star hotel). There are non-smoking floors, and the rooms have WiFi access. I paid a whopping 89 Euros a night for this room, excluding breakfast. I must also mention that there was nothing remotely down-at-the-heels about this place. The rooms and public spaces had been professionally decorated and recently refurbished. The hotel faced onto a quiet side street and small neighborhood park. Excellent!

Everything a tourist needs is provided by the two-star Hotel Maxim Quartier Latin. Double click the photo to enlarge.
http://www.maximparishotel.com/















Travel blogs are full of rants from American tourists who encounter their first Parisian hotel room. They simply can’t believe how small it is. Yet they never complain that some vital element went lacking. I read recently that 50% of all Parisian apartments are no larger than two rooms and a bath. That means one room for sleeping, and the other for cooking, eating and living. This explains why so few Parisians entertain at home. The average working class Parisian sleeps and has breakfast at home, but spends the evenings with friends at a local café. Once you snag a table at a café, it’s yours until closing, if you so desire -- for the price of a single glass of wine or cup of coffee.
For the truly frugal, it is possible to buy a sandwich (typically ham and cheese on a baguette) or tartine (open faced sandwich, with fewer carbs, to boot) for lunch at 5-8 Euros. Dinner at a crêperie is an astonishing, yet delicious, value. Crêpes, a specialty of the Breton region of France, can be either savory or sweet. A glass of wine and a savory crêpe with salad can be yours for about 12 Euros, less if you substitute cider for wine. Today the Montparnasse neighborhood is home to a large concentration of people from Breton, so it is there that we find the greatest concentration of crêperies. Many crêpes are sold from carry-out windows or by street vendors.
Here is a video visit to a Parisian crêperie, a well-known one in the shadow of the Centre Pompidou in the 4th arrondissement, just four or five blocks north of the Seine.
Enjoy your visit to the Crêperie Beaubourg, at 2, rue Brisemiche.