Internet
EasyEverything InternetCafe Open 24 hours, 31-37 bd de Sébastopol, 1er, M° Châtelet/ 5-1am, 15 rue de Rome, 8e, M° St-Lazare/7:30am to midnight, 6 rue de la Harpe, 5e, M° St-Michel. Clickside Mon-Fri 10am to midnight, Sat & Sun 1-11pm, 14 rue Domat, 5e, M° Maubert-Mutualité, tel: 01 56 81 03 00. Baguenaude Café Mon-Fri 11am to 9:45pm, Sat 2-9:45 pm, 30 rue de la Grande Truanderie, 1er, M° Etienne-Marcel, tel: 01 40 26 27 74. Cyberport Open every day except Mon, 1-9pm. M° Les Halles. tel: 01 44 76 63 44. Cybercube Open 10am to 10pm, closed Sun, 12 rue Daval, 11e, M° Bastille, tel: 01 49 29 67 67/3 rue Molière, 1er, M° Pyramides, tel: 01 40 20 10 50/5 rue Mignon, 6e, M° Odéon, tel: 01 53 10 30 50/9 rue Odessa, 14e, M° Montparnasse-Bienvenue, tel: 01 56 80 08 08
Getting around
Paris Visite Passes — for unlimited metro, bus, RER and SNCF train transportation for 1,2,3, or 5 consecutive days around Paris and the region. Also entitles you to discounts on various tourist attractions. Available at metro stations, Paris’ international airports and the Office du Tourisme, 8-26E according to the number of “zones” covered.
Night Buses The Noctambuses are 18 bus routes covering Paris and the suburbs, between 1am and 5:30am, 7 days a week. A ticket costs 2,40E. Buses leave from the Châtelet area. Stops are marked with a black and yellow “owl” logo. Routes and timetables info: 08 36 68 77 14
Riverboat shuttle service — 8 stopovers along the Seine including the Eiffel tower, Musée d’Orsay, St-German-des-Prés, Notre-Dame, Jardin des Plantes, Hôtel-de-Ville, Louvre and Champs-Elysées. Bat-o-Bus boarding tickets cost 3,50E, plus 2E for each additional stop. Neither metro tickets nor a Carte Visite are valid for this ride.
Shuttle services offer a good alternative to exorbitant cab prices and to the gloomy RER as a way to get in and out of the airport. Paris Airports Service tel: 01 55 98 10 80, www.parisairportservice.com/PariShuttle tel: 01 43 90 91 91, www.parishuttle.com From Paris to Charles-De-Gaulle Airport RER B, leaves from Châtelet-Les Halles, approximately 45 mins, 7,60E. Roissybus leaves from its Opéra stop at rue Scribe, 5:45am to 11pm, departing every 15 minutes, and the drive lasts approximately 50 minutes, 8E.
Bike rentals & tours
Mike’s Bikes Provides bike rentals and tours around Paris in English. 24 rue Edgar Faure, 15e, tel: 01 56 58 10 54, M° Dupleix, 22-26E. Paris à Vélo, C’est Sympa Leaving at 10am, 3pm & 6pm, tours with multilingual guides are conducted for small groups of usually less than ten people. Reservations required. 9am to 1pm Mon-Fri, 9am to 6pm Sat & Sun, 37 bd Bourdon, tel: 01 48 87 60 01, 15,24-28,20E. Gare de Lyon The French railroad system has partnerships with “veloparcs” that are either within or next to train stations. You can rent a bike at the Gare de Lyon in Paris, or travel to Strasbourg, Grenoble, Montpelier or Amiens and hire one there.
Walking Tours
Moveable Feast offers three regular weekend guided walks titled “Paris is a Woman,” “The Medieval Soul of Paris” and “The Belly of Paris” (in English during the summer). Info: 06 66 92 34 12, www.moveablefeasttours.com
Literary Tours Three-hour long individual or group tours on two literary themes, led by author Elizabeth Reichert. “The Literary Left Bank” begins at place Monge and ends in a cluster of famous “writers” cafés, while the “Paris was a Woman” option starts at place St-Sulpice and focuses on 20th century women writers in Paris. Info: 01 45 42 94 40
Paris Walking Tours Qualified guides conduct tours covering historic, literary and artistic themes including Le Marais, in the footsteps of the Impressionists, Hemingway’s Paris and Revolutionary Paris. Visits last 11/2hours and cost 9,15E (in English). Infoline: 01 48 09 21 40, www.paris-walks.com
Tours by Danièle Louveau-Jouan specializing in history of art and tours of museums, palaces and churches. Walks include Montmartre, the Marais and the Jewish Quarter. Tel: 01 46 07 53 56, www.louveau-jouan.com
Paris on foot
On Sundays and holidays several Paris streets are closed to traffic (9am to 6pm). For instance — along the Right Bank, between the underground entrance to the Tuileries and the Pont Charles-de-Gaulle and along the Left Bank from quai Anatole France to quai Branly and along the Canal St-Martin
Pari-Roller These guided tours of Paris cover over 30 km and include most major points of interest around the city. Reservations are required. Tel: 01 43 36 89 61 www.pari-roller.com
Museums
The national museums such as the Louvre, Pompidou Center and Musée Picasso are closed on Tuesdays. City museums such as the Musée d’Orsay, Musée Carnavalet and Institut du Monde Arabe are closed on Mondays. Some museums stay open late: the Pompidou Center every day to 10pm, the Galeries nationales du Grand Palais till 10pm on Wednesdays, the Louvre until 9:45pm on Mondays and Wednesdays, and the Musée d’Orsay to 9:45pm, on Thursdays.
The Paris Museum-Monument pass gives free “no waiting” access to 60 attractions in Paris and its environs. While this won’t admit you to temporary exhibitions, it does entitle you to unlimited visits to the permanent ones. The 1 day pass costs 15E, while the 3-day pass (consecutive days) costs 30E and the 5-day version (consecutive days) is 45E. You can buy all of these at participating museums and monuments, metro stations, FNAC, the Paris Tourist Bureau, or Bat-o-bus stops.
Museum Guided Tours of the Musée d’Orsay, lasting approximately 90 minutes are given in English. These cost 6E, plus admission. Musée d’Orsay, 1 rue Bellechasse, 7e, M° Musée d’Orsay, tel: 01 40 48 48 14
Help
American Hospital 01 46 41 25 25 Hertford British Hospital 01 46 39 22 22 SOS Doctors 01 47 07 77 77 SOS Help-Crisis Line 01 47 23 80 80 Facts AIDS Help Line 01 44 93 16 69 Late-night pharmacie Derhy, 84 av des Champs-Elysées, 8e, tel: 01 45 62 02 41
Embassies and Consulates
Australian Embassy tel: 01 40 59 33 00 British Consulate tel: 01 44 51 30 00 British Embassy tel: 01 44 51 31 00 Canadian Embassy/Consulate tel: 01 44 43 29 00 Irish Embassy/ Consulate tel: 01 44 17 67 00 United States Consulate tel: 08 36 70 14 88 United States Embassy tel: 01 43 12 22 22 (for updates on the security of American citizens abroad http://travel.state.gov)
Missing
Stolen Cards: Eurocard/Mastercard/Mastercharge, tel: 01 45 67 47 67. American Express tel: 01 47 77 72 00. Carte Bleue/Visa tel: 01 42 77 11 90. Lost property office: 36 rue des Morillons, 15e, tel: 01 55 76 20 00
Information
Paris Tourist Office Open Mon-Sat 9am to 8pm, Sun 11am to 6pm, 127 av des Champs-Elysées, 8e, M° George V or Charles-de-Gaulle Etoile, tel: 01 49 52 53 54, (08 36 68 31 12). Information recorded in English: 01 49 52 53 56. Paris/Ile de France Tourist Information Center Carrousel du Louvre, 99 rue de Rivoli, 1er, tel: 08 03 81 80 00
Compiled by Diana Lind & Cristi Hegranes
