Author Topic: An American Girl in Paris  (Read 38201 times)

Offline delalluvia

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Re: An American Girl in Paris
« Reply #40 on: June 23, 2007, 02:22:54 pm »
Delalluvia, he has a great website, full of good info.  Remember that packing list for women that people were posting about, pre-BBQ?  It was from his website.  http://www.ricksteves.com/

Thanks, I went to go look.  Take/buy pants whose lower legs zip off and become shorts?!?!  :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: I love Rick Steves, I tape all his shows and watch them religiously, I buy his books, but he always looks and dresses like a tourist.  He never blends in and all my books say to try to blend in with the denizens of Paris and never never wear shorts or sneakers.

I am going to pick some silk under clothes to wear, they do layer great and the weather in Paris I think is going to be similar to London, chilly at night and warm-ish during the day with constant chance of rain. 

He had good advice on the shoes, though.  Yes, they are very worth the money, your feet feel wonderful after a day in them.  I know, I  used to buy them for work.  But I found in London that buying cushioned athletic insoles and putting them in my regular shoes worked just fine too and were much cheaper.
« Last Edit: June 23, 2007, 08:47:00 pm by delalluvia »

Offline MaineWriter

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Re: An American Girl in Paris
« Reply #41 on: June 23, 2007, 02:30:26 pm »
Rick Steves is good. I also really really like the Lonely Planet series of guidebooks. I have found more interesting, out of the way places to see using those books..."The Industrial Knitting Museum" outside Bergen; the Leprosy Museum in Oslo; the pass where the Japanese planes flew through as they came in for their attack on Pearl Harbor. Everyone goes to the Pearl Harbor Memorial, no one goes up the mountain to the pass, which actually has a very interesting history and memorial.

And I am very frugal...I have a black, microfiber healthy back bag which cost $59 new. I use it every single day and have for four years now, and the thing still looks brand new.

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Offline opinionista

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Re: An American Girl in Paris
« Reply #42 on: June 23, 2007, 02:48:38 pm »
opinionista

Thanks, for all the advice.  We're going to be mostly eating in cafes where it's cheap-er, so I was just wondering whether we wait to be seated or just sit down and who/where to pay.

As for the cops, I was just worried some plainclothes security guy or cop at a checkpoint - do they have those? - would ask for my ID and I wouldn't know who he was.  OK, despite the terrorist bombing in London the year we went, there wasn't a lot of fear in the city, so I'm going to keep my fingers crossed about Paris.  I hope Paris is a open minded in the big city as was London, but it was in Madrid and Germany that my brother got nasty looks from people, so one never knows.

You're welcome. I live in Madrid, and I've never gotten any nasty look from the locals or the cops because of my looks or skin color. But it doesn't surprise me. In Madrid cops are nasty with men in general, but they tend to leave women alone. If they find you pretty, some will blatantly flirt with you. I'm not sure if in Paris the situation is the same. But in any case if a plainclothes stops you, which I seriously doubt, the first thing they do is show their badge. At least in Spain plainclothes rarely interact with the people, unless they see you doing something illegal. I don't think they can afford to start asking for IDs because everyone will soon know they're cops. They don't even get involved when they see a fight or something, they call a uniform. (I saw it once, I knew it as a plainclothes because he showed his badge to the uniform) Plainclothes in Spain mostly to keep an eye on the ones who sell pirate Cd's and stuff like that. I guess in France the situation is the same.
« Last Edit: June 23, 2007, 02:53:46 pm by opinionista »
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Offline serious crayons

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Re: An American Girl in Paris
« Reply #43 on: June 23, 2007, 04:09:41 pm »
I am going to pick some silk under clothes to wear, they do layer great and the weather in Paris I think is going to be similar to London, chilly at night and warm-ish during the day with constant chance of rain.

This is a great idea. I took silk underclothes to Italy -- a long-sleeved shirt, a tank top and even long pants -- from Winter Silks http://www.wintersilks.com/products.aspx?BRANCH=1~. It was end of March/early April, so the days were usually 60ish and the nights were cooler. I could probably have lived without the pants, but the shirts were invaluable -- I still wear them frequently to this day. They're good for layering because they're slippery, they look good under something lower cut, they add considerable warmth, and they take up next to no space and weigh next to nothing. I think I probably wore them at the BBQ, as a matter of fact.

And I am very frugal...I have a black, microfiber healthy back bag which cost $59 new. I use it every single day and have for four years now, and the thing still looks brand new.

I bought my first microfiber purse maybe 10 or 12 years ago and vowed never to get a leather one again. So far haven't broken the vow (though it has gotten harder -- microfiber was more in style at that time than it is now). Microfiber is MUCH lighter than leather, it wears well, and as a bonus it wins the approval of my vegetarian son.

Offline delalluvia

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Re: An American Girl in Paris
« Reply #44 on: July 11, 2007, 10:55:05 pm »
OK, now I feel really really bad.  :(

For some reason, my sister always leaves it up to me to book airline reservations.

I wish she wouldn't.  I'm terrified of flying and so am extremely superstitious about that sort of thing and want to leave it up to the Fates to put me in a seat and on a particular flight.  Instead she makes me take an active part in my own destiny.   :o

She has the credit card.  Don't know why she makes me do this.  (hmmm, maybe she's superstitious, too  ???) Anyway, another bad reason to let me make reservations is that due to my fear of flying, I don't fly if I can't help it, so I don't know my way around reading the screens about flights and all the dinky little details about how to reserve seats make me nervous and anxious.

Anyway, yesterday I found a non-stop, food included, direct from Texas to Paris, flight at an amazing price roundtrip of $582 (without taxes).  I called my sister and she said go ahead and book it.  However, I only had enough immediate funds to pay for one ticket, so I bought mine and then transferred funds from one bank account to another so I could afford to buy her ticket.  But that's an overnight transaction.  I told her this.

Again, I'm nervous, unfamiliar with the screens, the small print is like a wall that my eyes glaze over and I just buy my ticket.

Today, my sister drops off the cash so I can book her a ticket, and when I go to the website, the price has gone up nearly $300 for the same flight one way.  Needless to say, my sister's upset and can no longer afford the same flight.  I had to book her on another flight that has a 1.5 hour layover, that's more expensive but she still arrives in Paris before I do.

Downside is we have to travel separately and our departure times are hours apart, so we either have to go to the airport separately or we arrive at the airport together and one of us has to hang around for about 3 hours.

Upside is that we're traveling separately.

WORSE part is...as I was buying her ticket today, I realized that the small print at the bottom of the screen told me I could have reserved a seat at the price quoted without paying for it for 24 hours.  She's going to end up paying $200 more than me because I was too rattled yesterday to notice this.  :( :( :-\  I feel really really bad... 

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Re: An American Girl in Paris
« Reply #45 on: July 11, 2007, 11:10:49 pm »
Del..don't do that to yourself! You did the best you could.

You are under a lot of stress planning this, don't let the little hiccups along the way put a damper on it. Try to let it go...

I know it is hard but you are carrying a lot of the burden here and it is not fair. Be kind to yourself. You can't control everything...and your sister left it to you...it is as much her fault as yours.  :-\

 :-*

{{Del}}

Offline Kelda

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Re: An American Girl in Paris
« Reply #46 on: July 12, 2007, 03:46:27 am »
OK, now I feel really really bad.  :(

For some reason, my sister always leaves it up to me to book airline reservations.

I wish she wouldn't.  I'm terrified of flying and so am extremely superstitious about that sort of thing and want to leave it up to the Fates to put me in a seat and on a particular flight.  Instead she makes me take an active part in my own destiny.   :o

She has the credit card.  Don't know why she makes me do this.  (hmmm, maybe she's superstitious, too  ???) Anyway, another bad reason to let me make reservations is that due to my fear of flying, I don't fly if I can't help it, so I don't know my way around reading the screens about flights and all the dinky little details about how to reserve seats make me nervous and anxious.

Anyway, yesterday I found a non-stop, food included, direct from Texas to Paris, flight at an amazing price roundtrip of $582 (without taxes).  I called my sister and she said go ahead and book it.  However, I only had enough immediate funds to pay for one ticket, so I bought mine and then transferred funds from one bank account to another so I could afford to buy her ticket.  But that's an overnight transaction.  I told her this.

Again, I'm nervous, unfamiliar with the screens, the small print is like a wall that my eyes glaze over and I just buy my ticket.

Today, my sister drops off the cash so I can book her a ticket, and when I go to the website, the price has gone up nearly $300 for the same flight one way.  Needless to say, my sister's upset and can no longer afford the same flight.  I had to book her on another flight that has a 1.5 hour layover, that's more expensive but she still arrives in Paris before I do.

Downside is we have to travel separately and our departure times are hours apart, so we either have to go to the airport separately or we arrive at the airport together and one of us has to hang around for about 3 hours.

Upside is that we're traveling separately.

WORSE part is...as I was buying her ticket today, I realized that the small print at the bottom of the screen told me I could have reserved a seat at the price quoted without paying for it for 24 hours.  She's going to end up paying $200 more than me because I was too rattled yesterday to notice this.  :( :( :-\  I feel really really bad... 


When you see a price like that though, you do just jump at it don't you... no time to check the small print like that! It's her perfect holiday so she should have been looking at the flights really... How about he way back? will you also be travelling sperately?
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Offline delalluvia

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Re: An American Girl in Paris
« Reply #47 on: July 12, 2007, 07:54:18 am »
When you see a price like that though, you do just jump at it don't you... no time to check the small print like that! It's her perfect holiday so she should have been looking at the flights really... How about he way back? will you also be travelling sperately?

Thanks Jess and Kelda, I'm trying not to feel so kick-myself about it.  Yes, we will be traveling separately there and back.  She leaves at 1 pm and I leave at 5 pm to Paris, I leave at noon and she leaves at 4 pm back home.  She has a layover on the way home, I fly straight back.  That's going to be a pain in trying to plan the logistics of how each of us will get to the airport. 

Offline opinionista

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Re: An American Girl in Paris
« Reply #48 on: July 12, 2007, 09:54:51 am »
Del, don't feel guilty for something you can't help. I don't think it was really your fault. Airlines do that. One minute plane tickets are cheap and the next they're over the top. It happens all the time.
« Last Edit: July 12, 2007, 10:08:55 am by opinionista »
Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement. -Mark Twain.

Offline serious crayons

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Re: An American Girl in Paris
« Reply #49 on: July 12, 2007, 01:35:22 pm »
Here's something else that's worth trying, Del.

Clear your cookies, set your browser not to accept cookies, then go back to the website and do a whole new search for flights. It's possible you'll see a lower price.

A friend of mine tipped me off to this when we were both buying tickets to Italy. It worked for me then, and I've since had it happen several more times. I've read about it, too. Apparently the airlines figure that if you're going to check a flight twice it shows you're really interested, so they can safely raise the price and still get your business. So they put a cookie in your computer on your first visit, which alerts them when you go back.

But if the cookie is gone, they'll think you're a whole new potential customer and may give you a better price.