I am very excited! I'm being sent to Nice, France at the end of May to attend a conference, or more specifically a dinner. I have to schmooze with some European doctors. Since they'll all be in Nice for the conference, my bosses want me to be there and have some face time with them because I'm going to be coordinating this large scale international multicenter clinical study. Work will cover my expenses while I'm in Nice (totally fabulous!) and the flight to France (a whopping $1500!), so I figured, since I fly through Paris, it would be the perfect time to check out The City of Lights. Paris isn't on my current list of places I'm longing to go, but I have always said that I would be 100% willing if someone sent or took me there. I figure this is close enough. I'll only be there for a weekend, so I expect to do a lot of walking, picture snapping, and eating.Until recently I had been a little stressed about the logistics of lodging. It's at least 100 Euros per night for an inexpensive hotel in the city, and although there are lots of hostels in Paris, they require your credit card number via email to simply check availability (that makes me nervous). Plus I've heard stories of people making hostel 'reservations' only to arrive and be told there's no room for them. Plus I was concerned about leaving my luggage in a shared room with strangers while I toured the city. I know that thousands of people stay in hostels all over the world every year and have great experiences, but for whatever reason, it was making me nervous since I'll be traveling alone (I don't think I'm normally a nervous person). Thankfully the problem has since been solved. Eben's friend Simon visited us from Scotland last week and he set me up with his friend Jess who lives in Paris and is being super generous and letting me stay with her! There's even a chance that she'll be able to show me around a bit. With that worry out of the way, my excitement is building!
Now it's time to decide what exactly I want to see. My list currently consists of the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Arc de Triumph, at least the outside of the Louvre (don't know that I'll have time to explore inside), and eat a croissant or two. Does anyone have any specific suggestions for additional things to see or neighborhoods to visit?
3 comments:
How fun! Be sure to stroll the Champs Elysées and dip your feet in the fountains at the Place de la Concorde. Do go up the Eiffel Tower, the view is great from up there. It is the tallest building in Paris.
Have a great time!!
Have a great weekend! Julia and I will shout "Guten Tag!" in your direction, as we will probably be in Germany during the same time.
Uncle E.
My visits to Paris have all been walking tours, too. I second the Champs and be sure to wander the streets of the left bank near Notre Dame--just lots of fun restaurants and food stalls (and yes, tourists). The Centre Pompidou has really cool architecture and fountains/sculptures outside that make great photo ops. It's nice to walk along the Seine and look at all the artists and used book sellers and see the couples making out along its banks. Eat lots of baguettes and cheese and pan au chocolats. You'll be walking them off, anyway, right? Couscous places are awesome, too. Have fun!
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