We’re Not in Paris Anymore

When I was in Paris last month I stayed in a hotel walking distance to the Eiffel tower. While that was great because it allowed me to explore the city on my one day/night off, my commute to work was about an hour each way. Considering I am only staying two days this trip I decided to stay in a hotel closer to work. The office is in a town called Lisses, and I am staying about 10minutes away at the Best Western Etiolles which is located on a golf course. I’m definitely not in the city of Paris anymore! The hotel is actually a collection of bungalows and the rooms are very spacious and super quiet! In my hotel in Paris the people in the room above me were having a dance party at 2am, but here it's so quiet I could hear a pin drop. There is a lake and golf course view out my bay window, but sadly no room service. As I discovered during my last solo visit, I’m not a fan of eating alone in a restaurant so I’d prefer room service when possible.

The staff that I’ve met do not speak any English, which made my visit to the front desk to tell them my toilet was running, so much so that I couldn’t even flush it, pretty entertaining to anyone watching. The two of us are using hand motions and even walked into the ladies bathroom in the lobby thinking if I could point to an actual toilet she would understand what I was saying. This didn’t really work so she finally agreed to come with me to my room. After 10minutes of fiddling with gadgets, she also gave up and put the lid back on. A few minutes went by while we just stood there looking at each other and back at the toilet, and suddenly we realized the bowl was filling up! Crisis averted, I smile and say “merci!!” (one of 5 words I know in French. Okay, 3 words I know in French), and I’m back to finishing up more work while listening to French Family guy in the background.

Oh, this was my coffee up I used in the office. You can’t really tell from the picture but its about the height of a 3 shot shotglass and a little wider. And it packs as much caffeine as 3 coffees back home! The candy next to it was a Christmas Santa made of marshmallows on a stick that someone was handing out at the office. Not sure why.



Tomorrow it’s off to Barcelona; can't wait for paella and tapas!! And a language I know more of three words of!

A Familiar Face

The trip has started off great! My mom was nice enough to drop me off at the Philly airport so I wouldn't have to cab it from Conshohocken, and after checking my baggage I actually walked right through the security checkpoint with only one person in front of me! I was so excited I asked the security attendants if I could take a picture of this amazing good luck, but after they looked at me funny I decided just to take off my shoes and walk on through.

As with I every flight I've ever taken to Europe, this one included a group of 40+ high school students on some kind of organized trip. But something was different about this group. While there was the handfull of girls talking over one another while surrounding the cutest boy in the group trying to win his attention, the screeching and typical immature comments common of youth traveling abroad these days was kept to a minimum. Lucky for me, I ended up being completely surrounded by these teenagers on the plane, who I later found out was a group of high school seniors from all over the country headed for a 10 month exchange program all throughout France. Yes, in deed the difference was these kids weren’t just going for a 2-3 week long social vacation, they were actually going to experience the culture, history and learn something! (I’m one to talk…I went to Australia my senior year and returned with 95% pictures of my friends and 5% pictures of the scenery. Not to mention didn’t actually attend any classes.)

The program actually seems pretty cool. It’s an exchange program through Rotary. As I said, it’s a 10 month program, family and friends are discouraged to visit during this time so not to disrupt the emergence into a new culture, and it cost less than $5000! (So said the one girl sitting next to me from Oklahoma.)

So back to the flight. As I was boarding I immediately recognized the flight attendant greeting passengers and guiding us to our seats as the same flight attendant on both of my flights to and from Paris last month. He actually almost snuck me into first class on the return flight if another flight attendant didn’t adamantly stop us by a snappy “excuse me…we don’t do that”. So after breezing through security I’m feeling in a friendly mood believing it had to be a sign that this was going to be a good flight, so I stop at my old friend and tell him I’m beginning to feel like a regular, because I remember him from my previous flights. He must have felt special because he smiled ear to ear and while he tried to start up a conversation, I didn’t want to be that person who holds up the line so I just smiled and kept walking.

My seat on the other hand, is the only negative part of the flight. I’m in seat D on a plane that has seating in 2 4 2 layout, which means I was in the middle of the middle. (With giddy high school girls hitting on the guy in the pink button down in the row behind me).

Dinner and drink service begins, chicken or pasta, and after eating half of my pasta the drink cart finally arrives…guided by a familiar face. I tell my flight attendant friend (name unknown) I’d like a diet coke to which he replies… “And a Jack Daniels?”. I say, “Sure, if you’re handing them out”. Next thing I know I’m being handed a tiny plastic Jack Daniels bottle each time the guy walks by my row! Finally I had to explain that this was a business trip and I had to go to the office immediately upon arriving in Paris. So 4 Jack and Cokes later I finished up watching When in Rome (great movie btw) and pass out with my head on the tray table, which I’ve found is the only way I can sleep on a plane if I don’t have the window seat.

Moral of the story – I bet this will work with a lot of flight attendants if you’re interested in trying to get free booze. And if I ever see this guy again, I’m asking for the first class seat again. My bet is he’ll pull it off next time.

I wont’ bore you with the majority of my day which consisted of not having a phone because either my company or At&t “forgot” to add the international plan, so I had to wait until my office back in the states woke up to sort that out. Left the office at 7:20pm…have you ever been so tired you just wanted to break down and cry for no reason? Yea…that’s how tired I was. And yes, I am still that tired even as I sit here and write this blog, but I figure if I don’t do it now, it’s not going to get done.

Signing off for now! Skipping dinner and headed straight to bed, only to be woken up by my loving husband when he gets off work at 11pm Paris time.
Love you Brian!

Jetsetting to Paris!

Last month I traveled to Paris for my "day job", and although I was only there for less than a week, working 13 hour days, I did manage to get a glimse of the city and the people. Not only was this my first time in Paris, but it was my first time traveling alone! It was a great learning experience traveling alone, sightseeing alone, not to mention eating alone!!

Here are 10 things I learned while in Paris:

1. Motorcycles have their own lanes on Paris highways / streets. They're called the shoulder and the dividing lane lines. They will fly in these lanes going 50 km/hr while cars are stuck in the real lanes going 20. I wonder what the statistics of motarcyle fatalities are? I'm guessing high.

2. If you eat out alone, bring a something to read / do. Or make sure to eat at on an outside terrace, so you can watch the people strolling by instead of awkwardly staring at the people at the tables around you. (dinner in Paris is slow, 1 hr will feel like 3 when you have nobody to talk to)

3. The Eiffel Tower is really freakin' cool, and I could stare at it all day

4. LC's trip to Paris may have been more glamorous than mine, but I got to see the Tour de France and Lance Armstrong (for you guys out there, LC is from MTV's The Hills and she rode on a dreamy guy's (who wore really tight pants) motorcycle around the city at night, as well as attending the Crillon Ball.)

5. You aren't allowed to hail a taxi on the street, and they are never at their marked locations. The only way to get a taxi is to call them, and when you do they start the meter then...not when they pick you up. Every cab I got in (when the exception of the airport) started at 8 euro or more. If i can give one bit of advice to someone vacationing in Paris, this would be it!!

6. I'm pretty bad when it comes to a sense of direction, but wtih the Eiffel tower as my north star I am very proud to say I didn't get lost once! This is pretty amazing considering I didn't look at a map before i arrived.

7. The espresso tastes just has horrible as the worst airline coffee, but can snap you out of the worst jetlag in a second!

8. The sun sets a little over an hour later than it does at home, around 9:45 (in late July).

9. I love cheese = I love french cuisine.

10. Paris is much more fun when shared with someone you love ;)

Paris on Sale!

As part of an ongoing effort to stay a world power in the fashion industry, Paris has begun an aggressive compaign to market itself as such. "Soldes of Paris" or Sales of Paris is the French way of saying, "Please come here during the winter when we usually don't have many tourists so we can get out of this recession business and get back to real fashion."

In other words, Paris is on sale during the winter so take advantage by getting over there and finding these opportunities! You're not going to get many chances to find cheap fashion in Paris, so take advantage while you can. Check out http://www.shoppingbyparis.com/ starting November 23rd to get a clearer picture of the program. Currently, there are hundreds of hotels and shopping boutiques participating in the program.

Make sure tobrowse our trips to Paris or if you're interested elsewhere, have a look at all of our trips!

Halloween in France?

Can you believe it? Halloween is celebrated throughout the world, but never was it considered a French holiday. That being said, it has become increasingly popular there, gaining its roots in the UK and US.


First, it is claimed that the Celts who lived in Northern France used to celebrate and Halloween someone how trickled through time to become more popular today. The real reason for its surge in popularity, however, seems to be US corporations shoving the holiday down the throat of the French. Starting as mostly a reason to dress in costume and have a party, the Holiday has evolved to much more like our own. Kids used to have to go from door to door to the businesses of the large cities to go Trick-or-Treating, but the residential neighborhoods have begun to do so as well as surrounding towns in the country.







There has been much backlash, however, as many French despise the fact that US corporations are forcing the Holiday upon the French people. Also, the French have November 1st (All Saints Day or Toussaint Day) which they celebrate as a day to remember the dead by doing things such as cleaning the graves of their loved ones.


We will see if Halloween truly ever does catch on in France. Thank you to Laura Lawless for some of the information today. If you want to learn to speak French, follow her blog!

Click here if you want to go to France, and here if you're looking specifically at Paris!

Top 5 Sights in Paris

Below are our favorite Parisian Sights. They are in order, but understand that everyone will have their own Paris and their own order. Just have fun finding yours!

1. Eiffel Tower (Tour Eiffel): Paris’ most famous landmark, it needs no explanation. Take the elevator to find the best views in town and enjoy the beautiful lawns surrounding the tower.

2. The Louvre Museum: Another famous Parisian landmark, this world-renown museum holds many great masterpieces including The Mona Lisa.

3. Notre-Dame: Flying Buttresses make this Cathedral one of the most beautiful in the world. It was a marvel when it was built throughout the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries and still is today.



4. Sacre-Coeur: Another bastion of Christianity, it can be seen in most parts of Paris as it sits on a hill in Montmartre.

5. Arc de Triomphe: Commemorating French victories in battle, this arch holds a museum, a viewing platform and the tomb of the unknown soldier.


Let us know if we missed anything. Unfortunately, we could only list ten over the last two days, but we all know there's so much more to this grand city!

Want to go to Paris? Let us take you there! Just one of our trips to The City of Lights or take a look at all of them!

Paris' Top Sights: Six Through Ten

Starting with the bottom of the list, here are five of our favorite sights in Paris. Don't forget, we will round out this list tomorrow!

6. Centre Georges Pompidou: This museum features itself. You can see the building’s guts from the outside. It also features works of art from the 18th century forward and is celebrated throughout the world.

7. Hotel des Invalides: The burial place of the great emperor, Napoleon, this is actually not a hotel at all!

8. Orsay Museum: A very interesting museum that was once a railway station and now feature art from the 1800’s to World War I.

9. Rodin and Picasso Museums: Two separate museums featuring their respective artists. If you are a fan of either, these are a must for you!

10. Squares and Parks: There are numerous of both, but make sure you go to the Place de la Concorde and the Tuileries Gardens.

To see these sights for yourself, take a look at the package below or search Paris, France on our page at http://www.jetsetpilot.com/.

This trip will get you here: http://www.jetsetpilot.com/trips/1/

Maybe your favorite will make tomorrow's list. There's only one way to find out! Please leave comments about these or any other sights.

Wow, Paris has a lot of Arrondissements!

When trying to find out what neighborhood you might want to stay in Paris, you will find the city broken down by Arrondissements (districts by number) and neighborhood names. Below is a list of the attributes of these neighborhoods as well as a couple of attractions within them.

1. First Arrondissement: Also called “Louvre”, this area is mostly taken up by The Louvre Museum and Tuileries Gardens as well as commercial interests. Centrally located, this neighborhood is a tourist hot-spot and hotels tend to be expensive here.
2. Second Arrondissement: Also called “Bourse”, is a mainly commercial area that also has some interesting neighborhoods and old markets. Take strolls on Grands Boulevards and Rue Montorqueil and don’t forget to visit Jean-Sans-Peur, the only other standing tower in Paris. It has a good choice of hotels.
3. Third Arrondissement: Also called “Temple”, contains part of the famous Marais neighborhood. This is the less vibrant part, though, and contains many old residences and museums like the Picasso Museum. This is a safe and quiet place to stay.
4. Fourth Arrondissement: Also “Beaubourg”, contains the trendy shops, bars and restaurants of the Marais and is has the oldest part of Paris. This district is many things including the Gay area of Paris. Also, Beaubourg is the Jewish center of Paris and shares the Place de la Bastille. This is a great place to stay for young people.
5. Fifth Arrondissement: The “Latin Quarter”, mixes young University students with businessmen and women. A great place to people watch and home to many churches as well The Great Mosque of Paris. Great stay for the “café scene”.
6. Sixth Arrondissement: “Saint Germain” and “Luxembourg”, while once bohemian in style, this area is now one of the most chic areas of Paris. It is a great center for shopping and another place to stay for the café scene.
7. Seventh Arrondissement: “Palais-Bourbon” contains the Eiffel Tower and Hotel des Invalides (Napoleon’s place of rest) is another hot-spot for tourists. The district contains high-wealth residences as well as government offices. A nice place for a quiet stay.



8. Eighth Arrondissement: “Elysees” contains Champs Elysees and Arc de Triomphe. Home of the President of France, this district is home to elite shopping and is a main tourist area. This is a great place to stay for anyone but can tend to be expensive.
9. Ninth Arrondissement: “Opera” contains the Paris Opera and is similar to “Bourse” in that it is both commercial and residential and has many good places to stay in.
10. Tenth Arrondissement: “Enclos-Saint Laurent”, is home to two main rail stations, Gare du Nord and Gare de Iest. This is a bohemian district and is a trendy place to stay.
11. Eleventh Arrondissement: “Popincourt”, a mainly residential neighborhood, is home to the Place de Bastille. It has a cozy feel that is a reflection of the boutiques and upscale residences throughout the district. This is a nice neighborhood to stay in for anyone and the restaurants are very good.
12. Twelfth Arrondissement: “Reuilly”, is both residential and is a pleasant place to stay. Though not centrally located, the neighborhood is complimented by the large park, Bois de Vincennes. Also, the Bercy area will give you a village feel.
13. Thirteenth Arrondissement: “Gobelins”, contains Paris’ Chinatown and is mainly residential. Not the best place to stay or visit for strangers.
14. Fourteenth Arrondissement: “Observatoire” contains Montparnasse and its rail station: Gare Montparnasse. It is mostly residential and is a nice stay for anyone.
15. Fifteenth Arrondissement: ”Vaugirard”, has a range of residential makeup from the elite to the more affordable (yet still safe).
16. Sixteenth Arrondissement: “Passy”, is one of Paris’ elite districts. It has many beautiful avenues and is a nice place to stay
17. Seventeenth Arrondissement: “Batignolles-Monceau”, is much like 15 where there is a wide range of areas to stay. It’s a great choice if you do not being outside the city center.
18. Eighteenth Arrondissement: “Butte-Monmartre”, has more of a village feel and is a tourist haven. Sacre Coeur is located here. This has become a less attractive area, though, so there are better places to stay.
19. Nineteenth Arrondissement: “Buttes-Chaumont”, an area with many ethnic restaurants and shops.
20. Twentieth Arrondissement: “Ménilmontant”, is an up and coming residential area that is now leaning towards elite.

We hope this walk through of the neighborhoods help you in choosing where you would like to stay. Don't forget, more detailed descriptions are in the books we recommend in our Pilot's Bookstore.

To view are featured trips to Paris click here!