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Old 06-24-2015, 09:44 AM   #6
Lomac
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As noted, English will be fine provided you stay in the touristy sections. Off the beaten path you'll find places that wont speak English, though chances are they'll be shops you wont be inclined to visit.

Since it sounds like you'll only be there for a couple days, I highly recommend you try to adjust your body to the time difference before you fly over. That 8 hour time change can be a drag for some people. Also, since you'll only be wandering around the a day, figure out what you most want to see. You'll b visiting in peak tourist season so expect most major landmarks to have huuuuuuuge lineups. Like, multiple hour lineups. Visible landmarks like the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame can be admired from the outside, without paying the often-expensive admission fee. I would definitely at least wander by those two and take at least a few photos. Other "quick" locations to check out are Champs Elysees, Ile Saint-Louis and the Arc de Triomphe.

If you want to spend some time lining up for places, the two I recommend are The Louvre and The Pantheon. If you're feeling particularly morbid, The Catacombs of Paris are definitely also worth the price of the tickets.

There's a lot of Wifi locations around Paris, so you can get away with just using that if you want. Otherwise there are a lot of options for localized burner phones if you just want something cheap for the time you're there. I brought my phone with me without any overseas plan and after making sure I only used hot spots and deactivated all my push notifications, there was very little in the way of charges.

If you're looking for a place to eat, I recommend two places: Septime and Chez Casimir. They're both relatively affordable ($30-60/person for a full meal) and both offer two differing takes on French cuisine. Septime is a bit more formal, while Chez Casimir is like a bistro.
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