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A new travel video site, Tripfilms.com is offering you the opportunity to be awarded a $500 travel stipend, free accommodation and $25 for each video you upload in their TripVlogger scheme. There’s also the possibility to progress to being a Tripfilms Pro Filmmaker.
Parisgirl’s dining preferences have changed along with the current exchange rate between the Euro and the dollar. Now, more than ever, I know how eager visitors are to find restaurants, cafes, pubs or delis where you can dine well and still have enough Euros left over for the rest of your visit. Sure, many of us would love to eat at Michelin-star restaurants, but you don’t have to break the bank to enjoy a good meal in Paris. Likewise, if you’re vegetarian, or you don’t care for fussy or trendy restaurants with waiters in starched collars, you’ll love some of the neighborhood bistrots. Show up more than once and you’re likely to be remembered and get a handshake from the owner.
Here are some of my favorites at the moment. They range in style and menus from somewhat formal to very casual, from traditional French fare to traditional hamburgers.
Giufeli
Giufeli, my #1 choice for recent favorites has temporarily closed while it looks for a new location with more ample seating. Hopefully, by the fall season it will be up and running (and retain its reasonable prices)
The magnificent Gothic cathedral of Notre Dame is so splendid that you really could be forgiven for overlooking - really, for not even knowing about - the other impressive Gothic church on the Оle de la Citй. But once you’ve seen the elegant and ethereal Sainte-Chapelle, you’ll never look at the words “Gothic church” the same way again.
La Sainte-Chapelle is a relatively small church with two chapels (an upper and a lower) that’s completely within the walls of the old royal palace, which is now the Palais de Justice. It’s partly because of the church’s small size that it’s able to architecturally accomplish some of the things that make it so special - including the soaring heights of the upper chapel seemingly without the usual requirement of flying buttresses for support. But we’ll get to that in a minute.
The chapel was built in the mid-13th century by King Louis IX as a place to hold the holy relics he’d acquired - so in one sense, the entirety of Sainte-Chapelle can rightly be considered a reliquary. The relics Louis had purchased (yes, he bought them, as opposed to other rulers over the ages who have just gone and stolen stuff) included the crown of thorns allegedly worn by Christ at the time of his crucifixion and a piece of the true cross, and all the relics cost him almost three times what the construction of Sainte-Chapelle cost. Look at the spires for a representation of the cross, as a reminder of what the church once held. (Don’t look for the relics in Sainte-Chapelle today, however - some are in Notre Dame now, while others were lost during the French Revolution.)
Sainte-Chapelle’s lower chapel was designed for servants who worked in the palace. It’s only about half the height of the upper chapel, and can feel a bit dark (especially in comparison to the light show upstairs), but do take a moment to admire the beautifully-painted columns and the ceiling. You’ll see the trademark French fleur-de-lys painted everywhere. There’s a spiral staircase in the corner that will take you up the stairs to the upper chapel.
Paris is the place to be this October if you’re crazy for cars. The biannual car show Le Mondial Automobile starts October 4 through October 19, 2008 featuring the latest trends in European cars, particularly French cars such as Peugeot, Citroen, and Renault. Hopefully, this year’s show will feature plenty of electric cars as the obvious remedy to our gasoline addiction.
The auto show will be held at the Porte de Versaille Paris-Expo convention center Metro: Porte de Versailles. Tickets are 12 Euros for Adults, 6.45 for Kids Age 10 to 18,and free for kids under Age 10.
Opening Hours: Tuesday to friday : 10 am to 10 pm
Saturday to Monday : 10 am - 8 pm
Now is the time to start booking your Paris hotel rooms. September and October are big convention months in Paris with rooms tending to fill up quickly. If you’re planning on attending the Annual Car show, you’ll want to consider hotels in the 15th or 14th arrondissements (which includes Montparnasse). Another consideration would be Issy-les-Moulineaux which is the first village on the outskirts of Paris and the next closest town to the Porte de Versailles Metro stop.
You can also save money on booking international airline tickets with Air France by checking out the Global Meetings. The Auto Show has its own reference number which will allow you a discounted rate.
I’ll be the first to admit that on my first visit to Paris, after the big-ticket items like the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre one of the things I most wanted to see was Pиre Lachaise cemetery - in fact, my French cousins were so amused by my fascination with the cemetery (they really didn’t see the point) that they found an old book about it and gave it to me. I still don’t read French, so I have no idea what gems are contained within that book, but I still have it - along with a lasting love for Pиre Lachaise.
Now, I’ll also admit that when I first visited Pиre Lachaise (yes, I’ve been there multiple times) it was primarily to visit the grave of former Doors lead singer Jim Morrison. I’m not now, nor have I ever been, a massive fan of The Doors - but Morrison’s tomb is at least as famous as the man ever was, so I had to see it for myself. Little did I know how many other famous tombs I’d see there.
Pиre Lachaise is not only the largest cemetery in Paris, it’s one of the world’s best known cemeteries. Certainly this is partly due to Morrison’s grave, but the cemetery is almost literally packed with so many famous names that even someone who had no idea who Jim Morrison was would find someone to be impressed by. What’s amusing about that is the fact that when the cemetery was originally built in 1804, it was deemed too far from the city, so few people chose to be laid to rest there. It wasn’t until nearly 1820 that cemetery administrators had the bright idea of moving some famous remains to Pиre Lachaise - and it wasn’t long until ordinary folks wanted to be buried in the same cemetery as the notables. Even in death, they wanted to be in with the in crowd.
The list of famous names who are buried at Pиre Lachaise is almost overwhelmingly long, and the cemetery itself is so maze-like that I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised to find a vendor selling Pиre Lachaise cemetery maps at the entrance. But I bought one, and I’m so glad I did - it was excellently laid out and well marked, and I had no trouble finding every single tomb and grave marker that I wanted to.
If you own or operate Paris hostels, budget hotels or any other budget accommodation - or if you know someone who does - you (or they) should enter the information into the new worldwide Hostel Directory . This will be an extensive worldwide directory of budget accommodations, including hostels. You shouldn’t worry about spam from this but you should expect some extra bookings.
The site is new but is part of a big travel network, so it should be worth several minutes of your time. Go to this Hostel Directory entry page for Paris to add your budget accommodation to the listings.
What will be the oddest cars at this October’s Paris Car show? I’m ready to place bets on the QUICCI, Netherland’s contribution in the quest for fun and practical electric cars. 
I’m not sure it will outdo, Automobile Magazine’s choices for the two oddest cars of 2006 - the Tang Hua Xiao Ya and the PGO Cevennes -Speedster II. The Chinese-manufactured Tang Hua Xiao Ya received this glowing description from Sam Smith and Erik B. Johnson “it looks like somebody crashed a Richard Scarry-style egg car into the back of a penis.”
Clearly, this is a hard act to follow, but maybe Citroen can at least get some chuckles with its Cactus Concept Car. Definitely deserves a ‘cute but quirky’ rating. Citroen’s Cactus Concept Car apparently caused a stir at the Frankfurt show (you either love it or hate it!) It’s the new millenium’s answer to the 1970s cult car: the much-loved 2CV. Is this a car you can love? I don’t know.
If the reports are true, it looks like Bollore’s Le Blue Car will also make its star appearance at the 2008 Paris Auto show. However, Le Blue Car is has resurfaced as ‘La Petite Voiture’. If you can believe what you read, ‘La Petite Voiture’ will be manufactured in Italy and distributed in Europe and the US. It would theoretically be available by 2010 with a sticker price hovering around 15,000 Euros - let’s hope the dollar/ euro ratio changes in the right direction between now and 2010 or La Petite Voiture may never see the light of day on the other side of the pond. (We have already heard rumors of the Le Blue Car being available for production by 2009 - so let’s wait and see if this time it’s serious talk).
If any Parislogue readers have any inside scoops about cars we should be searching for this October at the Paris Car Show, share your thoughts! (If your comments are rejected as spam, be sure to e-mail me directly!)
What better time to be in Paris than for the annual Apple Expo Remix? This year’s Apple Expo begins on September 17th through to September 20th ‘08. The convention will be held at Paris’s Porte de Versailles Convention center, located in Paris’s 15th arrondissement.
Some of the highlights of this year’s expo will be of interest to fellow bloggers. A workshop on blog journalism will cover such issues as how to check one’s sources on the internet For all of you bloggers out there who like to do your fact-checking (yes, some of us do try our best to get the facts!), you’ll want to make sure not to miss this workshop.
And here’s one for budding movie directors: Cinema and Music Creation. If your videos are not complete until you’ve found just the right soundtrack to go with your video, then I know you’ll be at this workshop. (September 19th). The description sounds too tantalizing to pass up:
“Cinema and Music creation -the bond between a film director and the score’s composer are sometimes strong enough for their collaboration to become recurrent, resulting in the birth of mythical “cinema couples”, but we also sometimes see the creation of “digital couples”. The Mac platform has become the preferred tool for film score composers, who are always on the lookout for new emotions and new sources of inspiration.” A live composing session is part of the workshop.
There might be songs written about other months of the year, but September in Paris is an excellent time of year to be in the city. Although the high season in Paris now extends beyond the summer season and includes the months of May and September (and sometimes April and October as well, depending on what your hotel is trying to charge you!), you may find that international ariline tickets are a bit less expensive in September than they were in June or July.
Paris is a city that never empties completely of tourists, but you may find that in September (especially later in the month) there are shorter lines for the big museums and just fewer people out and about. But while the tourists may not necessarily be flooding Paris in September, this is the month when many annual exhibitions and shows are on in the city - so midweek hotel rates may actually be higher than weekend rates in some cases, as business travelers come into town just for a show or exhibit and then leave by the weekend.
The Paris weather will still be lovely for the most part. You’ll find that the average monthly high temperature in September in Paris is right around 70F (around 21C), and the lows are usually right around 55F (13C). You might not expect this, but August is actually the wettest month in Paris according to rainfall, and in September you do risk getting hit by a random shower or two. Carrying a small umbrella isn’t a bad idea, and having an indoor activity as a back-up plan is smart so you don’t get stuck on a Seine cruise in the rain!
On the other hand, recent years have seen soaring temperatures in Paris in September, so be sure to check a current weather forecast before you pack your bags - and be prepared to layer a bit in case of either extreme.
From September 1st to October 29, 2008, Air France will be offering flights from New York to Paris starting at $357.00 one way. This translates to approximately $830 and change when you include all the taxes (including a Septemer 11 security charge).