PARIS NEIGHBORHOOD TRAVEL GUIDE

Review by Barb & Ron Kroll

Travel Guide Book Title:

Rediscovering Paris - Ile de France
(Lonely Planet)

Theme:

This Lonely Planet guide book to Ile de France describes Paris neighborhoods, special events, cuisine, culture, nightlife and architecture, as well as Paris day trips and guided tours.

Neighborhood maps and practical advice on Paris travel passes, public transit, changing money and Paris museum passes make vacations to Paris easy to plan and implement.

Sample Items:

Each Paris neighborhood is in a color-coded section of Rediscovering Paris. Left Bank Paris, for example, includes a neighborhood map and information on tourist attractions (e.g., galleries in the Carre), shopping (e.g., La Grande Epicerie) and Paris restaurants (e.g., Le Cinq Mars), all with addresses, phone numbers, opening hours and websites, if available.

Notable Elements:

Sidebars provide additional Paris tourist information, like how to buy Paris show tickets.

Rediscovering Paris offers money saving tips for Paris. In the Left Bank Paris neighborhood, for example, Caroline Delabroy recommends Le Temps des Cerises for good, cheap food in Paris.

The directory discusses pensioner and student discounts. It provides the cost and website for buying a Paris museum pass, valid for more than 60 museums, for two, four or six days.

The Paris travel guide also tells you where to buy the Carte Mobilis and Paris Visite, with costs and number of days they are valid. These Paris travel passes are valid on the metro, the RER (Reseau Express Regional), SNCF suburban lines, buses, night buses, trams and the Montmartre cablecar.

Tone / Style:

The 160-page Paris travel guide is palm-sized and easily portable. The introduction describes Paris special events, like the Paris Jazz Festival, which offers free performances on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, in June and July.

Rediscovering Paris Snapshots provides information and websites for Paris art, nightlife and music. The Paris for Families section includes information on Disneyland Paris, the children's gallery at the Pompidou Centre and kids workshops at The Louvre.

Visuals:

Many color photos depict all aspects of Paris Ile de France, from Paris for families to Parisian fashion. Detailed full colored neighborhood maps show tourist attractions, shops, restaurants, bars and entertainment in each Paris neighborhood.

The inside front cover has an Ile de France map. The inside back cover features a Paris Metro map.

Contents:

• This is Paris
• Paris Diary
• Snapshots
• Neighborhoods
  • Les Halles and The Louvre in full swing
  • A new look at the Champs-Elysees and Western Paris
  • The Canal Saint-Martin, Gare du Nord, Gare de L'Est and the Grands Boulevards
  • The Left Bank: Chic galleries and exclusive shops
  • Bercy, La Grande Bibliotheque and Ivry: Paris of the future
  • Bastille Nation and Montreuil: A cultural revolution
  • Le Marais: Fashion and design amid a thriving gay scene
  • Belleville and Menilmontant: Home to a new wave of bohemians
  • Montmartre: Barbes, Saint-Ouen and Saint Denis: Grass roots Paris
  • La Villette, Pantin, Aubervilliers and Bobigny: Bursting with culture
• Excursions outside Paris
• Directory

Author:

Caroline Delabroy

Claim to fame:

Caroline Delabroy was born in the 13th arrondissement of Left Bank Paris and now lives on the Right Bank.

 
Return to Travel Index

More things to see and do in France:

Hiking the Côte d'Azur

Provence & the Côte d'Azur

Paris Restaurants

Northern France Tours

French Pyrenees

Aquitaine Wine Festivals

Marseille Culinary School

France TGV Train from Paris