Get away from the riff raff with a business class seat to Paris! These prices are hard to pass up, when coach isn’t much lower. Check them out from your city on Air France’s Web site.

Many of Paris’s beautiful churches hold classical music concerts throughout the year. For around 20 euros, you can hear a beautiful concert in Notre Dame, Ste. Chapelle, St. Severin, to name just a few. The concerts vary, from organ to string quartet to piano and more. You can get information from the churches themselves or on posters throughout the city, or go to the AMP Concerts Web site to see what the upcoming schedules are.

According to the French Ministry of Tourism, France received 75 million visitors in 2005 making it the most visted country in the world.
Source: USA Today article

Anyone who has been to Paris has seen them, the large, white structures that sit in the middle of numerous Parisian sidewalks. In Paris, there are 200 of these “sanisettes”, public toilets that are self-cleaning.

They are in for a major overhaul, and will be free for public use (they used to cost about 50 cents per use) upon completion. This is great news for folks in dire need between museums!

Check out this article about the sanisettes in the USA Today or the one at the BBC News.

Once a week, Galeries Lafayette and Au Printemps put on a short (30 minutes) fashion show highlighting the season’s fashion trends.

At Au Printemps, the show is every Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. on the 7th floor of “Printemps de la Mode”. The show is free and you don’t need reservations.

At Galeries Lafayette, the show is on Friday at 3 p.m. in the Salon Opera on the 7th floor. The show is free, but you must book one month before. See their website for booking details.

To see the new spring collection of Paris’s most exclusive designers, you have to be there this week for ‘Haute Couture” week. Eight of the ten most sought after designers are participating. You can read more in this article from The Tocqueville Connection.

Paris has seen an increase in tourism during its bi-annual sale periods. Sales are on until February 21, and with cheaper than usual hotel rates and great deals at the department stores, foreign tourists are heading to France. This is particularly true for Asian tourists, who have caused a problem for Paris’ haute couture shops in the past. Read more in this article.

There’s nothing like seeing Paris from the seat of a great Parisian bicycle. And thanks to Fat Tire Bike Tours, one of the largest bicycle touring companies in Europe, you can do so while taking one of their fabulously fun tours of the city. Fat Tire, American owned and operated, offers multiple tours to choose from: Paris Day Tour, Paris Night Tour, Versailles, Monet’s Garden, and more. What a unique addition to any Paris itinerary.

What’s so great about Fat Tire is that they are extremely customer-oriented. They want you to have a great time on their tours, so they show the greatest sights and tell the history in a way you’ll never forget it. If you’d rather see Paris on your own, they offer bike rentals for 2 euros per hour or 15 euros per day. And if you want to try something really new, go on one of their Segway tours!

Fat Tire Bike Tours – Paris
24, rue Edgar Faure
Metro: Dupliex
Web: www.fattirebiketoursparis.com
Tel: 01–56-58-10-54
Outside of France: 01–1-56-58-10-54

Mid-February – End of November, rain or shine
Bike tours starting at 24 euros per adult for the four hour Day Tour.
Reservations essential, see their website for details.

There’s nothing like seeing Paris from the seat of a great Parisian bicycle. And thanks to Fat Tire Bike Tours, one of the largest bicycle touring companies in Europe, you can do so while taking one of their fabulously fun tours of the city. Fat Tire, American owned and operated, offers multiple tours to choose from: Paris Day Tour, Paris Night Tour, Versailles, Monet’s Garden, and more. What a unique addition to any Paris itinerary.

What’s so great about Fat Tire is that they are extremely customer-oriented. They want you to have a great time on their tours, so they show the greatest sights and tell the history in a way you’ll never forget it. If you’d rather see Paris on your own, they offer bike rentals for 2 euros per hour or 15 euros per day. And if you want to try something really new, go on one of their Segway tours!

Mid-February – End of November
Bike tours starting at 24 euros per adult for the Day Tour.
Reservations essential, see their website for details.

It seems that every few days I read another article about the “gastro bistro” or the new wave of French affordable restaurants in Paris. While Americans take an affordable and great meal for granted, in Paris a more affordable meal used to mean less creativity. Now that these great chefs have taken over, the dining options in Paris have exploded. This article will give you ideas of four bistros to try out.