Paris - reflections about our trip

I have received complaints that there have been no postings for the last two days. Apologies, the web connection wasn't that great on the plane. We are home again and happy and sad to be here. We had a wonderful holiday and it was hard to see it end even though we were anxious to see our families and friends again.
A few reflections on the necessities of a holiday in Paris.

I don't think that Lyn and I could ever use a hotel again if we had the choice of renting an apartment. It was so wonderful to come home each night to our own place and do our thing without the restrictions of hotel living. Like not having to go to a restaurant every time we ate. Doing laundry. Having the internet and being able to call home toll free. We rented our apartment through Vacation Rentals By Owners (vrbo.com). You can book a place through site a booking agent but you may be paying up to 400 euros for a booking fee. When you book directly with the owner there is no fee and there is a safe guard guarantee through the site if things are not up to snuff. We also took out extra insurance with our travel agent. Things to note are the square footage, does the apartment have the appliances you need, it is common to offer toll free calling to North America and WIFI, is there cleaning service.
If you do come for a visit take a little time to think about what you really want to see. Sometimes the planning is half the fun but be flexible enough to change plans if the situation or weather throws you a loop. We tried to save cloudy days for indoor activities and so on.
 Learn just a few basic terms in French and it will take you miles. People were so willing to try to communicate with us so try to return the effort. Even Merci and Bon jour were received with smiles. Visit a street market.
 If you rent an apartment take advantage of the street markets and merchants. Dinner in a restaurant can easily cost you 75 euros with wine and is well worth it to eat in a French bistro that serves traditional food. We economised by eating in for a couple of days and most meals ended up costing us under 10 euros by buying salad makings, a baguette and a rotisserie chicken or piece of fish. The sandwiches at the bakeries were wonderful, enough for Lyn and I and cost between 3-5 euros at lunch time. Lovely wines can be had at either the corner store or local wine shop for between 4-10 euros.

Here are some pictures of the must sees of Paris.

Travel Tip:
If you can possibly get your hands on a copy of "The Paris Mapguide, The Essential Guide to La Vie Parisienne, a Michael Graham publication by Penguin Books, move heaven and earth to get a copy. This map guide saved our bacon more than once Paris is a one way city with few routes having 2 way traffic. This dandy little book not only shows you which way the traffic is going but what bus routes travel on that street, all the museums, points of interest, churches, markets and more than I have room to mention. It was the best $15 dollars spent on the whole holiday.

Invest in a public transit pass that will get you on to all the modes of transportation in the city with one simple swipe. You will need a picture and there are picture booths in every station. You can plead ignorance and the attendents were very accomodating in getting this done. The passes are good from Monday to Sunday. A great value even if you don't use all the days you pay for.