Paris can be seen as the most interesting city of European capitals for corporate travel. Why? Because Paris after work, is entertaining, amusing and beautiful with a lot of historical and characteristic sites. Paris remains the city of lights, is the city of love, is inspirational, has gastronomy, art and fashion, has a fantastic night scene and don’t forget the famous Eiffel Tower. There are different quarters such as St Germain de Prés, Quartier Latin (university La Sorbonne, academic center, multicultural) Opéra and Beaubourg (department stores and budget shopping). Montmartre, The Sacré Coeur and Abbesses have lots of different small (designer) shops (northern Paris, hills), Le Marais near The Bastille and Place des Vosges for a perfect stroll at night. There is the wonderful Champs-Elysées, The Tuileries Gardens, Arc de Triomphe, The Louvre Museum (worlds biggest museum), Ile de de la Cité, Ile St. Louis, Notre Dame and Les Invalides museum where you can see the tomb of Napoleon. You have to taste a Bertillon Ice cream whilst you are there too!
A few sites can be seen from the Seine River. I recommend a trip on a Bateau Mouche or Yachts de Paris, with commentary in several languages. You can buy an all-day ‘on and off’ ticket which takes you from the Bastille to The Eiffel Tower with several stops in between. After a day of hectic meetings it is so calming and relaxing. When you are near the Eiffel Tower pay a visit to the Museum “Quai Branly”, which exhibits 3,500 works of art from Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Oceania.
Don’t forget the “new” quarters such as the surroundings of the Canal St Martin, delicious cuisine and intimate restaurants, not too expensive, with nightlife and lots of bars. La Butte aux Cailles is a youthful area with a large variety of good restaurants without big budgets. Bercy Village is the historical wine quarter. These “entrepots” were where the wine arrived from all over France and were redistributed to restaurants, wine shops and cellars – and nowadays shops, restaurants and cinemas. Something rather new is http://lesberges.paris.fr where you can have a nice walk along the Seine on the left bank with all kind of activities. One thing is for sure, you cannot get bored in Paris and I will help you with that!
Travel and Transport
To travel in or out of Paris (RER*) by train from the Charles de Gaulle airport to Paris city centre, is not the most charming ride and be sure to take care of your luggage. There are also some bus services such as the Air France Bus that brings you to Porte Maillot (Congress Center) or the RATP bus that brings you to the Opera. The Orly Airport in the south of Paris has the Orlyval which brings you to a RER train station in Antony where you can take another RER train to down town Paris. Orly Airport has also an Air France bus that goes directly to the city centre.
Arriving with Thalys or Eurostar will bring you into the Gare du Nord/Nord Railway Station, from there you have several metro lines, RER lines and taxis waiting outside. The Metro in town is very convenient to get from A to Z and is the quickest. It is safe but you always should be aware of pickpockets.
Available taxis are almost all indicated by a green light and prices on a screen. There are now some very nice apps you can download to obtain taxis. NB: In France, if you happen to call a taxi via the app Taxyz, the meter is already running! Therefore a short taxi ride can be very expensive.
Pedestrians should be careful while crossing streets and intersections as drivers can be aggressive in Paris, traffic laws are frequently broken, so please be vigilant.
*RER, suburb line
Women’s Network and Events
Networks
Safety and Emergency Services
Paris is one of the safest capitals in Europe. There are not a lot of violent crimes but pickpockets are everywhere unfortunately. Watch out for The Opera quarter, Boulevard Haussmann (where the department stores are) Metro’s and Gare du Nord. These are all areas where a lot of pickpockets are prevalent. Take care at the main airports (Orly and Charles de Gaulle) and never leave your luggage unattended, as there are thieves observing and striking in just a few seconds. If someone asks you to sign some fake ‘petition’ please do not sign it and beware of your belongings as it could be while you’re signing up, that somebody takes the opportunity to rob you. You can travel without any trouble on The Metro and buses in Paris.
