When you travel to a foreign country naturally you will compare it to how things are back home. Well there was a culture shock for me in Paris. If you are planning to travel to Paris, France here are some things you should know.
1. Get Some Euros
For this trip I got a travel credit card, carried US dollars and Euros. Euro is the currency for France and Italy. There’s a saying that “Cash is King” and it is so true. If you like to get souvenirs and trinkets from street vendors, cash is best. Some vendors have devices to accept credit cards and some don’t. If you plan to get a taxi, cash is best. I guess they don’t want to pay for any extra fees associated with credit card use. There were definitely some price gouging going on. Read my article previous article on Paris here under the topic of shopping.
How To Get Euros
Do you know how to get Euros? Well you can get Euros by exchanging your US dollars at the airport or obtain them from the ATM. I used my US bank. I ordered the Euros online and they arrived at my home in less than a week. My bank has sister banks or partner banks in Europe. I saw one of them actually. If I were to withdraw money from the partner bank there would be no charge.
Credit Card Use
If paying with a credit card have it charged in Euros and not US dollars. It’s cheaper that way. When using the credit card overseas you want to determine if you are being charged a foreign transaction fee. A couple years ago when I went to the Caribbean I used my credit card. Upon returning home I noticed a fee of $3.00 on my statement. I wondered what that was and it was a foreign transaction fee. This time around I didn’t want another credit card, but I got the travel credit card because it doesn’t have a foreign transaction fee. Another plus about it is that I’m able to get reward points for using it.
2. Limited English
As soon as my friend Shaun and I got to Paris we experienced the language barrier. I’m not certain if the natives don’t know English or just didn’t want to be bothered. There were a couple of gentlemen of African decent who looked kind enough to help us, but didn’t speak English. When we got in the city, many of the strangers said they didn’t speak English. One guy and his lady friend did speak it and pointed us in the right direction to the major attractions. While searching for food we saw two young French girls of African decent. I inquired if they spoke English and lo and behold they did. We went to a restaurant along the river since they said every place was expensive to eat. Rule of thumb: most restaurant employees speak some English in Paris.
However, I dug in the archives of my middle school French to speak the native language. My French is very basic. While shopping at the mall I said, “Bonjour” to the cashier. She replied the same with a comment that I understood. I responded in French. Then she replied swiftly in French. Immediately I had to let her know, I don’t speak French.
3. Public Restrooms
I did some reading prior to traveling to Europe. It was recommended to get Euros because you had to pay to use the restroom in Italy. Well, when Shaun and I got to Paris via the Eurostar, I had the brilliant idea of stopping to use the restroom at the train station. After all I thought the restroom on the train would be confined like it is on the plane. Well there was an attendant at the restroom collecting 70 cents. Yep you had to pay to pee or poop. I was like, “What in the world!” I wasn’t going to pay at first, then I figured I wasn’t sure how long it would be before we got to our next destination. Plus, unlike in the US, you can generally use a public restroom anywhere at any given time.
4. Wear Sneakers
Choose comfort if you are sightseeing. I recommend wearing sneakers because you don’t know where you will end up. You may end up walking on cobblestone streets, steep stairs, a wooded bridge, or dirt in the park.
Now my goal was to get some nice pictures and be cute while in Paris. That didn’t happen the way I’d hope. To get the most out of our trip we were going to be doing a lot of walking. I brought ballet flats, but I didn’t wear them. I chose comfort over being cute. Overall in 2 days we saw several sites and had to recover from 2 days of walking and hopping on and off buses in London.
5. Take The Tube
Paris is a big city. If you want to get around you can easily navigate the subway or the “tube” as the Parisians say. The tube was one of our primary modes of transport, except at night. We took safety precautions and caught a cab at night. No need to stand out in the dark as a foreigner and become an easy target for robbery.
6. Taxis
In the States we have the Yellow Cab that we easily identify as a taxi. In Paris the taxis are primarily Mercedes-Benz. The newer ones at that. There are other brands of taxis too, but I wanted to ride in the Mercedes. I mean why not!
So I mistakenly approached this young guys Mercedes-Benz by knocking on his dark tinted window. I thought his vehicle was a taxi. The drivers there look like business men. He had on a dress shirt and suit jacket. Plus he was just sitting in the car after parking it along the street in front of the store. Just like the taxis did. Well apparently he was parking for lunch and certainly not a taxi driver. He didn’t get angry with me. I’m glad. Lol.
7. No Tipping
In Paris you don’t have to tip the wait staff. I’ve read that they get paid well enough to not need a tip. During our last night in Paris, I left a small tip at the restaurant where we ate dinner . I saw the two French girls beside us do it, so I did too.
8. Hygiene
Apparently many of the folks in Paris don’t use deodorant. It is a strong, foul scent that kind of takes your breath away when you smell it. This smell was surely present at the train station and on the subway. Beware!
9. Street Vendors
In Paris you’ll find vendors near popular attractions. The Louvre had food vendors in front of its main entrance. The Eiffel Tower had souvenir vendors all around. They were selling the same exact items less than 1 feet away. It looked like they had a limited time to sell because the police walked up and they quickly packed their items and left.
10. Young Smokers Prevalent
Seemed like young people just smoked for the heck of it. Like it was a must have accessory. I absolutely hate second hand smoke. I’m so accustomed to not smelling smoke in public areas. While we were eating dinner these two girls were chatting away and puffing their cigarettes right beside us. Talk about annoying. Geesh!