What to know before you go.

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1) Get ready to walk.  France is best experienced on foot.

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There is a lot of walking on this tour, and France, especially Paris, is best experienced on foot.  The Louvre is a really huge museum, the biggest in the world actually.  You can end up walking several miles just wandering through the collections inside this museum.  During your free time you might want to walk through various neighborhoods, the Tuilleries gardens, along the Seine, around the Eiffel Tower, Montmartre, the Champs-Élysées, or a day trip to the expansive palaces and gardens of Versailles (if you arrive early or stay a day late).   

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You will enjoy this trip much more if you get your feet, legs and shoulders (if you are carrying a camera bag) ready ahead of time.  My wife and I worked our way up to going on 4-5 miles walks every day, plus climbing up and down roughly 300 feet of stairs.  I carried the equivalent weight of my camera gear/bag to get my whole body in shape.  While my wife was not all that happy with the training at the time, she thanked me many times throughout the trip as we walked, and especially when we had to climb the stairs to the top of Mont St-Michel, twice!  You definitely will want a very comfortable pair of walking shoes!     

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2) A little bit of French goes a long ways!

 

Try to learn some basic French before you go.  It is is really helpful as not everyone does or will speak English to you.  You'll find you'll have a much more enjoyable experience as you interact with waiters, shopkeepers, bakers and the like, if you start by smiling and simply saying Bonjour madame or Bonsoir monsieur.  Add in a frequent s'il vous plait and merci and everyone will be happier. 

 

You can find some great language primers on pronunciation and insghtful cultural podcasts on the Rick Steves website and app.  I really enjoyed listening to all of the podcasts about France before going.   

 

3) Pack light.

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I was not initially thrilled about having to limit my luggage to an airline carry-on, especially since we arrived a bit early and stayed a bit longer, which meant we would need to do laundry.  I bought several lightweight performance golf shirts and pants (by Izod and Nike) that were cool to wear, easy to wash, quick drying and largely wrinkle free.   Being able to bring your carry-on luggage on the plane means no lost luggage, and you can get out of the airport quicker.  There were a few times we had to walk a couple blocks with our suitcases to get from the bus to our centrally located hotel.  Lighter is definitely better!

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4) Don't expect things in France to operate like they do at home.

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There were several stores, sights and restaurants that we had planned to go to that were normally scheduled to be open, but for whatever reason, were not when we arrived. C'est la vie.  Also know that almost all museums in Paris are closed on either Monday or Tuesday.  Monday closures include the Musée d'Orsay, Picasso, Herni Cartier Bresson, Marmottan-Monet, Arts et Métiers and the Palace of Versailles. Tuesday closures include the Louvre, Pomipdou and l'Orangerie. 

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Our guide had told us that in Paris, people normally don't go to the airport more than an hour before their flight.  We of course found that hard to believe and so we got there about 2 hrs and 40 minutes early, only to find that the British Airways check-in counter area had not opened yet.  We stood and waited in the hallway, with a long line of other surprised travelers.  The ticket counter agents arrived approximately 1 hour before departure... and we still waited another 10-15 minutes for before they opened to check us and our luggage in.  Somewhat surprisingly, we still managed to leave on time.  While I am not advising you to arrive late for an early morning flight, don't be surprised if things are not open if you arrive early for the first flight of the day!

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5)  Be prepared to slow down a bit, especially at restaurants.

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Eating is an experience, something to savor and enjoy. Parisians live at cafés and restaurants.  If they want fast food, they grab a cup of coffee and a croissant at the café bar, pick up a sandwich at a bakery, or go to McDonalds.  It is expected if you go to a fine restaurant in the evening, that you will order a three-course meal and spend considerable time (and money) there.  If you don't want to do that, there are lots of other options at brasseries, cafés and more informal restaurants.

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6) For faster service and less smoke, arrive early and sit inside.

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One of the in-things for Parisians (and tourists) to do is to sit outside to see and be seen.  The downside of sitting outside, especially if you have an aversion to smoking, is that at some point, there will be someone or several people smoking next to you.  So we always chose to sit inside.  We arrived early enough that we never had to wait for a table, didn't have to deal with the smoke, it was often cooler inside and we always got faster service since it is easier to get the attention of your waiter.  Sitting inside also sometimes gave us more personal space, although in the more popular places, we could have easily eaten off of the plate of the person sitting at the next table.

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 7) Plan where you want to go ahead of time, and don't try to see it all!

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There are so many amazing things to see in Paris, you cannot possibly get to them all.  Dealing with crowds and lines also means that it will take you longer to get to places as well as see the things you want to see.  

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I found it helpful to use Google Maps to mark places that I wanted to visit.  One little known fact about Google Maps is that you can create and download an offline map of an area you choose, along with pins/locations you've placed/identified etc. before you go. [You can test this by creating an offline map of your own home town, open the app on your phone, choose the offline map, turn off your cellular & WiFi and try it for yourself.]

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I loved using the Google Maps app with my pre-loaded offline maps, as I could always peek at my phone and see exactly where we were, without having to use cellular service or WiFi.  I never looked like a tourist looking at a giant map, trying to figure out where they are, which is harder than you might imagine.  I also created offline maps for each of the cities/villages we were going to that had the location of our hotel, some possible restaurants, museums or other sites I knew I wanted to see in my free-time.   While this option doesn't give you directions, that really isn't necessary in practice.  Apple or Google directions aren't always reliable.  On our trip, several of our tour members got lost and spent a couple hours wandering around the hills of Montmartre because their smart phone kept updating and changing the route.  You may also walk a lot out of the way if it assumes you are driving and that you need to follow one way streets!

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8) You don't have to be a foodie to enjoy France.  

 

I'm not really a foodie.  I don't drink wine and there aren't too many cheeses that I actually enjoy eating.  The irony is not lost on me since food, wine and cheese are probably the top reasons people visit France.  On the other hand, I love bread, particularly the French baguette, vanilla puff pastries and chocolate eclairs.   I've decided that heaven on earth is being in France just to be able to eat the world's best ham and cheese sandwiches, crème brûlée, profiteroles, chocolate croissants and chocolate éclairs. Ooh la la.

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Tip:  When the tour guide sends the menu options around the bus, pay attention to what the bus driver gets.  He likely has eaten at the restaurant before and knows what is best there.  I noticed our bus driver got especially excited when offered confit (duck) and said it was the obvious choice.  At our farewell dinner, my wife ordered the duck, I ordered the beef.  The bus driver and my wife made the better choice.  I am a beef lover and I found steak was largely a hit or miss proposition throughout the trip.  I did find the beef bourguignon to be very good...  but when in France, do what the French do... order the duck, it really is a better choice than steak.     

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9) Get a credit card that doesn't charge foreign transaction fees, has a chip and get a pin before you go.

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We got a couple Capitol One cards before we left, and it really was a great experience using them on this trip.  Many times we could simply "tap" our card and the transaction would go right though.  In all of the restaurants, the waiters would bring a credit card machine to the table where we would do the entire transaction together.  ATMs were easy to use as well, but for a trouble free and inexpensive experience, stick to using the BNP Bank ATMs found everywhere in France.  Read more at:  https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/money/cash-machine-atm-tips