A little French can go a long way

One of the most basic rules in traveling is to learn the language - that is in cases that you are going to a non-English country. It would make your trip much easier if you know a few lines of the language especially the basic ones. Even a simple 'Thank you', 'Please', and 'Where can I find/Where is...' phrases can go a long way.

So that's what we'll be telling you today - a basic French class for those who loves to travel in Paris anytime soon. These are just basic phrases, a number of phrases you could keep in mind for basic conversations in the city. May you find these useful.

ENGLISH	FRENCH	EXAMPLE
Hello	Bonjour (bohn-zhoor)
Goodbye	Au revoir (oh-rev-vwha)
Thank you	Merci (mare-cee)
You’re Welcome	Pas de quoi (Pah-de-kwah)
Yes	Oui (we)
No	Non (noh)
Excuse me/Sorry	Excusez-moi
Please	S'il vous plaît (seel-voo-play)
“Where is…?”	Où se trouve? Où est... ? (oo-ce-troove/oo eh)	Where is the train station? Où est la gare? (oo eh la gahr)
How much does that cost?	Combien ça coûte? (Cohm-by-en sah coot)
Do you speak English?	Parlez-vous anglais? (par-lay voo ahn-glay)
I don't speak French	Je ne parle pas français. (Zhe ne parl pah frahn-say)
Waiter	Monseiur/Madame (m'syhur/mah-dam)
Do you have...?	Avez-vous...? (ah-vay voo)	Do you have red wine? Avez-vous le vin rouge?
I'll have...	Je prendrai... (zhe prawn-dray)	I'll have a lobster, please. Je vais avoir un homard, s'il vous plaît.
What's your name?	Quel est votre nom?
How much does that cost?	Combien ça coûte?
Can you help me, please?	Pouvez-vous m'aider, s'il vous plaît?
I can't find…	Je ne peux pas trouver...	I can't find our Paris accommodation. Je ne peux pas trouver notre appartement à Paris.
Can you tell me where...?	Pouvez-vous me dire où ...?	Can you tell me where is the nearest apartment in Paris in St. Germain, please? Pouvez-vous me dire où est le plus proche d'appartements à Paris à Saint-Germain, s'il vous plaît?
I’d like to cancel/change my reservation…	Je voudrais annuler/changer ma réservation	I'd like to cancel/change my reservation for my Paris apartment. Je voudrais annuler / modifier ma réservation pour mon appartement de Paris.
Where can I park the car?	Où est-ce que je peux garer la voiture?
Is there a lift/elevator?	Y a-t-il un ascenseur?
Can I leave my luggage until...?	Est-ce que je peux laisser mes bagages jusqu'à...?	Can I leave my luggage until 8:00 AM tomorrow? Puis-je laisser mes bagages jusqu'à 08h00 demain?
We're leaving at 7 tomorrow morning	Nous partons à sept heures demain matin

Champs-Elysées: A Champ for Tourists

Our Paris accommodations are situated in a way that we are near the best and most beautiful places to visit in the city. It is made such to make it accessible to our customers and make them feel that we are making it convenient for them to travel around the city from where they are staying. No doubt that we place more than 6 of our Paris apartments in Champs Elysees.

But this blog isn't about our accommodations, nor anything related to it. This is, however, about the place and what's in store for you in one of the classiest, most elegant, and brightest parts in Paris - Champs Elysees.

Avenue des Champs Elysees is one of the most extravagant places in Paris. One of the most famous streets in the world, Champs Elysees have a strip of luxurious shops, restaurants, shopping centers, cinemas among others. The place is also famous for high rents on Paris apartments and cost of living. Living in Champs Elysees is no joke. Although the place may seem like exclusive for the elite only, but others can come and visit whenever they want - especially if it's just a once-in-a-lifetime tour experience.

So what's in store for you in Champs Elysees?

There are actually a lot of beautiful sights in Champs Elysees. There, you could find the Grand Palais, a museum with metallic halls and stone facade housing many of the most famous arts and designs collections and other art exhibits there is.

You could also find the Arc de Triomphe, an arc built in 1806 in memory of the French army as ordered by Napoleon. Aside from these two, you could also go and visit other museums such as the Petit Palais and Musee Galliera de la Mode de Paris, and one of the famous bridges, the Pont Alexandre III.

There are also a lot of parks and gardens and town squares. These are best for people who would love to stroll around the place and enjoy a beautiful sight or scene. You can go to Parc Monceau or the Igor Stravinsky Square.

Going to the place is not that bad at all. It wouldn't really require a huge slice of your budget if you just know where to go. If you got some extra cash, you can shop a little but not too much. After all, traveling is not about how much you spent but on how much experience you've gathered.

If you want more info about Champs Elysees, here are some few facts.

Paris at Night

There's no place in the world that's not up at night. Gasoline stations, hospitals, drugstores, 24-hour convenience stores - they're everywhere and they're in every part of the world. And even in the wee hours, they could be wide awake.

A nightlife, so to speak, is what everybody somehow want and need. Maybe some have a so-called "nightlife" because they need to work, but some just wants to have fun.

Not all travelers would really prefer a nightlife. Besides, most sceneries are best seen during the day. Only a few of them are beautiful at night (not that nothing is best viewed at night; the Eiffel Tower is one of the best sceneries at night).  But that doesn't mean that you can't enjoy Paris at night.

There are various places wherein you can have a taste of nightlife in Paris. For one, there are clubs and bars open all night for those who loves music, some beer or wine, and some good company. Others are spacious enough for you to dance around with friends, some have couches where you can sit, talk, and laugh in a company and just experience a good time.

A lot of people come to Paris and experience this kind of life. Although they could experience it anywhere in the world, even their hometowns, it's always different in Paris. The wine tastes better, the people are merrier, the music is louder... it's almost as if you're in total party heaven. That's why, although it's one of the most common 'attractions' so to speak, a club or a bar is still one place tourists often visit.

However, this perfect little gig in Paris during the night time is not that perfect just yet. Other people still find a bit of a dilemma with this kind of trip. TEENS. They have problems in doing this because: 1) they're under-aged, and 2) only a few bars would allow teens below 18 to come in.

Fear not, young fellows. You can still enjoy this kind of life in Paris. Although a bit scarce, a few clubs in Paris allows teens from 16 years onwards to come in. These clubs are not that intense anyway. They don't serve the hard drinks (beer and wine would do), no overly vulgar people and actions. It's just simply a place to relax, have good music and dance with it, and be with friends.

Just to be safe dear young fellows, make sure that your Paris accommodation is not that far from the place. There are a lot of apartments in Paris in Le Marais which have these kinds of clubs. You could stay there.

For more info, here's a link of the top 10 clubs and rental in Paris which you can go to and have a great time. With that we bid you... Good night!

Merci, lecteurs!

This post marks our 12th post for this blog. So we're writing a simple and short (but really sweet) blog for you, our avid readers.

For 3 months now, we have extended our efforts to reach out to the people who were there for us and in our goal to extend a great service to them. We want to present something fresh aside from the 'business' side of things. Blogs would be one thing that would be really enjoyable to read, isn't it?

Every week we try to deliver something for you. Something unique, something fun - however you see it. The thing that matters most is that WE ALWAYS TRY. And although we might not have any clue how good we have been in doing this blog (as far as readership is concerned) but we PROMISE to never stop on writing and keeping things going around here. We will and still continue to write every topic of every week as fun, interesting, and informative as they all used to be.

So to all of you, THANK YOU! You always push us to do our best. May it be our Twitter followers, Facebook fans, or avid blog readers for this (Paris blog) and our Rome blog. Thank you for the people who support us and keep on checking our website for Paris accommodations - may it be our Paris apartments in Eiffel Tower, Opera, Bastille, or our Paris vacation rentals in Louvre, St. Germain, Montmarte, and all the other locations.However few we still have (followers, fans, readers), but we owe it a lot to you.

Until the next post!

Sidenote: We did the same thing with our Rome blog. Just tweaked a bit but the same touch of short-but-sweet message.

P.S.

Since we're trying to be creative here, see the French translation of this message below:

What Not To Do: A Little List You Should Have When Going to Paris

Let's say you break the news that you are going to Paris. Assuming that everybody who knows about it gets pretty psyched and excited about it, they all tell you the MUSTS in travelling Paris. Where to stay, where to go, what to eat, and oh! WHAT TO DO.

But only a few would tell you that sometimes enjoying the travel is not about doing, eating, staying at the BEST. Sometimes, knowing what's WORST would give you the best travel there is. Maybe telling you WHAT NOT TO DO would be the best advice.

So here, although we give you the best Paris accommodations, we think it wouldn't harm you if we'll tell you WHAT NOT TO DO. Of course we'll still tell you to where best to find Paris vacation rentals in St. Germain and whether or not these Paris apartments are worth it. BUT as of now... let's talk about the NOTs in your Paris vacation.


You surely could find lots of articles about this on the internet. As we've gone through our research, there are seriously A LOT of them. So to make it easier for you, we gathered everything we could gather and trimmed it down to the top 5 that we thing you shouldn't really do. So here are our top 5 What Not To Do in Paris.

• Don't Take a Da Vinci Code Tour
I would have to agree with this one. It is expensive and it is quite a waste of time in a day going around and touring about a famous novel you were so engrossed on only to find out (and be disappointed) that Dan Brown has poorly depicted Paris. (Sorry fans… but it’s just true.)
• Don't Go "Cabbing"
Cabs are difficult to find in Paris. Plus, you can’t just extend out your hand from anywhere to hail the cab. You would need to book them first or wait at the designated taxi stops. Paris is a city made for walking. There are a lot of beautiful sceneries to witness by just walking. Experience Paris the way it was designed for. Take a stroll and you’ll see the wonders that are made out of this beautiful city.
• Don't Shop at the Champs Elysses
While Paris was known for fashion but it doesn’t mean you need to shop at the most popular and most expensive place. You’ll just be wasting lots of money in shopping shoes that are expensive because they are too branded. Why not try and shop at the local stores? It would be worth it!
• Don't Waste Time at the Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower is such a beauty. It’s one of the highlights and most celebrated infrastructures in Paris. But you know what makes this tower beautiful? It’s its presence on the skyline and the lights that glimmer around it. The point? It is made to be looked at and seen from afar and not on it. Getting to the Eiffel Tower would take long lines and long queues. So why not stay grounded and appreciate the tower on its best view?
• Don't Book the Cheapest Hotel
We all want to save up. We all want to find the cheapest in everything – but please, not your hotel rooms. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you would need to book somewhere classy and expensive; it’s just going to rob you out. You can look for affordable hotels but never ever sacrifice the ambience and quality of service in choosing your hotel. Make sure it’s well-furnish and that all amenities are functioning well. You might be spending an extra compared to ‘cheapest’ hotels, but you would definitely get the best of it.