Eyewitness Top 10 Travel Guide to Paris

Paperback - 01 February, 2002 - DK ADULT
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By: Anna Brooke and Paul Hines
ISBN: 0789483505

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Reviews by readers

The perfect travel companion

I decided to check out the Top 10 guide for Paris given the excellent experience I had in London with a similar guide on a past trip to the UK. I noticed the same compelling points with this guide as I'd noticed with the London guide -- a concise list of things to do in city, a list of various neighborhoods (arroindissments in Paris), list of best cafes/bars and sample itineraries for spending an entire day in each neighborhood, the top 10 things to look for at each attraction, and the best feature: the compact size of the guide.

But I was looking for more than just the above -- I was traveling to a city where people don't talk in English after all. What I really liked about the Top 10 guide was the section on Streetsmarts -- when you're in a country where English is not the first language, you sometimes need a helping hand with even the simplest of things -- like what is the best deal on the Paris Metro? Should I buy single tickets or a "Carte Mobilis" for every day? How do I make a local phone call? What should I avoid? The Top 10 guide's Streetsmart section covers many of these "small" things on your mind and also include a few pages with popular French phrases with translation in English, eliminating the need to carry a phrase book, if any.

With this guide, I was able to see Paris according to my schedule and tastes. I took in all the touristy attractions on the first day by just walking along the Seine river, and spent the next few days exploring specific neighborhoods like Saint Germain des Pres and interesting detours. I planned my entire stay in Paris with this book, and not a day went by when I wasn't glad for having this guide by my side -- and at under 10 bucks a pop for these guides, I'm quickly acquiring a collection.

A big help during my stay in Paris

I spent four great summer days in Paris last year, and this little book was indispensable. Going through it before I hit Paris got me in the traveling mood, and I used it constantly while I was there. If you only have room for a single Paris guidebook, this is the one.

The fold-out Metro map expedited my travels around the City of Lights (once I got the hang of how the trains ran). Each Top 10 section helped me prioritize my wanderings, locate various sites, and gave good concise historical background. For example, the Top 10 exhibits in the Louvre are pictured and described, which provided a necessary focus in such a huge, overwhelming museum. However, the guide's Louvre map was not quite up to speed, although I didn't consider that to be a big issue.

The compact format was easy to use, and the color pictures were a great visual aid. It also fit perfectly in my Eagle Creek shoulder bag or my pantleg cargo pocket, so it wasn't a burden. When I was getting ready to depart Paris for London at the Gard du Nord, I left the book on a table and watched from the upstairs to see who would take it. I hoped the guide would serve them as well as it did me.

Looking for other information on Paris or France to prep for your trip? I found Rick Steves' books and the "Let's Go" guides helpful as well, and "60 Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong" by Jean-Benoit Nadeau and Julie Barlow is great for insight into France and the French. Happy travels!

Skip This Book, Just Buy the Regular 400 Page Guide

This is a scaled down version of the regular Eyewitness Paris book.

I have to confess up front. I love these books. I must have a dozen. I really like the Paris book, and the one for Prague, and Stockholm, and South Africa, and .... You get all the detailed material similar to other great travel books plus you get great visuals.

The photos and descriptions and cutaway drawings are excellent and more than make up for any lack of small detail. But there is lots of detail here. The book includes the history of Paris and many details on the art, art galleries, parks, cutaway views of historical buildings, and many other things of interest. That is the good part.

The bad part is why buy this book when there is a much better Eyewitness Travel book on Paris for a few extra dollars. The big book is 5 stars. This is an edited and scaled down sibling.

Recommendation: skip this thin 2 star or 3 star book and just buy the regular book which is easily a 5 star book.

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