Meetings and Paris..

[Wesley Darlington]

Hi folks,

Some tips for belfast-pm-ers going to YAPC in Paris...

If you plan on using public transport in Paris at all, then
it's probably best to get a "Carte Orange" for one week [0]
for zones one and two, [1] for about fifteen euros.

I believe, though, that to get the little stubby carte orange
ticket that you actually use in the metro machines, you need
a carte orange photocard, which you can get (for free iirc) 
when you buy the actual ticket thing. But you need a passport
photo to get this. 

So, if you happen to have a passport-sized photo of yourself
lying around, bring it. It'll save you going looking for a
photo machine when you get there.

There are ticket options other than carte orange. Daily tickets
cost about five euros (for zones one and two). I think they're
maybe called "mobilis". There's something called "paris visite"
which is quite expensive - nine euros for one day, eighteen for
three - but which also gets you into many museums etc.

Lessee, other Paris-ish tips:

o The train from charles de gaulle airport to the Gare du Nord 
  costs about seven euros one way, iirc. There's a (free) bus from 
  the airport's various terminals to the airport train station.

o Don't forget your passport. Duh.

o Cafes are great, and there are lots of them. But they're very
  expensive. Beer is really expensive, as are soft drinks. Pubs
  are very expensive too. As a guideline, a pint of draught beer
  will probably be over six euros, possibly well over six euros.

o It's hot there: drink lots of water.

o Red lights [for cars] at pedestrian crossings seem to be purely
  advisory, though cars *will* stop if you're agressive enough.
  Usually.

o There are at least two euro bank machines in belfast: the one
  opposite the front of city hall (is it a first trust one?) and 
  the other inside the bank of ireland in high street.(?) You might 
  find it useful to get your euros before you go. Chances are you
  can only withdraw up to three hundred quid in one day, so if you
  get four hundred euros out of one of those bank machines, you
  won't be able to make /any/ more withdrawls that day. :-) :-)

o Apparently filling in an E111 form is a good idea, in case something
  bad happens to you while you're away. Go to a post office, fill one 
  in, and get the teller to stamp it. The form is in the back of a
  bright, colourful booklet "Health advice for travellers".

I can't think of anything else...

HTH,
Wesley.


PS. Yeah, I know this is all probably obvious, redundant, and/or
    useless but I feel like saying it all. :-)


[0] The "one week" runs from Monday to Sunday inclusive, but
    they can still be bought up until Wednesday. AFAIK.

[1] It's not like London: zones one and two cover pretty much
    all of Interesting Paris. :-)