Doing a group trip to France this summer

[kicksgetmehigh]

After years of talking about backpacking in Europe... I finally put my foot down and organized a group trip.
We're looking at going to Paris for 10 days in late june to early july or go in september. The only thing holding us up is of course the flight and finding a place to stay. Everybody is working with a $2,500 budget for the trip which IMO isn't quite enough but it's enough to get by, but if we rent an apartment and split it by 6 people, we should be fine.

What I would like to know is, where are some comfortable places to stay in and what areas should we consider?

What should I brace myself for?

How much is it to take the train to places like London or Nice?

If you've been to Paris or anywhere in France, feel free to share your story.

 

[kicksgetmehigh]

After years of talking about backpacking in Europe... I finally put my foot down and organized a group trip.
We're looking at going to Paris for 10 days in late june to early july or go in september. The only thing holding us up is of course the flight and finding a place to stay. Everybody is working with a $2,500 budget for the trip which IMO isn't quite enough but it's enough to get by, but if we rent an apartment and split it by 6 people, we should be fine.

What I would like to know is, where are some comfortable places to stay in and what areas should we consider?

What should I brace myself for?

How much is it to take the train to places like London or Nice?

If you've been to Paris or anywhere in France, feel free to share your story.

 

[halftime718]

http://www.eurotrip.com/

 

[halftime718]

http://www.eurotrip.com/

 

[kicksgetmehigh]

Good lookin out.

 

[kicksgetmehigh]

Good lookin out.

 

[johnnyredstorm]

I'd love to go to France, Amsterdam and Greece. Just wish my friends were as enthusiastic about Europe as me. Cheap bastards

 

[johnnyredstorm]

I'd love to go to France, Amsterdam and Greece. Just wish my friends were as enthusiastic about Europe as me. Cheap bastards

 

[cuteuglyhaha]

don't get kidnap

 

[cuteuglyhaha]

don't get kidnap

 

[kicksgetmehigh]

Originally Posted by JohnnyRedStorm

I'd love to go to France, Amsterdam and Greece. Just wish my friends were as enthusiastic about Europe as me. Cheap bastards

Europe is expensive man, just pricing all this stuff together makes me wanna go to LA instead 

I gotta see it while I still have the chance though

 

[kicksgetmehigh]

Originally Posted by JohnnyRedStorm

I'd love to go to France, Amsterdam and Greece. Just wish my friends were as enthusiastic about Europe as me. Cheap bastards

Europe is expensive man, just pricing all this stuff together makes me wanna go to LA instead 

I gotta see it while I still have the chance though

 

[rexanglorum]

As an American (or maybe you are Canadian, so North American) a good time to vacation in Paris is in August because you can rent the townhouse or apartment of many well off Parisians, who leave the city in August. Paris is very expensive but if you look around right now you should be able to work something out with a Parisian who will charge a reasonable rate to rent his apartment for 10 days.


As far as France is concerned, my Cousin bought a villa on the Coast in the South of France and having gone to both parts of France, I would suggest visiting the South of France and stay on the Mediterranean Sea with warm weather, warm water, nice people (Parisians tend to be rude like any other people from a very big city and they also have a chip on their shoulder because they believe French language and culture is the best in the World and their dialect and Parisian culture is the best in France), picture perfect beaches and better food.

I did like Paris but it is overrated and expensive while places Nice and Toulon and Cannes are so much cheaper and the people there are a hundred times more hospitable and welcoming to foreigners than Parisians. The food is also better because they use similar techniques as the renown chefs in the Capital but they use fresher and more vibrant ingredients that are grown locally in the Mediterranean Coast of France. French chefs in dreary and Gray places like Paris, Champagne, Brittany and Normandy make miracles with humble North Sea food stuffs like Snails, Apples, Mushrooms, Venison and other hearty but sometimes bland ingredients. Now take that ability to make culinary masterpieces and add things like lemons, olive oil, Portobella mushrooms, Arugula and Fresh Fish to that mix and you have maybe the best regional cuisine in the World.

If you decide to go to the South of France or if you swing through for a few days after staying in Paris, be sure to bring all of your friends to anyone of the good local Restaurants (ideally one right on the waterfront) and on a warm summer evening in the Mediterranean share a Bouillabaisse and enjoy this hybrid of seafood soup, stew and freshly cooked fish. The more people you have, the greater the variety of fish in your Bouillabaisse so definitely get all of your friend in on this and maybe even team up with a group of other backpackers (Despite speaking French, German and Spanish and enjoying conversations with people in different languages, every traveller will eventually want to spend a little time with someone who speaks the same language fluently. I prefre to chat with Brits than Canadians, than Americans and maybe even Irish people will work in a pinch

) and if you really want to be immersed in French culture maybe meet up with some other young people who are locals and who know the importance, majesty and the generally agreed upon gastronomical quorum of ten (again, that is usually the bare minimum, 15 to 20 is the ideal number) for this recipe.

I know I am dedicating two paragraphs and gave you a link to what some chefs would describe as soup; while technically true, it is much more than soup to to people there, it is showcase of ingenuity and a parade of every fish, shell fish and even the odd urchin from that region's seas. Yes this dish has urchin and they are good and this coming from someone who likes almost everything at the sushi bar but could never even tolerate sea urchin. The Provencals of Marsailles and elsewhere on that coast have found way to make sea urchin into something marvelous.

France is a great place to visit I just think that you should get to know its Southern most districts for the reasons I just stated. However, if you go to Paris I am sure you will enjoy it also. Have fun and good luck this summer.

 

[rexanglorum]

As an American (or maybe you are Canadian, so North American) a good time to vacation in Paris is in August because you can rent the townhouse or apartment of many well off Parisians, who leave the city in August. Paris is very expensive but if you look around right now you should be able to work something out with a Parisian who will charge a reasonable rate to rent his apartment for 10 days.


As far as France is concerned, my Cousin bought a villa on the Coast in the South of France and having gone to both parts of France, I would suggest visiting the South of France and stay on the Mediterranean Sea with warm weather, warm water, nice people (Parisians tend to be rude like any other people from a very big city and they also have a chip on their shoulder because they believe French language and culture is the best in the World and their dialect and Parisian culture is the best in France), picture perfect beaches and better food.

I did like Paris but it is overrated and expensive while places Nice and Toulon and Cannes are so much cheaper and the people there are a hundred times more hospitable and welcoming to foreigners than Parisians. The food is also better because they use similar techniques as the renown chefs in the Capital but they use fresher and more vibrant ingredients that are grown locally in the Mediterranean Coast of France. French chefs in dreary and Gray places like Paris, Champagne, Brittany and Normandy make miracles with humble North Sea food stuffs like Snails, Apples, Mushrooms, Venison and other hearty but sometimes bland ingredients. Now take that ability to make culinary masterpieces and add things like lemons, olive oil, Portobella mushrooms, Arugula and Fresh Fish to that mix and you have maybe the best regional cuisine in the World.

If you decide to go to the South of France or if you swing through for a few days after staying in Paris, be sure to bring all of your friends to anyone of the good local Restaurants (ideally one right on the waterfront) and on a warm summer evening in the Mediterranean share a Bouillabaisse and enjoy this hybrid of seafood soup, stew and freshly cooked fish. The more people you have, the greater the variety of fish in your Bouillabaisse so definitely get all of your friend in on this and maybe even team up with a group of other backpackers (Despite speaking French, German and Spanish and enjoying conversations with people in different languages, every traveller will eventually want to spend a little time with someone who speaks the same language fluently. I prefre to chat with Brits than Canadians, than Americans and maybe even Irish people will work in a pinch

) and if you really want to be immersed in French culture maybe meet up with some other young people who are locals and who know the importance, majesty and the generally agreed upon gastronomical quorum of ten (again, that is usually the bare minimum, 15 to 20 is the ideal number) for this recipe.

I know I am dedicating two paragraphs and gave you a link to what some chefs would describe as soup; while technically true, it is much more than soup to to people there, it is showcase of ingenuity and a parade of every fish, shell fish and even the odd urchin from that region's seas. Yes this dish has urchin and they are good and this coming from someone who likes almost everything at the sushi bar but could never even tolerate sea urchin. The Provencals of Marsailles and elsewhere on that coast have found way to make sea urchin into something marvelous.

France is a great place to visit I just think that you should get to know its Southern most districts for the reasons I just stated. However, if you go to Paris I am sure you will enjoy it also. Have fun and good luck this summer.

 

[kicksgetmehigh]

I greatly appreciate this advice man. This will be a good trip and I heard the food is great in Paris & Nice... Monte Carlo is expensive from what I heard but I just wanna see for myself. Where in Paris would you or anybody recommend to stay at? I would like to be near a train since we're flying into London and taking the train to Paris. And since we're going to be taking the train to go to other cities & countries, I think it'll be more convenient to stay near a train station just so we don't have to walk too far. We're offially going in the begining of July

 

[kicksgetmehigh]

I greatly appreciate this advice man. This will be a good trip and I heard the food is great in Paris & Nice... Monte Carlo is expensive from what I heard but I just wanna see for myself. Where in Paris would you or anybody recommend to stay at? I would like to be near a train since we're flying into London and taking the train to Paris. And since we're going to be taking the train to go to other cities & countries, I think it'll be more convenient to stay near a train station just so we don't have to walk too far. We're offially going in the begining of July

 

[ignantbliss]

RIP

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sike naw...I wanna go there before I leave Germany though...heard its dirty and the people rude though.

 

[ignantbliss]

RIP

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sike naw...I wanna go there before I leave Germany though...heard its dirty and the people rude though.

 

[kicksgetmehigh]

I heard it's dirty in some places, but not like Italy. The 3 & 4 Star hotels there are pretty bad from what other people tell me that have been there. It's like a crime scene. If it's not 4 1/2 star... stay away from it.

 

[kicksgetmehigh]

I heard it's dirty in some places, but not like Italy. The 3 & 4 Star hotels there are pretty bad from what other people tell me that have been there. It's like a crime scene. If it's not 4 1/2 star... stay away from it.

 

[nighthawk9421]

Stay in hostels its dirt cheap, u wont need an apartment cuz your gonna be on the move. where are u flying out of?

 

[nighthawk9421]

Stay in hostels its dirt cheap, u wont need an apartment cuz your gonna be on the move. where are u flying out of?

 

[scott frost]

I went to the south of France 2 summers ago. Town we were at was more on the quiet side but the beaches were the *@%@, food was delicious and the people were friendly. I can speak the language so it certainly made it easier and I felt as though the people appreciated that fact even if we had difficulty in undestanding one another from time to time.

 

[scott frost]

I went to the south of France 2 summers ago. Town we were at was more on the quiet side but the beaches were the *@%@, food was delicious and the people were friendly. I can speak the language so it certainly made it easier and I felt as though the people appreciated that fact even if we had difficulty in undestanding one another from time to time.

 

[timbo109]

If you want to go the hostel route, I recommend checking out the Oops Hostel.  http://oops-paris.com/en_services.htm
I stayed there with a large group last spring break and the experience was good.  It's nice, clean, modern, with good service.  Rooms are a bit cramped, but the prices seem to be good.  Location is good and they serve you breakfast.
There may be better/cheaper ones out there but I had a good experience there if you want one that's proven.
Added benefit: only 2 kidnapping attempts during our stay there; neither were successful.