| > | | | | French peasants. |
| | | | - The Eiffel Tower was originally built as an attraction |
| Budget travel to Beautiful Paris | | | | for the 1889 Universal Exhibition. The tower was |
| My first draft of this article began something like, "here | | | | considered by many Parisians to be an eyesore, but |
| are the top ten things to do and see when you travel | | | | they have since come to terms with it and merely |
| to Paris." My plan was to show how to plan a cheap | | | | hang sheets over it when visitors come to town. It |
| travel excursion to Europe in general and France in | | | | was the tallest structure in the world until the Empire |
| particular. But three drafts later, I finally realized that the | | | | State Building was completed in 1931. But at least it can |
| entire City of Paris is a stunning and unforgettable | | | | claim it has never had a giant ape climb to its top. |
| attraction. | | | | - The Seine River. Here is where you can see and do |
| Sure, there are a few places you have to see when | | | | it all without spending a bundle. Spend as much time as |
| you go there, or else one of your coworkers will make | | | | you can either walking along its banks or taking boat |
| you feel like a dope because you traveled to Paris and | | | | tours up and down the waterway itself. It is probably |
| didn’t see the Louvre or the Eiffel Tower. | | | | the most beguiling river in the world, and you will find |
| But the point is, the entire City of Paris is one of the | | | | almost every building of interest in Paris is on or near |
| most beautiful travel destinations on the planet. You | | | | the Seine. |
| can travel to Paris on a budget without sacrificing any | | | | - The Parisian cafes. Here again you can take in the |
| of its romance and excitement. Even if you wander | | | | sights and experience the essence of romantic Paris |
| off of the well-worn tourist paths, the charm and | | | | without great expense. Particularly visit the cafes in the |
| elegance of the city just seems to seep into your very | | | | St. Germain-des-pres district, so you can follow in the |
| pores. (Think of it as something like the anti-Detroit.) | | | | steps of Ernest Hemingway, Victor Hugo, Ezra Pound |
| Parisians, of course, have a reputation for being just a | | | | and F. Scott Fitzgerald. You may or may not develop |
| teensy bit boastful about their city, ("how dare you | | | | the ability to write as well as these artists, but you be |
| even speak of [insert your hometown here] in the | | | | able to brag to your friends when you return home. |
| same breath as Paris, you swine! I will spit on your | | | | Assuming of course that your kind of friends know |
| toes.") But it is hard to argue that their pride is not | | | | that Hemmingway, Hugo, Pound and Fitgerald were |
| justified. | | | | writers and not a law firm. |
| But if you insist on knowing my list of top things to do | | | | OK I failed. I have touched only a very few of the |
| or see in Paris (particularly for travel on a budget), here | | | | highlights of travel to Paris. But when you go, be sure |
| it is: | | | | to take your time and stroll through the streets with the |
| - The Louvre was first opened to the public in 1793 | | | | eye of a wanderer. Be sure to taste the foods and |
| after the French Revolution and now houses the most | | | | sample the wines. This is one city that organized |
| enormous art collection in the world. If you are dead | | | | walking tours are often worth your time, but you can |
| set upon seeing every exhibit, be sure to set aside the | | | | also take your own walking tour with a guidebook in |
| most convenient decade of your trip in order to do so. | | | | hand and a heart to behold its beauty. |
| - The Palace of Versailles, is a fine example of what | | | | COPYRIGHT © 2005, Charles Brown. All rights |
| one man (King Louis XIV) can do with a Home Depot | | | | reserved. |
| credit and the ability to impose crushing taxes on the | | | | |