club SEPTEMBER 2018
EDGARS CLUB MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 2018 EDGARSCLUB.CO.ZA
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THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO S/S FASHION, BEAUTY & LIFESTYLE
PARIS UNLOCKED
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‘P GETTING THE MOST OUT OF PARIS WITH THE RAND IS EASIER THAN YOU THINK, WRITES TREVOR CRIGHTON
aris’ and ‘budget’ aren’t two words that sit comfortably next to each other. As the spiritual home of fashion, fine dining and art, the City of Lights offers luxury experiences with astronomical price tags – but you don’t necessarily have to take out a second bond on your home to put together a magical holiday. For South Africans, travelling on the rand is always a challenge, and it’s tempting to spend when everything looks so tasty, the locals are so achingly chic and bigbrand luxury lurks around every corner – but there are ways to stretch your budget enough to wrap it around a visit to Paris. If you must, spend big on one memorable meal or on something special you’d never be able to buy at home rather than on an extravagant hotel room you’re only going to sleep in each night.
G E T TI N G ARO U N D Avoiding flights – and travel in general – during peak season is a good start. May is packed with public holidays and it’s expensive to go anywhere in December and January. Keep an eye out for airline specials – but don’t be afraid of spending R1 000 or R2 000 more on your ticket in exchange for a direct flight or one with a shorter layover. Nothing spoils a trip more than if it takes double the amount of time it should to get to a destination – and adding extra stops also means more opportunities for delays and lost luggage. Most South African visitors arrive at Charles de Gaulle Airport to the northeast of the city. The RATP bus 350 (to Gare de l’Est) or bus 351 (to Place de la Nation) is a budget-friendly way to get into town (around R190), but Parisian traffic can be brutal and the advertised 60-minute transfer time can be quite far off the mark. The RER train is quicker and more frequent, and at around R170, a better option for a guaranteed 30-minute trip into the heart of the city. Once you’re in the city, you can buy white paper Metro tickets at any station. There’s an English option on the
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vending machines, and many take chip and PIN credit cards. Opt for a pack of 10 (a ‘carnet’) to bring the cost of an individual trip on the bus or metro down from R30 to closer to R20. However, the best value to be had is from purchasing a Paris Visite travel pass (also available at vending machines), valid for one, two, three or five consecutive days, and which allows you to travel anywhere in central Paris (zones one to three) for R600 for adults and R300 for children (for a five-day pass). Central Paris isn’t massive; it’s a beautiful city to walk – pack your comfy shoes and stroll along the Seine or explore the winding streets on foot to get a true feel for the city. Picking up a local SIM card or portable WiFi hotspot will make research and navigation much simpler. While WiFi is plentiful, you can get a local data SIM at a mobile store like Orange (take your passport with you) for around R300 for 10 gigabytes of data – more than enough to keep you online and on the go.
IN SUMMER, THE CITY TURNS AREAS AROUND THE SEINE AND THE BASSIN DE LA VILLETTE INTO BEACHES, CALLED ‘PARISPLAGES’, OPEN EVERY DAY
S MAR T S I G HTS E E I N G Entry to many museums and galleries across Europe is free, but the big ones in Paris generally charge a fee (unless you visit on the first weekend of the month, when access to places like Musée d’Orsay, Centre Pompidou and the Louvre is free – from October to March).
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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Rue Montorgueil is one of Paris’ permanent pedestrian and gourmet market streets; Centre Georges Pompidou – Paris’ ‘inside-out’ building; entry to Musée d’Orsay is free on the first weekend of every month.
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CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Areas around the Seine and Bassin de la Villette are turned into beaches in summer; Paris is regarded as the pastry capital of the world for good reason; beautiful monuments abound in Cimetière du Père Lachaise and Cimetière du Montparnasse.
If you’re not going to be there during the freebie period, a Paris Museum Pass covers admission to over 50 sights (including the Louvre, Musée d’Orsay, NotreDame towers, Arc de Triomphe and Versailles). Buy passes online at en.parismuseumpass.com and collect them at the main branch of the Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau – or just buy them directly once you’re there. There’s still a long list of free places worth visiting at any time though: museums operated by the city like the Musée d’Art Moderne, Maison de Balzac and Maison de Victor Hugo, as well as most churches (Notre-Dame and SaintSuplice among them) and parks like the beautiful Jardin du Luxembourg, where you could easily spend an entire day. At the Eiffel Tower, it’s cheaper to walk up the 669 stairs than it is to ride the lift. It might sound morbid, but Cimetière du Père Lachaise and Cimetière du Montparnasse are beautiful cemeteries worth a stroll through
in good weather – and the final resting places of Jim Morrison, Chopin, Charles Baudelaire and Samuel Beckett. In summer, the city turns areas around the Seine and the Bassin de la Villette into beaches, called ‘Paris-Plages’. They’re open every day, free of charge, from 9am to midnight. Play volleyball or street tennis, try your hand at archery, pedal-boating and rowing – or just chill out in the sun with a drink and watch the beautiful people walk by. Too hot? Dive into one of Paris’ 39 public pools for around R50. Since you’re in the fashion capital of the world, why not try out a free fashion show?
CENTRAL PARIS ISN’T MASSIVE; IT’S A BEAUTIFUL CITY TO WALK – PACK YOUR COMFY SHOES AND STROLL ALONG THE SEINE OR EXPLORE THE WINDING STREETS ON FOOT TO GET A TRUE FEEL FOR THE CITY EDGARSCLUB.CO.ZA
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SAVE EXCLUSIVE HOLIDAY OFFERS! Edgars Club members get savings on flights, accommodation, car hire and travel packages. For more info and to find out what’s on offer this month, go to edgarsclub.co.za or follow us on Facebook.
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IMAGES: GALLO IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES & SUPPLIED
YOU’LL SOON FIND A FAVOURITE PATISSERIE (LOOK FOR ONE WITH THE QUEUE OUT THE DOOR – THE LOCALS KNOW BEST)
At the city’s most prestigious shopping centre, Galeries Lafayette (worth a visit for its sheer beauty alone), some of the country’s finest fashion houses put on free shows twice a week (Mondays and Fridays at 3pm) – reserve a seat by phone or email. The rooftop terrace also offers some of the most beautiful views of the city – why look at Paris from atop the Eiffel Tower when you can see Paris and the Eiffel Tower at the same time?
LIVE LI K E A LOCAL The cliché of a chic Parisian sashaying down a boulevard carrying a baguette is a cliché
because it’s true. The French love their food, and delicious, crusty bread is an essential part of each meal. There’s a bakery on every corner and even the supermarkets make excellent loaves – pop into a Monoprix or Carrefour supermarket to pick up some bread, a dizzying array of cheeses and some great-value wines, then pick a spot in a park or alongside the river for an impromptu picnic. Restaurants offer prixfixe menus for lunch and dinner, with a set price for two or three courses – but the exchange rate means costs add up pretty quickly and you’ll struggle to get away with paying less than R300 per person for a meal with a drink. If you do find yourself in a café, a service charge is generally included in the bill, so don’t feel compelled to add another 10 to 15% as a tip – an additional Euro or two
is more than acceptable for exceptional service. Being a tourist is thirsty work, but luckily there are more than 800 drinking fountains located around the city, where you can fill up your water bottle for free – some of them even spout sparkling water! Why stay in a hotel, when you could get a feel for being a local by staying in an apartment through Airbnb? You’ll soon find a favourite patisserie
(look for one with the queue out the door – the locals know best), a cosy coffee shop and a nearby supermarket. While property is so expensive in central Paris that companies are buying residential apartments to convert them into offices, it’s easy to find a comfortable, if small, apartment for around R1 200 per night within a 15-minute train ride to the centre of the action.
OPPOSITE PAGE: Watching the world go by from a table outside a brasserie is trés chic in Paris THIS PAGE ABOVE: Cycling is a wonderful way to explore Paris’ hidden secrets THIS PAGE BELOW: Paris offers iconic views wherever you look – embrace the cliché and snap away.
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