Museos gratuitos en Paris

Listas de museos gratuitos en Paris:

http://en.parisinfo.com/museums-monuments-paris/6408-free-entry-in-national-museums

http://www.reidsguides.com/eff/paris/eff_paris_af.html

http://goparis.about.com/od/parismuseums/tp/Free_paris_musuems.htm

http://www.internationalliving.com/countries/france/country_archive__1/01_25_08_museums

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/12/arts/artsspecial/12euro.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&fta=y&adxnnlx=1206887593-ibDKlglG51NnvEPZSimWdQ&oref=slogin

http://www.paris.fr/portail/Culture/Portal.lut?page_id=144

En el área de Paris, la admisión a los siguientes museos será gratuita hasta junio del 2008:

The musée Guimet
The musée de Cluny
The musée des Arts et métiers
The musée des Antiquités nationales de Saint-Germain-en-Laye
The musée national de la Renaissance d'Ecouen
The musée de l'Air et de l'Espace du Bourget

El museo Guimet es extraordinario, una colección fabulosa de los países de Asia.

Good restaurant, expensive restaurant, Pompidou Center

A few random observations:

a) we had dinner last night at Le Petit Zinc. It is an excellent restaurant, near the St. Germain des Prés church (11, Rue St Benoît, http://www.petit-zinc.com/).

Wonderful food (I had the Menu Petit Zinc, with the poisson soup, saumon and profiteroles, http://www.petit-zinc.com/fr/carte.htm), great service, extraordinary ambience, great art deco decoration, not too expensive. We had a Riesling wine, 22 euros for the bottle, excellent as well. Overall, magnifique!

b) we had a small lunch at the Georges Restaurant at the Pompidou Center. The panoramic views are really incredible (sixth floor, you can see most of southern and western Paris). However, you can also see the views from the terrace, and the restaurant was trés cher (very expensive), and not that good. Service was dismally slow, even to collect payment!

c) the Pompidou Center itself is very uneven, at least if you are not entralled by modern/abstract painting. As an example, there are three very large (and presumably very expensive) canvases which are completely white! I swear I am not making this up:

http://www.centrepompidou.fr/Pompidou/Musee.nsf/Docs/ID18FC9B0C9A11338EC1257411002D755A?OpenDocument&salle=1N4S09=salle&Key=1N4&sessionM=3.2.1&L=1

That said, there are some extraordinary works by Picasso, Mondrian, Kandinsky, Matisse, Miro, Braque, Gris, etc., especially in salles 3-6.

The red rhinoceros is a favorite of mine:

http://www.centrepompidou.fr/Pompidou/Musee.nsf/Docs/1DFC99DD4166966EC1257411002D8D87?OpenDocument&salle=1N4R=salle&Key=1N4&L=1

There was a very long line to enter the building, and another very long line to purchase tickets (and the three automatic ticket vendors were "hors de service", that is out of service). If at all possible, buy the tickets online, or, better yet, buy a weekly pass for the major museums/attractions (and you will avoid all lines, and save money at the same time!):

Museum Tickets:

http://billetterie.cnac-gp.fr/recherche_resultats.asp

Paris Pass:

http://www.paris-pass.com/Find_Paris_Attractions

d) there is a less expensive cafeteria on the second floor, and a very expensive shop as well (t-shirts for 40 euros, that is US$63 as of today).

And, as most other museums, it is free the first Sunday of every month!

Bon chance!

Economist article comparing Paris and London

The Economist magazine has published an interesting article, comparing London and Paris:

http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10849106

It rates London highly for economic dynamism, construction, growth, architectural innovation, start-up companies, financial sector, etc.

But Paris rates better in haute cuisine and haute couture, in cleanliness (of national monuments), in preservation of beautiful buildings, and in the efficiency of the RER trains.

Internet connections, iPhone, Orange, laptops

Establishing an Internet connection in France takes time, patience, and, as always, euros.

A good deal is offered by Orange France Telecom, with the Livebox.

This includes Internet connection, an Internet telephone line, and a fairly broad TV selection, for 40 euros a month (30 euros if you also have a traditional phone landline).

The quality of the TV is not nearly as good as the FIOS option that Verizon offers in the United States, but, with a bit of patience, you can use it. It includes BBC, CNN, TV Española, and other international channels (German, Portuguese, Italian, Chinese, etc.).

Bringing an iPhone proved a challenge, as neither AT&T, nor Apple, nor Orange, would unlock it (even though Orange is the official service provider for France). After many phone calls and visits to Orange, finally I was able to establish an official Orange account. But I would advise selling your iPhone in the U.S. (or elsewhere), and buying another one here, although here it costs more (400 euros, which as of today is more than 625 dollars).

On the other hand, I would strongly recommend bringing a lap-top, as they usually work with 220 volts, and they are much LESS expensive in the U.S. (or elsewhere). Also a very good purchase was a portable external hard drive.

Good luck!

Sitios culturales latinoamericanos en Paris

Algunos sitios de interés:

http://www.mal217.org/ Le Maison de l'Amérique Latine

http://www.amelatine.com/ L'Amérique Latine en France

http://www.unilat.org/SG/index.fr.asp Union Latine

http://www.resonancias.org/ns/index.php

http://www.espaces-latinos.org/

http://elboomeran.com/

http://www.ameriquelatine.msh-paris.fr/

Eventos en la UNESCO:

http://events.unesco.org/

Página cultural de Radio Francia:

http://www.radiofrance.fr/chaines/france-culture2/sommaire/

Agenda de eventos en Paris:

http://www.paris.fr/portail/accueil/Portal.lut?page_id=1&agenda_request_type=1&agenda_directory_id=0

Página sobre América Latina en Le Monde:

http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/index/pays/ameriquelatine

Versalles 101

You can get a cheap ticket to go to Versalles at the SNCF ticket offices (in particular, Invalides, but also at others). This includes a round trip RER C ticket plus the entry to various Versalles buildings and exhibitions for 19 euros. Otherwise, you would pay 20 euros just to enter the main chateau, and this after waiting in line a couple of hours to buy the tickets to the castle.

The RER C is an interesting train ride, which goes past Issy, a nice town on the outskirts of Paris. You exit at Versailles Rive Gauche, in front of a small shopping center. A block away is the "Hotel de Ville" (town hall), with an interesting statue to the veterans of war.

About 4 blocks away is the entrance to Versalles. You should expect to spend at least 8 hours here, or else several days. In addition to the main castle and its wonderful rooms (the highlight is the Hall of Mirrors), there are other smaller buildings, including the Grand and Petit Trianon.

The gardens are spectacular, with incredible fountains and statues.

You can find traditional, and inexpensive, restaurants, through the exit towards the right of the fountain of Neptune. We paid 30 euros for a dinner for two, including a pichet of wine.

Prices, wine and bureaucracy

Any country where (good) wine is cheaper than Coke can't be all bad.

However, the counterpart is that sodas, bottled water, and almost everything else is VERY expensive, especially when the euro is above US$1.50, like it is as of this writing.

Bureaucracy, as all guides point out, is impossible, slow, difficult, and often illogical (there are numerous "Catch 22" situations, when you need step A before step B, but step B before step A).

The metro system is very efficient (in terms of covering all downtown Paris), but very dirty, smelly, crowded, and in many cases with old units, rails and stations that breakdown. Line 1 is almost impossible to ride during rush hour.

But, as a friend pointed out, no matter how terrible the bureaucracy or the metro ride, once you step out - you are in Paris!!

A few tips for visiting the Louvre

The Louvre is just phenomenal. If at all possible, you should devote at least three days to start to uncover its many treasures.

A few tips:

a) It is free for all on the first Sunday of each month.

b) It is free for those under 26 every Friday evening, or you can buy an annual pass for a low price.

c) There is an excellent food court (and shopping center) under the inverted pyramid, which is open late every day (except Tuesdays, when the stores close at 5 (and the museum is closed).

d) The free map and guide is very useful, and it points out all the masterpieces (too many to list here: the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, the Victory of Samothrace, the Hammurabi Code, Egyptian, Summerian, Greek, Etruscan, Roman antiquities, etc., etc.

Enjoy!