(Part 2) Top products from r/paris

Moving there in January will be interesting. Winter in Paris is grey. And rainy. Mostly grey. Super grey. It was really hard for me because I was from the countryside of Ohio, and not accustomed to living in a city where each street was bordered by two grey 6-story buildings and a grey sky. I felt claustrophobic sometimes, and the lack of sunshine got to me. And it gets to everyone else, and you can feel everyone around you become sluggish and brooding in the winter. You're just surrounded by grey people dressed in black, it's... depressing. But when the weather springs back, the whole city gets a breath of fresh air.

You need to figure out where you want to live, and preferably it's close to your place of employment, although that may not be best, depending. For instance, if you're working in the 6th or 7th arrondissements, you will have one hell of a time finding affordable housing. If you're working in la Défense, you don't want to live way out there. But the métro system is great, and you don't necessarily have to live down the street from your work place, but you don't want to have to switch lines 3 times just to get there.

I personally recommend the 10th, 11th, 19th, and 20th arrondissements. That is simply my favorite part of Paris, it is cheaper (but all of Paris is expensive), there are less tourists (except at Cimètière Père Lachaise maybe), tons of great cafés and bars, restaurants, and it has a lot of character. You're close to things like Parc des Buttes Chaumont, métro hub République, the bar strip of rue Saint-Maur, Gare de l'Est and Gare du Nord, super delicious and cheap Asian restaurants and shops in Belleville, Canal Saint Martin, and more. I lived in the 10th and 11th arrondissements at métro Chateau d'Eau and métro Goncourt. I am a petite woman and I walked home from bars at all hours of the night or morning on quite a few occasions, but I never ran into any trouble. That doesn't mean it's a harassment-free neighborhood, Paris is a big city and anything can happen, it's important to be careful. I wouldn't whip out my iPhone while walking late at night, for instance. Instead, I always carried around my favorite little map book. Granted, if I got lost and had to use a map, I looked like a freaking tourist, but it's better than using an eye-catching, glowing money machine.

Oh, speaking of getting lost, you're gonna get lost. This is the greatest mapguide ever made. I have never, ever seen a better mapguide. I bought one the first time I visited Paris, and it was so freaking awesomely wonderful that I bought another one before I moved there. It's small, super thin, much more inconspicuous than a big, cumbersome fold-able paper map, doesn't fall apart with time, and is super easy to read and navigate. It has every site of importance in it. I can't even count how many awesome little gems I discovered just by looking at this map book. Sometimes when I was bored, I would take a FriXion erasable pen, draw out a zig-zag path to walk through the streets of a random neighborhood, and that would be my day. I would send you mine, but it has a ton of notes and stuff in it, and it's very special to me. It is sort of like my journal of experiences and favorite places in Paris. After some time, you won't need it on a daily basis, and you'll find yourself traversing familiar streets without hesitation, but it's super handy and I used it til I moved away, albeit sparingly.

The whole shopping experience is totally different. There is no big department store that has absolutely everything like Walmart or Target in America. Except BHV, I guess. But BHV is expensive and you can find anything you need for a cheaper price in other shops, and BHV is on rue de Rivoli, so going there can be utterly frustrating depending on tourist season.

If you have difficulty making friends because of your poor French skills, SEEK OUT social groups that speak English. Book clubs, theatre classes, cooking classes, go to polyglots, couchsurfing meetups, Reddit meetups, go to events at Shakespeare & Co. or Abbey Bookshop, whatever. Just make friends and have a support system, because culture shock can be hard. It is not necessarily recommended to make English-speaking friends because it can hinder your ability to learn French, but you need friends, and if you don't speak French, then you can't connect with people who don't speak English, and having friends, going out, that's going to make your life 100% better and it will really ease the transition. I did not have friends for a long time, and I was really depressed. Making muffins and having a spur-of-the-moment Reddit meet-up was the best thing I ever did in Paris, and I wish I'd done it sooner.

That's all I've got for now. Enjoy that wall of text.

TL;DR: Paris.

Edit: I only mispelled "métro" like, 5 times. Tricky accents.

Congratulations! I too am planning my honeymoon to Paris this summer a few weeks after you. I'm happy to share my research (much of which I've compiled from Reddit suggestions and wikitravel). I've also been before, though my fiancee hasn't, so we're doing all of the touristy things that I thought were worth it after being there and doing them mystelf.

First off, I'm been putting most of my research into a google map. Blue pins are the tourist attractions, blue circles are shopping and green circles are vegetarian restaurants. My fiancee is vegetarian, though this may not be an issue for you. If you do want my vegetarian research, let me know and I'll do a follow up post. My plan is to use this map on my iphone while we're on the go (we'll have a mifi so we'll have internet on the go) so if serendipity isn't striking us we can find a close restaurant or cafe that's recommended.

My general tips are as follows:

• Most food in Paris is good to great. The last time I was in Paris for 10 days we didn't plan out any meals. I tried but we could never find them when we were out and about before we got too hungry and just had to stop anywhere that looked good (hence the google map this time). The thing though was that we never had a bad meal. When people talk about the food of Paris being good though, it's that the quality is generally excellent and it's hard to go wrong. There certainly are better and fancier restaurants, but I wouldn't be too rigid about planning meals out.
  
• That said, my favorite meals from my last trip were the picnics we did. We would go to a bakery each morning and pick up a loaf of baguette and then hit the Monoprix for some cheese, meat and wine (good wine in Paris starts at 3-5 euros). Whenever we got hungry, we would find a nice park or walk to the Seine and find a nice spot to eat and watch the flow of the city.
  
• Take the Fat Tire Bike Tour. It's run by American college students but it's a fantastic way to see the city and they did a good researching and presenting the city's history. More importantly though, taking a bike tour you get to see a lot of the city in a short period of time and really get your bearings for where things are and if you do it early in your trip you can ask them for suggestions.
  
• Depending upon when you plan to go to the museums, you can probably save some time and money with a paris museum pass.
  
• When you go to the louvre, don't go in through the main entrance. There's a side entrance that never has a line. You can exit through the main entrance which has the pyramids so you see them too. Note that it appears you'll need the Paris Museum Pass or other tickets to use it.
  
  Fancy Restaurants Recommended by Reddit
  
  
• Le Jeu de Quilles, 45 Rue Boulard
  
• Les Cocottes de Christian Constant, 135 Rue Saint-Dominique
  
• L'Atelier de Joel Rubichon, 5 Rue Montalembert
  
• Le Comptoire du Relais, 9, carrefour de l'Odéon.
  
• Les Ombres on top of the Musée du Quai Branly (great view/ very good food)
  
• Le Chateaubriand
  
• le Restaurant Jean François Piège at Thoumieux
  
• Mandarin Orienta
  
• Le Grand Véfour,
  
• Le Cinq at Georges V,
  
  Restaurants which require reservations recommended by my Aunt who lives in Paris:
  
  
• Le Pré Verre : 8, rue Thénard 75005 Paris
  
• La Boussole : 12 rue Guisarde 75006 Paris
  
• Le Train Bleu in the Gare de Lyon
  
• Le 6 Paul Bert
  
  Street Markets
  
  
• Rue de Seine
  
• Rue Mouffetard Market
  
• http://marches.equipements.paris.fr/
  
• Book on the Markets of Paris that I will be taking to Paris
  
  Other Links that I collected but haven't looked at in a while:
  
  
• http://www.timeout.fr/paris/feature/selection/the-best-markets-in-paris
  
• http://www.timeout.fr/paris/feature/music/best-live-music-bars
  
• http://www.lestroismailletz.fr/
  
• http://goparis.about.com/od/nightlifeinparis/tp/Paris_Nightlife.htm
  
• http://www.caius-restaurant.fr/
  
• http://www.lechateaubriand.net/
  
• http://www.frenchie-restaurant.com/
  
  Have a great trip!
  
  EDIT: A few additional thoughts:
  
  
• Try to learn a few french phrases. My experience was that if I tried to speak french to people, they opened up significantly, whereas if I started in English people tended to be a bit annoyed with me. A simple, "Bonjour" or "Bon matin" or "excusez-moi, je suis desolee, mais parlez-vous anglais?" go a long way towards getting good responses.
  
• Some of the best things in Paris are the touristy things. Just because something seems touristy (e.g. all of the museums, watching the Eiffel Tower light up at night) doesn't mean that it should be avoided.
  
• That said, avoid any restaurant that has a direct view of the Eiffel Tower or that's next to the park where the Eiffel Tower is. My experience is that all the food there was overpriced and poor quality (as compared to the rest of Paris which is to say it was still objectively a good meal, just by comparison you can do a lot better by going a few blocks further away).
  
• I'm still looking into the Velib bike system, but it's something we'll probably do. I think you have to order passes online if you don't have a European credit card, though hopefully others can speak to that.
  
• If you're going to do a day trip, I really liked Versailles. The palace was overwhelming and frankly I want to skip it this time but the gardens are amazing and worth the trip by themselves.
  
• Don't try to do too much. There's a temptation to try to cram things in since there's so much to do in Paris. Part of charm of Paris is just relaxing and wandering. There are so many interesting things that aren't in guide books or on maps that you can just stumble upon that it'd be a shame to plan too much on miss out on the serendipity.
  
  The side bar has a few links which may be helpful if you haven't seen them:
  
  
• http://www.reddit.com/r/paris/comments/15cavv/redditors_guide_to_paris/
  
• http://www.reddit.com/r/paris/comments/hdzn6/looking_for_less_touristymore_obscure_things_to/
  
• http://www.reddit.com/r/paris/comments/l33w9/information_on_paris_and_france/
  
• http://www.reddit.com/r/paris/comments/gz5c8/tips_and_tricks_for_a_firsttime_visit_to_paris/

http://www.amazon.com/Paris-Was-Ours-Penelope-Rowlands/dp/1565129539
This isn't a practical guide per se, but it talks extensively about what it "feels like" to live in Paris. I found it to be super-helpful.

http://www.absparis.org/fr/_fileup/telechargements/pdf_telechargements_10.pdf
This is the guide that my exchange school (in Paris) sent me when I was accepted to study there. A lot of the details (like where to buy textbooks, etc) won't apply to you, but there is still a ton of useful information in there.

The rest is personal advice:

Cell phone providers: the big two are Orange and SFR. There are other smaller, "no frills" providers like Simyo that you can also investigate. Most likely, what you'll want to do is buy a pay-as-you-go SIM card to use with your existing phone. Orange and SFR charge 40-50 cents a minute, Simyo charges 15ish. Just beware - if you have an iPhone from AT&T, you won't be able to put another provider's SIM card in it. If you need to you can get a phone for 10 euros or so.

Grocery stores are everywhere. The major chains are G20 and Franprix, and they're pretty equivalent, as far as I can tell. Of course, you can also buy food from individual shops / outdoor markets.

Tips are almost always (99%) included in the bill. If you feel that your waiter was phenomenally wonderful and is your new favorite person in the world, round the check up to the nearest denomination that you have (i.e. if your bill was 33.50, you can round up to 35 if you want). Say "c'est bon" (it's good) as you hand them the money to let them know that you don't expect change.

Cars: You don't need a car. In fact, you don't even want a car. Paris is probably the single most pedestrian friendly city in the world. What you'll want is a Navigo subway pass. Basically, these are cards that you can pre-load with money, and then swipe to get on to the metro.

You can also check out the Velib bike system. Basically, there are bikes in bike racks all around the city. You check one out for 1/2 euros a day (there are also weekly, monthly, and yearly plans) and then pay a small amount per hour until you return it to any other bike rack. Warning: You'll need a credit card with a chip in it to sign up for this system, and American credit cards don't have them.

There are a million other details that I can't think of now. I'll probably come back and edit this post a few times as I start remembering them.

EDIT: Be careful about ordering water in restaurants. If you just order water (de l'eau), you'll most likely be brought bottled water (eau minerale). By law, all types of eating establishments have to offer free tap water, but you need to know how to ask for it. Une carafe d'eau is a pitcher of tap water, and will be free.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. I'll be living in Paris until May of next year, so if you'd like meet up and grab a beer or whatever, let me know.

--Don't think speaking French will solve your problems or that not speaking it is the reason for them-- instead, read Polly Platt's book "French or Foe" (single most helpful guide to French thinking; my neighbors from the UK were given the book by the embassy before they moved) and David Applefield's book "Paris Inside Out" which has lots of practical tips (and as many others as you can-- ignore the "I adore everything about Paris" ones, those people just haven't lived here long enough, and anyway if you adore everything about Paris, you don't need advice)
--If you move in September, there is a big moving-to-Paris weekend conference for Anglophones every year in October at the American Church, called Bloom Where You Are Planted, with lots of helpful tips and organizations. Bloom also produces a book most years with advice for newcomers.
--Paris expats' blogs are great for finding tips about cafes, bars, places to eat, fun things to do, etc.
--Get to know the Pariscope, the weekly 40-cent or so guide to what is on that week
--Get to know your Mairie, the town hall for your arrondissement. They propose lots of help for foreigners and often have a group of French volunteers [http://www.mairie11.paris.fr/mairie11/jsp/site/Portal.jsp]
--If you are ever really angry-- speak ENGLISH rather than stammer in bad French (everyone in France feels they *should know English)
Have a great time in Paris!

[http://www.amazon.com/French-Foe-Getting-Visiting-Working/dp/0964668424]
[http://www.amazon.com/Paris-Inside-Out-7th-Insiders/dp/B001PIHTVY/ref=sr_1_15?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1310645374&sr=1-15]

It might help to know what level you are currently! That said, I used this book in uni and really liked it. Imagine it’s pretty good for self study too, because it’s got exercises with answers in the back. Explanations + instructions are in English.

Link is to amazon. It’s also all online for free if you look. No idea which bookshops would have it in, you’d have to check.

You should read Eddie Huang's book, it's really interesting on a cultural integration point of view: Fresh off the boat

Interesting ideas and well written. Fun as fuck.

Give "The Invention of Paris" a shot. i loved it when i read it, and learned a lot.

There's some things on her blog I agree with, but feel she gets a lot wrong. Its as if its written from the POV of an American fashionista/socialite that doesn't quite "get it"

For an even better source of "Paris Do, Paris Don't" type material go buy French or Foe

A History of Paris.

http://www.amazon.com/Seven-Ages-Paris-Alistair-Horne/dp/1400034469/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323132739&sr=1-1

WumboJumbo already posted Horne's Seven Ages, but Colin Jones' Paris: The Biography of a City is another option.

I've personally found that there are just so many histories of Paris and life in the city (thanks in part to the massive English-literate/ex-pat population) that there are tons of possible selections that some people hate and some people like. Something to keep in mind if you try one and end up getting bored to death.