When I mentioned a couple of weeks ago to one of the French exchange students staying in the area that I had decided to leave the United States early in order to visit Paris for a few days, his immediate response was “I will help you plan your trip so you don’t get trapped like a tourist!”. What that meant was that I’m now booked into my first-ever Airbnb stay and that I ordered the Paris Pass Lib’ from the Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau. Since I’m not staying at a hotel in Paris (where it could be delivered for about €12), I don’t yet know my Airbnb hosts “in real life” so don’t feel comfortable having something delivered there (delivery within France would have cost about €10), and there’s not a convenient pickup location near my arrival airport (obviously, I could have picked it up for free), I elected to pay the €24 shipping fee and have the pass shipped to my home in the US. I was pretty upset at how much the shipping cost (thank goodness the US dollar is currently a bit stronger against the Euro than it usually is!), but that quickly changed when my Paris Pass Lib’ package arrived about five days after I ordered it!
I’m pretty excited about all of the things included in the Paris Pass Lib’. I went with the five-day adult pass, which cost €155 (or €31 per day) and includes a one-hour cruise on the Seine; unlimited on/off access for one day on the Paris Open Tour Bus; a four-day Paris Museum Pass (which allows access to over 50 monuments and museums in and around Paris, including Notre Dame Cathedral, the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, and Versailles); five days of unlimited travel within zones 1-3 in Paris on the bus, metro, tram, and RER; and the Paris Pass Lib’ booklet and Paris Map Guide. I also paid an extra €20 to get access to the 2nd floor of the Eiffel Tower (and the ability to skip the ticket lines), though I’m now realizing that that’s not the top level open to spectators and I’ve submitted an inquiry to find out how I get access to the top (third) level.
I was impressed with all of the materials that came with my Pass Lib’ and the speed with which it was delivered. The booklet is small enough that it will be very handy to carry around with me for quick reference. The four-day museum pass actually contains a folded up information sheet/map within it, so again, it will be easy to carry around with me. Booking tours such as my trip up the Eiffel Tower and the tour into Notre Dame’s towers is done either online or through an app, also making those easy to track. It’s been 26 years since I was last in Paris and it will definitely be different this time around than it was then (I remember trying to find somewhere to buy film that wouldn’t charge tourist prices because I had used up all my film; now, I’ll just need to remember my auxiliary/portable phone charger), but I’m so excited to see Paris again!
The Expat Maineiac
The Expat Maineiac 