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Really valued bringing Rick Steves guide because there were specific directions on how to get to hospitals (Yes, hospitals as my traveling companion had allergies that drugs from local pharmacies could not alleviate). Brought this book and DK Paris guide. Went to Paris in 2008 for the first time. While DK Paris tell you the address of hospitals, Rick Steves actually tells you how to travel there. Took both to Paris because there are info in Rick Steves not in DK and vice versa. Whereas the DK has colored photos, Rick Steves Paris guide is in black and white, hence, lighter in weight. Definitely saved the trip. Make sure you check out Rick Steves' website for they have many useful tips.
This book follows the rick steves tradition and gives a welth of info.details that make the trip so much more enjoyable.
Luckily I bought a few additional, more thorough, guides because this one missed the boat on a few amazing spots. He also dismisses the Musee Histoire and Carnavalet, but these places were equally interesting. Does he mean unrecognizable people like Voltaire, Madame Curie, Antoine de St. One room, painted of a circus in the clouds, entirely in deep reds and grays was breathtakingly beautiful, and I have never seen its equal in Europe. This is a huge error, these sites were some of my favorite places that we visited. Steves mentions something like "only well-read people or historians would recognize the names of people buried in the Pantheon". When my family all went to Paris last year this was one of the books we purchased to prepare for the trip. The Musee Carnavelet has Parisian artifacts from Roman times through the Revolution to the present, definitely worth a visit.
I only found out what these places housed when reading other guides. Maybe I'm easily impressed, but the Musee Histoire houses such gems as letters from Charelemagne, Voltaire, and a young Louis XVI's journal, as well as the fabric book that Marie Antoinette chose swatches from for her dresses. This makes me not trust his judgment and I would certainly never trust a travel guide of his for anywhere else without some additional resources. Plus I found the Pantheon absolutely staggering in its size and beauty. This book by Steves mentions the Pantheon, Musee Histoire and Musee de Carnavalet only in passing and really only to imply that they aren't worth going to. I imagine in the grand scope of things, these places may not compare when pressed for time to places like the Louvre, San Chapelle, or the D'Orsee, but I thought they were amazing.
Exupery, and Victor Hugo. It was one of my family's favorite spots. Rather then give them the brush off, Steves should have more accurately described them and given the reader a chance to choose. Oh, and please excuse my bad French, I am writing these names from memory, and may not have the spelling correct.
I thought this book was really helpful. It helped us decide (before we went) which sights to see and which to leave out since our time in Paris was short. The maps were great, just wish we had studied them a little more before we went. We had a great time in Paris and took the book with us everywhere we went. It also made it easier to find things and get around without wasting a bunch of time going the wrong way. We wouldn't have known about the museum pass without it.--Ember
The book was a helpful tool while in Paris, However, if one is not wanting to walk one's legs off, maybe it is not the very best book. Some of the directions were not that easy to follow. It is a must to have a book of this nature but last time we used Frommer's and would probably use that one again opposed to Rick Steve's.
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