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Post by trechic on May 25, 2007 20:55:15 GMT -5
I bought my Pimsleur French CD's on EBay for $15.00 with free shipping! I also bought my Paris Map Guide from EBay. Just as a side note in January I decided I would sell some of my stuff on EBay to accumulate some extra cash for my "ParisFund" and as of today I have $1360 in my Paypal Acct!! (I have also sold other stuff I have found out at the stores for great buys and resold for nice profits)! ohhhhhh...I am just sooo excited!
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Post by annettecinca on May 26, 2007 9:54:11 GMT -5
The DK Paris is my "go to" book. I have quite a few others, but I like how this one is organized and can always lay my hands on the info I want the fastest in DK. I like that it has a little picture of most sites, so I know what I'm looking for as I wander around the streets. I also like the map in this book a lot, which is probably my favorite feature. Yes, it is a heavy book, so it stays in the hotel room. Last trip I ripped out the map section and left the rest of the book at home! I have recently bought myself a Streetwise map, with the intention to convert myself, but it will be hard! Oh, and I do a lot of shopping for these things on Amazon, but sometimes I just gotta have it right NOW and make a run to Barnes & Noble.
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Post by goldenmama on May 27, 2007 4:44:15 GMT -5
Has any one used the green Michelin Paris Guide? I was sure I had seen it recommended on another site, and I ordered it sight unseen.
This has to be the most confusing lay out of any guidebook I've ever seen! Maybe I'd better stick to Paris for Dummies ;D
I prefer to shop at Barnes and Noble, either in stores or online. If they don't have what I need, I move on to Amazon.
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Post by annettecinca on May 27, 2007 11:32:21 GMT -5
Goldenmama--I've looked at the Michelin guidebook, but quickly put it back on the shelf!
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Post by susanb on May 27, 2007 19:52:32 GMT -5
Trechic: If I had $1360 in any account I'd be happy!
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Post by holger on May 27, 2007 22:26:15 GMT -5
 Have just been reviewing the DK Guide to Paris and like it a lot.
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Post by GitteK on May 29, 2007 6:34:40 GMT -5
holger - just remember to buy the latest revised edition 2006 - it has some interesting now walks in it.
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Post by Becky (Berkeleytravelers) on Jun 1, 2007 11:05:26 GMT -5
In answer to the question about Amazon as a source, I always try them first. There are two main reasons.
One, if you are searching for a specific title, they will show you many independent suppliers that are affiliated. You often can get a new or "like new" copy from an independent (makes me feel good because it helps the independents stay in business by making them partners rather than only competitors of Amazon). It's easy to do it this way, because all the payment and shipping details are handled by Amazon, and from the buyer's perspective it's no different from any other Amazon order except that you generally can't get expedited shipping.
Two, you can go to the bottom of the main page and switch to the Amazon UK site (oddly enough, a search that turns up books from independent sellers on the US site does not expand to the UK site). The UK site, as you might expect, has lots of books on France and Paris that don't necessarily make it over to the US. But, using the UK site is very easy because the shipping and payment all goes through the US site where you have your information saved (if you buy from them regularly).
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Post by susanb on Jun 1, 2007 21:37:50 GMT -5
Becky, I brouse Amazon frequently and never noticed the click on UK sight. Thanks for the info.
S
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Post by GitteK on Oct 30, 2007 13:37:18 GMT -5
I just received these from FNAC A DVD called "Paris Secret Notebook" / Les Carnets Secrets Parisiens - and I can't wait to watch that one !  An exciting guidebook (but in French) with all sorts of maps and hundreds of illustrations and history and very old photos and stories and fold-out pictures "Paris Secret" / Encyclopédies du Voyage Gallimard  |
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Post by Happygoin on Oct 30, 2007 13:39:23 GMT -5
We expect a full report on both, Ms. Gitte.  |
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Post by GitteK on Oct 30, 2007 13:45:31 GMT -5
The DVD is also in English it seems, SO there is NO excuse for NOT buying a copy yourself ! Only 16.77 € - and it seems to be an all-zone DVD (DVD 9) |
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Post by Darcy on Oct 30, 2007 16:56:18 GMT -5
It's not available yet from US Amazon, but I've signed up for it as soon as it is! Thanks, Gitte |
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Post by Becky (Berkeleytravelers) on Oct 30, 2007 18:12:48 GMT -5
I did a quick check, and neither the guidebook nor the DVD are available through Amazon UK (which I have used with success several times for things not available in the US), but both are available through the French site - but I did not try to order, so I don't know whether they would ship here (not a problem with the UK site, but - who knows?). If anyone is adventurous enough to try it, please post and let us know . . . (I do know the French site has the same stored info re shipment addresses, etc., as the US site, because I used it a couple of times to ship within France.)
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Post by iank9 on Oct 30, 2007 18:38:25 GMT -5
Becky, Just had a confirmed email from amazon.fr, via one click purchase, using details stored with amazon.uk. Estimated delivery 5/11!  |
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Post by GitteK on Oct 31, 2007 0:29:10 GMT -5
FYI, the DVD can easily be bought with www.fnac.frPlease note, that I cannot guarantee that it is a world-wide-playable version, but it does say "DVD 9 All zone" on the cover. Maybe I should add that the book (after closer inspection yesterday) is not what I would call "a firsttimer's guidebook" - hmmmm...... very much not........ It devotes quite a lot of space to the subject "Paris sous terre" (which is very interesting, but hardly found in the Rick Steves book): the Parisian underground, old caves/holes left from the plaster (gypse) mines, how/where from does Paris gets her drinkingwater, the history of metro, history of the sewers, what is in fact hidden under your feet, as you trot along happily licking your icecream etc. - all with very illustrative coloured "vertical section"-drawings (what's the word?) to illustrate things. For instance: You probably knew that there has been over the years been a heavy plaster digging/excavating industry in Paris, especially under Montmarte, Buttes-Chaumunt, BUT did ever wonder what happened to all those mines and holes ? Non ? Me neither.  Plaster has this deplorable feature that it dissolves in water, so even if there has not been excavating activities in some quarter, they still find caves/"pockets" in the Parisian underground. The photo in the right corner shows a giant cave discovered smack under Gare de l'Est - "une poche représentant plusieurs milliers de m3" - OMG !! Then the book shows how different means of supporting Paris from beneath and filling up the holes have been taken over the years. Did you also know that the plaster mines have been used for mushroom-growing ? You have probably taken the metro many times to "Montparnasse-Bienvenüe" - right ? So who was Bienvenüe ? or did you think (like me) that "Bienvenüe" simply meant "welcome" ? Not so. Fulgence Bienvenüe (born 1852) is the heroic engineer to whom we owe the Parisian metro ! Other issues in the book: Cemetaries, cryptes and an exciting chapter about "Ailleurs à Paris" meaning: where do you find the "rest of the world" in Paris, represented culturally. Also it has a range of suggestions for (plus delightful photos) some of the lesser known museums and gardens/parks, and some of the covered passages. So when it calls itself "Paris Secret" - this should be taken dead seriously..... absolutely no twinkling E.T., no Champs-Elysées, no Berthillon, no Sainte-Chapelle. |
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Post by Shoesy on Oct 31, 2007 0:55:44 GMT -5
Gitte - I agree that when eating Berthillon ice-cream, the most heavenly ice-cream, one would have no reason to think about what is beneath one's feet. It would be far more appropriate to think of the heaven above. |
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Post by GitteK on Oct 31, 2007 0:58:26 GMT -5
I pity those who leave Paris and think that a cone of icecream was all there was to it - but of course that is a matter of taste, over which we can never argue.
De gustibus non est disputandum.
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Post by Shoesy on Oct 31, 2007 1:31:50 GMT -5
My dear Gitte - The ice-cream is just so that the tastebuds are kept happy while all the other senses are busy absorbing Paris in the way they were created for. |
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Post by iank9 on Oct 31, 2007 2:19:32 GMT -5
Going back through the thread I noticed the recommendation for, Thirza Vallois's "Around and About Paris". They have been added to a Christmas wish list with some not very subtle hints being dropped! |
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hahahha