First off, you need to understand how to use the railway ticket. A simple train ticket (t+) costs about 1.69 euros. This covers a one-way trip by train to the metro, by RER, by bus, or by the tramway. You can also choose connections on a single ticket (metro-metro, metro-RER, bus-bus) but not bus-RER and bus-Metro. Also, the transit shouldn’t last for more than 90 minutes from your initial validation.

Compared to London, public transportation in Paris is cheap. However, when you add the cost of all of those one-way tickets, you’ll spend a pretty hefty amount. You’ll save more money if you buy a book of 10 tickets (also called a carnet) which costs 11.60 Euros.

There are fourteen train lines in Paris. All of them are included in standard city maps sold all over Paris, with designated colors. You’ll easily find your way around Paris if you know the end station of the line you’re taking. In other words, you shouldn’t be too ashamed of using your map in public while you’re in Paris. It’s better than getting lost with poor French and a handful of coins in your pockets.

While you’re exploring the metro, make sure that you have your ticket with you until you’ve passed through the barrier exits. You may be required to pay huge fines if you lose the ticket before you reach your destination.

You also want to make sure that if you are going on the Metro or Bus that your dog, if small enough is in a lap carrier.  Larger dogs need to have a ticket with them, generally a children’s ticket.

You also want to make sure that you know where you can take your dogs.  Open air markets are places that pets are not allows and neither are restaurants or museums.

In Paris, there are not that many places that will actually allow you to have a pet inside – especially hotel rooms, so this is certainly something that you are going to want to check on.  You also want to make sure that you do your research.

What this means is that you are researching exactly where you can take your pet – as that is going to be important as well.

Now that we have talked a little bit about the neighborhoods around Paris, the next step is going to be the panoramic views that Paris has.  To be quite frank, Paris is absolutely breathtakingly beautiful and it is certainly a place that you want to stop and smell the roses, especially with views like this one.

Another thing that you want to do when you are in Paris is make sure that you take a walk through all of the beautiful parks and gardens.  There are a ton of different and elegant parks and gardens and they are certainly essential whenever you are looking to walk around Paris.

Another free thing that you can do is make sure that you visit some of the many, many free museums, as this is definitely a way to save some cash!

One thing that you will notice about Paris is that it is by far one of the most expensive places to visit.  To be honest, if you do not save up a bunch of money, you might as well kiss those tickets goodbye and you might as well expect not to be able to spend a lot of money while you are there.  Paris is not for people on the budget – unless you are on a budget.

For those of you that are like me and traveling on a budget yet still want to experience everything, the next few blogs are for you.  We are going to explore Paris on a budget and make sure that everything that you do is inexpensive!

By far, one of the best things about Paris is the fact that you can walk anywhere and that you can truly get a feel for the city – that is why exploring the neighborhoods around Paris is so important!  Not only will you get to know the city, but you will absolutely fall in love with it!

If you are walking down the street and you see a bunch of different artists lined up with their easels, why not just pose for them and get that beautiful painting done?  Typically, they are reasonably priced and you usually only have to sit for around an hour, which is not long.

Getting your picture painted in Paris is a fantastic way to really get a feeling of the culture and look beautiful!

There are plenty of traditions for bringing in the New Year in Paris. Among them, St. Sylvestre — the New Year itself — begins on the first of January and ends on the first of February. At midnight on the first of January, Parisians begin exchanging those charming little cheek kisses and they which one another “Bonne Annee!”

These are by no means the only traditions, of course, but to celebrate the holiday like a true Parisian, they are certainly excellent places to start!

Now that we have talked about one hotel that is perfect for the winter months, especially around Christmas, let’s dive into our second one.  This is a hotel that is not only cute as heck, but it is a hotel that is perfect for a winter hideaway.  There is almost always a blazing fire in the salon that burns right into the glazed conservatory and I have to say that this hotel has some beautiful rooms.

The Hotel de l’Abbaye is the name of it and all of the rooms themselves are different – and if you are feeling rich, you could get yourself a duplex suite that has some fantastic paintings and some beautiful wallpaper.  With this place, the breakfast is included and it’s a good thing because the breakfast is awesome!

The Hotel de l’Abbaye is the ideal place whenever you are looking to get away for Christmas and experience Paris!

It has to be said that when you are looking to do a vacation around Christmas right, you need to do it in Paris.  Christmas is Paris is not only beautiful but I can tell you that there are some fantastic packages that you can get as well as some incredible restaurants and sights to see right around Christmas.

One of the first things that you need to decide however is where you are going to stay and I have two hotels that we are going to explore that are perfect to celebrate your Christmas holiday at.  The first up is the Champs-Elysees Plaza – this beautiful hotel has actually been beautifully redecorated in a contemporary period style that is beautiful.

There are tons of furry throws, a fire in the bar/lounge area and of course some of the rooms have a Jacuzzi bath inside of them, perfect to warm up in!

Window shopping becomes a brand new experience as well — you can join the Parisians in this favorite past time, going from one window display to the next, each one wilder and more inventive than the one before it.

There are plenty of ice skating rinks as well — including one on the Eiffel Tower’s first level, a stunning two hundred feet up in the air.

There are Christmas carousels, Christmas Eve dinners, the arrival of Father Christmas — and so much more.