Expensive Paris Warning

We have just returned from a thoroughly enjoyable 5 day visit but could not believe how expensive it has become since our last vist some years ago.

I guess this is in part due to the strenghth of the euro at present. Still we did not begrudge a cent and had some delicious french food. Just be warned -take plenty of cash!

|||

I agree, when I went in March I found we were caught in a double squeeze. The pound had dropped badly against the euro, and the Paris prices in euros had also gone up.

|||

One way to beat the high prices is to spend some time outside of Paris. I found prices of things like hotels and on a lesser degree, food, to be much less outside of Paris.

|||

Yes, for us the real shock was the increase in prices in EUROS for the hotels and such.

FYI, Bruges has some great food, is charming, and is much less expensive!

|||

Try travelling from Australia....

|||

Rest assured that Parisians experience at least as severely as you do the price surge. As an example, Monoprix has definitely become luxury shopping for me.

|||

We were in Paris last week, and found that we could do it on 150 euro a day for my husband and me. We do not eat at expensive restaurants and had a great time doing a lot of window shopping. But we did it in Paris. We are finding things to be a lot less expensive in Provence where we have been for 5 days. It is possible to control costs in Paris.....if you can control your shopping.

:)

|||

Katherine -- you did very well on 150 a day, I find going solo averaged me out at over 90 euros a day last trip. Suppose it is all in your last sentence %26quot;if you can control your shopping%26quot;,

Reminds me of that wonderful saying %26quot;If my aunty had balls, she would be my uncle%26quot;.

|||

and for any first timers reading this post ...

make sure you know the exact price of that drink when you order it at a cafe, bistro or restaurant! The prices listed (prominently!) on the menu by the bar are NOT the same as you will be charged at the end of your meal. The Sprite was listed as E 2,80 but that is the price if you buy your drink and leave - or drink at the bar. If you are sitting down eating a meal the price (not listed on the menu you%26#39;re given at table) is E 6,50!!

I got caught this way and the waiter was both unapologetic (it was the equivalent of $13 in NZ money!) and used to tourist protestations. It%26#39;s an obvious rort but with so many tourists flocking thru Paris they really don%26#39;t care.

|||

thunderbird, actually there is a reason for this price difference.

When you sit out on a sidewalk cafe you will be charged more, why ? The sidewalk does not belong to the cafe/restaurant owner, they pay to rent or lease that space so to recoup their outgo they increase your outgo, it%26#39;s business and well known. Plus everywhere in France lists the menus outside with the prices, and I have seen the different price listed for at the bar and the terrasse or restaurant.

They are not trying to rip off tourists its how it is for everyone .

You also must know that a drink in a prominent place in the center of a tourist area is going to cost more then one in a less attractive area. Thats how it is in my town in Canada, tourists flock to a hotel in our Inner Harbour and get this, they pay 50-75 dollars EACH for high tea!! Locals go to a place out of the tourist hub and pay 20 dollars,, thats business.

|||

Yes Joan, we have sidewalk dining here in New Zealand too but we don%26#39;t charge a premium for it. French cafes may have to pay their local councils for the privilege of putting tables on the streets but that is a cost of business.

I *get* that Coke will be more cheaper at a vending machine than at a 7-11, which will be more cheaper than at a Cafe.

What I object to is sitting down, being given a menu with a list of drinks on it but no prices, and when I ask what the drink prices are I%26#39;m pointed to a blackboard at the bar. And then what I%26#39;m charged at the end bears no relation to the blackboard prices because the drink was served to me at the table.

It%26#39;s good that you were aware of these price differentials within a cafe but for those that aren%26#39;t: you have been warned!!

:)