We leave for our first trip to Paris in 5 days...can not wait!!! Do you seasoned Paris travelers have any advice to pass on to us newbies, on what not to forget at home? Mostly looking for things that maybe hard to pick up once we get there. I am starting to pack tomorrow and sometime we leave certain things at home since we know we can pick it once we get to our destination to leave more room in our luggage.
Cheers,
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you can get anything you need at the Monoprix
four things I always take because I know I will need them and don%26#39;t want to shop when I get there for this sort of junk are:
wash clothes (we save our worn out ratty wash clothes for trips, take two each and dump them before our return or along the way if one gets rancid) occasionally apartments provide those mitt type clothes but I have never had a hotel that provided wash clothes and most apartments don%26#39;t
bug repellent if it is the season (Italian bug repellent is worthless -- don%26#39;t know about French)
deodorent soap like Dial -- I%26#39;ve never found any in Europe -- I take the small hotel size bars or one small hand size bar (great soap in Europe but if you like to start the day with shower/deodorent soap bring your own)
adapter plugs -- you can get them there -- but of course it is easier to get them here --
none of these take up space but are minor conveniences
but for the most part -- anything you MUST have they also must have and you can pick it up there.
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plus OTC meds
things like Ibuprofen are sold in tiny expensive lots in Europe
I always take ibuprofen, decongestant and immodium -- expensive to find over there -- and who wants to hunt around to buy something like this when they are sick
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Passports, credit/ATM cards, money, prescription medicines and glasses/contacts. These are essential, anything else you forget can be purchased there.
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Honestly, if you bring your passport, your money , your atm card , there is NOTHING you cannot get there if you forget. Including deordorant soap( come on Grace they sell tons of the stuff) .
I bring certain OTC drugs, not because I wouldn%26#39;t be able to find them in Paris ( goodness it is not the middle of the desert you know, and America is not the sole source of modern conveniences) , but because my french does not make me comfortalbe ( as well as my modesty, LOL) to have to ask for things like Imodium etc. In Paris when you enter a pharacmy most items are behind the counter and you have to ask for them,, try describing certain conditions with poor french. LOL
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Ah, I do not take this stuff, but I should add that if one needs a %26quot;charger %26quot; for their laptop or camera to of course remember their own.
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so Joan give me the brand name of a soap equivalent to Dial or Safeguard i.e. deodorent soaps
I read labels and have shopped for the stuff and never found it in Europe including European brands that include the same ingredients --- honestly spent more time looking in Italy than France -- but never found it at the Monoprix
seriously -- a brand? cuz I%26#39;d rather buy it than lug it.
the French have wonderful soaps -- but never found this type -- which if you are planning to sweat through a busy travel day is superior to French milled perfumed soap
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1) addresses of friends/family if you plan to send postcards
2) passport/plane tickets/Euros/photocopy of passport
3) comfortable, broken-in shoes
Have a wonderful trip! Let us know how everything went on your trip
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Item 3) above; comfortable, broken in shoes is a big must.
I wore the shoes I usually excercise in thinking that they should be comfortable. I didn%26#39;t realise that I actually only wear them for about an hour at a time here at home.
I ended up with Band-aids (sticking plaster) all over my feet. BTW I bought the band-aids there in a Pharmacie because I had not packed enough of them!
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Since I don%26#39;t speak French I must have my French-English English-French pocket size dictionary.
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Don%26#39;t forget to make a set of name and address lables for each of you for your postcards. They save an amazing amount of time, you don%26#39;t forget anyone, the addresses are always correct and you don%26#39;t risk losing your address book on the trip.
Stop by your nearest Office Depot and get a set of 30-up mailing labels. I usually use a 10 point font size, but if you have a bunch of long addresses, drop down to 9 point - the Post office will still be able to read it.
Make copies of the relevant pages of your guide books, or tear out the pages and pack them or the copies in a zip lock bag to ttake with you in your carry on. You%26#39;ll probably need information from those pages to get from CDG to your hotel. The whole guidebook is too heavy to carry with you and the copies or individual pages can be thrown away once they are no longer useful, although I sometimes use the backs of the copies for notes on restaurants etc. It just depends on whether or not I have remembered to grab a small notebook to use as a basic journal. Real journals are too heavy to carry - I expand on my notes once I%26#39;m at home, but on the road I need something small and light to use for short reminders of each day%26#39;s activities..
As was already posted - everything else you can get at Monoprix.
Bon voyage.
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