Paris
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Paris a big city with a lot of CouchSurfers. Paris do count 11000 members which makes it the biggest city on CouchSurfing Worldwide !!
HISTORY OF PARISParis is more than 2,000 years old. Gauls of the Parisii tribe settled there between 250 and 200 BC and founded a fishing village on an island in the river that is the present-day "Ile de la Cité", the center around which Paris developed. Known as Lutetia (Lutece) in ancient times, Paris was conquered by Julius Caesar in 52 BC, and existed as a regional center under the Romans and in the early Middle Ages. In 987, HUGH CAPET, Count of Paris, became king of France, and under his successors, the CAPETIANS, the city's position as the nation's capital became established. Often characterized as spirited and rebellious, the people of Paris first declared themselves an independent commune under the leadership of Etienne Marcel in 1355-58. The storming of the Bastille in 1789 was the first of a series of key actions by the Parisian people during the FRENCH REVOLUTION. Paris also played a major role in the revolutions of 1830 and 1848. In 1871, during the FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR , the city was besieged for four months until France surrendered. After German troops withdrew, French radicals briefly established the COMMUNE OF PARIS. During World War I the Germans were prevented from reaching Paris, but they occupied the city during World War II from 1940 to 1944. Paris was again the scene of violence during the student riots of 1968. Paris today maintains its importance, character, and charm, though its appearance is being transformed by structures such as the BEAUBOURG and by the ambitious grands projets building program carried out under the presidency of François Mitterrand. In addition to the La Défense arch and the Bastille Opéra, Mitterrand's projects have included the renovation of the Louvre by architect I. M. Pei, the La Villette complex on the northeastern edge of the city, and, in the southeast, the Bibliothèque de France, a great computer-age library. Planning for Paris and the Paris Basin region includes consideration of large land areas in the Seine River valley all the way to the mouth of the river. New towns, parks, industrial locations, and expanded functions of existing towns are contemplated for this corridor on both sides of the Seine. More informations about the History of Paris on the wikipedia:Paris ! WHAT TO VISIT? / TIPS / EMERGENCY CONTACTSThere are 20 differents districts inside of Paris, it divide the city in some kind of 20 town. Each district has his own townhall. You can find below a page for each district which show you all the places to visit in each disctrict, the tips to know about each district(free Internet/Wifi access, nice & cheap places to eat, the nightlife). 
Free museumsSome museums are free every day, some on the first Sunday of every month, and some at other times. Check the tourism office list (French) for details. More informationTRANSPORTS Metro / Bus / Tramway / Local TrainThe common transports (local train / Tramway / Metro / Bus) are shared by the company RATP. Here are the tips
 PassesThere are some public transport passes in Paris: Weekly, Monthly and yearly: 
There is also a pass for 3 days for three zones. Never take a pass at the Airport! (Only "Zone 1" to "zone 5" pass). Instead, take a single way to the station of your host (don't use automat, ask the kiosk for a ticket), and from there, take a pass. Ask your host in which zone he is living and ask for a pass "zone 1 - Zone X (of your host)" Map of the Local Train's (RER) & Metro's Network Le Velib (The Bicycle) Vélib is a "free" bike system that anyone can use in Paris, provided one has a credit card with a chip. BUT if you do not understand the rules, it may be very expensive instead of being almost free. Here's what you should know in order not to get trapped by the Vélib' system : In order to use Vélib' bikes, you have to allow the Velib system to debit your bank account with the cost of your subscription AND of each travel you'll do with a Velib bike during your subscription time. The subscription fee is cheap : 1€ for 24h, or 5€ for 1 week, and during your subscription time, you can use a bike as many times as you want (but only one at a time, of course). Each travel will be charged to you according to its duration : it can be free, for a short travel, or outrageously expensive for longer travels. By "travel", you should understand the time spent between the moment you pick up a bike from a Velib' service point and the moment you drop it off at another Velib' service point. (There are hundreds of Velib service points, everywhere in Paris Watch the Map) Each time you pick up a bike, the central computer of the Vélib' system starts metering the time you keep the bike with you, until you drop it off at any Vélib service point. Here's how the cost of your travel will be worked out : - the first half an hour is free - the second half an hour costs 1€ (even if it's not entirely used : for instance, a 31 min travel will cost 1€, exactly like a 59 min travel) - the 3rd half an hour costs 2€ - the 4th half an hour costs 4€ - each one of the following half hours costs 4€ For example, if you pick up a bike at 7:02 am, and ride it all around Paris, fastening it to trees whenever you take a stop in order to visit a monument or have a drink, and then drop your bike off at a Velib service point at 22:35 at night, here's what will be charged to you : the travel time will be 32 half hours (real time included between 15h1/2 and 16h), which will cost
BUT if you only use Velib bikes to go from a place to another, and drop them off at Velib service points each time you stop somewhere, and provided each trip lasts less than 30 minutes, you can use as many bikes as you want, for free (except for the 1€ or 5€ of subscription). PHONESPublic phones in Paris streets do not use coins, even if you can still find some in bars or hotels. Instead, you must buy a card from a newspaper vendor or shop vendor. They cost about €7. Keep this in mind when attempting to contact your host.
COUCHSURFERS Antoine is living really close from Paris and will be glad to show you around if contacted well ahead your arrival. There are 6 city CS ambassadors in Paris: Jerome , Julien , Caro , Marianne , Nicolas , Florine MeetingsThere are regular meetings. A weekly meeting is held every mondays from 8pm at the Lions Bar, 120 rue Montmartre, metro Chatelet (line 1) or Bourse (line 3). You can find a location map [1]. Regular other local meetings take place a few times a week (going for drinks, picnics and various events) - go check the Paris group to find out! This group is popular amongst Parisian members so it might be a good option to get in touch with the Parisian CS community, get any information/tips you need and plan ahead for a trip in the beautiful "City of Lights". You can find the whole schedule here The yearly big meeting of Paris is the Paris Rendez-Vous in June. There is also the biggest CS event in the World in Paris for the New Year Eve. Couchsearch TipsParis is one of the smallest capital in the world : London : 1600 km2 / Roma : 1300 km2 / Berlin : 900 km2 and Paris.... 105 km2 ! And Its probably the first destination in the world for travelers. CS members in the heart of the city receive every day enormously of requests. When looking for a couch don't hesitate to request it from CSers that live in the suburb!! The Parisian public transport system is said to be one the most efficient in Europe which means you can stay 50kms away from Paris and still make it downtown in less than half an hour. Metro lines go to zone 2 e.g. cities next to Paris (Saint Mandé, Vincennes, Boulogne, Courbevoie, Montreuil, etc.). Suburban members getting far less requests than central ones your chances to get positive answers will rise dramatically. Flats are bigger, there are houses, gardens, forests, woods, castels, all this in 20' of the center ! Its cool ! And its Parisian life too (2 million inside, 9 millions in suburb : we live together !). And many CS indicate with precision how long is train for center town.  To give a rather quick example, you should search for members in Ile de France and by latest login dates.Those two factors combined, will give you a great lot of good members outside of paris. Or directly use this page of results La RATP is the company that provides transports within paris and towards its suburbs. they have an english part available so you can check your itinerary there. Emergency Couches AvailableAntoine : you may contact me on +33680435705 but not after midnight as you wont be able to make it from paris to chelles. last train leaves gare du nord (magenta) station at 00.45am and a bit later on weekends. memorize me to come to my place LAST MINUTE COUCH REQUEST IN PARIS IN CASE OF EMERGENCY
Police-secours : 17
SAMU : 15
ARMAND-TROUSSEAU - 26, avenue du Docteur Arnold-Netter - 75571 PARIS Cedex 12 - Tel. : 01 44 73 74 75
Sapeurs-pompiers : 18
SOS médecins (24h/24) : 36 24 Pharmacie 24h/24: WORK IN PARISFor English speaking jobs and work in Paris, check out JobsinParis LOCAL MEDIA MENTIONSINTERESTING LINKSMY PARISIndex here at the places you like the most and where you are sure you will absolutely have a great time would it be for just hanging out with your guests or partying it up paris style till dawn.
1/ Le Bambou , Vietnamese Cuisine The best place in China Town (the 13th district) to eat Pho. To go there check the map. The only restaurant i saw people waiting outside when it was raining !
1/ L'Objectif Lune, Quartier Bastille (Metro Line 1,5,8). If not the best Mojito and really cheap (3.80 euros during happy hours for all cocktails and 3 euros for a pint of lager). The bar opens at 6pm and the happy hours are over at 9pm. check out the location map
1/ La Fléche d'Or, To enter this really cool place, you will be ask on opening day to pay 6 euros (against a voucher for a drink of the same price). To check the programmation, go Here and the closest metro is either Porte de Bagnolet or Alexandre Dumas. MAP HERE
1/ HostelWorld.com (search engine) ___________________________________________________________________________________________ article history edit | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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