World's Best Place to Visit!

Paris Travel Tips

The city of lights, the city of love -- Gay Paree is also a city of fashion, five-star dining and exquisite collections of art. But ambience is perhaps its main draw. The gentle River Seine rambles through the city, flanked by stately museums, centuries-old churches, and blocks of Rococo- and Neo-classic-design architecture, further enhanced by charming trees and glowing streetlamps. Peppering the Seine's cobbled walks and graceful bridges are impossibly chic Parisians, probably on their way to the market, café or cinema.

Containing world-class museums, fashion, cuisine and an atmosphere all its own, Paris is also a city of "many splendors," as Ernest Hemingway recalled in his memoirs, A Moveable Feast. Visit the Centre Pompidou, enjoy gourmet pastries, shop couture on the Champs Élysées or boutiques in Les Halles, take in the view atop the Eiffel Tower, or even daytrip to Versailles Palace. But don't miss out on the simple pleasure of meandering the marvelous arrondissements (districts).

Centre Pompidou

River Seine

Champs Élysées

 Les Halles

 Eiffel Tower

Versailles Palace

Keep in Mind...

• "Parlez-vous Français?" Parisians adore their native tongue -- and will like you better if you try to speak it. Bonjour is hello, au revoir is good bye, s'il vous plaît is please, and merci is thank you.
• Coffee is a leisurely affair When you order a café in Paris, sit down and stay awhile. If you're simply looking for a quick jolt of caffeine, order an espresso or coffee from the bar.
• Don't toss your ticket Hold on to your metro ticket until you exit the station (for proof-of-purchase reasons). If you're caught empty-handed, you could be liable for a hefty fine.

Paris Culture & Customs

There's this idea that Parisians stick up their noses to Americans -- that they're notoriously unfriendly and even rude. Fodor's says, "North Americans, raised on the principle that the customer is always right, may find servers and store clerks a bit curt (and not always so efficient)." However, a little savoir-faire, or diplomacy, helps. So, try to speak the language, if only a kindly bonjour (good day) or bonsoir (good evening). If you're at a loss for words, politely ask the waiter or shop attendant, Parlez-vous anglais (or do you speak English?). Try to blend into the refined sophistication of Parisian life rather than stick out as a loud, garish or uncouth visitor.

Speaking of trying to blend in … Paris is arguably the fashion capital of the world. Leave the fanny packs at home! After all, everyone from Marie Antoinette and Coco Chanel to Yves Saint Laurent and Christian Lacroix got their start in haute-couture fashion in Paris -- and their influence remains. Concierge.com recommends, "Avoid bright colors -- even kids' clothes come mainly in cream, navy, gray, and brown -- and take care to shun the plethora of other offenses: pleated chinos, walking shorts, sport sandals, baseball caps, golf attire, loud logos, sneakers, T-shirts, sexy clothes."

Most restaurants and cafés will include a 10- to 15-percent service charge, service compris, on the bill. You can leave some additional change, if you wish. Taxicab drivers usually expect a 12- to 15-percent tip, though usually rounding to the nearest euro will suffice. France uses the euro, which is at an advantage to the U.S. dollar. Keep in mind the exchange rate when you tip and make purchases.

Tips on What To Do in Paris

The options of what to do in Paris are almost infinite, and short-term visitors might find it difficult to narrow down their itineraries. However you order your days -- by theme or region -- travel writers recommend at least some aimless wandering. Take the time to peruse the outdoor market offerings; to leisurely drink a glass of wine; to nip in boutiques and purchase Parisian goods and wares; to pause for more than a moment at the Eiffel Tower; and, of course, to smell the flowers at the Luxembourg Gardens (Jardin du Luxembourg).

Eiffel Tower

Luxembourg Gardens

Museums

Paris inspired many an artist; it only makes sense for world-famous museums to congregate here. But pace yourself. The massive collection at the Musée du Louvre which includes the Large Sphinx, the Winged Victory of Samothrace and the Mona Lisa -- could itself take a lifetime to tour, and the Impressionist works at the Musée d'Orsay which includes works by artists Monet, Cezanne, Degas, Bonnard and more -- are enough to make an art enthusiast fall to pieces. Beyond the hyped collections exists a just-as-amazing compilation of specialized galleries and museums, such as the Musée Rodin, the Centre Georges Pompidou (Centre Pompidou) and even the Musée de l'Érotisme.

• If you only have a few days, you can't go wrong with the obvious sights: the Louvre's extensive collection of art from antiquity onward; the Impressionist canvases of the grandiose Musée d'Orsay; and Notre-Dame de Paris, the Gothic cathedral midstream in the Seine."
• Paris has more than 60 museums, so chances are you will find one to accommodate your tastes and interests. They are usually open from 10a to 6p and most of them have a weekly late day, staying open until 9p (generally on Wednesdays or Thursdays). Public museums are usually closed on Tuesdays and private museums often close on Mondays."
• Musée du Louvre … Don't miss the big three -- Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, and Venus de Milo."

Musée d'Orsay

Musée du Louvre

Shopping
With its multiplicity of shops and boutiques, haute-couture houses, designers and generally stylish populace, Paris exemplifies the French love affair with fashion. For upscale shopping, check out Les Grands Boulevards in the 9ème arrondissement; for couture houses and designer labels, wander along the Rue de Faubourg St-Honoré; for a typical mall, head to the enormous underground mall in Les Halles.

• Collections of boutiques can be found in most of central Paris, though the highways to designer heaven are primarily on the Right Bank." --
• Get an early start to avoid crowds at Au Printemps and Galeries-Lafayette, two of the city's grandest historic department stores conveniently side by side behind the Opéra Garnier. … If you plan on spending more than EUR 175 in one store, bring your passport to get the détaxe forms for your Value Added Tax rebate." --

Les Grands Boulevards

Rue de Faubourg St-Honoré

Les Halles

Markets

The vibrant plein-air markets, filled with everything from vivid-colored produce and fresh-baked bread, are part of Parisians' daily life. Travelers can pick up a picnic of goods at the markets -- Rue Mouffetard, Marché Buci, Marché Biologique, or others -- and walk to a nearby park to feast.

• Nowhere encapsulates Paris' village atmosphere more than its street markets. Not simply places to shop, the markets are social gatherings for the entire neighbourhood, where residents toting quintessentially Parisian canvas shopping bags on wheels chat with stallholders and pick up culinary tips." --
• A fine finish to any day (Mon-Sat) spent meandering along the Seine is a stroll through the Marché aux Fleurs, place Louis-Lépine. You can buy rare flowers, the gems of the French Riviera -- bouquets that have inspired artists throughout the centuries." --

Rue Mouffetard

Marché Biologique

Marché Buci

Sightseeing

One of the top things to do in Paris is to sightsee, whether on your own or with a tour guide. And some of the most popular things to see include the Eiffel Tower, either from the top looking down or from the grass of the Parc du Champs de Mars and looking up; the Sacré-Coeur if you can make it up all of those steps; the Arc de Triomphe (the real one -- not the Las Vegas rip-off); the resplendent Versailles Palace; and the Notre Dame Cathedral, among many, many more famous attractions.
You can also pay your respects to the famous residents of Paris' immaculate cemeteries: the Pere-Lachaise Cemetery (Cimetière du Père-Lachaise), located northwest of the city center and the burial place of Jim Morrison and Edith Piaf, and Montparnasse Cemetery (Cimetière du Montparnasse), located southeast of central Paris.

• While the Eiffel Tower is another no-brainer, it's best enjoyed from a distance: Instead of queuing up with the massive crowd waiting to ascend to the pinnacle, head for the steps fronting Montmartre's Sacré-Coeur basilica, and you'll be rewarded with amazing views that include the Eiffel Tower's elegant fretwork frame." --
• The 164-foot-tall Arc de Triomphe has served as the backdrop to official military parades since its completion in 1836. Use the underground passageway to reach the monument, where you can visit the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier beneath the arch or climb the stairs for amazing panoramic views of the city." --

Sacré-Coeur

Arc de Triomphe

Social Network

Social Networking sites, as everything in this world, bring about two extreme reactions. You either like it blindly or hate it like your ex – girlfriend. There can’t be another way. I am more than sure that all of us have heard these two opposite sentences at least once in our lives, “I cannot live a single day without a Social Networking site” and “What on earth are all these Social networks about? I’ll never register on any of them”.

There is still some group of people (mostly elderly people) that doesn’t comprehend the essence and idea of Social Networks considering them just a waste of time. However it is not casual that these sites have tempted millions of people worldwide. So there must be something that is worth having.

What benefits can you have?
No one can deny that despite all those negative opinions about Social Networks they do have a strong impact on us and taking into consideration how fast their popularity is growing, it is not difficult to predict that this influence will become even more perceivable in the nearest future. So once we can do nothing but watch the development of Social Networks we had better look for and find the advantages they possess rather than point out their negative sides all the time (don’t be so skeptical, they do have positive sides).
In general the main vocation of a Social Network is to be a virtual platform where people can communicate and share information with their friends. As you can see there is no danger in this mission, the vice versa. Nevertheless, nowadays such kind of websites has gone far from their initial destination and that is the main reason why people are ambiguous about their usefulness. In any case Social websites have fulfilled humans’ long – standing dream that is the opportunity for quick and reliable information. In addition they enable people to create and strengthen relationships.
Social Networks join people with common interests under one roof and makes the communication much easier especially for those who have difficulties in interacting with people face to face. However you should always remember that once you enter the world of Social Networking it will become rather difficult for you to get out of it. So be so prudent in order not to be caught in the net of Social networking.

 

 

Emerging trends in social networking.

As the increase in popularity of social networking is on a constant rise, new uses for the technology are constantly being observed.
At the forefront of emerging trends in social networking sites is the concept of "real-time web" and "location based." Real time allows users to contribute content, which is then broadcasted as it is being uploaded - the concept is analogous to live radio and television broadcasts. Twitter set the trend for "real time" services, where users can broadcast to the world what they are doing, or what is on their minds within a 140 character limit. Facebook followed suit with their "Live Feed" where users' activities are streamed as soon as it happens. While Twitter focuses on words, Clixtr, another real time service, focuses on group photo sharing where users can update their photo streams with photos while at an event. Facebook, however, remains easily the greatest photo sharing site - Facebook application and photo aggregator Pixable estimates that Facebook will have 100 billion photos by Summer 2011.
Companies have begun to merge business technologies and solutions, such as cloud computing, with social networking concepts. Instead of connecting individuals based on social interest, companies are developing interactive communities that connect individuals based off shared business needs or experiences. Many provide specialized networking tools and applications that can be accessed via their websites, such as LinkedIn. Others companies, such as Monster.com, have been steadily developing a more "socialized" feel to their career center sites to harness some of the power of social networking sites. These more business related sites have their own nomenclature for the most part but the most common naming conventions are "Vocational Networking Sites" or "Vocational Media Networks", with the former more closely tied to individual networking relationships based on social networking principles.
Foursquare gained popularity as it allowed for users to "check-in" to places that they are frequenting at that moment. Gowalla is another such service which functions in much the same way that Foursquare does, leveraging the GPS in phones to create a location-based user experience. Clixtr, though in the real time space, is also a location based social networking site since events created by users are automatically geotagged, and users can view events occurring nearby through the Clixtr iPhone app. Recently, Yelp announced its entrance into the location based social networking space through check-ins with their mobile app; whether or not this becomes detrimental to Foursquare or Gowalla is yet to be seen as it is still considered a new space in the Internet technology industry.
One popular use for this new technology is social networking between businesses. Companies have found that social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are great ways to build their brand image. According to Jody Nimetz, author of Marketing Jive, there are five major uses for businesses and social media: to create brand awareness, as an online reputation management tool, for recruiting, to learn about new technologies and competitors, and as a lead generation tool to intercept potential prospect. These companies are able to drive traffic to their own online sites while encouraging their consumers and clients to have discussions on how to improve or change products or services.

Social networks and science

One other use that is being discussed is the use of social networks in the science communities. Julia Porter Liebeskind et al. have published a study on how new biotechnology firms are using social networking sites to share exchanges in scientific knowledge. They state in their study that by sharing information and knowledge with one another, they are able to "increase both their learning and their flexibility in ways that would not be possible within a self-contained hierarchical organization." Social networking is allowing scientific groups to expand their knowledge base and share ideas, and without these new means of communicating their theories might become "isolated and irrelevant".

Social networks and education

Social networks are also being used by teachers and students as a communication tool. Because many students are already using a wide-range of social networking sites, teachers have begun to familiarize themselves with this trend and are now using it to their advantage. Teachers and professors are doing everything from creating chat-room forums and groups to extend classroom discussion to posting assignments, tests and quizzes, to assisting with homework outside of the classroom setting. Social networks are also being used to foster teacher-parent communication. These sites make it possible and more convenient for parents to ask questions and voice concerns without having to meet face-to-face. The advent of social networking platforms may also be impacting the way(s) in which learners engage with technology in general. For a number of years, Prensky's (2001) dichotomy of Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants has been considered a relatively accurate representation of the ease with which people of different ages--particularly those born before and after 1980--use technology. Prensky's theory has largely been disproved not least on account of the burgeoning popularity of social networking sites and other metaphors such as White and Le Cornu's Visitors and Residents (2011) are gaining greater currency.
The use of online social networks by libraries is also an increasingly prevalent and growing tool that is being used to communicate with more potential library users, as well as extending the services provided by individual libraries.

Social networks and grassroots organizing

Social networks are being used by activists as a means of low-cost grassroots organizing. Extensive use of an array of social networking sites enabled organizers of the 2009 National Equality March to mobilize an estimated 200,000 participants to march on Washington with a cost savings of up to 85% per participant over previous methods. The August 2011 England riots were similarly considered to have escalated and been fuelled by this type of grassroots organization.

Social networks and employment

A final rise in social network use is being driven by college students using the services to network with professionals for internship and job opportunities. Many studies have been done on the effectiveness of networking online in a college setting, and one notable one is by Phipps Arabie and Yoram Wind published in Advances in Social Network Analysis. Social network hosting service
A social network hosting service is a web hosting service that specifically hosts the user creation of web-based social networking services, alongside related applications. Such services are also known as vertical social networks due to the creation of SNSes which cater to specific user interests and niches; like larger, interest-agnostic SNSes, such niche networking services may also possess the ability to create increasingly niche groups of users. An example for this would be Ning.

Business model

Few social networks currently charge money for membership. In part, this may be because social networking is a relatively new service, and the value of using them has not been firmly established in customers' minds. Companies such as MySpace and Facebook sell online advertising on their site. Their business model is based upon large membership count, and charging for membership would be counterproductive. Some believe that the deeper information that the sites have on each user will allow much better targeted advertising than any other site can currently provide.
Social networks operate under an autonomous business model, in which a social network's members serve dual roles as both the suppliers and the consumers of content. This is in contrast to a traditional business model, where the suppliers and consumers are distinct agents. Revenue is typically gained in the autonomous business model via advertisements, but subscription-based revenue is possible when membership and content levels are sufficiently high.