Boy does this guy get (rightfully) slammed in the comments. I was looking forward to seeing this when it was previewed. I bet many of us could have done better. Do you agree? Click here to read how to do Paris for a weekend for $100. It should have been named "how to lamely do Paris for $100 not including hotel."
Posted by
Chicago/Rural WI
811 posts
What a strange little article for the NYT to post. Like others who commented below the article, there was no mention of where he slept. Nor was there any mention about what he DID for the 14 hours/day he wasn't eating (outside a museum visit and a show). I'm bewildered as to the point of the blog, and even more bewildered that the NYT ran the "story."
Posted by
Portlandia
3313 posts
I agree. This is meaningless. I could enjoy a weekend eating couscous, falafel and great Chinese food for less. It does illustrate that the kinds of questions we get here of "How much should I budget for food in Paris?" have no right answers.
Posted by
Coppell, TX USA
284 posts
Would have been nice if he wrote / provide information about what activities / sites could be partaken or visited without spending a lot of money (e.g., Pere Lachese cemetary, free day at the Louve, etc.) so that if one wanted to try to be economical in Paris they would have been provided some additional information. Edwin
Posted by
Saratoga, NY, USA
75 posts
Agreed, what a flop! I think everyone who saw the headline lit up hoping for some new and fantastic cheap place to say... Apparently NYT thinks everyone has a friend with an apartment in Paris! Really silly.
Posted by
Washington, DC
888 posts
Not to defend the guy because I also agree that spending $100 for the weekend for basically food, sightseeing, and transport in any major city without accommodations is not worthy of an article (I think most of us can pull it off), but there is a link in the article that takes you to another article that talks about the specifics of what he did. You can find it at: http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/02/20/travel/20frugal-paris.html.
Posted by
Atlanta
1358 posts
Count me among the disappointed, too. I think many of us could do what he did for about half of that. Reminds me of why I stopped reading Budget Travel. He has written other articles that have much better info, though.
Posted by
Sheboygan, Wisc., USA
934 posts
I also quit reading Budget Travel but I didnt know exactly why. Now I now.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
1068 posts
Wow. Totally underwhelming. Totally. And no mention of places to hang out for free, people-watching, activities other than getting (probably) the embarrassingly-cheapest thing on the menu wherever he went. What was the point of the piece? Not good.
Posted by
Myrtle Beach, USA
12313 posts
I get alerts from NYT. When I signed up, I also checked travel deals. Talk about a collection of some of the worst "deals" ever - I haven't seen one I would call a good deal yet and I've been getting alerts for at least a few years.