Budget for Paris

Susan and Monte I tend to eat many meals in casual cafes.. so for me a good dinner in a casual place will run between 15-25 euros. Sometimes cheaper if I like the "menu"( special offer of the day, usually 2-3 courses, written on board near front, set price often best deal of the day ) Ground transport depends on a few things, where are you staying ( some areas make it so easy to walk most places easily ) and do you like walking,lol There is a pass called the navigo decouverte card , its 19 euros a week , plus a 5 euro start up fee.. problem is it runs monday thru sunday, so if arriving on wed or later its not worth getting. I love to walk so just get "un carnet" of tickets, 10 one ways priced at a discount.. good for one way bus or metro travel. They cost about 13 euros I think,, and you can share the tickets, so two of them is only 26 euros and if you are staying central I think 10 round trip metro ticket rides for five days could be fine.

Scroll down this forum and see Robert's topic "Eating Affordably in Paris" I'll just copy and paste what I told him: There's a popular chain of restaurants all over Paris, recognizable by a bright yellow "M". There you can get a "Royale with Cheese", frites and a Coca-Cola all for 6 Euro ($8 US). Seriously though, we found that department store cafeterias offer very good food at a reasonable price. These include Printemps, Galleries Lafayette, and Bazar de l'Hotel de Ville (BHV, their ad posters are plastered all over the Metro stations). And they have some nice views too. Lots of ethnic restaurants (Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian, and more) offer good value as well. The RS Paris guide book has lots of listings with the single "$" that will fit your price range. Another idea is to be a temporary Parisian. Hit the nice restaurant for lunch when prices are lower, then a light snack for the evening meal. Google Paris by Mouth, if you are looking to do an occasional splurge. There are a lot of new restaurants and bistros in the 10th arrondissment where young chefs can open a new place without paying the exorbitant rents of the more fashionable districts. You gotta do it. You're in Paris. I'll also add that we did a few room picnics. Baguette, cheese, ham, bottle of wine. Some days, even in Paris, you need a break of all the wonderful rich restaurant food.

Thank you both Pat and Sam. I did see the eating affordable in Paris, after I posted. Good information. Unfortunately, eating is a big part of our travel experience! So, we do want to enjoy and not just eat to get by, but at the same time Paris, and maybe France in general, "looks" so expensive. I was hoping we could do a decent mid priced dinner for 20-25 Euro per person. Sounds like maybe we can if we look around. I've read about 45-60 euro pp. not in our budget!