wine in parks? getting to Montmartre?

It's a long hike and partly uphill, about 6 miles round-trip, from Notre Dame to Montmartre--in a city with traffic lights and crosswalks that's more than 3 hours of pure walking for good walkers with no allowance for stops or sight-seeing! You don't want to walk it, when you can do it in about 15 minutes each way on the Metro. You're the first ones in the last year to say you wouldn't try to use the Metro, it's easy to use, you don't have to speak French. You'll be glad you did--you'll see so much more and not needlessly wear yourselves out.

I'm pretty sure wine is allowed in parks. At the Eiffel Tower people will come around and try to sell you a glass of wine in the evening.

I agree with the previous person - the metro is extremely easy to use in Paris. I would definately suggest using the metro to get where you need to go. Paris is very walkable, but Montmarte is quite a bit out.

Use the Metro and use the Metro maps at each station to orient yourself. You will be navigating all over the city in no time (just like a native). And yes you can drink wine in parks and along the Seine...make sure you have some bread and cheese (and maybe some grapes) to go along with it!

Some pretty sketchy neighborhoods separate Notre Dame from Montmartre, and as others have already noted, its a very long walk between the two areas. The Metro is far and away the easiest way to connect the two.

Wine is okay. Bread and cheese recommended. Pate encouraged. Beret optional.

And the metro is both safe and easy to use.

Hi Cynthia--As others have said, using the metro in Paris is easy. Check out this website for a map to study before you go.

http://www.paris.org/Metro/gifs/metro.pdf

If you're nervous about tranfers (although you don't need to be--they're easy) you could walk from Notre Dame to the metro stop at Place de la Concorde and take the number 12 in the direction of Porte de la Chapelle and get off at Abbesses. (Take the elevator to street level when you get off the metro here--it's way underground!) All metro lines will list the last stop on the line, so to figure out which train to take, you see what the last stop is in the direction you are headed. Get on the train headed that way and you can't go wrong.

Your experience of Paris will be incomplete unless you travel on the bus and/or metro. Be a brave little soldier. Millions of us have done it and have lived to tell the tale.

Cynthia,, look I don't know why no ones suggested it, but use the BUS. I personally do not like the metro. I am somewhat claustrophobic and I hate the tunnels and being underground. I do however take the RER into Paris from the airport as it is only underground for a portion of trip and then I am so exhausted I am half asleep anyways.

Now the bus will get you every where you want to go also, you just have to study the route maps a bit more, not impossible, and I like seeing the passing "city scenes myself. Plus the buses run frequently .

You could also consider the Hop on and off bus "L'Open Tour" it will be cheaper then taking taxis everywhere , they are double decker buses( yellow and green can't miss them) that circle 3 or 4 routes in Paris and hit all the major tourist sites. You just hop on and off as you like when they arrive at a site you want to see. There is a taped commentary onboard that you listen to with the provided earphones. You will not have to worry about a thing, you just transfer between the 3 lines to see all the sites in Paris . The tickets are so easy to buy, just wait at the bus stop and pay the onetime fee when you board. It is about 28 or 29 euros for a two day pass, not as cheap as bus or metro, but no thinking and way cheaper then taxis all the time.
L'Open Tour is run by Cityrama I think, anyways google "L'Open Tour Paris" and read the site, it has an english icon you can click on.

I read a thread where an American couple were conversing with a young French lawyer in Paris who was having wine with his lunch. They asked him, "Do you always have wine with lunch?" He responded, "Of course, I'm a patriot!"

Drinking wine with your meal in France isn't required but it's never frowned on, including picnics.

We picnic regularly all over Europe, most often we share a bottle of wine because it's good and cheap.

Wine in the park is common. Plan to clean up after yourself and all is well.

Also - be aware that someone may approach and offer you an Euro for a glass of wine. A different approach to being a wino in Paris. :o)

Why not the metro? Why not the bus? It is the main source of travel in Paris and is quite safe and efficient.

If you prefer a bus - and I am assuming when you say Notre Dame you mean the Cathedral Notre Dame (there are other churches in Paris with the extension Notre Dame - i.e. Notre Dame des Champs)

You can take the following route from the Cathedral to the Funiculaire which leads up to Sacre Couer

Bus 85 - catch from in front of CITE-PALAIS DE JUSTICE in the direction : MAIRIE DE SAINT OUEN
get off at ROCHECHOUART-CLIGNANCOURT

And then walk to Funiculaire de Montmartre

The bus will have a route map as well as often digital display showing the upcoming stops (prochain arret - next stop)

Tres simple !!

You can drink wine or any kind of alcohol any place you want in Europe.
I don't know how far these 2 locations are, but you can look up on a map.
Paris is pretty safe, less safe are the areas at the periphery of the city at night.

Jona has given you a good route by bus. If you want to try the Metro, take Line 4 from either St-Michel on the Left Bank or Cite on the Ile de la Cite to Barbes Rouchechouart. You can walk from there to the Montmartre funiculaire. For a shorter walk you can transfer to Line 2 and take it one stop to Anvers.

See this zoomable map of the Metro/RER system for central Paris.

Hi Cynthia,

We enjoyed several wine, cheese, fruit and baguette picnic dinners and lunches sitting at Montmartre, along the Seine or in a park. A sunset over Paris at Montmartre with wine is Unforgettable!!! And..take the Metro...it's VERY easy to navigate. Read up a little and it will seem familiar when you get there. Bon Voyage! Bob