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Title: Let's Go Paris 13th Edition (Let's Go Paris)
ISBN: 0312335555
Author:
Let's Go Inc.
Publicate Date: 2004-12-13
Publish: 2004-12-13
List Price: $16.99
Average Customer Rating: 3.5
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $3.00
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $0.38
Amazon Merchant Price: $11.63
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Note: 2007 version is not the same as 2005 or before
I would just like to say, be careful when reading the reviews for this product. I searched for the 2007 (14th) edition of Let's Go: Paris and was presented with ranting reviews from 2005, when the book was not even written. This guide book is great and accurate, and the mistakes in the 2005 book are not applicable to this updated version. Please be aware of when the reviews were written and about which version. I am not sure why they even show up for this book.
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2: The only book I needed!
This book was my bible for the trip I took to Paris. The pages are so worn and dog-eared and wine-stained, it makes me laugh to look at it. Indispensable if you're making up your own funky itinerary (on a budget!) and looking for your own experience of Paris outside of guided tours and bus trips.
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3: Let's Go...to the bookstore and buy another guide book!
I had used one of the "Let's Go" books on a previous trip to Europe (in 2000) and remembered it being informative and helpful for youngish people traveling on a budget, so after quickly looking through guide books at the bookstore I decided to give Let's Go Paris 2007 a shot for my trip to Paris this summer. I soon regretted that decision. Here are my top complaints:
-In general, the information is disjointed and poorly organized. Food, Sights, Museums, Entertainment, Nightlife, Shopping, etc. all have their own categories, which is not helpful when you're in one area, trying to find multiple things to do. I was constantly flipping back and forth between the many sections, and it wasn't always clear where to look. For example, is "Invalides" a "sight" or a "museum"? What about the Pasteur Institute? And where can I eat nearby? Are there other attractions worth visiting near here? Flip, flip, flip. Also, the maps (more on those shortly) are all in the back, in the index. What I wished for, while standing on the street corner trying to hold five pages at once while my husband plotted things on the map (in the Index!), was an all-inclusive section for each arrondissement, with the map of that arrondissement in that section. Another reviewer mentioned that this problem was resolved in the 2007 edition, but my copyright date reads 2007 and the subdivision pest lives on.
-The maps themselves are terrible. They're small, and not in chronological order by arrondissement (it breaks down after the eighth when they go 9th & 18th, 10th, 12th, 11th, 13th, 15th, 14th, 16th, 17th, 19th, 20th), and the map of the 15th was so tiny it was practically useless. On the map of the 20th it actually says, "See P??re Lachaise map p. XXX." The page number is listed as XXX. Unbelievable. I was so frustrated that I almost purchased a "Paris Pratique" while I was there.
-At least one restaurant reviewed ("Le 36" in the 8th) did not exist once we walked 45 minutes to get there. That was unpleasant.
-Almost all listed admissions prices were wrong. If it said 6,50 E, we just counted on it being 7,50. It said a carnet of 10 Metro tickets was 9,60. It was 10,80. Again, this was issued in 2007.
-There are things listed in the book that are not in the Index (so it's almost impossible to find them again if you haven't marked the page) and things in the Index that are not in the book.
-While I found the cultural information and historical sections in the beginning to be generally interesting and useful, I was annoyed when trying to figure out postage rates and found the following on p. 48 "...the standard postage system whose rates are listed below," but there was nothing listed below. My husband and I read and reread the section, baffled, and there were no postage rates listed anywhere.
After a week, this book became that unreliable friend that you can no longer trust so you just stop trying. We resorted to looking up restaurants, maps, and attractions on the Internet, but not everyone visiting Paris has easy access to an Internet connection. I'm giving it 2 stars only because some of the information was helpful, but I would strongly advise looking into another guide book. I will not purchase any Let's Go publications again. Ever.
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4: GREAT BOOK
Let's Go Paris 2007 offers a wealth of information! It is easy to use, organized well, and focuses on budget traveling. I found my hotel in the 5eme for only 65 euros a night - thanks Let's Go! It also outlines dangerous areas in Paris, cheap places to drink, and describes sights and musuem by neighborhoods. The maps are great as well. I found it much more useful than Lonely Planet France or Frommer's Paris for budget traveling.
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5: The new edition is GREAT!!!
Hey, all,
So, I agree completely with everyone's cranky reviews of Let's Go: Paris 05. As it turns out, they've completely redone quite a bit for the 07 edition, and I found it quite accessible and useful. They've totally reorganized the Entertainment, Food, and Nightlife sections so that they're all by arrondissement: no more of the idiotic subdivisions. Plus, all the information in the chapter is in a handy table on each chapter's opening page, so you can really do a fast find if you need to.
Plus, the maps have improved tenfold. They've got the "Paris by Arrondissement" map as well as a map that breaks the city down into cultural areas, and ones that highlight suggested itineraries.
Bottom line: 07 is incredible. I've seen Lonely Planet, Frommers, etc., and LG is the way to go.
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