The Rough Guide to Paris [Paperback]

Ruth Blackmore (Author), James McConnachie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2010 | Series: Rough Guide to Paris

"The Rough Guide to Paris" is the ultimate travel guide to this fascinating city with clear maps and detailed coverage of all the best Paris attractions. Discover Paris' highlights with stunning photography and detailed coverage on everything from the city's magnificent galleries and the iconic Eiffle Tower, to the Left Bank cafes of Saint-Germain and Monparnasse. Find detailed practical advice on what to see and do in Paris whilst relying on up-to-date descriptions of the best hotels, bars, clubs, shops and restaurants for all budgets. "The Rough Guide to Paris" also includes two full-colour sections explaining each of the city's most notable architectural wonders, plus a detailed guide to the very best of Parisian food and drink. Explore every corner of this romantic city with clear maps to help you travel around with ease and ensure you don't miss the unmissable. Make the most of your holiday with "The Rough Guide to Paris".

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

James McConnachie was born and brought up in south London, and was a scholar at Jesus College, Oxford, where he studied English. Touring the Loire in the back seat of a Citroen DS, as a child, inspired an early love of travel, but his first trips for Rough Guides were to Spain and Italy - and he remains passionate about both countries. Then, in 2002, James joined Dave Reed as co-author of the Rough Guide to Nepal. As a student, he had spent nine months teaching in a village in the Everest foothills, but travelling all over the country, in the middle of a Maoist insurrection, really put his knowledge of Nepali culture and language to the test - and never more urgently than when persuading a local Maoist that he was not in fact a CIA spy. After Nepal, James returned to his Francophile roots. He was commissioned to rewrite the Rough Guide to Paris, alongside Ruth Blackmore, and then headed back to the Loire valley to write his own, new guidebook: the Rough Guide to the Loire. Meanwhile, travel-related TV and radio appearances, including stints on the sofa with Richard and Judy and guesting on Radio 4's Excess Baggage, led to presenting work on Italy Inside Out, a five-part BBC series on Italian language and culture, and Kirsty Wark's Tales from Paris. James has also taken photographs for Rough Guides in Rome, Florence, Venice and Hawaii.In recent years, James has turned to history. With Robin Tudge, he co-authored the bestelling Rough Guide to Conspiracy Theories, which exposes the truth behind over a hundred conspiracy canards, and explores whether there is a conspiracist version of history. Bevis Hillier, in the Spectator, called it "unusually intelligent and laced with black humour". In The Book of Love: In Search of the Kamasutra (Atlantic), James traced the secretive story of the world's most notorious sex book, focusing on its discovery and pirate publication by the nineteenth-century explorer Richard Burton and his scandal-mongering coterie. William Dalrymple, writing in The Times, called it "elegant and stylish", The Washington Post found it a "first-rate work of intellectual history", and it won him a shortlisting for Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year 2008. Scandalized by the shrill and shallow quality of most modern sex manuals, James then decided to write his own: a book that wouldn't only discuss "how to do it", but would bring in history, ethics, politics, science and culture as well. The Observer called his subsequent Rough Guide to Sex "a comprehensive, fearless book, part socio-history and part manual". The writer and feminist Jenny Diski found it "funny and thoughtful"; the book's "clarity and straightforwardness", she reckoned, "would make anyone who has been young and befuddled (or old and befuddled) weep with gratitude." James now lives in Winchester, Hampshire, with his young family, but makes regular trips to France and Nepal to keep his guidebooks up to date. He is passionate about singing, books, languages, walking and wildlife. He is represented by David Godwin (www.davidgodwinassociates.co.uk) and welcomes comments via his blog (www.mcconnachie.net).

Product Details

• Paperback: 440 pages
• Publisher: Rough Guides; 12 edition (February 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 184836475X
• ISBN-13: 978-1848364752
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #669,347 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born and brought up in south London, Shafik Meghji co-presented the Channel 4 youth sports programme Rookies, before heading to the University of Warwick to study politics and international studies. After graduating in 2001, he gained the Guardian's Scott Trust Bursary for aspiring journalists, and went on to write for the paper and study newspaper journalism at City University, London.

Shafik then worked as a news and sports reporter for the Evening Standard until wanderlust set in and he left for India and South America, where he wrote for UK and US publications. After returning to London, Shafik worked as a freelance news, features and sports journalist for a wide range of newspapers, magazines and websites, including the Independent and the Mirror, before joining Rough Guides in 2007.

Shafik is the co-author of the Rough Guide to India and the Rough Guide to Bolivia (the latter to be published in early 2012). He has contributed to The Rough Guide to the Baltic States, The Rough Guide to Chile, The Rough Guide to Egypt, The Rough Guide to Nepal, The Rough Guide to Paris and the forthcoming The Rough Guide to Central America on a Budget, as well as Earthbound: a Rough Guide to the World in Pictures, Make the Most of Your Time on Earth (edition 2) and Make the Most of Your Time in Britain.

Shafik is also the co-author - with Sioned Jones - of the Buenos Aires *Essential* Guide iPhone travel app, an insider's guide to the best of BA.

iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id445933814?mt=8
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Buenos-Aires-Essential-Guide/171493372904292
Twitter: @BA_Essential

When not on the road, Shafik divides his time between south London and Buenos Aires, working as a journalist, writer, editor and photographer.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Guide Book for Long Stays, December 9, 2010

By 

R.D. Monsoon - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Rough Guide to Paris (Paperback)

I have used the Rough Guide for two separate trips to Paris totaling 21 days (one trip was a week, the other two weeks). So I've been through the book cover to cover and seen a site on virtually every page.

First, I want to address a ludicrous complaint people have against the Rough Guide series: not enough hotel and restaurant reviews. Thanks to the internet, travel guides shouldn't even bothering including reviews for restaurants and hotels anymore. Given the amount of time in-between when one of the reviews is written and the guide is published, these reviews are always out of date (not to mention that guides are only updated ever two or three years). The internet offers a plethora of up to the minute reviews of hotels and restaurants from both travel writers and consumers. Shortly before my last trip to Paris one of the New York Times travel writers published a list of favorite bistros in Paris. It was far more useful and up-to-date than anything in a guide book.

Another common complaint is that Rough Guide maps are weak. There's no real defense for this. However, it's typically a non-issue for me because I like to use a separate fold out map or my iPhone. And the local tourist offices and hotels typically provide good maps for free.

As for the content of the guide, what I like about it is Rough Guide's down-to-earth, honest appraisal of sites. While it seems like other guides copy and paste descriptions from museums' websites into their book, Rough Guide will tell you if something is touristy fluff that you're better off avoiding. The don't try to make every museum sound like the best museum ever, that every lookout offers the best views of Paris, etc. Descriptions of tend to be fairly in depth, setting realistic expectations as well as providing insights. I found the guide very useful for planning things to do in advance, as well as for identifying monuments and buildings that I ran into on the street. Finally, the guide contains enough things to do to keep you busy for a month long vacation.

Throughout the book the writers inject tidbits of contemporary history and events to give you an idea of what living in Paris is like today. They provide back story that only locals would be aware of. For me this was a major plus. It made the guide fun to read and enhanced the travel experience.

On both trips I had the Paris (DK Eyewitness Travel Guide). While the pictures were pretty and made me want to visit the sites, the descriptions really didn't tell me anything. I barely touched the book.

I only have two real complaints with Rough Guide. #1: The first few pages of the guide should be devoted to convincing readers to buy the Paris Museum Pass. Not only does the pass pay for itself quickly, but it allows you bypass the ticket queues at almost all the major museums and tourist sites. Without it, the wait to get into places like Versailles and the Arc de Triomphe can easily be 30 minutes or more. Further, you can go back to museums an unlimited number of times with it. The best way to see a massive museum like the Louvre is over several days. My #2 complaint is that it could do a better job explaining the Metro and how to buy the weekly pass: the Navigo Découverte. The Metro is the easiest way to get around the city, and the Navigo Découverte is a huge money saver.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the Rough Guide to people looking to plan a long vacation in Paris, trying to maximize the opportunities in the city.