Paris travel tips

JetBlue Airways will land on the European continent next summer with new flights to Paris.

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday unveiled plans for a high-speed train route connecting their respective capitals, Paris and Berlin, beginning next year.

Big ticket sporting events will go hand-in-hand with -style tourist experiences next year, as the International Olympic Committee and U.S. event specialist On Location team up to launch a new e-commerce website to sell tickets with hospitality packages.

JetBlue Airways flights to Paris will takeoff at the end of June, with the city of lights joining London as the second European destination on the carrier’s map.

London’s luxury retailers fear the city is losing its pull as a shopping destination, with tourists from the United States, China and the Gulf flocking instead to Paris and Milan where tax breaks still offer a way to cut the cost of their purchases.

Taking advantage of long-term trends that may boost hotel pricing power, driving more earnings per square meter at a hotel with concepts like “hybrid hospitality,” and exploring the potential of generative artificial intelligence are all potential areas of upheaval for hotel investors, owners, asset managers, and corporate brands.

Residents of Paris have voted to ban the use of rental electric scooters throughout the city, hindering scooter operators while signaling a victory for proponents of road safety.

Hotel brand Zoku is opening its fourth property, which is located in Paris, on May 31.

The idea behind the family-owned boutique hotel brand, Maisons Pariente, when it launched in 2019, was to create intimate luxury hotels — each in extraordinary places. “Rather than build vacation homes, we designed homes that have everything to make you feel like you’re invited to a friend’s house,” said Kimberley Cohen, co-founder of Maisons Pariente.

Some large cities are increasingly leaning on rising tourism as a way to make up for a hybrid worker model that has undermined the economies of their central business districts. 

The first Paris Airshow in four years has clocked up billions of dollars in commercial jet orders and offered some respite for suppliers as air travel springs back sharply from the pandemic.

The appeal of France’s Paris or Portugal’s Lisbon often overshadows cities like Nice or Faro. However, lesser-known cities are seeing new demand as summer travel hits its stride.

For Tan France, the designer and fashion expert known for his role on "Queer Eye," berets in Paris are a no-go.

Earlier this month, a curved aluminum skeleton 40 feet long sat waiting in Hermeus’ cavernous Atlanta factory. It was the prototype of a drone called Quarterhorse. It will never fly. Instead, it’s scheduled for ground-testing starting in September. Hermeus CEO AJ Piplica and his cofounders believe it’s the first step on a long road to an audacious goal: building a plane capable of carrying 20 passengers at hypersonic speed — five times faster than sound, or 3,850 miles per hour.

“It doesn't feel like Paris, does it?” Dominique Crenn is grinning ear to ear as she whisks me through Golden Poppy, her new restaurant in La Fantaisie, a just-opened hotel in the 9th. The comment refers to the handiwork of Swedish-born interior architect Martin Brudnizki, who oversaw the design. The smile says everything about how Crenn feels right now, not only as America's most decorated woman chef but also as an artist, activist, and cancer survivor—joyful.

The sound of clinking wine glasses floated through the evening air recently as throngs of patrons sipped chilled rosé and nibbled on cheese plates in front of the cafes, restaurants and épiceries bordering Place d’Aligre in the Bastille district of Paris.

A Saudi prince lent soccer player Neymar his private Boeing 747 jet to fly him to Saudi Arabia. 

Earlier this summer, I flew roundtrip from New York City to Paris on JetBlue. On the way there, I flew in Mint, the airline's business class section, and returned in an "even more space" seat, an economy option with more legroom. 

In my two visits to Paris, I've knocked out most of the must-see tourist attractions. I've seen the Mona Lisa and explored the Louvre, toured the Sainte-Chapelle, and plodded around the sprawling estate at Versailles. I've made a point to visit Notre-Dame, the Arc de Triomphe, and the Luxembourg Gardens.

Much has been said about avoiding tourist traps, both domestically and abroad, while traveling. They're bemoaned as too crowded, too tacky, too expensive, and often don't give you the full picture of a place's culture.

Sleek and sophisticated, the City of Love isn't known for being a cheap date. However, Paris has a whole heap of fun and free attractions even the most budget-conscious traveler can enjoy, ranging from free-entry museums and galleries to frenzied markets and canal-side strolls.