French DUers! Trip tips?

I am going to be in Paris for 21 days, from 7/29-8/18. I will be studying at the Alliance Francaise for 2 weeks, and during that time I will be staying at the Citea in Vanves. After that, I will be staying at the Hotel Residence Monge on rue Monge. I am planning on getting the Carte Orange mensuelle, as I will be doing a lot of metro travel.

Any tips, suggestions or info would be greatly appreciated!

Merci beaucoup mes amis!

What sort of things do you like to do? There is soooo much to enjoy in Paris that it's hard to know where to start.

Get a Pariscope magazine at a news kiosque and that will give you all the info on what's going on. A new issue comes out every Weds. That's the first thing we do when we arrive.

Please be sure to let me know if they still tolerate smoking in the building of the Alliance Francaise. About 5 yrs. ago I visited the building and it was full of smoke so I had a very interesting exchange of letters and phone calls with the director and some of the professors. It was quite hilarious, actually. Je suis miltante contre le tabagisme!

Like the Musee Picasso, and the Espace Saldavor Dali. I'm going to go on the Paris Walking Tour of the French Revolution, and definitely ride in the Batobus! I have a list about a mile long at this point of things I want to do...I'm going to be busy!

I was in Paris working for a week about a month ago. I really liked:

L'Assiette Lyonnaise
21, Rue Marbeuf
75008
Paris
Tel. : +(33) 1 47 20 94 80

Decent, traditional French food at a very reasonable price, especially when you consider it is just off the Champs Elysees. Also, the service was friendly and the house wine was fairly decent. There was lots of choice on the set menu.

OK, it's not the poshest restaurant in the world, but it just didn't feel like a tourist trap and the food was good.

My other advice would be to just wander around as much as you can - take a map with you but get yourself lost in Paris, you'll find lots of wonderful little places you'd have never seen otherwise, then use the map to find your way back home.

Also, remember that you can often take an RER train, rather than a Metro train, and it will be much faster (provided it stops at your stop!).

Le Grand Arche at La Defense is worth a look - stunning building, stunning views down to the Arc de Triomphe.

Have fun!