Everyday Paris

Somehow I am always disappointed when I look through the major guidebooks on Paris. They never highlight the things I want to see and they all feature the same top sites and the same restaurants. I'm not quite sure why our interests don't coincide. Perhaps it is because they feature the lives of the rich and famous and I'm interested in the lives of the everyday Parisian. So I have no interest in going to Versailles; shopping at Chanel, Christian Dior, Givenchy or Louis Vuitton; or eating at 5-star restaurants. Wait, you say, everyday Parisians are very much into haute couture and haute cuisine.

OK, then I'll concentrate on the City of Paris website. Since it's by the city government, it should have lots of information for its citizens. I can practice my French and if I get stuck, there's an English version (although who knows how complete it is). It's surprising that I haven't run across it before and only stumbled upon it through a broken link from Franprix to wifi in Paris. All we have to do is look for the "Paree wee-fee" sign in parks, libraries, and buildings.

And oh, my goodness, Paris.fr has its own interactive Google map of city facilities like libraries, police stations, swimming pools, museums, cultural centers and wifi hotspots. Shoot! It looks like we didn't have to make our own. We could have just come here! Except for all those restaurants, of course.