As Arsenal travel to Paris this week to face PSG in the Champions League group opener, here is a short guide on Paris from a local.
How to go to the Parc des Princes
The away fans entrance is in the V area in the Paris stand and next to the Boulogne stand.
Metro
The easiest way to reach the ground is to take the Metro number 10 towards Boulogne Porte de Saint-Cloud. Stop at the Station, Porte d’Auteuil, and then a ten minute walk to the ground.
To reach line 10 from Gare Du Nord for those coming by Eurostar, it is simple: take the thick dark blue line ie RER B from Gare du Nord to St Michel Notre Dame and change for the line 10.
If you come from Roissy Airport it is the same RER B from Roissy to St Michel Notre Dame and change for Line 10.
If you come from Orly via the RER B, again same modus operandi, change at St Michel Notre Dame. If you come via the RER C the yellow thick line, you can change at Gare d’Austerlitz to take line 10 as this this is the starting point of the line on the East side of Paris.
Leaving the game, you can get on the line number 10 again at the Station Michel Ange Molitor or alternatively use the line number 9. The line 9 goes towards the North of the Seine river, while line 10 stays south of the Seine river.
For safety reasons, the police make the away fans wait at least half an hour after the final whistle in France, so that home fans are not tempted to wait and ambush the away fans.
Bus
If you like to take the bus, the PC1 runs alongside the Boulevard peripherique inside the town and drops you as close as possible from the Parc des Princes. You just need to stop at Porte de Saint-Cloud and you can see the ground from the area.
Public transport ticketing
You can get single tickets for transport inside zone 1. Buying a batch of 10 tickets is cheaper as it cost 14.50€ while a single ticket cost 1.90€
For unlimited travel during one day, you have the Paris visit ticket, for example zone 1-3 for one day is 11.65€
If you want only zone 1-2, you can buy the Mobilis ticket unlimited travel in those zone for 7.30€
Drinking and eating area
The student area is a well known place, it is located between the Luxembourg and St-Michel Notre Dame RER stations.
You also have many restaurants especially from Brittany in the Montparnasse area, metro station like 4,6 and 13 gare Montparnasse.
Around the Opera Bastille are located many bars, Bastille station on lines 1, 5 and 8
Recommended ‘typical’ French restaurants
Leon de Bruxelles: mussels and fries
Hippopotatmus: various kind of meats
Bistro romain: beef or salmon carpaccio at will for about 20€