I most always tell visitors that the best way to change money is to do it with your cash card. Your bank may charge a 3-5 euro fee for the transaction but it is usually the best rate you can get. However, I did find a currency exchange bureau/bureau de change that matches the rate from a cash machine.The other day I changed $100 and received 66 euros which comes out to about 1.51 and the wholesale rate on the internet was listed close 1.48,so the rate I received was equal to my bank. The other good thing about this exchange place is they didn't ask for a passport and it's in a convenient location off the rue de Rivoli by Place de la Concorde.
The above photo is not of Change & Collection.
Change & Collection
1 rue de Rouget de Lisle, 1st. arr
Metro: Concorde or Tuileries
Tel. 01 42 60 00 35
Open Monday to Friday 8:30AM-6PM
Saturday 9:30AM-1PM, 2PM -5:30PM
Google map
Don't forget about the Montmartre photo contest.
The contest is for the most unusual and dramatic photo of Montmartre. The contest winner will be announced next Wednesday, November 11. Please send your photos no later than November 10 and you can email them to me at r.nahem@gmail.com. Please send no more than 3 photos in an email.
Now for the prize. The winner will receive a copy of the new best-selling book What French Women Know by Debra Ollivier. The intriguing book is about love, sex, and other matters of the heart and mind, a witty, insightful exploration of what makes French women tick. Questions like “How do they make it look so easy?” and “Why are French women always so incredibly sexy, even if they are physically ordinary?" are answered and explained by Ollivier who lived in Paris for many years and married a Frenchman. Ollivier offers us a refreshing new perspective on the stale ooh-la-la stereotypes about French women, revisiting and challenging old notions about sex, love, dating, marriage, motherhood, body politics, and seduction. A must read book for any man or woman who appreciates the mystique of French women.
If you can't wait to read the book before the contest, click here to order.
I am happy to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes. Come take an ethnic culinary journey with me and chef and caterer Charlotte Puckette, co-author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook (with Olivia Kiang-Snaije). First we will shop at a Paris green-market for the freshest ingredients and then return to Charlotte’s professional kitchen near the Eiffel Tower to cook a three-course lunch. After, we will indulge in the delicious feast we prepared along with hand-selected wines.
Cost: 185 euros per person (about $240)
Time: 9:30AM- 2PM (approximately 4 1/2 hours)
Location: We will meet by a metro station close to the market
Class days: Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
Minimum of 3 students, maximum 6 students.
Click here to sign up for the next class or for more info.
I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.
I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.
Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com
The best way to exchange dollars is to have a Bank of America DEBIT card with enough dollars in it to cover your trip. Take your B of A DEBIT card to a BNP Bank ATM and use it there. B of A and BNP have a reciprocal agreemant. There are NO charges and you receive the international exchange rate for that hour. You do not need to have a BNP bank account. Likewise, if a peson has a BNP Bank account and goes to America, they can exchange for dollars in the same way with NO charges.
American Express and Cook's usually have the worst exchange rates and charges.
Happy spending
Posted by: Mary | November 05, 2009 at 06:39 PM
Wow, Richard, you've found the legendary free lunch! Trouble is, we economists don't believe in the free lunch. No fees, wholesale rates; how do they pay for the real estate?
Posted by: John W. | November 06, 2009 at 03:15 AM