Velib' enables people to pick up a bicycle at one location and return it to another. There are hundreds of Velib' stations (with more than 20,000 bikes), not to mention about 230 miles of bike lanes.
Riders must buy a one-day access card (about $1.50) or a seven-day pass (about $7.50) from meters in the Velib' parking stations.
The rental is free for the first half-hour; the second half-hour costs $3; every half-hour after that costs $6. Rates are tabulated by the meters when you return the bike. For more information (in French), go to velib.paris.fr.
5. SEEING THE SIGHTS / / The concentration of museums in Paris is astonishing, and you could find yourself visiting at least one a day, which can run into serious money. The Musee du Quai Branly costs about $13 a person and Versailles about $20. But 60 museums, including Branly and Versailles, are open to people who buy the official Paris Museum Pass, sold at tourist information bureaus, museums, monuments and online at parismuseumpass.com. The price for unlimited entry to participating sites is $45 for two days; $65 for four days; and $90 for six days .
Entrance is free at a handful of museums, including the Musee Carnavalet in the Marais and the Musee des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris on Avenue Winston Churchill.
6. A hot dinner ticket. Having lunch, not dinner, at high-priced restaurants such as Taillevent and L'Ambrosie is a well-known tactic for saving money. But you won't do better at midday at Le Comptoir, a tiny, intensely popular bistro on the Left Bank overseen by chef Yves Camdeborde. That's because on weeknights Camdeborde prepares a set five-course menu with no choices for $68, probably less than you would spend for lunch at the city's ritziest restaurants. Mind you, weeknights at Le Comptoir are a hot ticket, so you must book far in advance. Le Comptoir, 011-33-1-43-29-12-05, 9 Carrefour de l'Odeon in the Sixth arrondissement.
7. Bloggers haven. If your hotel doesn't offer free Internet access, don't pay to hook up there. The rates are better at Milk, a chain of five Internet halls in prime tourist neighborhoods such as the Pantheon, St. Michel and Les Halles. Milk (milklub.com) is not a cafe; it's for serious Internet use, open 24 / seven. A five-hour ticket (usable on repeat visits) costs about $18; rates are lower at night.
