Short of time, short of money, need HELP!!

[OneLittleSpark]

OK guys, here's a challenge for you: my fella and I want to go to Paris and DLP for a few days. Where's the challenge, you ask? Well, here goes... I use a wheelchair, so any hotel we stayed in would need to be at least vaguely accessible (I can walk a bit, but the less I do, the less pain I'll be in for the trip); we're students, so money is a bit tight, but I do have some birthday money set aside for the trip; and best of all, we were hoping to leave on the 10th of December. I know I should have booked this earlier, but with all my wonderful health issues, I just haven't got around to it. The fella is talking of postponing the trip for a few months, but I was really looking forward to seeing the Christmas lights at Disney and Paris in winter.

OK, so the (VERY) rough plan is:

10th - Train to London, Eurostar to Paris, check in to hotel
11th - Day in Paris, schedule flexible depending on all sorts of variables
12th - Ditto
13th - DISNEY!!!!!!!!!
14th - Check out, Eurostar to London, train home

As you can probably tell, Disney is the main draw for me, but he's never been to Paris, so wants to see the sights. We've gone for the Eurostar as it's very wheelchair friendly and gets us closer in to the centre of Paris. I've checked out accessibility in Paris, and reckon I can manage it (thank you to everyone who helped me on my previous thread about that). It's really now the time and cost that are the issues, but made more complicated by the accessibility issues at a lot of the cheaper hotels.

Basically what I'm looking for, is any help you can offer. If you know of any good, reasonably priced hotels (preferably with wheelchair access and an accessible route into the centre of Paris); if you can suggest any alternative ways of doing this trip that would make it cheaper; or if you have anything else that might help, please let me know. Also, if you think I'm being ridiculous trying to get anything for a reasonable price in this time frame, and should just do as he says and postpone, I may need to hear that too (just be gentle ).

Please, please help me!

 

[bavaria]

Well, I was actually thinking of you a few weeks ago as I was walking around Paris, looking at accessibility. First off, I would PM 'Sue in MN' to see if she went into Paris on her recent trip - she is a moderator with an eye to accessibility so may be able to offer some advice.

To be honest with you, I think that the metro stations are a challenge for anyone who has mobility issues. Many have stairs, or the escalators don't function, or have a very long transfer between lines. You may find it easiest to do a Paris hop on/hop off tour instead. (I have seen passengers bring wheelchairs aboard) The fee is 26 Euros for a one day and 29 Euros for a two day pass. This would allow you to get to all the sites without too much exertion (and going by metro you are often underground, so this way you can see more of the city)

I can't really make a budget hotel suggestion, but you may want to look at American based chains as they often transfer over the strict American ADA requirements into their international hotels (as opposed to local hotels which may only have stairs, or a tiny elevator). Consider using www.priceline.com if you are willing to take the 'risk' - check out www.biddingfortravel.com and www.betterbidding.com for more information on that, including possible hotels and prices.

when you go to DLRP, consider taking a taxi to Gare de Lyon and taking the RER A from there. As it is a major station with long distance trains as well as the RER, it is easier to get around than the madhouse that is sometimes Etoile or Auber.

I hope that helps a little - if you have more specific questions I can try and answer for you!

 

[bavaria]

I went in search of a thread on www.flyertalk.com in the France forums - I know that there was one in the past year about using a wheelchair in Paris, but can't find it. You may want to ask over there, or at least browse. I know that the recommendation was that the person not use the metro/RER

Also this was quite a detailed read

http://www.access-able.com/tales/Paris-access-2003.html

 

[Kristina]

Here is a good site I used when I traveled with my Mom to Venice and Rome, it's called Slow Travel @ http://www.slowtrav.com/france/

My Mom and I traveled to Paris about 10 years ago now. My Mother uses a wheelchair and can't walk at all. We bought a package and our travel agent helped with hotel accessibility, calling up and checking for us. I am pretty sure we stayed in a low price hotel but I can't remember the name at all. The room was alright but the elevator was a closet so make sure that your wheelchair will fit or that they will guarantee a first floor room. Thats really all I have for you, I'm sorry. We took quite a few bus tours to far out places like Monet's garden but otherwise we walked everywhere..and saw all the sights ! However it was summer then.
Goop luck and if I can think of anything that would really help you I'll post back! Another good site we used last year when planning Venice and Rome was Trip Advisor dot com. They have lots of people that can offer advice and reviews.

 

[OneLittleSpark]

Thank you everyone for all the help! I'm beginning to come around to the idea that we may have to postpone the trip for a while. It's a real shame, because I was looking forward to seeing Disney at Christmas, but I guess it will have to wait . The sensible part of me is telling me it's silly to book some poor quality, over priced deal, when waiting a bit could save some money and give me more time to research.

Ho hum.

Thank you all for your help, it will be very useful in planning the trip, whenever that may end up being. Thank you!!!