A brief Paris trip report
Feb 14th, 2006, 07:28 AM
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A brief Paris trip report
We’ve just returned from a long weekend in Paris and had a fantastic time. Weather was cold but, for the most part, sunny – apart from Sunday and yesterday when it rained a little.
We’d all been to Paris quite a number of times before, and this time decided to rent an apartment. We rented the apartment on Quai des Orfevres through http://www.paris4ever.com/. We found them to be excellent to deal with. Our flight arrived early in the morning, but, as the apartment hadn’t been let the night before, they let us in straight away. Similarly, we had a late flight back yesterday – but they let us stay until we had to leave to go to the airport. The apartment itself could not have been in a better location – right beside the Pont Neuf and within walking distance of St Germain, the Latin Quarter, Notre Dame, The Louvre, Chatelet, etc. The apartment was lovely – really clean, nicely decorated, beautiful views over the Seine with the Eiffel Tower in the distance. It was well equipped with everything we could need for the long weekend and it was really comfortable and warm.
I won’t go into all the details of what we did each day, but some worth mentioning are:
Restaurant: Le Vin des Pyrenees on 25, rue Beautreillis, Paris IV (tel 01 42 72 64 94) – excellent food. We were there on Thursday evening and it was busy, so I’d recommend booking. It was a really pleasant atmosphere and very relaxing. Great food & wine.
Restaurant: Les Bouquinistes, 53 Quai des Grands Augustins - http://www.lesbouquinistes.com/. Great “nouvelle cuisine” – fantastic presentation and excellent service. Loved the food and the atmosphere.
The Moulin Rouge: We went to the Moulin Rouge 11pm show on Thursday evening and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. I had read positive and negative reviews on this and other websites, but we all wanted to see what it was like out of curiosity. It was extremely tacky, euro-trash, eurovision rubbish, but hilariously funny. As long as you don’t take it too seriously – just harmless fun really. We didn’t have any trouble getting a taxi outside afterwards and the area was really busy so it didn’t feel at all seedy (like it can during the day!).
Les Puces de Saint-Ouen (Clingancourt Market) - we went there yesterday. The outside markets are really full of cheap rubbish, but some of the indoor markets are excellent - with lovely antiques and vintage clothes (I fell in love with a beautiful 1960s Dior coat that I had to leave behind!). A lot of the indoor market shops were closed - possibly due to the fact that it was Monday, or perhaps the time of year, but there was plenty to keep us amused for a few hours and was well worth a visit.
If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask.
We’d all been to Paris quite a number of times before, and this time decided to rent an apartment. We rented the apartment on Quai des Orfevres through http://www.paris4ever.com/. We found them to be excellent to deal with. Our flight arrived early in the morning, but, as the apartment hadn’t been let the night before, they let us in straight away. Similarly, we had a late flight back yesterday – but they let us stay until we had to leave to go to the airport. The apartment itself could not have been in a better location – right beside the Pont Neuf and within walking distance of St Germain, the Latin Quarter, Notre Dame, The Louvre, Chatelet, etc. The apartment was lovely – really clean, nicely decorated, beautiful views over the Seine with the Eiffel Tower in the distance. It was well equipped with everything we could need for the long weekend and it was really comfortable and warm.
I won’t go into all the details of what we did each day, but some worth mentioning are:
Restaurant: Le Vin des Pyrenees on 25, rue Beautreillis, Paris IV (tel 01 42 72 64 94) – excellent food. We were there on Thursday evening and it was busy, so I’d recommend booking. It was a really pleasant atmosphere and very relaxing. Great food & wine.
Restaurant: Les Bouquinistes, 53 Quai des Grands Augustins - http://www.lesbouquinistes.com/. Great “nouvelle cuisine” – fantastic presentation and excellent service. Loved the food and the atmosphere.
The Moulin Rouge: We went to the Moulin Rouge 11pm show on Thursday evening and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. I had read positive and negative reviews on this and other websites, but we all wanted to see what it was like out of curiosity. It was extremely tacky, euro-trash, eurovision rubbish, but hilariously funny. As long as you don’t take it too seriously – just harmless fun really. We didn’t have any trouble getting a taxi outside afterwards and the area was really busy so it didn’t feel at all seedy (like it can during the day!).
Les Puces de Saint-Ouen (Clingancourt Market) - we went there yesterday. The outside markets are really full of cheap rubbish, but some of the indoor markets are excellent - with lovely antiques and vintage clothes (I fell in love with a beautiful 1960s Dior coat that I had to leave behind!). A lot of the indoor market shops were closed - possibly due to the fact that it was Monday, or perhaps the time of year, but there was plenty to keep us amused for a few hours and was well worth a visit.
If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask.
Feb 15th, 2006, 03:27 AM
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At Le Vin des Pyrenees, I had the snails to start, and the duck for the main course - both were fantastic.
I was with three others - one of them also had snails to start, and I can't remember what the others had. For main, one of the others had the veal, and the others shared the beef special. We skipped dessert but had 3 (gulp!) bottles of wine! I think it came to about €50 per person.
At les bouquinistes, there was no prix fixe (although I believe there is for the lunch menu). For starter I had the tuna mille-feuille, and for main I had the sea bass. Between 5 of us, we drank 2 bottles of wine. I think it came to about €70 per person. Well worth it!
I was with three others - one of them also had snails to start, and I can't remember what the others had. For main, one of the others had the veal, and the others shared the beef special. We skipped dessert but had 3 (gulp!) bottles of wine! I think it came to about €50 per person.
At les bouquinistes, there was no prix fixe (although I believe there is for the lunch menu). For starter I had the tuna mille-feuille, and for main I had the sea bass. Between 5 of us, we drank 2 bottles of wine. I think it came to about €70 per person. Well worth it!
Feb 15th, 2006, 07:54 PM
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Hi, Callin
I going to visit Paris in Mar, does Les Puces de St Ouen carries lots of VINTAGE CLOTHES and VINTAGE LACE? I'm also looking for NEW french lace fabrics for dress making (not home furnishing). Any other places that you know are good for this kind of shopping?
I going to visit Paris in Mar, does Les Puces de St Ouen carries lots of VINTAGE CLOTHES and VINTAGE LACE? I'm also looking for NEW french lace fabrics for dress making (not home furnishing). Any other places that you know are good for this kind of shopping?
