Paris 15th: area safe / quiet?
Sep 8th, 2011, 04:12 PM
#1
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Paris 15th: area safe / quiet?
Hello Fodorites,
I'm renting an apartment for a few days in Paris 15th. Can anyone tell me if this is a safe / quiet area? I'm a light sleeper and will be traveling with someone who has slight mobility problems so we want to be aware of areas where we may encounter problems (if we're going to be walking through a ghetto area, we want to be prepared).
Cheers ;-)
I'm renting an apartment for a few days in Paris 15th. Can anyone tell me if this is a safe / quiet area? I'm a light sleeper and will be traveling with someone who has slight mobility problems so we want to be aware of areas where we may encounter problems (if we're going to be walking through a ghetto area, we want to be prepared).
Cheers ;-)
Sep 8th, 2011, 05:14 PM
#3
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I hope it is since you have already rented the apartment, it seems. Have you entered the address into Google street view to see what it around it?
I agree with above post...an address or intersection will help Fodorites respond with useful info.
I agree with above post...an address or intersection will help Fodorites respond with useful info.
Sep 9th, 2011, 08:34 AM
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yes, it's safe. I wouldn't ever call arrondisements as a whole quiet or not, it depends where you are. If you have an apt looking onto a busy cafe that has an outdoor area open late or a major pedestrian shopping area, it isn't going to be quiet no matter what.
Sep 9th, 2011, 08:43 AM
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<i>I wouldn't ever call arrondisements as a whole quiet or not, it depends where you are.</i>
We had friends who kept a tiny <i>pied-à-terre</i> on the top floor of a Paris building in the Belleville area. Unfortunately they had to give it up when mobility issues ruled out stairs. So they found another one in the 15th. The husband said that the 15th (bourgeois) neighborhood worried him for a while because the streets were <b>too</b> empty and quiet in the evening compared to the mixed Belleville area.
We had friends who kept a tiny <i>pied-à-terre</i> on the top floor of a Paris building in the Belleville area. Unfortunately they had to give it up when mobility issues ruled out stairs. So they found another one in the 15th. The husband said that the 15th (bourgeois) neighborhood worried him for a while because the streets were <b>too</b> empty and quiet in the evening compared to the mixed Belleville area.
Sep 9th, 2011, 08:48 AM
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That is a GREAT location! Close to the Eiffel Tower and right around the corner to the best Italian restaurant in Paris, Iolanda's. The 15th is my favorite arrondisement in Paris. Good metro connections, good restaurants, and close to the action, with reasonable prices all arond.
Sep 9th, 2011, 09:00 AM
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What I also neglectd to say is that not only are you close to the Eiffel Tower, but you are within short walking distance to Rue Cler, Napoloeon's Tomb, Trocadero and many other sites. Your location is right on the border of the much heralded 7th arrondisement, so you have the benefits of that desirable location.
Sep 9th, 2011, 10:10 AM
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The times I visited Paris, I would do the regular tourist things, like going to the Louvre, Notre Dame, etc. but invariably, every evening, I would end up taking a stroll to the Tower. Especially at night, at least to me, there seemed to be an electricity in the air, just going there and viewing the goings-on in the area. I'm just a simple tourist, looking for the things I don't see in my home town, so I'm intrigued with the exotic things I can see throughout my travels. Maybe not to you, but just sitting near The Eiffel Tower and just seeing how life goes on around there really astounds me. As I said, I'm only a simple guy, but I get charged up on things like, for instance, just sitting on Via Petrarc in Naples, and just taking in the Bay of Naples. Ain't that what's it all about? That to me is THE ACTION.
Sep 9th, 2011, 01:25 PM
#13
nancicita, I stayed in the 15th, near your streets, for several days just two years ago and felt comfortable walking as a single woman or with a female friend. Taking the usual big city precautions, of course. I look forward to your report. ~MarnieWDC
Sep 9th, 2011, 04:50 PM
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My husband, teenage daughters and I enjoyed a week in the 15th a few years ago, several blocks southeast, on Rue Blomet. It felt quite safe.
Our place was removed from the action on purpose, partly for the sake of a very light sleeper.
Here's what I especially liked: at the patisserie and the fruit stands we frequented, they seemed to think our French and the fact we were American was cute, and not an annoyance. We walked alongside parents taking their children to school. Old men played petanque across the street. We were far enough afield to be closer to the bourgeois everyday life. For me, a plus.
Our place was removed from the action on purpose, partly for the sake of a very light sleeper.
Here's what I especially liked: at the patisserie and the fruit stands we frequented, they seemed to think our French and the fact we were American was cute, and not an annoyance. We walked alongside parents taking their children to school. Old men played petanque across the street. We were far enough afield to be closer to the bourgeois everyday life. For me, a plus.
Sep 10th, 2011, 01:19 AM
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stokebailey, what you've described (local patisserie, fruit stands) sounds lovely.
On a side note -- here in London I've seen groups of children going to school together on the subway and it always dawns on me how neatly they dress (must be the uniforms) and how well-behaved many of them are. Among the crowds and all the tourists in a big city, it's nice to see everyday life.
On a side note -- here in London I've seen groups of children going to school together on the subway and it always dawns on me how neatly they dress (must be the uniforms) and how well-behaved many of them are. Among the crowds and all the tourists in a big city, it's nice to see everyday life.
Sep 10th, 2011, 02:59 AM
#16
You have one of the better Japanese restaurants of the area in your building -- Fukushima (hopefully with no radioactive leaks), but more important, a Franprix supermarket a few steps away. If you're lucky, you won't be directly facing the boulevard, because your building faces the elevated metro station, and you might not just have the hiss of the trains going by, but all of the door closing buzzes and braking noises.
Sep 10th, 2011, 11:56 AM
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Hey Kerouac- I agree that the Franprix supermarket is a good one, but I have a question-- A couple of years ago, my wife and I and her Neopolitan sister and husband took a train trip from Naples to Paris. We stayed in the area in which we are discussing. When it was time to leave for Naples, we decided to go to the supermarket to have some sandwiches made so that we could eat on the train (the food on the train was terrible). When the gent made our deliciius sandwiches, he absolutely refused to cut the large French bread sandwiches in half. I asked him many times, but he refused. Honestly, I asked very politely to no avail. Finally, in English, I blurted out, CUT THE BREAD IN HALF! That he understood, and did so grudgingly. There is no doubt he understood my French when I first asked, but I can't understand why he refused to cut the sandwiches. Can you think of some reason as to why he did so? Maybe it's some sort of taboo?
Sep 10th, 2011, 11:59 AM
#19
That was in the days of "it isn't done" which was a standard French response to "unusual" requests.
Those days are finished in Paris. If you want ketchup and maple syrup added to your sandwich, they will probably do it.
Those days are finished in Paris. If you want ketchup and maple syrup added to your sandwich, they will probably do it.
