Trip Report: Early April in Paris
Apr 13th, 2004, 11:30 AM
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Trip Report: Early April in Paris
Over the past few months I have monitored this forum to learn about others' travels in and around Paris. I wanted to send a trip report as a way to thank many of you for the tips and ideas I gathered from this forum.
I am somewhat rusty and formerly fluent in French. My husband, however, speaks only English and had never been to Europe. Because of this, we tried to find some activities and bars/restaurants where English was spoken so that he was not entirely dependent on me the entire trip.
We arrived in Paris Friday, April 2 and departed on Monday, April 12. Upon the recommendation of a friend who visits Paris frequently, we stayed at the Hotel Sophie Germain in the 14e (12, rue Sophie Germain, 75014: http://www.cofrase.com/hotel/sophigermain/frame.htm), located less than 1 block from the Mouton-Duvernet metro stop on the 4 line. The Denfert-Rochereau station, with connections to the 6 line and the RER B line to/from Charles de Gaulle/Roissy airport is two blocks away. I had heard that there is nothing going on in the 14th, and to a certain degree this is true, but the location of our hotel was quiet and convenient since it was so near the metro.
Since Paris was our home base we stayed 10 nights at the Sophie Germain. We didn't schedule any tours in advance of our arrival, and we didn't have a plan on purpose. To make sure we stayed awake during our first day in Paris, we walked from Notre Dame to the Eiffel Tower, where at 7 p.m. we met up with the Fat Tire Bike Tours at the south pillar to take the night bike tour (http://www.fattirebiketours.com). The night was chilly, windy, and rainy, but our tour guide Charles was fantastic, the bikes were comfortable, and the sights were beautiful. The tour spanned from the Eiffel Tower onto Blvd St. Germain to the back end of Ile de la Cite over to Ile St. Louis with a stop at Le Flore en Ile for Berthillon ice cream, through the Louvre courtyards, up Rue de Rivoli and onto a Bateau Mouche for a boat ride up and down the Seine. I would strongly recommend this company if you want a good, lighthearted, and (somewhat) physically active English-speaking tour. The bike riding is not demanding, but it certainly beats walking the entire route.
We did a lot of eating, shopping, sleeping, and walking. My husband discovered the Croque Madame and was rating them by the end of our trip. I discovered L'Artisan Parfumeur (La Grande Boutique, 2, rue de l'Amiral de Coligny, 75001) -- bought two fragrances for myself and two fragrances and a beautiful sachet to give to others.
Other highlights: we took a self-guided walking tour of Montmartre that I found in the Paris Inside Guide (published by the Discovery Channel).
We hit the monuments, and went to Ste. Chappelle twice -- the first time was cloudy, the second time was sunny.
We had so much fun with Fat Tire that we took the Versailles tour on Tuesday and the Giverny tour on Wednesday. We ended our trip by taking the night bike tour again the night before we left.
We watched the beginning of the Paris marathon on Sunday, April 4th as the runners departed from Charles de Gaulle Etoile and down the Champs-Elysees.
The Musee Marmottan in the 16e to see many of Monet's canvases (www.musee-marmottan.com). La Muette neighborhood and nearby park are beautiful.
Took the SNCF train to Chartres and had an excellent meal at Le Cafe Serpente just across the street from the north portal of the cathedral.
Microbrew beer at the Frog and the Princess, on rue de Princess (www.frogpubs.com). My husband liked the biere blonde, and I liked the ginger beer. Also, the Moosehead bar has the North American Sports Network, so my husband could keep up with the Masters tournament while we were away (www.mooseheadparis.com).
Lowlights: As the saying goes, I must be quite lucky because I stepped in dog-do with my left foot, largely because I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking. I didn't find there to be an overabundance of dog-do. That new law must be working somewhat.
The metro stations indeed smell like urine. I saw only one person actually pee indoors -- on a wall by the moving walkway in the Chatelet metro station. Welcome to Paris!
I had forgotten that everyone smokes everywhere. I was glad to see that the cigarette cartons now read "Fumer tue" -- "Smoking kills." Gotta love the French for being direct!
10 nights in Paris is a long time
I am somewhat rusty and formerly fluent in French. My husband, however, speaks only English and had never been to Europe. Because of this, we tried to find some activities and bars/restaurants where English was spoken so that he was not entirely dependent on me the entire trip.
We arrived in Paris Friday, April 2 and departed on Monday, April 12. Upon the recommendation of a friend who visits Paris frequently, we stayed at the Hotel Sophie Germain in the 14e (12, rue Sophie Germain, 75014: http://www.cofrase.com/hotel/sophigermain/frame.htm), located less than 1 block from the Mouton-Duvernet metro stop on the 4 line. The Denfert-Rochereau station, with connections to the 6 line and the RER B line to/from Charles de Gaulle/Roissy airport is two blocks away. I had heard that there is nothing going on in the 14th, and to a certain degree this is true, but the location of our hotel was quiet and convenient since it was so near the metro.
Since Paris was our home base we stayed 10 nights at the Sophie Germain. We didn't schedule any tours in advance of our arrival, and we didn't have a plan on purpose. To make sure we stayed awake during our first day in Paris, we walked from Notre Dame to the Eiffel Tower, where at 7 p.m. we met up with the Fat Tire Bike Tours at the south pillar to take the night bike tour (http://www.fattirebiketours.com). The night was chilly, windy, and rainy, but our tour guide Charles was fantastic, the bikes were comfortable, and the sights were beautiful. The tour spanned from the Eiffel Tower onto Blvd St. Germain to the back end of Ile de la Cite over to Ile St. Louis with a stop at Le Flore en Ile for Berthillon ice cream, through the Louvre courtyards, up Rue de Rivoli and onto a Bateau Mouche for a boat ride up and down the Seine. I would strongly recommend this company if you want a good, lighthearted, and (somewhat) physically active English-speaking tour. The bike riding is not demanding, but it certainly beats walking the entire route.
We did a lot of eating, shopping, sleeping, and walking. My husband discovered the Croque Madame and was rating them by the end of our trip. I discovered L'Artisan Parfumeur (La Grande Boutique, 2, rue de l'Amiral de Coligny, 75001) -- bought two fragrances for myself and two fragrances and a beautiful sachet to give to others.
Other highlights: we took a self-guided walking tour of Montmartre that I found in the Paris Inside Guide (published by the Discovery Channel).
We hit the monuments, and went to Ste. Chappelle twice -- the first time was cloudy, the second time was sunny.
We had so much fun with Fat Tire that we took the Versailles tour on Tuesday and the Giverny tour on Wednesday. We ended our trip by taking the night bike tour again the night before we left.
We watched the beginning of the Paris marathon on Sunday, April 4th as the runners departed from Charles de Gaulle Etoile and down the Champs-Elysees.
The Musee Marmottan in the 16e to see many of Monet's canvases (www.musee-marmottan.com). La Muette neighborhood and nearby park are beautiful.
Took the SNCF train to Chartres and had an excellent meal at Le Cafe Serpente just across the street from the north portal of the cathedral.
Microbrew beer at the Frog and the Princess, on rue de Princess (www.frogpubs.com). My husband liked the biere blonde, and I liked the ginger beer. Also, the Moosehead bar has the North American Sports Network, so my husband could keep up with the Masters tournament while we were away (www.mooseheadparis.com).
Lowlights: As the saying goes, I must be quite lucky because I stepped in dog-do with my left foot, largely because I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking. I didn't find there to be an overabundance of dog-do. That new law must be working somewhat.
The metro stations indeed smell like urine. I saw only one person actually pee indoors -- on a wall by the moving walkway in the Chatelet metro station. Welcome to Paris!
I had forgotten that everyone smokes everywhere. I was glad to see that the cigarette cartons now read "Fumer tue" -- "Smoking kills." Gotta love the French for being direct!
10 nights in Paris is a long time
Apr 13th, 2004, 01:44 PM
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Hi Deb
My beloved Paris indeed has, like most large cities, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Sounds like you kept the latter two in perspective, and enjoyed the first one.
I haven't stayed in the 14th since my first visit to Paris a LONG time ago.
I stayed about a 15 minute walk from Denfert Rochereau and we felt it took too long to get to more central locations, and we hated the changes at Chatelet, possibly my least favorite metro station of those I know. You see, to have liked your hotel though, and that one is new to me.
thanks
My beloved Paris indeed has, like most large cities, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Sounds like you kept the latter two in perspective, and enjoyed the first one.
I haven't stayed in the 14th since my first visit to Paris a LONG time ago.
I stayed about a 15 minute walk from Denfert Rochereau and we felt it took too long to get to more central locations, and we hated the changes at Chatelet, possibly my least favorite metro station of those I know. You see, to have liked your hotel though, and that one is new to me.
thanks
Apr 14th, 2004, 11:41 AM
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Thanks, everyone. Unfortunately, with that being the first message I posted to this forum, I didn't realize that my "final draft" did not get posted.
Instead of ending with "10 nights is a long time in Paris," in my final draft (which disappeared into the ether) I wrote:
10 nights is a long time in Paris, but I was thrilled to rediscover the city and to see Paris anew through my husband who had never traveled outside of the U.S.
Next time, however, we plan on staying only 4 or 5 days to use Paris as a jumping-off point for elsewhere in France, Switzerland, Italy, England, wherever. But Paris will definitely be a return destination for us!
Instead of ending with "10 nights is a long time in Paris," in my final draft (which disappeared into the ether) I wrote:
10 nights is a long time in Paris, but I was thrilled to rediscover the city and to see Paris anew through my husband who had never traveled outside of the U.S.
Next time, however, we plan on staying only 4 or 5 days to use Paris as a jumping-off point for elsewhere in France, Switzerland, Italy, England, wherever. But Paris will definitely be a return destination for us!
