LowCountryIslander

By no stretch of the imagination am I fluent in French, but I did mastered the �big� 4 French words�Hello, Goodbye, Please and Thank You.

And speaking of thank you, before I go any further, I want to thank all the Fodorites for posting trip reports, helpful hints, recommendations, and answering my questions about all things France. Most of all I want to thank the Fodorite who posted the phrase in this trip report title, �I�m sorry, I don�t speak French, do you speak English?� Unfortunately I don�t recall the Fodorite�s name, but that phrase was extremely helpful to me. Usually when I uttered that phrase, even if I got the shoulder shrug, immediately after the shrug a smile came out and I muddled through with basic communication skills. And it was such fun!

I am giving fair warning now that my trip reports can sometimes get a little long-winded and this particular trip was somewhat of a �gastronomic adventure� as I tend to consider myself a �budding� foodie,(well maybe more of a �really good eater�), so there may be several descriptions of (what I think) were great meals. Feel free to skip over the culinary ramblings if you are so inclined.

My hope is that some of you out there in Fodor-land will be able to cull useful information from this report and maybe get a laugh or two along the way. One more word of thanks needs to go out to a Fodorite who mentioned the Pudlo France book.

Since I was embarking on a �gastronomic adventure� with my mom (who by the way, is a terrific cook, unlike myself, I can�t cook, but I am a VERY appreciative eater!) I wanted to have lots of restaurant/food choices lined up for each city and town we would be staying in. So, last spring I pre-ordered the latest English edition of Pudlo France, not realizing the book that would be delivered to my door in June would be 1000+ pages�silly me, the book covers the entire country, I should have read the description on Amazon more closely�but I am really digressing here! To sum up my thoughts on the Pudlo France book��Thank you Mr. Pudlo� was muttered a number of times during strolls back to our hotels after several very satisfying meals!

Now for a little background:

My mom and I traveled to France for 20 days in late September/early October. We decided to make this trip a combination of a group tour and independent travel. We�ve used this combination in the past and it works well for us.

This group tour was with Rick Steves� Europe through the Back Door, which I have used in the past and like how they operate. We chose the 15 day Paris and the South of France tour because it offered a nice combination of cities (Paris and Nice) and smaller towns (Chinon, Sarlat, Carcassonne, Arles, and Roussillon). The tour began in Paris and ended in Nice.

We arrived in Paris a day before the group tour started to help get over jet-lag and have a little (and it was just a little!) extra time in Paris. We stayed in Nice four additional days after the tour ended.

Here is a list of the hotels we stayed at with the address and website information. I will give more detailed information and thoughts on the hotels as this report unfolds.

Hotels:

The hotels we stayed at with the tour were centrally located in each town. For the extra days in Nice we changed to a hotel I found recommended here on Fodors. The hotels were:

Paris - Hotel Castex at 5, Rue Castex in the Marais (bordering on the Bastille area)
www.castexhotel.com

Chinon � Hotel de la France at 47-49, place du General de Gaulle
www.hotel-france-chinon.federal-hotel.com

Sarlat � Hotel de la Couleuvrine 1, place de la Bouquerie
www.la-couleuvrine.com

Carcassonne � Hotel Montmorency 2, Rue Camille Saint-Saens
www.lemontmorency.com

Arles � Hotel Calendal 5, Rue Porte de Laure
www.lecalendal.com

Roussillon � Hotel Reves d�Ocres, Route de Gordes
www.hotel-revesdocres.com

Nice � Nice Marche aux Fleurs, 91 quai des Etats Unis
www.accor-hotels

Nice � Hotel Le Grimaldi, 15 Rue Grimaldi
www.le-grimaldi.com

Day One: Saturday, Sept. 20th, 2008

The trip started with our departure from the Savannah airport with a connection in Atlanta and the final destination Paris. We flew Delta and had an uneventful journey. We pushed back from the gate in Atlanta 2 minutes after our scheduled departure and we were lucky enough to get the exit row seats�as we called it � a little bit of first class in coach� since we had the bit of extra room to stretch out.

We landed in Paris 45 minutes early! But after waiting for a gate to clear we didn�t deplane until just after 8am. We whizzed through passport control and didn�t need to stop at baggage claim because we did all carry-on.

The driver from Shuttle-Inter walked into the arrivals area just as we were emerging through the doorway�perfect timing. The website for this car service is http://www.shuttle-inter.com/homepage.htm I found this company through a recommendation on Fodors. (thanks gracejoan!) The price of the service was €55.

It took about an hour to get to our hotel in the Marais, bordering on the Bastille area. It was still a bit early to check into our room, I tried to get an early check-in but that wasn�t happening. I put our backup plan to use and headed out for a short walk and a late morning breakfast. I had a recommendation for a place called Le Loir dans La Theire in the Marais. With my trusty Paris Knopf Mapguide we were able to find the little café and they were just opening.

This little café was as adorable as I had read it was. It is an eclectic mishmash of tables, chairs, and sofas. It felt like we were walking into an old friend�s really big and comfortable living area. We each had our first Parisian café crème. I had a mushroom & cheese quiche and mom had the tomato & onion tarte. Both were very good, but the sweet cakes and pies they had there looked wonderfully delicious, I will have to wait for another trip to try them! Our coffees and quiches totalled €25.

When we were finished we were ready for a nap so we walked back to the hotel and checked into our room. The Hotel Castex is in a terrific location on a quiet street with a post office at the end of the street and a Metro stop a couple blocks away in the Place de la Bastille. Our room was on the small side, but that was not a surprise, it was typical of other European hotels I�ve stayed in.

We slept for a few hours and woke up in the late afternoon, just in time for a walk, a cruise on the Seine and dinner at Le Petit Bofinger!

adrienne

Great report so far and thanks for including links to your hotels; this is so helpful. The cafe where you had your first breakfast sounds delightful.

nukesafe

Great report so far. Bookmarking to follow.

boots08

Interesting and helpful report so far, LCI- looking forward to reading the rest.

Kristina

Well it's about time you got started on this report! ;-)

BTW, I use the Knopf Map Guides too. They are great, aren't they?

I am impressed you got that whole long phrase out "Je suis desole...". That was always my intention as well, but I usually just ended up blurting out "Parlez vous Anglais?" like a dork.

More please...

LCBoniti

Great beginning. I am looking forward to your report of the Rick Steves tour.

hanl

Interesting report so far.
I love Le Loir dans La Theire - their lemon meringue pie is out of this world.

freberta

I was reading your opening post and I thought I was writing it myself! I am in the process of writing a "report" and I am following the advice of someone who said first write it in Word and then copy and paste. So, that's what I'm doing. I didn't think, however, that I should do it in installments. Well, anyway, I am enjoying reading your report, because it sounds just like the one I'm writing, thank you acknowledgements and all.

I've always wondered what it would be like to go on a Rick Steves tour since we went to Paris in 2002 and 2004 and to Italy in 2007 with his book never leaving our hands. This time around, October 2008, my husband and I relied on the good advice of Fodorites to help plan our trip to Paris, including restauratnt recommendations. I, too, am a "budding" foodie (not my husband, though), and I wanted to eat my way through Paris. Didn't quite accomplish all that I set out to do, but was satisfied with my cuisinary exploits.

Keep the report coming, because I love reading the stuff. The French are wonderful people. I still don't know how they acquired their reputation for being nasty. They are polite beyond belief, and maybe that's why Americans find them haughty. Let me tell you one thing before I leave -- the only rude person we encountered in Paris the entire time we were there was at CDG when we were leaving. She was on the security line behind my husband and grabbed three or four trays before allowing my husband to put his stuff in one. When he said something to her like, "I need a tray," she quipped back, "Who do you think I work for, the airline?" Of course, she was a fellow American. That sums it up.

annhig

hi, 'islander,

great start to a trip and your report.

looking forward to more,

regards, ann

LowCountryIslander

Thanks for reading, it's always nice to know the effort is worth it!

Kristina...yes, I LOVE the Knopf Mapguides. The first one I used was for my Rome trip last year and have since used the Paris and New York guides. I like that they are small enough to fit into a coat pocket and I'm not standing on a street with a giant map.

Hanl...if I only knew about the lemon meringue pie...that's one of my favorites...ahhh...another reason to go back to Paris!

freberta...I also write my trip reports in word and then cut and paste here and to my blog. I like doing it that way because then most of my spelling errors will get caught in spellcheck...can't help any of my grammar mistakes though! I'm late getting started with this report (been home now 3 weeks!) so I'm trying to simultaneously write the report in word and then post installments here.

I hope to have another installment posted tonight.

Images2

Thanks so much for writing your report. We once ran into Steve Smith, in Arles, who helps Rick Steves in writing his France book. He was quite interested in our experiences. I'm looking forward to hearing how your trip went!

LowCountryIslander

freberta...

Also meant to say that I completely agree with you about the French people. We did not have any negative encounters at all.

You hit the nail on the head when you said they were polite beyond belief. As our guide, a Frenchman himself (who was one of the best tour guides I have ever had, but more on that a little later), described to us, the French tend to be very reserved and to some that may come off as being rude, when the French think that is just the polite way to handle things.

sherhatfield

Nice start to your report! I'm looking forward to more as I'm planning a trip to Paris for next May.

Venezuela

Bookmarking

Sidny

bookmarking

Coquelicot

So glad you liked Pudlo. I gave it to my husband for his birthday and this trip we took BOTH Pudlo and Michelin rouge along. We planned our route around Bib Gourmands and Pudlo "kettles" (good value). I am hoping you and your mom hit some of the same places we did. Looking forward to your report!

suze

Well it wasn't me who posted a trip report, but that is my most highly recommended useful phrase to learn, in addition to usual pleasantries.

melissa19

Sorry to nitpick, but I belive it should be "je ne parle pas francais..."

The "ez" ending is added to the verb after saying "you/vous" not I/Je." So, "parle" is pronounced like "parl" and "parlez" is "par-lay."

French grammar police, please feel free to correct moi!

Robespierre

Nailed it. But "do you speak English" in French is pronounced

<i>Bonjour, monsieur. Parlez-vous anglais?

i.e.</i>, the &quot;Good Day, Sir&quot; is NOT optional!

LowCountryIslander

The remainder of Day One:

After a few hours of shut-eye we were refreshed and ready to set out and explore Paris in the evening. The Hotel Castex is only about a 10 minute walk to the Il de la Cite so we took a leisurely walk in that direction, peeking in shop windows along Ile St. Louis. We passed Notre Dame Cathedral on our way to the Pont Neuf. It was just past 7:30pm when we arrived at Les Vedettes du Pont Neuf (www.vedettesdupontneuf.com) . We bought tickets for the 8pm cruise which was good timing because as we boarded the boat the sun was just starting to set so we got to see some sights in dusky light and some lit up for the night. I thought it was brilliant seeing Paris from this perspective, and we certainly had luck on our side with the terrific weather we had that evening.

One note about Les Vedettes du Pont Neuf, prior to leaving home I checked out their website and printed off a coupon for &euro;2 off, so the price was &euro;9 each instead of &euro;11. You can also make a reservation for a specific time on their website and get &euro;4 off the price, but since I wasn’t sure what time we wanted to go on the cruise I chose the &euro;2 option.

The cruise was about an hour long and by the time we disembarked we were ready for something to eat. On Fodors and in the Pudlo book I had read good things about Le Petit Bofinger at 6, rue de la Bastille. I also had a personal recommendation of this bistro from a co-worker who travels to Paris regularly and she said it was very near our hotel.

With my trusty Knopf Mapguide in hand we set out from Pont Neuf in the direction back towards our hotel. We ultimately found the bistro, but not without a bit of a long detour down a dark and empty street and a large boulevard that I thought was the street the bistro was on. It turned out I needed Rue de la Bastille and I was on Boulevard de la Bastille, but we were persistent and were very happy I got my sense of direction back to find Le Petit Bofinger. I kept telling myself, “but Betsy said it was right near the hotel”. If it hadn’t been for Betsy telling me that I may still be aimlessly walking around the Bastille looking for it!

When we entered the door to Le Petit Bofinger at just after 10pm there was not an empty table in the place (always a good sign in my book!). The maitre d’ let us know it would be about a 10-15 minute wait, no problem, there were a few other diners waiting to be seated too, so we stood at the bar. While waiting we figured out that the Opera, which is just across the Place de la Bastille, that we had passed in our quest to find the bistro, had a performance which just finished and the whole area was teeming with people.

The minute we walked into this bistro the wonderful smells from the very tiny kitchen washed over us. The front area of the bistro had maybe 15 tables and the back area (where we were seated) also had about 15 tables. When I say small kitchen I am not exaggerating. It was a small closed off area between the front section and back section of the bistro and the “window” was a portable cart placed in the doorway to the kitchen that could maybe hold 4-5 prepared dishes. With a front and center view of all this from the small bar area it was like watching a well oiled machine in operation.

True to his word, the maitre d’ seated us about 15 minutes after we arrived. The menu here was all in French, but we managed very well with the little bit of “culinary French” my mom knows. We decided to each have the &euro;20.50 which included a glass of wine, main, and choice of starter or dessert. Mom had the foie gras starter and fish main dish, we don’t know the name of the fish but it was very light and tasty and every other person in the bistro seemed to have it on their plate. I chose the pork main dish served with roasted rosemary potatoes and the cr&egrave;me brulee for dessert. With an extra glass of wine and 2 espresso the total was &euro;55.

By now it was close to mid-night and we were ready for the short walk back to the hotel and a good night’s sleep so we would be bright eyed and ready for the Context Paris walking tour of the Montmartre neighborhood the next morning.