2 Girls in Paris!
 

Hello! We are 2, 30-somethings traveling to Paris for 7 days, looking for an apartment, but so confused on which District?? Thinking 1,2,3,4, 5, 6, or 7? Any suggestions? Want to be centrally located, near major attractions, and near shops and metro.....Any help would be fantastic! P.S. Leaving in a week!

Well, that sounds pretty much like 1 through 7. But if you want some younger fun you can read about 10 or 11 or the so-called Bobo areas. I can't answer for any of that, because I'm old and I don't have fun after dark. I would try reading about each arrondissement.

Most things in the central arrondissements are near major attractions, shops and metro.

We like the 4th a lot. I just read about a street in the 3rd that is supposed to be one of the hippest streets in Paris, but I can't find what I read. Oh well...

Are you interested in hip and nightlife? Or upscale and more quiet?

Bear in mind that each arrondissement has quite a variety of neighbourhoods within it. There are a number of online guides giving thumbnail sketches of each.

Whether you can find somewhere to stay at such short notice (you leave it till the week before you go?!) is perhaps more important than where it is. You may very well have to accept some degree of commuting to find somewhere at a reasonable price, but it wouldn't be so onerous from anywhere around République or even a bit further north towards La Villette or east of there (which are areas I happen to know quite well).

I would say that sounds like 1 - 6.

Staying in the 7th will mean needing to take public transportation to get to most of the rest of historic Paris.

You can use venere.com to search by date and read user reviews. It might be the most efficient way to nail an apartment quickly.

http://www.venere.com/vacation-rentals/paris/

I forgot to say that you can also search by date through flipkey, as well as price range, and there are some user reviews.

http://www.flipkey.com/louvre-condo-rentals/p169050/

One thing you need to be careful about is getting two separate beds if you want them. Sometimes places have a sleep sofa, other times double beds can be made into twins. But most often in cheaper apartments you are going to find one smallish double bed.

I love the 6th! Great cafes and boutiques. We stayed in the area around St Sulpice and had easy access to the Odeon Metro site. This is a shot right around the corner from the hotel we stayed at. (And le Comptoir has terrific food)!

https://picasaweb.google.com/1052181...81756160690066

Thank you for your responses! YEs, PatrickLondon this was a last minute birthday trip all together. Just booked flight on a special 3 days ago! Finding some things online, now I can narrow down to which area!

I will check out the links today! Another ?, I will be solo for 3 days after my friend flies home. Would you have any day trips to suggest for me those days, or even is it worth taking bullet train down to the South for 2 1/2 days? (and safe) Or should I just stay in Paris and really get to know it? We will be there together for the 1st 4 days.

Tuscanlifeedit, we may go out 1 big night, but the hangover these days isn't worth it!

With only 4 days in Paris you will have barely scratched the surface. Additionally with only a week till you arrive and you are still in the process of trying to find accommodation you really don't have any time to research what there might be to see and do for 2-3 days outside of Paris. I think if you tried to do that on the fly after arriving somewhere you'd be wasting a lot of valuable vacation time trying to figure out what to do. Also, with the TGV (bullet train) there are loads of places you could get to in just a few hours from Paris so you could get overwhelmed with suggestions on where to go, never mind trying to figure out what to do once you arrive somewhere.

If you want to get out of Paris then do 1 or at most 2 day trips. If you've never been to Paris or France then the most popular and easy trips to do would be to visit Versailles or Monet's house and gardens in Giverny. Of course if you had a specific interest in something and mentioned it then maybe we could give you some suggestions for day trips that would suit your specific interests.

Just to give you a head start on your day trip research:

http://en.chateauversailles.fr/homepage

http://www.fondation-monet.fr/uk/