We are a family of four (2 children 5 & 7) planning on staying in this area for 7 nights during September. Is this a good area - is it close to the touristy parts the kids will want to explore

I happen to like the area, but it is not close to the touristy parts (major museums, sights like Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower). Trying to find something on the Left Bank might be a better idea.

Hi mack,

If you go to www.multimap.com you will get a map of Paris with the arronds marked.

You will be 4-5 km away from Notre Dame.

The important question is, "How close to a bus stop or the Metro?".

Mackenzie, why do you have four posts on the same topic?... are you just trying to 'refresh' your question? If so, just pull up your thread, and post a new reply with "ttt" which means "send to the top again".

this is a nice area close to bastille. lots of good restaurants within walking distance.

it is no problem to get around paris by metro and there is not one area where you can comfortably be within a short walk of every attraction you wish to see. therefore i think it is best to pick a good neighborhood with good restaurants and a nice atmosphere to walk in the evening...you will have this in this area and trust me that you will feel very much in paris...not far away removed from it as some posters might make it seem.

I second walkinaround's comments. Last time I was in Paris we stayed on Isle Saint Louis but went over behind Bastille a number of times for dinner—the food was better!

The 11th arrondissment is a great place to stay. I have chosen it over other more touristy areas closer to the center for many reasons. It has good food and cafes, especially around the Bastille, the hippest street in town the Rue de Lappe, and easy access to anywhere. Close to the Marais and the Place de Voges it's my idea of the real Paris.

The area you cite in the 11th is precisely where I have stayed -- our next door neighbours in Canada had an apartment about 3 doors from the metro entrance.

The area is a bit frayed but perfectly safe and interesting.

You are 5-10 minutes from the place de la Bastille.

The area of the faubourg de St Antoine was until recently the centre of furniture-making. Many of the buildings extend back from the street in a series of courtyards -- reaching sometimes to the next street. Ateliers open from these courts; some of these are now art galleries or display "artisanat" -- glass, ceramics, jewellery and so on.

Two minutes walk from Ledru Rollin is the Square Trousseau, a nice park for children with swings (or the like) and something like a bandstand. Also the restaurant Square Trousseau, which I much enjoyed -- the last time we were there there was a film-shoot setting up for a "restaurant scene".

The Marche Aligre is a very lively nearby street market. Three weeks ago (when my spouse stopped in on the way back to Canada from Africa) it was packed -- the last day of Ramadan, so the Muslim population was stocking up for a big feed. Next door is the covered Marche Beauvais.

Many of the workers in this area came from the Massif Central and this was a centre of the Auvergnat community. Hence the restaurants "Ambassade d"Auvergne" and "Galoche d'Aurillac" (The Aurillac Overshoe). It was these migrant workers who popularized, I have heard, accordion music and the Bal Musette. Anyway the 11th used to be full of dance-halls for the working class....

If you want to see Hollywood's rendering of the metro stop Ledru Rollin, rent The Mask of Dimitrios (1944??) with Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre -- the near-final scenes include a chase through that metro station, if I read the signs aright....

I like this area as well.

You might enjoy picking up the murder mystery "Murder in the Bastille" by Cara Black for a little local color.