Hi Julie,

The bathtub was amazingly long, bring bubble bath. Yes it did have a wall mounted, height adjustable and removable shower head. The water pressure was average but there was a good supply of very hot water! Be careful. The bed mattress in the loft is on a wooden platform and you would have to scoot out to the bottom to exit. If facing the bed. a wall runs along the right side a large platform down the left side. Either exit you hvae scoot, but it was not a big deal. The platform (about 18-20 inches high) was a great place to dump luggage, clothes, sit on, etc. I let friends sleep in the loft and I took the futon in the main living area. I actually found the futon to be more comfortable and easier to get up in the middle night to use the bathroom. I left it in the futon in the bed position most of the time. We'd stack the pillows up, stretch out and watch TV. The washer and dryer was easy to use but took 2-3 hours to run a load. I could never figure out the temp control for the dryer setting I set my jeans on a handy clothes/towel rack in the bathroom.

Hi docdan,

1. Was the displays of armour in the Hotel Invalides closed, any idea when it will open?
Armour WWI Exhbits - I cant tell from the website if the armor exhibit is open but the Louis XIV to Napoleon III Exhibits had significant armor displays, if you that's you're interest I would allow a good 2-3 hours of wandering, there is a lot to see! And you can take no-flash pictures.

2. Did you try biking any? Any good tips for bike shops?
No, but I saw many of the Fat Tire bike tours around the city and heard many good things about them. That's on my must do list for the next trip.

3. On buying a picnic at a grocery store, what supplies/tools/utensils did you need in advance?
From home I brought with me a small collection (about 8 pieces of each) of dessert size paper plates, utensils, pocket wine bottle opener, 2 small Rubbermaid lunch containers (sandwich size) and a 16 oz Nalge water bottle. I never used the plates, skip those. I used the Rubbermaid a lot to protect the brie from getting crushed in the backpack and the other for olives. When grocery shopping you buy little containers of this or that, it’s easy within a week to start a small collection of picnic containers if your there for an extended stay. I would pre slice the bread and drop it into a zip loc bag. Dicing and slicing did not work well on the road, prep before hand. Since I rented the apt I had cutlery and a small cutting board. I would say large zip loc bags would be the key. I can’t recall if the little grocery stores had the large bags or what the prices were in Paris. Since a box of 25 bags is reasonable at home and easy to pack, (take the bags out of the box and store in one bag) I would bring those with you. I do recall plastic utensils were available in most little grocery stores. I did make a lot of baguette sandwiches which do not stay assembled in zip loc bags; tin foil was key and easy to find in the little stores. I love pepper and it was easy to find peppercorns but not pre-ground pepper and I did not want to invest in a peppermill. I really missed the pepper. I notice now the grocery stores at home sell the small clear peppermills with corns, if you go for an extended period I would consider bringing one. I also had major peanut butter withdrawal and I could only find small PB jars in the gourmet stores.

If I can swing another 3 months off my first choice would be Australia and New Zealand... second choice somewhere in the French countryside! I’m so pleased to hear you are enjoying the trip report. This is such a fantastic resource I can’t imagine trying to plan a trip of any length with these boards!

Happy Travels,
Alicia

Hi Alicia:

There are so many wonderful threads about Paris on this board ( I should know- I have emailed well over 300 of them to myself in the last year in prep for trip to France next week) and I have to say, this is absolutely one of the most helpful! You are to be commended for putting so much useful information together in one spot.

Right now I have a 16 page itinerary for a 16 day trip, LOL. Not sure what I will cut out but whatever is left will be high quality.

Thank you.