I was only once on Rue Cler and this was one time too much for me. I did not find anything special there.

I don't think there's anything "special," except for perhaps the Fromagerie on rue Cler, on either street, or the rue Mouffetard. I just end up there because the hotel I've been staying at for 25 years is a couple of blocks away, so it's where I go for groceries and such.

Actually, the Belleville market is far more fascinating to me.

Rue Cler looks to be too sanitized to be in Paris. My favorite is Marche Place Mubert. Here is a short video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uEEIFhCf6M&NR=1 and another
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Su06z9IPPWw. I shopped at Place Maubert when I lived in Paris a few blocks away. There are also stores selling cheese, meats, wine, bread, etc.

Spaarne

Thanks for the video.

I've been to Marche Place Maubert many times, but only as an observer having stayed in hotels all these yrs when visiting Paris.

But no more!

This summer we are renting an apartment right near Maubert and can't wait to be shopper full of groceries in my bag!!

And even tho its a tiny schelp from our 5eme apartment, I am going to check out Richard Lenoir on a Sunday. I don't care if I have to walk or metro it with groceries in tow, I now have a good excuse to buy lots of goodies and I hear its a fab market.

Been to Rue Cler several times, pleasant enough, but not the only game in town. If you rent near there of course its good logic to shop there close to your apt. Hey if it meets your needs, why not??

Littlefrenchbird has the right advice: in Paris, just WALK.

The city is only a few miles across. (The metropolitan area is comparable to Los Angeles, especially in population, but as all Parisians know, anything outside the beltway is "la province.") You can walk across town in about three or four hours. And if you walk, you see lots and lots and lots of interesting things that you'll never see any other way.

There are Métro stations all over Paris. You can walk as much as you want, and if you get tired, just step into a Métro station. Or take the bus, since there are buses everywhere, too. You don't even need a map. Just start walking. If you see a big freeway, you're at the city limit, so it's hard to accidentally get out into the suburbs and get lost.

On my first trip to Paris, all I did was walk, sometimes for 16-18 hours a day. I discovered all sorts of places that I liked, and I remembered to come back to them later. The places recommended by the books aren't necessarily the places that you personally might like best. And if you walk, you quickly get off the beaten path, which means that you see mostly Parisians, rather than other Americans.

Be wary of specific recommendations from books or from other people. Their tastes may be very different from yours. There isn't any place in Paris that every visitor <i>must</i> see, but there are zillions of places that any visitor might find charming and worth visiting again and again.

There are many streets in Paris that have a specific atmosphere, which may or may not please a visitor. One person might want to come back twenty times in a row, another person might be bored on the first visit. What other people like is only a very vague and general guide in relation to what you might like.

The rue Cler is the classic case in point. It appeals to some people, but not to everyone. People praise it because other people praise it, and they don't want to sound like they aren't old hands in Paris. But there are thousands of spots with their own special charm, all over Paris, so don't waste your entire trip loitering in the same neighborhood unless you're certain that you've seen everything else.

I'm always surprised by how closely most tourists stick to the standard tourist stuff. The rue Cler is full of Americans, but the rest of the Seventh (except around the Eiffel Tower) is often left unexplored (although I'll admit that the number of attractions in the Seventh is rather small).

"(although I'll admit that the number of attractions in the Seventh is rather small)."

Oh really. you don't consider The Ecole Militaire, D'Orsay, Branley, Invalides, Champs deMar, Eiffel Tower attractions??

"(although I'll admit that the number of attractions in the Seventh is rather small)."

Oh really. you don't consider The Ecole Militaire, D'Orsay, Branley, Invalides, Champs deMar, Eiffel Tower attractions??

There are street markets all over Paris. I've never actually been to the rue Cler or rue Montorgueil, preferring the eastern side of Paris, where you can find Marché Aligre, or the Sunday market on Blvd Richard Lenoir. Once I was offered a home exchange out to the northwest, and found myself on rue Lepic, which looked interesting.

Of course, for some, the rue Montorgueil had (for a time) a temporary extra attraction:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x99...aby-baby_music

And also in the 7th. the wonderful rue du Bac.

I have always enjoyed the market that happened to be nearest where I was at the time, with a special fondness for the organic street market on Saturdays on the boulevard des Batignolles.

"(although I'll admit that the number of attractions in the Seventh is rather small)."

"Oh really. you don't consider The Ecole Militaire, D'Orsay, Branley, Invalides, Champs deMar, Eiffel Tower attractions??"

add one of my favorites, the Musée Rodin to that list, too.

Admittedly I'm not what I would consider a foodie (I love good food but am not obsessed by it or really go searching for it), but as long as I can find the food/wine/etc I want, at a price I'm willing to pay, why would I care if it's a tourist trap or not?

I guess I just don't understand why people have such an aversion to restaurants/places that are frequented by tourists. I can appreciate wanting to experience the local flavour, but if the food is good and the wine is better, does it really matter if you're seated next to another American or Canadian?

>>does it really matter if you're seated next to another American or Canadian?<<

It did up until about 3 years ago - the Parisian was often smoking during dinner.

Also on the list of attractions in the 7th is Bon Marche and the Bateaux Mouches.

Stu Dudley

>>>>does it really matter if you're seated next to another American or Canadian?<<<<

>It did up until about 3 years ago - the Parisian was often smoking during dinner.<

I should have added:
Now, the smokers are sitting on the outside of cafes - which is why we are usually inside. Or we dine earlier, when the Americans like to dine and before the Parisians.

Stu Dudley

I tend to consider the Eiffel Tower, Champ de Mars, and École Militaire as one attraction, since they are adjacent and on the same axis. And the École Militaire is not generally open to the public, so you just look at it a bit from outside.

The Invalides has Napoleon's elaborate tomb and a nice crypt, and it looks nice from outside. The rest is mostly a military museum, not very interesting unless you like military stuff. The chapel is gorgeous, but many tourists never step away from the path to see it.

The Musée du Quai Branly is so ugly from the exterior that I reflexively avert my gaze when I see it (that happens a lot with anything that Jean Nouvel has designed). The inside is dedicated exclusively to art from other, faraway parts of the world (Africa, Asia, Oceania), so one wonders how attractive that is if the goal is to see Paris and French/European culture. I'd expect it to serve locals more than tourists.

The Rodin museum has some nice sculptures. The inside of the house isn't air-conditioned, though, so that part of the museum is an inferno in high season. The gardens are pretty and there's a place to eat.

La Grande Épicerie (at Le Bon Marché) is really nice, although tourists don't usually go grocery shopping. The locals like it. Le Bon Marché is one of the Grands Magasins (the only one really remaining on the Left Bank these days). It's a bit upscale for its own good, so it's not doing as well as the others these days (I think LVMH owns it).

The rue du Bac is indeed nice, and it illustrates the importance of walking in Paris. Very often the "attractions" are in fact spread out, in the form of a long street, or a neighborhood or quarter, so if you're unwilling to walk, you can't enjoy them. The rue du Bac is filled with nice shops and atmosphere, but they are spread over the entire length of the street, not concentrated in one spot, and for some tourists, that's unacceptable, as they want to stand in front of something famous and take a picture (you'll never see Japanese tour groups marching along the rue du Bac, that's for sure).

<i>StuDudley on Jun 3, 11 at 10:27am
>>>>does it really matter if you're seated next to another American or Canadian?<<<<
>It did up until about 3 years ago - the Parisian was often smoking during dinner.<</i>

I sure do miss those smoke filled rooms. Now I wish they would ban those mobile phones so we can eat in peace.

I've been to Paris twice. The first time stayed in an apartment a block from Montorgueil. The second, a block from rue Cler. Montorgueil was then and is now much more busy. That may have something to do that it runs north from the largest metro/RER station in Paris - Chatelet Les Halles.

I can say from my experiences at both, I generally liked Montorgueil better overall. The rue Cler cheese shop was, IMO far better than anything in Montorgueil. But I liked the vibe of Montorgueil better. Not sure what this may mean, but when I was in Paris in March (near rue Cler) I took my niece and nephew to Montorgueil and many of the people walking were speaking american english. Other than in one restaurant on rue Cler, I didn't hear any native english speakers, it was all french. FWIW.

"I sure do miss those smoke filled rooms. Now I wish they would ban those mobile phones so we can eat in peace."

I'll second that!!

I've found in over 20 trips to Paris, there is often only one waiter who can communicate in English so all English speakers are seated in the same area with him as server.

"The Musée du Quai Branly is so ugly from the exterior that I reflexively avert my gaze" ..... that is why one opinion never tells the whole story. I am a gardener and one of the first things I do every year that I spend a month in Paris is take a walk and marvel at the living exterior of Musee du Quai Branly. Designed by Patrick Blanc and one of several installations around Paris...... absolutely breath taking, in my opinion........ http://www.funzug.com/index.php/arch...-sky-farm.html