It is SO good that Anthony knows exactly what everyone should do when they go to Paris. Really,now, that is utterly silly-- head shakingly silly. BUT fortunately HE is NOT a tourist. LOL

And use the arguement that Bon Marche is used by real Parisians who are doing home cooking but rue Cler is all for tourists cooking those chickens and rabbits with the heads on, and that gorgeous charcuterie store with all the hanging hams and salamis.
There is one shop that is a hoot,however--the Mephisto shop. DH went in to try to buy a pair of shoes. It is SO tiny he really could not sit down and put on a pair of shoes. He really wanted to buy them!!

<<I tend to consider the Eiffel Tower, Champ de Mars, and École Militaire as one attraction,>>

That's just daft. And note that it's Champs, not Champ.

It is "le Champ de Mars" (and "les Champs Elysées").

StuDudley: LOL! Needed my laugh for the day. Smiles.

St.Cirq: I agree. What IS all the fuss about? And yes, they're only streets. I've been to both, out of curiosity, and wasn't into all the hoopla of either. Happy Travels!

Goldwynn, I agree about that living wall thing; I forgot to mention it. Although I'm not sure I'd want to work inside that building&mdash;with vegetation all over the exterior walls there must be quite a few creepy-crawly things just waiting to enter through a window. But it looks very cool from the outside&mdash;if Jean nouvel didn't design it, that would explain why.

This is interesting. I've been to both streets and I have liked both. But the rue Cler area is "our hood" in Paris because it is the first place we stayed in the city (Hotel du Cadran) and thus our first Parisian home.

I ate lunch at Cafe Central on rue Cler on Friday and was surrounded by French speakers. Maybe the all the Americans were sleeping off their jet lag.

Right now I am in Sancerre and it is interesting, plenty of tourists here, too. Some Germans, a very few Americans, but mostly those darn French tourists. Who are definitely treated as tourists here. So there you go, it's all relative.

"Moved" from the rue Cler area to the far 7th...near the rue de Bac....LOVE it and the Bon Marche food shopping.....I was told that Catherine D. lives near St.Sulpice....so why would she shop on the rue Cler(????). Change is good...exploring the city is good.....lots of new places to see....
be a local & explore.

Sayed on rue Cler and was a bit worried about potential street noise as it is said to be such a buzzy and busy market street. No problem, no buzz. My vote is for Mouffetard.

Hah, the thought of "buzzing" on rue Cler evokes a guffaw.

I'm not sure who told you that the rue Cler is supposed to be busy, but both the street and the district are sleepy by Paris standards. The rue Cler is only slightly noisier than the Père Lachaise cemetery, and what little noise there is comes mostly from the many American tourists who waste time visiting the street.

Gee - do you mean I "waste" time purchasing oysters, wine, roast chickens, bouchot mussels, ceps, cheese, salad greens, and vegetables for dinner at Rue Cler.

Anthony - here is a bit of advice. Add in a few IMOs from time to time. I, for one, happen to shop on Rue Cler for dinner items quite a bit - and I find the selection & quality quite good. I've also shopped at 50-70 different farmer's markets and around 50 or so different grocery stores throughout France - so I'm no "first timer" novice when it comes to shopping for food.

The western half of R St Dominique is quite active in the evenings - lots of very popular restaurants there.

We stayed 1 night in the Latin Quarter 2 weeks ago - and if your preference is for that type of "busy" - well, that's fine. We will stick to "our" section of the 7th over the Latin Quarter, Marais, and St Germain des Pres - which we find either too hectic, too many "Americans", too touristy, or too many fast-food places. We've stayed in the 15th in an apt for around 4 weeks total - and enjoyed that area also.

"Different strokes for different folks" (song by one of our local bands from the 70s).

Stu Dudley

If you've been to lots of market streets in Paris, and you actually <i>prefer</i> the rue Cler, that is your prerogative. But if you've been essentially only to the rue Cler, because of a green book you've read or because that's where you think everyone else goes, then you are probably wasting your time there while in Paris.

I "prefer" a market that is close to where I am staying, and has the stuff I need - quantity & quality. I would not hop on a bus or metro & go to the R Mouffetard market & return with a bag of roast chickens, a plate if shucked oysters (that I have to keep level), or carry heavy bottles of wine. If I was staying near the R Mouffetard, I would shop there & not go to the R Cler market. When we stayed in the 15th for 4+ weeks (3 trips) we shopped at the R Lecourbe/Cambrone/Volontaires food concessions (similar to R Cler) or the Sunday farmer's market on R Convention. I don't go to any farmer's or street market to just browse - that became "old" about 8 years ago when I had only visited about 30 markets in France. If I'm in a new area in France, or in France a "new" time of year, I may "cruise" a market I encounter to see what is new or in season - even if I am not buying.

I don't own a Rick Steves book about France & have never read one. I have about 8 feet of shelf space dedicated to other books about France, an entire file cabinet drawer filled with non-book "literature" about France (newspaper/magazine articles, etc) and about 3 feet of shelf space for my many Michelin & IGN maps on France. No Rick Steves.

I see no big negative side of a newbie tourist visiting the R Cler market. Is it the best street market in Paris??? Probably not. Is it mandatory that a newbie visits the best market in Paris?? Probably not. If the newbie has read about a specific market in a book and is intrigued by the write-up - I think that would enhance their enjoyment of the market - even if it is not the "best" one (according to "who's" opinion?) to visit.

Stu Dudley

Frankly, I don't see much difference between Rick Steves advocating a visit to the rue Cler in his books and some blowhard on the internet advocating going elsewhere.

As far as why Catherine Deneuve goes to the rue Cler, I wouldn't know, but I've run into her there twice over the past 30 years. Maybe she used to live in the 7ème. Maybe she's a Rick Steves fan.

Anthony, give it a rest. Who appointed YOU the market sheriff. Stupid.

Catherine DN used to live across from St Sulpice, in the penthouse with the large glass windows. She ate regularly at Chez Rene. Small factoids :)

Rue Cler has become something of a code word. When you see someone who is planning a trip, and they include a Rue Cler on their itinerary...you think RS. Is it the best..no. Is it diffrent than others...no. Is it worth taking a special trip..no. If you were in the area..sure.

I've been, was OK. There are farmer markets in the 7th that might be more interesting to a newcomer. There are some good restaurants in the area, so that would be a reason to go.

A question for another thread might be does tourism improve or detract from sites? Mona Lisa is an interesting example.

Would an influx of tourists to a certain restaurant improve or over time degrade the quality? Is the food at a 'locals' restaurant better, a better price-value? Is a restaurant that depends on locals more likely to "try harder" than one that depends on people it will never see again?

Yes, a restaurant that caters to locals almost has to try harder, if it wants to stay in business. If its business is strangers from around the world, it can do just about anything it wants and it is unlikely to suffer any consequences. There are rumors about certain restaurants in the rue Cler gradually adopting precisely this type of policy. Once the green book ensures a steady stream of one-time visitors, there's no need to try to please them, since they'll never be back, anyway.

The difference between Rick Steves and "blowhards" on the Internet is that Rick Steves gets paid for advice that is, at best, no better than what the blowhards are giving.

The smart traveler does his own research and does not depend on hearsay from any single source.

I do find that once travelers become attached to a single source for their advice, they will defend it no matter how wrong it turns out to be.

Is Catherine Deneuve still alive?

What makes you think the blowhards are only accessing RS - in fact, if these blowhards are also on Fodors it just MIGHT indicate they also seek out other info - oh they must just get on Fodors to promote RS?!

And with Tripadvisor and Yelp I'm not sure a restaurant will be able to get away with lousy food for tourists, while all the good ones can cater to the locals. Those pesky tourists just might find the ones where the locals are eating and post it on Fodors!