Richard

My wife and I have been to Paris more than a few times, but I am totally at a loss when poster's ask about the 7`e, the 15`eme. Is there a fast reference to these arrondissements? I navigated NYC for years, uptown, downtown (57th St.), eastside, west side (5th Ave.) but this spiral starting at, I think, the Place de la Concorde, is a mystery.

Lesli

I'm surprised you've been able to navigate Paris without at least a general understanding of the arrondisements; what guidebook were you using? <BR> <BR>There is a basic map of the arrondisements on the following hotel-booking site, with descriptions of the neighborhoods as well: http://www.hotelboulevard.com/areas/paris_areas.htm

rob k

Richard: <BR> <BR>Last year a fodorite posted a good assessment of the arrondissements. And although you're not a first timer, perhaps this may be helpful. Also she provided a website that was very good for locating (and seeing) hotels. Haven't checked recently to verify if this site is still up. <BR> <BR> <BR>see your Paris hotel on the web <BR> <BR>Author: francesca ([email protected]) <BR>Date: 5/17/1999, 11:45 am ET <BR>Message: <BR> <BR>We found recently discovered a great service, set up by France Telecom, which will show you your hotel, or anyother street address located within Paris city limits. <BR>1. Go to:http://www.pageszoom.com/wrmm_rue_marchande.cgi <BR>2. Click on English language (to see instructions and info in English) <BR>3. Type in the address of your hotel (or any other place, for that matter) <BR>4. You will see a detailed description of the street, house by house, and navigation buttons allowing you to "walk" up or down the street, and even turn the corner. <BR>5. Find the listing of your hotel (or whatever) and click on the PHOTO icon. <BR>6. Takes a few seconds to load but...there's a recent photo of your hotel! <BR> <BR>I do not work for France Telecom. This is not an advertisement. But for those who ask "does anyone know this hotel", it's way to at least see what the place looks like...and see how far to the nearest cafe! <BR> <BR>Enjoy. <BR> <BR>And again, here's Francesca's take on the "arr". <BR> <BR>Paris Arrondissements <BR> <BR>1st Old Paris, the center: the Louvre, the Palais Royale, les Tuileries. <BR>Les Halles, a horrible, 70s-style underground shopping mall is to be avoided at all costs (grimy, ugly and not so safe at night). rue de Rivoli is packed with people and stores, some interesting (old dept stores like Le BHV, La Samaritaine), though most are boring chain stores. <BR> <BR>2nd Also old and interesting, but has some more business-y districts, like around la Bourse (stock exchange). Also has the funky place des Victoires and Etienne Marcel-area shopping districts. <BR> <BR>3rd This area is famous for the Sentier, the Parisian garment district. Some of the famed Marais is here, but most of the famous parts are in the 4th <BR> <BR>4th These are some of the most beautiful areas of town: the Marais and the Isle St Louis. The area right around rue st croix de la bretonerie and rue vielle du temple is the closest thing Paris has to a gay neighborhood. In general, the 4th is beautiful and full of charm and has a lot of nice <BR>shops, especially the less touristy part between blvd St Antoine and the river. <BR> <BR>5th The Latin Quarter: the Sorbonne, the Pantheon, the Cluny museum, the Institut du Monde Arabe, all lovely. The overcrowded, touristy rue Mouffetard, rue de la Huchette and blvd St Michel, somewhat less lovely. Rue Mouffetard is worth a walk down, but it's probably better to avoid eating there. <BR> <BR>6th St Germain des Pres. Lots of crumbly, old buildings and tiny streets. A wonderful, romantic place to walk around aimlessly night or day. Great boutiques and restaurants. The Jardin de Luxembourg is a highlight. <BR> <BR>7th Largely a rich, residential area with lots of embassies and government buildings where nothing much happens *except* for the rue Cler and St Dominique neighbourhoods which are full of life. There is also the Eiffel Tower and the Invalides, the Ecole Militaire, the Champs de <BR>Mars...and Bon Marche, the most Parisian department store. <BR> <BR>8th Business-y, where a lot of the high-end shopping is (Avenue Montaigne...). Not much else going on for visitors aside from the Arc de Triomphe, one of the most lovely monuments in the city. The Champs Elysees is just a big boulevard with lots of chain stores and airline offices: not such a big deal. You do get a great view of the Arc, though. <BR> <BR>9th The people's downtown: big department stores (yawn), European chain stores, cinemas and chain restaurants on blvds des Italiens, des Capucines and de l'Opera, hordes of people, kind of bland. There are some nice things to visit: the old covered shopping galleries (also in the 2nd), the Garnier Opera...the area around place St Georges is nice to explore if you already <BR>know Paris well. <BR> <BR>10th Has two of the main train stations. Lots of cheap stores, not much to visit. The rue St Denis is the red light district- not so nice. The Canal St Martin is lots of fun to walk along (runs between 10th and 19th) if you have already been to Paris several times and want to see something new. <BR> <BR>11th Includes the Bastille area (used to be the closest thing to Soho in Paris), a nice place for young people (ie. under 25) to hang out and place de la Republique, also lively. Lots of fun bars, some with character. Rue de Charonne is a nice street to walk along at night and wine-bar hop. <BR> <BR>12th The Viaduc des Arts is interesting to walk along on a weekend afternoon, lots of artisans showing/selling their crafts, the old elevated train tracks have been turned into a unique "strip" park...there's the Gare de Lyon...not much else. The Bois de Vincennes borders the 12th and is a lovely huge park, good for rollerblading or biking. <BR> <BR>13th Has one of the two Chinatowns in Paris, lots of concrete skyscrapers (well, tall buildings anyway), and new construction. There are many Chinese restaurants, but if you come from Hong Kong, Toronto or NYC you won't be impressed. Not much for visitors to see except Les Gobelins (a tapestry-making museum) and the brand-new Grande Biblioteque. <BR> <BR>14th The old Montparnasse is nice, with many cute little restaurants; the best area is around the rue Daguerre and between blvds Raspail and de Montparnasse. The new Montparnasse, surrounding the tower of the same name, is not so special (lots of chains, traffic, neon signs, "you could be anywhere"...) <BR> <BR>15th Completely residential. A nice place to live ; ) but you wouldn't necessarily want to visit there! The Parc Andre Citroen is very interesting, if you have already been to Paris many times and want to see a new park. <BR> <BR>16th Also very residential, though much richer than the 15th. Leafy, like a suburb. Not much for visitors to do here, except go to place du Trocadero for a great view of the Eiffel Tower. Rue de Passy is a nice shopping street. The Bois de Boulogne, a huge park and one of the most beautiful green areas in Paris, is part of the 16th. <BR> <BR>17th There is a good 17th (west of the train tracks) and a not-so-nice 17th (east of the tracks, the place de Clichy area). Not much for visitors to see, mainly residential with some charming neighbourhoods, like the rue de Levis street market and the Parc Monceau. Place Maillot is a boring and rather ugly business district. <BR> <BR>18th Yes, Montmartre is touristy but it is really worth a visit. Wander around, avoiding the place de Tertre, and see the old Montmartre, especially the avenue Junot. The Barbes and Pigalle areas have bad reputations but are mainly just not very interesting for visitors. <BR> <BR>19th Largely down-market residential area, not much reason to visit, certainly not for first-timers. For people who have been to Paris several times already, the La Villette complex has a music museum, a science museum and great outdoor movies in the summer. And the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont is beautiful and different. <BR> <BR>20th The "new Soho" is Menilmontant, it's along rue Oberkampf and blvd de Menilmontant. Belleville (it used to the Jewish quarter, then the Arab quarter, now sort of a general Asian quarter...) is there, too. There are many, many Asian restaurants, though how many of them are good is anyone's guess (see "the 13th"). Pere Lachaise cemetery is worth a look, it's very beautiful and there are many famous people buried there. <BR> <BR> <BR>

Richard

Thanks Lesli and rob k, for your reply.

Paula

Rob K, <BR> <BR>Thanks for posting the information. I'm staying in an apartment of a friend of a friend in Paris and was able to use that website to see it. That was really an amazing site! I can't imagine how they got images of all of Paris, let alone the other cities on the site, online. What an undertaking!