back from Paris yesterday
 

We returned yesterday from a 5-day stay in Paris. We stayed in the 7th arr at hotel Kensington. The price (70e) was very good, considering our view out our window (rm 44)was of the Eiffel, but the room was extremely small--and I mean small. But since we spent so little time there, it was fine. We did have our own bath/toilet. The hotel does provide breakfast for an additional 5,2 per person or you can just get coffee for 2,3 pp. The staff was very helpful. The hotel is about 3 blocks from a metro (ecole militaire), 3 blocks from rue Cler. Just a great location. Restaurant prices in Paris are out of sight!!!! So be prepared to buy a wonderful sandwich or crepe and just walk around for lunch. The map provided at the Louvre was totally confusing, not only to us, but to just about everyone who was trying to follow it. The cafeteria at the Louvre had excellent food. We never encountered a single "rude" person and actually, everyone, from the person on the street to a fireman, was extremely friendly and helpful. The metro was very easy to use. We did have one splurge and that was dinner at Altitude 95 at the Eiffel. They offer an excellent prix fix dinner for 45E. Our only complaint was that the restaurant basically has 2 seatings a night, one around 1900 and one at 2200. We were asked to leave around 2130 so they could prepare for the next seating. Our Delta flights to and from (out of Atlanta) were completely full in coach and business. If there is anything else I can help anyone with, don't hesitate to write. Paris was BEAUTIFUL and we can't wait to go back!

Hi Kate,<BR><BR>More details please! I'll be going to Paris for the first time in March and I'm staying in the 7ieme. Did you like the neighborhood? Besides the Louvre, where else did you go/see? You enjoyed your dinner at Altitude 95? (you made reservations?) Any tips/pointers for a first timer?<BR><BR>Patti

We loved the 7th-there are so many places to eat, wonderful flower, cheese, and boulangeries. Rue Cler is true to all the descriptions-bustling with vendors and restaurants. We spent about 6 hours in the Louvre and just got too tired to go on. We also visited Sacre Coeur and Notre Dame. Mostly we walked around. We spent about 3 hours at Galleries Lafayette-what a great store-I bought the obligatory Longchamps bag at 50% less than in the US. Yes, we made reservations at Alt 95-this can only be done by phone. FYI-I have my Rick Steves 2002 Paris Guide and Fodor's 4th edition Paris City Pack for sale on e-bay at a GREATLY reduced price. Hope this helps, if you think of anything else, let me know.

Hi Kate...I go to Paris next month and also will be flying out of ATL. I am curious...how much was your ticket? I got a sale fare on Air France for $495...was hoping I didn't get ripped off! Thanks!!

I got my fare from Miami to Paris for Nov 7th on Airfrance for $510.<BR>Kate,<BR><BR>How was the weather?<BR>

We paid $339 RT direct (ATL-CDG)-we bought our tickets through Priceline, but by the time you added handling and paper fees and our elective insurance the total was $394. Take your umbrella with you everyday!! We had various amounts of rain daily, but not enough to stop our treks--when we left on Thursday, it had turned quite cool. I wore turtlenecks, with a cotton camisole underneath and a raincoat everyday. If you go to weather.com you can get the 10 day forecast for Paris. One more thing, be sure to take care of your travel from CDG to downtown ahead of time--a taxi will cost you a fortune and there are way too may steps at some of the metro stops to carry heavy bags.

Kate,<BR>Is it still true that if you fly Delta in or out of CDG you need a paper (not electronic receipt) ticket? I was told that by an agent at Delta but couldn't get a satisfactory reason &quot;why&quot;.<BR>As for staying in the 7th, how was the neighborhood as far as foot traffic at night, cafes and restaurants open till late, etc. I'm a person who gets a little restless in the evenings and likes to go for a walk - was the neighborhood you stayed in pretty safe in feeling? <BR>Thanks for sharing the details with us on such a recent basis!

I don't know why you'd need a paper ticket, but I just flew Delta to CDG in August and only had an electronic ticket, so that sounds bogus to me. Now, even though I ticketed through Delta and had a Delta flight number, my flight was a code share and the staff and plane were Air France, I don't know if that makes a difference. However, I thought that was true of every Delta flight to CDG (that it's really always Air France, not Delta). I guess I wouldn't argue with them, if they say you need a paper ticket, why not get one. I just used an e-ticket because I saved $10-15 or something that way and I saw no reason not to. I like e-tickets just fine myself.<BR><BR>I think the Hotel Kensington is a Rick Steves guidebook recommendation. I don't think restaurant prices in Paris are unusually expensive at all, myself. Like any city, there are expensive and cheap, but it's cheaper than London. I've had plenty of decent meals in Paris recently for US$25-35 for all courses, including wine, the same as where I live in the US.

kate:<BR>You had such a marvelous trip because you have the right attitude. One can learn from your posting.<BR>John

Hi:<BR><BR>For those with questions, I returned from Paris on October 20th. Read my report. Type Rita in the phrase box for France. Hope this helps. Rita<BR><BR>

I got my fare from Orlando to Paris for Nov 7th on Airfrance for $474.

FYI, Delta codeshares with Air France in and out of CDG are frequently (very frequently, in my experience) Delta equipment, not Air France. It makes very little difference in any case. The olden days when Air France gave you way better food than Delta or other U.S. carriers are long gone (at least in economy).

Priceline required a paper ticket-not sure if you were to purchase your ticket direct from Delta or their codeshare. Re: 7th, we felt very safe, however we were never out later than 2200. The times we were out in the evening there was always quite a bit of foot traffic. It appeared that the brasseries/cafes were closed around 2200, so I am not sure what you could do afterwards. Although there is an Irish Pub (due Saint Dominique) that may be open later. The food probably seemed expensive because of the exhange rate. At one out of the way cafe, we paid $18 for 2 cafe au lait and 1 croque msr. The plus side is that &quot;service&quot; or &quot;tip&quot; was always included in the bill, so that made things a bit more doable.

We were in Paris last year and found the Mussee de Orsay a don't miss sight.<BR>As fotr restaurant prices I found them to be so much cheaper than here in California,especially if you are a wine drinker. Now we went to reccomended restaurants that we knew the price range prior to our trip. One poster said that it was around $25-$35 dollars for the courses and wine just like where she lives. Well I can agree that in Paris it is possible but in SO-Cal it is real hard to find that price with any quality,when you add tip and sales tax. The prices in Paris included 20% VAT and in most restaurants it stated it included 10% service charge right on the menu. In most cases we left a tip because it was so reasonable. All over France we found the restaurant service to be fantastic and Paris no exception. We had $10 three course lunch in towns like Beaune and betwwen every course the silverware was completely replaced and new brought whether you used it or not. Also got to say something about the bread, always fantastic and fresh.<BR>One restaurant that I would highly reccomend if you like Soufle(?spelling)<BR>Le Cigale is the name of the restaurant.<BR>Same as the painting. We were the only non french in the restaurant for lunch and it was unbeleivable.<BR><BR>Well, we are off to Italy next week and I can only hope thay it is as great as France was last year.

We just got back from Paris Wednesday! Too bad we didn't cross paths.<BR><BR>I generally wore a long-sleeve top with a raincoat, sometimes layered with a sweater, and I was quite comfortable. <BR><BR>Restaurant prices are much better than London, where we started our vacation. We stayed on Rue Cler, just because I was familiar with it from a 1990 visit, and found a huge number of reasonably-priced restaurants/brasseries within a few short blocks.<BR><BR>Fortunately, our flights to and from PIT on US Air were only about 1/2 to 2/3 full, so we were able to stretch out.<BR><BR>We had a wonderful time. The rain just made things fun!

Regarding the service compris notices that should be posted on menus, we just returned from Paris and 90% of the menus we saw didn't have any posting. Then I read that all service is included for hotels &amp; restaurants. When we asked the waiters they always said no service was included so we left a tip as much as the % as we'd leave for waiters in the US. After a while we thought we were being scammed so we just left a few Euro &amp; they didn't seem to mind.<BR><BR>In Italy last year the same restaurant, two different waiters, one said service was included and the other said it wasn't. <BR><BR>So what is really going on?

I wanted to add one more must do-we took the metro from ecole militare to pont neuf and walked all around ile st louis and ile de la cite-viewing Notre Dame at night is incredible, the lights on the bridges, bateau mouche --very romantico!!!

Kate, You paid $18 for 2 cafe au lait and 1 croque. Do you think they charged you more for sitting at a table instead of standing at the bar?