We are a family of 4 coming to Paris in April this year and are looking to stay in an apartment close to all major sights, grocery shopping and cafes. We have a choice of an apartment in 1st arrondissement Rue Duphot or Avenue de la Bourdonnais in the 7th. The latter apartment is close to the Eiffel Tower and has views, the other does not but is more spacious. They are both affordable for us. Does anyone know these areas and can they comment on which would be preferable for a tourist family looking for the real French experience?

The First Arrondissement is closer to all of the major sights.

Hi ggg,

You can't be close to all of the sites, as they are spread around the city, but Paris doea have very good public transportation.

If you enter your apartment and your "major site" addresses at www.mappy.com and change "express" to pedestrian, you will see how long a walk it is.

Ditto for www.ratp.fr to see how to get there by bus and/or metro.

Enjoy your visit.

I have to wonder what your expectations of a "real French experience" are....? First off, to want to select ONE location "...in an apartment close to all major sights..." kind of indicates that you have not spend a lot of time with a Paris map. Paris is a huge city and the major sights (also a subjective term) are quite spread all over.

I would think a more relevant selection criteria would be how close to public transportation the apartment is, how accesible to markets, and how close/safe family parks are around the place. If I was to based my desicion on this criteria, I would go for the 1st.

It's really hard to say, but I'd choose the one you really like better and think is a better deal and more comfortable for you. YOu are not going to have a real French experience in either, being a tourist family who has never been there. Being near the Eiffel Tower is of no particular consequence to me, but if you think it has wonderful views, that can be nice. That is a nice enough area, and fairly convenient, so don't worry about that, just being near the Eiffel Tower is itself not a reason to choose it, in my opinion. (It is just a tourist site).

I don't know that there is a "best" location. When we went this past year, I was really REALLY wanting a view of the Eiffel Tower. But the prices either were too high, or the reviews weren't good enough (for me) of the hotels I was looking at.

So instead of spending my 40th birthday trip near (or with a view) of the Eiffel Tower, we ended up at Porte Doree - not near any "major" sites I suppose, though close to a zoo, aquarium, Chateau Vincennes (which we didn't get to yet) and a huge, wonderful park where the Chateau is located. So that is where I'm staying again in May. And it was much more of a "real" French experience because it was a French neighborhood, out of the tourist district.

Unfortunately, the various architects of Paris, spread out over many centuries, did not anticipate modern-day tourists' desires to "be near all the major sites" and so did not concentrate all their masterpieces in one theme park venue. On the other hand, Paris is a rather geographically small city, so if you choose to stay in one of the first seven or eight arrondissements you will have easy access to the things most first-time visitors will want to see.
I am a fan of the 7th arrondissement and would choose the apt. there, but as a first-time visitor you might want to be more "downtown" in the 1st. It's no contest as to which will give you a "real French experience." They're both neighborhoods in Paris and as such are real and French. The 1st is more commercial than the 7th, which is more residential/commercial. If having a view from the apt. is important to you, take the one in the 7th. If you want to be able to walk out into the hustle and bustle of a big city, take the one in the 1st.

The 7th is a far more residential neighborhood and great with children. The 7th would win hands down with me over the 1st if I were travelling with the family.

It makes no difference where you are staying in Paris. In the end, you will spend more time in whichever area appeals to you the most. It is a shame that you only have a choice between the 1st and the 7th, as neither is a good deal for groceries, cafés or atmosphere.

Thank you all for your responses. I think it sounds as if from the children's point of view the 7th is the one to go for as long as we are near a metro.

Don't forget the dense system of buses in Paris - often better to use than the metro.
You can get maps and routing info. at www.ratp.fr

We stayed in the 7th with our 2 teenage daughters, and they loved the experience of shopping for dinner to cook in our apartment. We shopped on car-free Rue Cler, starting at the grocery store at the top for Orangina (1 euro a litre) and other staples; across to the produce vendor for fruit and vegetables, then the cheese shop, wine shop, maybe a rotisserie chicken, and finally the boulangerie for fresh baguettes.

Each evening after dinner we'd wander over and stroll around the Champs de Mars and enjoy the Eiffel Tower. It was a perfect area for us.

Thanks for the recent responses. Will look up the bus info and can' wait to shop for dinner!