opaldog

Nikki, I see that at Berklee. We saw them the last time they played in Somerville. I'll have to look into that. The guitarist in that group, Potzi, plays in his trio in Paris and also plays in that movie I put a link to.

Nikki

Yup, that's why I mentioned it. I was looking at your link to the Atelier Charonne and I saw Potzi on the schedule. I remember when you saw them in Somerville and then we went the next year.

opaldog

I didn't remember that they played again. They were great! We went to Paris not long after we saw them and the poster of their newest CD was everywhere. I'm glad to see that they have regrouped.

BFD

I so enjoyed your trip report Opaldog! We were in Paris for our first time near the time you were and loved every minute. We then traveled into the French Alps, Provence, ending in Nice! Now, we are planning to visit Spain in 2013 and so excited after reading your report about Barcelona! Have a big question, hope you will answer . . . We have a great apartment booked through vrbo at the top of the Raval near the Museum of Contemporary Art! After reading some posts, I am wondering if this is an area we should worry about safety? We love being in the neighborhoods with real people, and because we have never visited Spain, we may not have researched enough! Please any and all responses, comments will be appreciated!

opaldog

BFD: I just saw your post. We did go to the Museum which isn't far into the Raval, but I have also read that it isn't the greatest area. I wouldn't choose it for a first visit to Barcelona. We stayed in two different apartments both in Eixample. I would also stay in the Born area. The Eixample is big and bright and Born is old, with narrow streets and darker. After staying in a similar area in the Marais we chose the bright broad streets of the Eixample and loved our apartment. We rented with habitatapartments.com and were very satisfied. Do you have a link to the apartment? I'm not a huge fan of the lower Ramblas and the Museum is not far off of that.

nobugs

I just saw this post and I was thrilled to read it.
We are taking our daughter, son-in-law and 6 year old grandson to Paris in June and plan to take the train to Barcelona, where we will board a Disney cruise to Italy. Some folks have suggested that we stay near the Gare de Lyon station due to the fact that we are traveling with a young child. I have found several hotels but have not booked anything yet,( I am not comfortable with waiting) but I am unable to book train tickets at this time. We want to travel during the day and right now all that is coming up is an overnight. I spoke to Rail Europe and I was told to keep checking and the schedule should be posted within the next few weeks.

I too enjoy the planning stages and since our daughter speaks fluent French and has never been to Europe this trip is very special. I want everything to go smoothly and as always appreciate and feed back that I can get from fellow travelers.

opaldog

I do see that the train schedule in June is only showing night trains. If you look at the schedule in March and April they do show the day trains. I'm not sure if they aren't posting yet or they are not having the day trains in June due to what I don't know. I booked through the french sncf site. I know that Rail Europe can be more expensive, but isn't always. I would check both sites for the price. This is the link I used to get to the SNCF site http://www.voyages-sncf.com/billet-train/horaires I did have to pick up my tickets in Paris at the train station. We just did that a few days before we took the train to Barcelona and it wasn't a problem. Good luck and have a wonderful trip.

nobugs

Thanks for the info. I will continue to monitor the train schedules.

YMark

opaldog and Nikki:

I'm having a tough time finding this apartment, link seems to take me elsewhere.

http://www.vrbo.com/371220

Can you give me the name of it, or another source link?

My wife and I are looking for a small apartment for 4 or 5 nights in late May this year.

Thanks a bunch.... back to reading this great trip report.

And opaldog... we're making our way down to Barcelona from Paris/Normandy. Looking for an apartment there as well.

Mark

opaldog

YMark: I was told by DebitNM that that apartment is no longer being rented. We stayed in another apartment this past October that we really loved. It had a sofa bed, but it was comfortable. We loved the location and the general comfortable feel of the apartment. I would definitely recommend it. Here is the link:
http://www.vrbo.com/443533

Here's a link to my report from our latest trip to Paris and Lisbon:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ing-lisbon.cfm

As for Barcelona we have rented twice from habitatapartments.com and been satisfied both times.

YMark

Thanks opaldog, I'll check out the links. It is just my wife and I and we don't mind sofa beds. Any specific apartment from habitatapartments.com?

Thanks again.

opaldog

Both times we went to Barcelona it was in early November. The weather was very nice and the apartments were at low season prices. The first link was the one we stayed in last and it was fantastic. The view was unbeatable! Here it is:
http://www.habitatapartments.com/en/...e-gracia-a.htm
The Pedrera apartment was the first rental and we loved it as well. Rambla de Catalunya where it was located is a lovely street. It didn't have a balcony but the people watching was also great from the large wall of windows overlooking the street. There was never a problem with noise in either apartment. The only thing I could say about Pedrera was that it needed to be refurbished. It was very stylish, but was getting a bit worn in the bathroom and the kitchen was not equipped with things like wine glasses, dish soap, etc. But we still loved staying there! The rental agency was very easy to deal with. I definitely recommend using them. Here's the link to the second apartment:
http://www.habitatapartments.com/en/...ies=0&pagina=2

lilyclaire

Amazing trip report. Bookmarking this thread as we are visiting Barcelona for the first time this fall!

opaldog

Thanks lilyclaire. We fell in love with Barcelona. Fall is a great time to visit.

msheiny

We are planning a trip in September of this year and your trip report was so wonderful I'm thinking of Barcelona and Paris. I have only been to Europe once and we went to Rome, Florence and Positano.

Do you recommend a hotel or rental for first timers? I have heard st Germaine is a great area?
Also, do you suggest the old city in Barcelona or along the beach that time of year?

opaldog

I'm glad you enjoyed my report, thanks. We have stayed mostly in the Marais in Paris. We love that area and those nearby. We have stayed in the upper Marais (3rd) and last time in the 11th by the Bastille. Our first time to Paris we stayed at Hotel Ste. Croix de la Bretonnerie in the 4th. I would recommend it. The location is good and although the room was small it was nicely furnished and comfortable. Now I almost always rent and prefer that. We were just in Lisbon for the first time and had a great rental. When we went to Istanbul we stayed in a hotel, but when we go back in October for our second visit we plan to find an apartment. In Barcelona we only stayed in apartments.

We stayed in the Eixample area of Barcelona. The old city would be nice, but we found that we liked Eixample for the wide streets with promenades down the middle that also gave us apartments with much light from the windows. The beach area is nice if you are there for the beach. I imagine it could be warm enough in September. It's a bit farther from things, but doable.

msheiny

Do you have any links for the rentals you stayed at in the Marais?

opaldog

Here's a few:
http://www.vrbo.com/443533 We stayed here October 2013
Below is the first apartment we ever stayed in way back when
http://www.rentparis.com/en/appartem...tparis-12.html
Here's the second
http://www.rentparis.com/en/appartem...tparis-43.html
and third
http://www.paris-vacation-rental.com/
fourth
http://www.vacationinparis.com/apts/id_115.htm great location
fifth
http://www.vacationinparis.com/apts/id_69.htm would not recommend.
I can't find the links to the others that we rented. We really liked our last apartment at the top of this list.

DebitNM

Our first apartment is on this street. We loved that one, but it had it's problems, so we decided to try an even nicer looking apartment with the same agency. Here is a link to our first apartment, that I would recommend, but it did need some minor upkeep. http://www.habitatapartments.com/en/barcelona/apartment/view/pedrera.htm

I am hoping you see this, opaldog! We are looking for an apartment in Barcelona for this December and like the looks of this apartment but I was concerned about the "problems".
The second one your rented is not available on our dates.

Thanks for any input. [Current reviews seem good on habitat site]

nina88

Same here, we are planning Barcelona early Nov. and of course, Pedrera is available but pics do look old and dated. And, of course, the 2nd one is also not available during Nov. , help any other apartment other than Paseo de Gracia? Thanks.