Cheap and Easy Trip to Paris Becomes More Complicated
 

I've posted before about how a decent airfare caused us to book an impulse trip to Paris for next week.

Because it was such a spur-of-the-moment decision, we planned to make it a fairly inexpensive and uncomplicated trip--just five days, cheap hotel in the Marais, not a whole lot of trains, planes, and automobiles involved. We thought we'd bascially just hang around the 'hood.

Then I had a little too much to drink at a fundraiser last week and found myself bidding in the silent auction on one night at Hotel le Sainte-Beuve in the 6eme. It's hardly the George V, but certainly a step up from the Hotel du Septieme Art.

Well, guess what? I was the highest bidder. I suffered from almost-immediate "buyer's remorse". Had the feeling that they would not have room during the time we would be there, and I would have thrown away my money (the certificat expires in October and I doubt we'll be back by then). Or, that the only night they'd have available would be dead-smack in the middle of our trip and we'd find ourselves moving from one hotel to the other and back during our short stay.

Fortunately, they had room. We thought that it made sense to change hotels for the last night of our trip, rather than start out in a nicer hotel and move to one that is more humble. But still, now we're going to have to pack up and move across town a day early, then move into a second hotel for just one night.

Aarrggh. Why do I do these things? There's a lesson here: drinking and credit cards don't mix.

elle,

Why do you think they serve alcohol at those fundraisers? :)

You will probably like the St. Beuve!
I haven't stayed there, but checked it out, and I really like the neighborhood.
It's near the Luxembourg Gardens. Also, if you don't mind a bit of a stroll, you can walk to the Air France Bus stop at Gare Montparnasse for an easy and economical way to CDG.

Ne regrette rien! It will all turn out fine, though I don't know this hotel at all.

I do know about fundraisers. I give my house in France to a couple of auctions each year, and one year it went for an amount that could have paid off the mortgage on the house for me. It was all I could do to explain to the winners that they had paid enough to spend a week at Chenonceaux, - and well, please read the literature that explains that this is a simple country place. Still, they paid and went and had a good time. They DO serve a lot of alcohol at those events for just those purposes.

You KNOW you'll have a great trip anyway, so go for it. I've had to change hotels in Paris once or twice during a stay - a minor inconvenience and nothing that I ever remember marring the trip much.

The St.-Beuuve is a nice little hotel; have a look at its web site. The location is excellent.

Feel lucky - I have had to change hotels in Paris 3 times in one week and I went from dump to dump to dump! Sure wish I'd been drinking heavily during this venture! Then I'd have had an excuse for my stupidity!

Your impulsivness has resulted in a good hotel choice. The St. Beuve is a quality hotel close to the Luxembourg Gardens and Montparnasse. They do have a website www.hotel-sainte-beuve.fr
Enjoy!!

The Sainte-Beuve is a lovely hotel and on the same street is La Table de Fez, our favorite Moroccan restaurant. If you decide to try it, be warned that Madame serves copious amounts of food. Also on that block is Le Timbre, a tiny place (postage stamp size, hence the name) that gets good reviews. Have a great trip.

Elle,
I like the idea of spending the last night in a nicer hotel. When we went to Brussels, the first hotel we stayed in was just okay, and we happened to notice that a very nice hotel was running a week-end special, so we switched for our last night there. We were so glad we did. Marble fixtures in the bathroom, a beautiful view on the square below, and an elevator that we could both ride, along with our suitcases :-)

Best,
Sandy