denisea

OK...don't wait to go to Paris...no time like the present. Really, it is not so hard to get around in...and you find find some of the most fabulous things even if you happen to get lost. The Metro is easy to use and Paris is simply magnificent. I love the 6th for the cafe and easy proximity to so many of the sites...the churches are free to visit and are beautiful! The whole city is....enjoy!

Continental_Drifter

Chyonijp and adrienne, It sounds as though our plans are firming up nicely. LOL

Be sure to call the hotel directly - mid morning - and ask for a weekly rate for their hotel. They may be willing to make an offer to you that is less than their stated rates, especially that week, which is considered a "low" week in travel.

Also - Michel makes an excellent point about booking together on Expedia or Travelocity. They often have many smaller hotels booked with airfare that are not much more than the airfare alone. Select "air + hotel." Both have an option to view hotels on a map, so get your bearings of where you'd like to be. I think the Latin Quarter is a great choice for a first trip.

I have seen both the Hotel Renoir in the Montparnasse district and the Hotel St. Germain on Travelocity paired with airfare, but it was closer to the departure date.

Chyonijp

mom23..., Latin Quarters is pretty much what I'm shooting for. Now thinking about Comfort Hotel Mouffetard @ 56 Rue Mouffetard, 75005, a package deal with Virgin vacations. Also, can opt for shuttle service to and from airport, as well as tours...

Thanks to all of you, I am almost there and I can't wait.

Continental_Drifter

The Mouffetard area - behind the Pantheon is wonderful and has great shops, allowing you to pick up a bite or sandwich for dinner. It's a little farther from the heart of the Latin Quarter, but I think you'd really enjoy that area.

It also has some great history. It was one of the less desirable areas and is now very popular with great restaurants, shops and market. It's also very picturesque and you can "feel" Paris there.

If you're a literature buff, Hemingway, Joyce and Orwell all lived here. Orwell wrote Down and Out in Paris here.

http://www.writersinparis.com/formwritersinparis.htm

There's a Paris Walks tour of this area that would help you get your bearings right away.

It looks like your hotel has mostly good, but some mixed reviews on Trip Advisor, but Paris hotel rooms are small, so don't look at that as a negative. One comment did make me think that you might want a room on the back if you are a light sleeper. This is a popular area with many restaurants open in the evenings. It always confounds me when people find fault with imperfect repairs on a building that was originally built in the 1700s.

Take the deal, which is probably driving down your cost on the flight and hotel and then if you arrive early, you can often request to upgrade your room for a few dollars more on arrival.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...ECK_RATES_CONT

If it fit my budget, I'd stay there. Mouffetard is a great little area. Walk down the hill on the main market street, Rue Mouffetard, pick up a tomato and Camembert sandwich from the sweet sandwich vendor/bakery on the right, about half way down the street and a lemonade and take your lunch in the churchyard at Saint Medard on the left. The pigeons are very polite there. Pick a bench in the sunshine, listen to the clatter of the market stalls and inhale Paris.

I was last there in November.... I miss it so much!

Chyonijp

mom23..., as usual you have given me invaluable information, thanks! Awwwww, I wish you could come... Blew my laptop out last weekend, so I'm off to the library to pick up some books on Paris and hope I can hop on the Internet. Talk about bad timing for computer to die, always something....

Michel_Paris

The food market on Mouffetard will be a nice place to visit. I stayed nearby at a hotel near Jardin des Plantes. For something different, the Arene de Lutece is a roamn arean that was discovered in the last 50 years. Nice place to take your lunch. The Jardin des Plantes is the botanical gardesn of Paris, as well as the location of the Natural History Museum.

You are a bit of a walk to the Seine, and equi-distant to the Luxembourg Gardens which I think you may also want to visit. Nice fountains, statues, puppet shows for kids of all ages, sailboats on pands,etc..

Metro wise, the Monge station will get you to the Right Bank sites like Louvre, Champs Elysee,etc... If you watned to walk a bit, the RER station at Luxembourg would get you to the airport.

Dancing...at the outdoor museum of architecture (Left Bank, border of Seine), there are nights where they have samba dancers. Not sure if you can participate, but it seems like a neat thing to at least watch.

Paris Walks might interest you. Given by English speakers, it takes you to some of the main sites, but more interestingly off the beaten paths, with stories and history. Tour sizes when I went were about 15 people.

last trip I did both Marais tours, feeling like I needed a refresh on the area. The morining tour finished at Place des Vosges, one of my favoties Parisian squares. You will like it!
I ate lunch there at a small place called Cafe Hugo. They had a couple of tables outside, so that was nice.

I can suggest a few restos in the area,

Mara

I don't know that hotel but I rented a studio quite close to r. Mouffetard last November - I found it very convenient to travel - as Michel_Paris say, the Metro is close and there are also many buses nearby. Also as M_P says, check out Paris Walks, I have done all, I think, of their regular walks over the years and some of the special ones. Here's the site:
http://www.paris-walks.com/

Travelbound44

We have stayed twice at the St Jacques Hotel in the Latin Quarter. If you book online you can get a double room for $115. Great location, Metro and RER less than 10 minute walk and the bus stop is 1/2 block away. Talk to Brigitte when you get there and she will help you any way she can. She is in the picture on the website www.hotel-saintjacques.com. hope this helps and Good Luck

Nlingenfel

Glad your going for it. I am 68 years old. Went to London on my first solo trip last year. Had a great time. This year I went to Australia, it does cost a little more, because the room is more than splitting it with someone. But, life is short and don't wait for other people. At least in Paris, your hotel will provide breakfast (or at least hunt for one that will), then you can spend as little or as much for the remainder of the food. I eat in my room, on occasion. All the food is so good, it doesn't matter where you eat. Since it's Nov, get up early and get your bearings, while it is still light out. Then take a night bus tour, it's a beautiful city at night. Also, Paul bakery, has a great lunch special for very little. And some of the tourist menu places are quite good. We ate at l'auberge du pere Louis, several times price fixed evening menu is around 20 euro. Love the quaint place, staff very friendly. www.pere.louis.com/

Michel_Paris

I'm a bit ambivalent about hotel breakfasts. For the price, you can do just as well at a local cafe.

Last time, there was my local cafe at the end of the street. Every morning, cafe creme, OJ and a croissant, while I planned my day, read newspaper, watched the locals. To me, staying at hotel for breakfast takes time away from being out in Paris, versus some breakfast room

For some, it is part of their stay to have breakie in hotel, to me..no.

I've seen some hotels actually go next door and bring back the breakfast

Continental_Drifter

I had the most amazing omelette on Rue Mouffetard - but it was at lunch. It was a paper-thin omelette with something similar to nutty gruyere and chicken with carmelized onions. MMMMM... That sounds like dinner tonight!

Chyonijp

The yummy descriptions of places and foods to eat is getting my taste buds all revved up. Especially, can't wait to try that omelette.

I am enjoying reading Frodors Paris 2011 and Frommer's France 2009.

Mara

Don't know if you've booked yet but I've been checking flights from NYC to CDG as well as London the end of November and they have both gone up since last week - on American Airlines at least.....

eliza61

I'm going alone also chyonjp but not until next May. I'm actually getting excited. My husband does not like to fly so he's out. I did try and invite some girlfriends but honestly there was so much drama simply deciding on hotels I much prefer to attempt it alone.
I've brought some guide books (fodors include of course) and now I'm having fun trying to plan my days out.

Go for it.

Chyonijp

Mara, I have not booked flight yet, as I am leaning towards a package at virginvacations.com.
They now have a 6 nite stay starting @ 829 on Dec 1st, I think it's 849 in Nov. I put my info in and with 50.00 upgrade to nonstop flight, travel insurance and shuttle to and from airport the price totaled under 1400.

Thanks for the posts and links, leila..,valery..., and eliza... Very helpful.

Michel_Paris

Package deal is not a bad idea. Which hotel do they offer?

That is a good time of year to go, the Champs Elysee will be lit up and the Grands Magasins (upscale department stores) on Blvd Haussman will have their christmas windows ready (animated, whimsical...kids of all ages) as well as the outdoor decorations. Plus...christmas markets..

A benefit of going off season will be that the lines will be a little shorter, restaurants a bit more available. I've been in December as well as January. Temps will be cool, so you may have to stop at cafes regularly

Chyonijp

M_P, maybe about seven budget hotels to choose from. This is where I saw Comfort Hotel Mouffetard. There are other sites that offer more hotels but the prices escalate.

Okay, here is where the fear of getting lost originated from:
In January I took my first trip out of country to Thailand, was there about 3 wks. I was there with my children and ventured off to the mall by myself. I refused to take train, my daughter insisted it would be easy. The cab driver wandered why I didn't take train as well. So on the way back to hotel I jumped on train and somehow got lost. It took forever to find a cab driver willing to take me to my hotel because of the conjested traffic. I got off train at right stop but went in wrong direction...Of oourse , I didn't speak any Thai... But I can see that Paris will be nothing like Bangkok as far as getting around.

Christina

Well, I do not think getting lost is "fun" myself, so am not in the camp of how great that is. I have been lost while driving in some more remote areas of some countries, and it was not remotely "fun" as I had to find the airport and had a plane to catch. It wouldn't have been fun anyway if I didn't know how to get where I was going.

I never get lost in a city, though, that's what maps are for. I don't understand people who don't carry around a map with them, but some do not. And some people can't read them for some reason and some people can't figure out how to decide what metro line to take themselves, they need someone to give them directions even though there is a map with lines on it and it is very easy. So only you know how directionally challenged you are. If you care bad with directions, you could easily get lost in Paris if you start going to far out areas and can't figure out the metro or train system.

The Comfort Hotel Mouffetard is budget but in a lively area. I would think it more for 20 somethings vs. a hostel, but don't really know it's quality that well. I've been by it a lot as I stay in the area sometimes. It would be noisy on the front, anyway. But if it suits your budget, it is a lively area and convenient to a mero stop (and bus line), so not too bad. Lots of restaurants around there. Check reviews on Tripadvisor and see what folks say about it.

Michel_Paris

With no schedule, getting lost has been and adventure on a few of my trips. But in Paris, with the oft-given statement that you are never further than 500m from a Metro station, I think that understanding the metro system before you go, and (being an expert after taking it once) you'll do just fine.

The vast majority of the stuff you want to see is in a small area. Paris itsef is not, in sq. miles, that massive. I've wandered a few times in the city without a map, but in general I like idea of having a map available. I've used the Michelin Blue map, but there are several good ones.

If you want to list all of the hotels that you are considering, we can help. Did you look at Expedia and Travelocity? Air France may also have some good packages.

Chyonijp

I've been considering the folowing hotels:

Hotel Moderne Saint Germaine
Saint Jacques
Hotel Bonaparte
Comfort Hotel Lamarck
Hotel de la Sorbonne-Paris
Comfort Hotel Place du Tertre
Ideal Hotel Paris
Hotel Acacias Saint Germain
Hotel Sully Saint Germain
Hotel Castex

I am torn between location vs budget.