. 19th arrive at villa saint martin in the 10th arrondisment with 3 of my friends. We flew BA, non eventful but enough open seats we could spread out in the plane.


We arrived in paris at around 4, took a cab cost 50-euro and also got to charge it. We immediately get checked in and scope out the area of canal saint martin. I have been to paris around 14 times now, and I have never been to this area. It is so charming, the boutiques[that we never got to shop at] looked kinda funky/upscale or where the bobo’s shop.
The weather was great, 40’s no rain, we saw the bridge go up as the barge went through. Looks like a hip spot for the younger generation. Ok I am 47 and everyone is starting to look younger and hipper than me!
We meandered around checking out wine bars, and bistros and decided on Hotel du Nord. We had a joke about the ‘ugly waiters’ and the waiters here were very ‘ugly’, I don’t think there was one that wasn’t charming and extremely handsome! Here is the websitehttp://www.hoteldunord.org/

I had a wonderful fish dish, and risotta, not sure what everyone ate, but we all shared and it was fabulous. We ordered a bottle of white wine [sancerre I think] The décor and the clientele was a perfect way to start our first night in paris. I loved not hearing any English being spoken in this area too. Tommorow we are taking advantage of the paris strolls that are put on by the French tourism. It is similar to Chicago greeters. Here is the website, http://www.parisgreeter.org/PdJ/Docu...b202a1afc5eceb


We stop at a market buy some wine for the room and try to get to sleep! [ambian is a beautiful thing]
Bon soir until tomorrow morning to meet Nelly Parnet our greeter in Montmartre.

Just a little description of our room, we have 3 large windows that look over a convent with a little courtyard. The room is spacious and very nice bathroom. We are pleased!

This sounds like fun. Fourteen times, that's something to aspire to!

This looks like it's going to be good. What hotel did you stay at? Hotel du Nord used to have English speaking comedy acts on a weekly or monthly schedule and other cabaret type entertainment. Did you notice evidence that that is still offered?

As he said, Villa St. Martin. http://www.villastmartin.com/en/index.html You probably missed it, as I did, as PJS doesn't use capital letters.

A little info on Hotel Du Nord restaurant.The name of that café refers to a Marcel Carné’s movie called “Hotel du Nord” (1938) in which a French actress, Arletty, pronounces a famous sentence, from one of the Canal’s bridges and with a view on “Hotel Du Nord” on her back : “Atmosphère, atmosphère, est-ce que j’ai une gueule d’atmosphère ?” (atmosphere, atmosphere, do I look like an atmosphere?” ). Actually, the canal and its surroundings were entirely reconstructed on set. The Hotel du Nord still exists “for real” but is now "only" a restaurant-bar.When the tour continuew tommorow this little tidbit of info becomes serendipity.

The Atmosphère Café looks interesting too! : 49 rue Lucien Sampaix, 75010 Paris. Tél : 01 40 38 09 21.

We make reservations that night for Feb. 20th at “Le Verre Volé” wine bar. It is totally hopping and looks like interesting place with its walls lined in wine bottles, and open kitchen, and crammed in tables and of course the 'cool people'!67 rue de Lancry, 75010 Paris, tél : 01 48 03 17 34

Keep reading because tommorow is definitely a treat!

Le Verre Volé means The Stolen Glass, I think that is a interesting name!

Feb. 20 we have scheduled the paris stroll with Nelly Parnet. She has lived in Paris for 30 years and is originally from Brittany. We meet at Metro Lamarck, we are on time a miracle and meet her at 10:30. She is charming, and a little confused as why she got us for her tour, she usually does the strolls with Italians. It was funny because I live on Rome Ave., so I think that is why we were paired with Nelly! It was a wonderful camaraderie from the start.
• She took us to a small cemetery in Montmartre, Saint-Vincent Cemetery. We see the lady who feeds the cats with her plate of food on the cobblestones. We then start exploring, we come to the director Marcel Carné who directed Hotel Du Nord. It was nice piece of the puzzle for us, since we had just dined the night befor at Hotel Du Nord restaurant.
• We saw Steinlen grave, famous for his chat noir posters. We liked the smallness of the cemetary and some very unusual headstone.
• We then start our walk through passages and courtyards, that we have access to, because Nelly has the key and codes to get in! So cool, you wouldn’t even know Montmartre can be a tourist trap when you take these hidden streets to the top.

We arrive at an artist she knows in montmartre, she is inspired by ''La Montagne Ste Victoire'' in the south of France, (famous thks to Cézanne). She is very nice and explains very well his way of working. Furthermore, the studio is in a special place. We see her photos and how she will recreate the theme of the photo in her paintings. We have some caffe and cake, and just take in the light and beauty of her studio and paintings. The artist does not speak English, but her son [I think] it is her son] translates as does Nelly. We meet the artists husband also. Very delightful time, and so special!
We then are off to strolling, we went to a most charming street-Allee des boulevard, and where there is Villa Leandra. There is such a contradiction in architectural style, makes it a very interesting street. We are getting famished and originally were going to eat at Le Sagittaire, but I will have to wait until my next trip to eat there. We ended up eating at a place Nelly knew, it was yummy not outstanding but we were also ready to sit down!
We saw 2 churches that a lot people miss in Montmartre: Saint Pierre de Montmartre, Saint Jean de Montmartre. Saint Jean [which I think translated would be St. John the baptist?] is right by Les Abbesses area where the movie "Amélie" takes place. Not far from the metro station.
We then see the restaurant that Amelie worked in, and we also saw the market that was prominent in the movie. We finally arrive at Sacre Cour and Place Du tertre. We are among the tourists, but it is fun and lively atmosphere.
We leave Nelly, she was with us from 10:30 to 4,this is a free stroll and it was amazing.
We then work our way to Amelie’s restaurant for a peche kir. [our first in paris]
It is Friday and we were going to work in the louvre, but kirs were too yummy and our feet and brains needed a rest. It is unanimous, it is vetoed.
We have reservations at 9 at “Le Verre Volé” wine bar.

need to correct something, we were working our way to the louvre, not going to work in the louvre!

Did you leave her a tip?

It is very specific when you make the reservation that you do not leave a tip. We chose to take her out to a very lovely restaurant, probably a 50 dollar lunch for her including wine. We have all written her a note and sent her a thank you. Tipping was looked down upon, but lunch was a gladly accepted.

That is nice to know as I may try to take the tour. Lunch would be good. Thanks enjoyed your account of your day with her.

I left out so much, it was such a worthwhile walk, I taped a lot so it is a good record too.

We saw the vineyard, the sculpture of the man walking between walls, la lapin agile, maison rose, so many artists studios where van gogh, toulouse lautrec, renoir, picasso painted ect. Leo Van Gogh's house. The secret gardens/courtyards and passages were the best though.

a concise overview of the paris greeter walk
The cemetery : ''Cimetière St Vincent'' with graveyards of Marcel Carné, Maurice Utrillo, Steinlein, Eugène Boudin, Marcel Aymé

.St. Jeam the Evangelist church

. Studio of Cathy Deotto, Rue Caulaincourt

.sacre cour
.
Avenue Junot : Private courtyard

. Villa Léandre : with little houses & gardens

. We crossed the ''Hameau des Artistes'' (private)

. the windmill ''Moulin de la Galette'' / Rue Lepic (see painting by Renoir)

. Private courtyard named ''Cour aux Juifs'' (the courtyard of the Jews) with 2 flights of stairs

. Rue Lepic : little passage with an artist in her little studio (her painting was in the passage) in front of the house where Van Gogh lived with his brother Theo before going to Auvers-sur-Oise

. Lunch at La Mascotte

. Le ''Castel de l'Escalopier'' : neo-gothic house with wooden gargoyyles ...

. Le Café des 2 Moulins : bar of the film ''Amélie''

. We got a chance to cross the secret ''Villa des Platanes'' with different houses and greenery and arrived in another world : Pigalle and its sexshops

. Place des Abbesses with its brick and concrete church ''St Jean des Abbesses'' and the ''Guimard'' style underground station

. The grocery of the film ''Amélie

. The Bateau-Lavoir, former home of Picasso, Modigliani etc. Place Emile Goudeau

. Statue of the ''Passe-Muraille'' which represents Marcel Aymé who lived nearby

. le Musée de Montmartre : oldest house in Montmartre & former artists studios (Renoir, Utrillo, Valadon ...)

. La Maison Rose (also painting by Maurice Utrillo)

. le Lapin Agile (cabaret with the rabbit)

. Place du Tertre on the top of the hill with painters

. The oldest church Saint-Pierre de Montmartre

Hi PJ,

Thanks for sharing.

How did you arrange your tour?

Le Verre Volé is kewl and French it is the place you can feel Parisian. This tiny wine store and bar in the 10th is filled with hipsters and bobos, rolling their own cigarettes and filtering in from the area shops or the Canal Saint-Martin, which is just around the corner.

Le Verre Volé has wine bottles from floor to ceiling, some of which are organic or come from small vineyards that you wouldn't find elsewhere. The retail prices are very reasonable

They do not actually prepare any food besides warming it up - they get it all from traîteurs. This means that the menu is 1° limited and 2° doesn't change (with the expection of seasonal additions). It focuses mainly on all the organ-heavy foods that Americans shy away from - pâté, fois gras, andouillette, saucisses
We loved the lively atmosphere definitely have reservations, we had andouilette, fromage platter [with lots of stinky cheese] yummy! jambon, some type of mound of potatoes and hash, Boudin noir with a black sauce, it was all delicous, really!

The wine is the reason to go, but you might end up staying for the food. And wouldn't you like to feel oh-so-Parisian, even if only for one evening.

http://www.parisgreeter.org/home/
the link at the beginning of this report will explain everything, it was fab

we always end up eating very late in paris, and then staying up late at our hotel! I think we were done eating at 12:30 am, then to bed at 2:30 am! No early morning for us!

Feb. 21st
We start our day visiting Musee Cluny, it has been on my list for all my trips! Finally....It was worth the wait. I love churches, and there are so many relics from Notre Dame, St. Chapelle, St. Germain des Pres. And of course seeing the tapestrys and the roman baths ruins. I think the entry was free and we just paid for our audio guide.
No line when we arrived at around 11:00 but by 2 there was definitely waiting.
We then walk to Shakespeare&Co. another thing I haven't done before! What a fun quirky hangout. What a great view of Notre Dame, loved the ambiance. I bought two books The Book of Salt by Monique Truong and David Golder by Irene Nemirovsky.
Now off to Notre Dame, Quasimodo was all dressed up for us outside the doors. In fact he was smoking, it was a pleasure to have Paris as nonsmoking as it is now! Long lines to the towers, so that was skipped.

We now need a snack so we metro to St. Germain Des Pres area, we have sancerre's and french onion soup[not very good either] and baguette sandwiches. We ate at Cafe Bonaparte, don't order the french onion soup!
Really beautiful day, 40's the spring flowere just budding. We light a candle at St. Germain Des Pres church.
We are now walking to Laudree's on rue jacob, the window dressing of the shop is a sight to behold. What a line to get macaroons though. We get a box of them, this is what I remember caffe, violet, frambois, lemon, pistachio, chocolate, rose. They were all delicious!!

We are now going to see the Louvbe, not go inside but see the magnificent building. [and have a drink at Cafe Marley's]
More ugly waiters, why don't they have waiters like this in Illinois? We have some more peche kirs and chardonny.
I have to say hi to Francois at Hotel Du danube, love that hotel and if you have ever met Francois you can't help but fall in love with him too! He is working, so I get caught up on all the gossip and movie trivia, and just plain fun conversations.
Metro back to hotel for dinner reservations

Sadly it appears the Paris Greeters website is down. My friend and I did this last year (Apr 2008) and loved it. Our guide worked in a private travel club and showed us the inside of the mansion first and then we headed to Montmartre and saw a lot of what this post lists. We were already booked for dinner and she joined us - such a special experience.

It's been a while since I have been here and what a lovely reminder your report is of what I have been missing. Looking forward to more of your adventure!