tinlizzy2

Helping friends of my parents plan a Paris anniversary trip. First time out of the country! First- what was the name of that church with all the beautiful stained glass behind or near Notre Dame? Second- very romantic dinner suggestions for at least one night. Third- they will be going to the French Open (I know squat about this).

They (me..lol) are in the process of looking for an apt. and they have tentatively added another couple along on the trip. Would appreciate first or second hand recommendations for a 2 bedroom/ 2 bath. They are most comfortable with the idea of a meet and greet for an apartment vs. keys in the mail. They are game to take the subway and buses and really have no budget restraints.

Thanks!!

grandmere

The "church" you are speaking about is probably Sainte Chapelle. It is indeed lovely; your friends might enjoy a classical music performance there one night.

tinlizzy2

Oh, that's it!! Thanks so much. I've racked my brain all day trying to remember.

cheribob

Sainte Chappelle is surrounded by the Palais de Justice (the law court) be prepared to be stripped searched before you go inside.

The French take security extremely seriously.

cheribob

You know I was exaggerating. Right? But you will have to go through a metal detector & bomb sniffer and the police will search your bags.

Rhea58

Re Ste Chapelle & 2 others:

www.ampconcerts.com for tickets
(25E) which you can purchase by arriving 1/2 hr before concert
w/o any security checks.

tomassocroccante

Check apartments with this company:
http://www.parisvacationapartments.com/

I've seen good comments about them here = and the apartments are very nice, including one on the Place des Voges, several at Palais Royale ... I'd go there if I could!

lincasanova

you can get half-priced tickets to most st. chapelle concerts at www.lastminute.fr

tinlizzy2

Thanks for the replies! I also forgot St. Chappelle was near the courthouse. We saw a man removed from his car and the police put the dogs on it and went around the under-carriage with mirrors (that I remembered). Concert sounds very nice.

The apartment link is a keeper. One I didn't run across. Has anyone noticed how reasonable 2 bedroom apartments are considering the size and if the price is split between couples?

So any info on the French Open? On the website it says there are taxi stands running directly there from Auteuil. Is this a residential neighborhood and is the taxi stand easy to locate? I don't want to lead them to a place that proves to be confusing or obscure. Maybe I should post separately for the French Open questions.

AnselmAdorne

Tinlizzy, we stayed in this 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment on rue des Petits Champs in February. I can recommend it without hesitation. This link will take you to the Holiday Rentals listing:

http://tinyurl.com/2o8stb

Here’s a link to our trip report that includes a description of the apartment and a few comments on dealing with the owner and her representative in Paris (skim down to post #21 for the description):

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34968247

Fellow Fodorite Marcy stayed in a large 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom place on boul. Henri IV, and gave it an excellent report card. Here’s a link to her report; it contains a link to the place she rented (see post #5):

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34938391

There are other possibilities on VRBO, Holiday Rentals, and French Connections, but we concluded that 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartments are a lot scarcer than 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom places.

Anselm

audere_est_facere

If you're going to Ste Chapelle, get the combined ticket that includes the Conciergerie (the revolutionay prison), well worth a visit and a lot cheaper as a combined ticket

tomassocroccante

Anselme, both the apartments you mention (yours and Marcie's) are quite handsome.

tinlizzy, I agree, I was impressed with the price/quality ratio on the Paris Vacation Apartments site. I could go for almost any of them - though for your friends obviously each having a bath would be important. And they do turn out to be affordable when sharing = in comparison with a good hotel, in particular. And this company seems to offer some hotel-like services.

tinlizzy2

Anselm & Tomasso - Thankyou so much for the beautiful apt. links. I have found about 7(with those 3)apts.that I now feel comfortable with for them to chose from. When they decide I can start roughing out an itinerary from that location.

Audere- not sure if they'd like to see the Conciergerie but I sure would!

Leburta

We stayed at the apartment on the Rue Croix de Petit Champs, just up the street from the Louvre in June: www.welcome2france.com/?apartments=8

The location was very convenient. Sophie was very accommodating as was her assistant.