I Love Paris In The Springtime...
 

Well, my dears, I’m finally getting a chance to write a little trip report about our trip to France (May 18 to June 9). It was our first time in France and I’m sure certainly couldn’t have planned this trip so successfully without your help so thank you all very, very much and I hope this will add just a little to the wealth of knowledge and good ideas on this board. I tend to get quite wordy, so I’m going to do a bit at a time and try not to overwhelm you!

In general, let me say that despite hearing about the Carte Orange and the museum pass, I did none of that. The only planning I did was to make air, car, train and hotel reservations. I also reserved two restaurants but as it turned out, we cancelled both of those. We’ve always been lucky travelers, not having to wait in very long times for anything and our luck held out in France too. I didn’t want to over-plan or over-worry this trip – it was important to both of us that it be a real vacation and I didn’t want us to be too heavily ‘scheduled’.

The flight: We chose Air France over Air Canada for no reason other than we got a good flight at a slightly better price. The flight (exactly 6 hours) was pleasant enough – decent food, no crying babies, and tons of movies. I never sleep on the plane; I’m always too excited and I want to play with all the toys. As we were boarding, the woman just in front of us got booted up to business class. I don’t know why. She was an older woman, quite elegant-looking and traveling on her own. Sigh. I’ve been upgraded in hotels but never on the flight. I’m just going to have to dress better or something, I guess.

Paris...beautiful Paris:

The Hotel Henri IV Rive Gauche
We’d arranged with our hotel to have a car pick us up (E26 for two of us) and we got to our hotel at the unfortunately early hour of 7 a.m. We chose the Hotel Henri IV Rive Gauche (3-star) on Rue Saint Jacques just a block from the Seine and a five-minute walk to Notre Dame. The hotel looked quite charming and was right across the road from Saint Severin church and we were warmly welcomed by Nathalie, with whom we’d been corresponding by e-mail. Of course, it was way too early to get our room so we checked in and went for an early-morning walk to seek out coffee and croissants. We had no idea where we were walking – we walked up Saint Jacques and turned left on St. Germain and came across a beautiful little market that was just being set up. It was at the crossroad of several streets and I still don’t know which market it was but it was a perfect welcome to Paris for us! We were just thrilled with the beautiful buildings, wrought-iron balconies, the flowering trees, the whole Paris-ness of it! We walked as much as we could and had coffee more than once but we were so bushed we finally gave up and went back to the hotel at about 10 to just sit in the lobby.

About a half-hour later, Nathalie said that the room she’d originally slated for us wouldn’t be ready for a while but she did have another that would be ready in a few minutes and did we want it? Well, you bet we did! We were on the top floor at the front, with a wonderful view overlooking the roof of Saint Severin and with a view of the Eiffel tower off in the distance. The room was small and rather plain and made to seem a bit smaller because we were under the eaves so the ceiling sloped on one side of the room. The bathroom was large with a bath and shower. The halls and lobby were also very clean and the lobby was quite charmingly-decorated with a breakfast area (which we never used), newspapers every day, and a small library.

Unfortunately, after we’d spent one night in that room and realized the AC wasn’t working, we had to call downstairs and ask to be moved. Nathalie explained that they’d been having problems with the AC and that it was being fixed one room at a time. She was quite happy to move us to a middle room on the 3rd floor which looked onto what was called ‘the courtyard’ but was really just an airshaft down the middle of the hotel. It wasn’t ugly or anything but we did lose our wonderful view. Still, we gained the AC and that was more important to us.

More later…

"...the whole Paris-ness of it!"

Man-o-man, do I understand that comment. Awaiting more...please

Already looking forward to your next installment! We leave in less than 14 weeks and I'm getting so excited reading everyone's trip reports!

Sounds like you stumbled onto the market at Place Maubert. Great way to start a stay in Paris.

hdm, you'll love it every season. Welcome to the club :)

We were in Paris for six days and we had a wonderful time. We must have walked about ten miles a day and thanks heavens for that, because we had some wonderful meals. We bought a two-day pass for the Hop On, Hop Off bus and sometimes used it as transportation, as well as the subway and cabs but, of course, we walked almost everywhere. One of the first things we did was go to Saint Chapelle for an early evening concert – Vivaldi and Pachelbel – and it was just beautiful! It was really just a stroke of luck. We’d seen a flyer for the concert at our hotel and tried to buy tickets at the FNAC but they were sold out. We decided to go see the chapel anyway but got there too late and it was closed. It was about 6:15 and the doors opened again at 6:30 for the concert which started at 7, and the line was just beginning to form. We decided to see if we could buy tickets at the door and sure enough, we had no problem. And because we were near the beginning of the line, we had our choice of seats. It was a wonderful concert in an exceptionally beautiful place – a wonderful first evening in Paris!

Some other highlights of our week in Paris included a picnic lunch in the Place des Voges, a self-tour of the Opera Garnier, the bottom of the Eiffel Tower (we didn’t go up at all but the tower is much more delicate in ‘real life’ than in looks in pictures and I found it quite fascinating), a walk through the Tuileries, and a Seine boat tour at dusk. I had booked a tour with Vedettes du Pont Neuf from home, but if you’re interested in it you should know that you can get a package deal for the boat tour with the Hop On, Hop Off bus. The cruise was so romantic and I’d really recommend doing it in the evening. We had a very special day at the Musee D’Orsay. SO had planned it as a surprise for me. It’s a fabulous building filled with exceptional pieces of art. First, SO took me for lunch in the formal dining room – about 10 miles of crystal chandeliers and murals and then we had a wonderful walk around the museum.

The Musee D’Orsay is an example of the good luck I mentioned before. We hadn’t purchase a museum pass or reserved tickets and we made no effort to get there early. We must have arrived about 11:30 or so and stood in the ‘snaky’ line which was moving fairly quickly. We were about halfway through when the guard from the ‘pass’ door came over and took our half of the line over to his door so we walked in right away. Then we waited about 10 minutes for a table in the restaurant. The Musee D’Orsay also has a very charming-looking casual restaurant. We didn’t even attempt the Louvre and (bad, bad tourists!) though we walked past Notre Dame a hundred times, we didn’t go in. We did, however, go into the very special toilets at Place Madelaine, which I guess shows where our priorities lie!

Our only day trip from Paris was to Versailles. I had originally thought we’d also go to Chartres but I’m so glad I left it at one. Versailles was certainly worth giving up a day in Paris but Paris is so special you’ll want every moment you can have there. I purchased a Versailles loisier on-line – train ticket, by-pass the lines ticket and audio tour and it made for a very easy day. Versailles was fascinating – both the chateau and the gardens. I wish I could have seen them with the fountains on but c’est la vie. The Hall of Mirrors was getting its final restorations but it didn’t hinder the tour and it was interesting to see some of it actually being done. We stood and watched the gold-leaf man plying his trade for a little while.

I did very little shopping, just to Gallerie Lafayette to buy some gifts for my nieces and nephews and I was certainly glad I did! Even if you’re not shopping, step in and see the gorgeous belle époque dome – fabulous! Mostly, we just walked and walked and walked. And ate and drank. While prosecco was my drink of choice throughout Italy, kir was my signature drink all through France!

And so on to food…tomorrow.

Charming hdm! It sounds like you like to travel as I do. And how did that elegant lady get bumped up to Business Class? I only had that happen once..it spoils you when having to fly in coach again.

I look forward to your next installment..and please be as wordy as possible, lol, I am loving your trip report.

OK, this is the second recent trip report which mentioned drinking "kir" as an aperitif. I had to look it up. Sounds kind of sweet - is it? And how is the "royale" version with champagne?

Lovely beginning - looking forward to more.

Kir is lovely. I had kir with cassis several times but in one restaurant (in Auxerre, I think) I had a choice of liquors, so I had a pear kir. Yum.

Kir royal is made with champagne instead of sparkling wine and they're supposed to put a maraschino cherry in the bottom of the glass. Very pretty and yum.

And now: Food in Paris!
We ate many crepes both at street stands and in restaurants and wonderful sandwiches too. There’s just something about taking your brie and crudités on a baguette to a bench in the Place des Voges on a sunny afternoon…sigh. We stopped and nibbled at many cafes and shops – croissants, brioche, Laduree macarons, ice cream – delicious food at every turn and we felt it was our sacred duty to try everything at least once!

As far as restaurants go, we liked Le Perraudin (157 rue Saint Jacques, 5th arr) so much we went there twice. It was just up the street from our hotel, near rue Soufflot and the Pantheon. It’s a charming bistro with very friendly service. We are not late dinner eaters so waiting till 10 or so is not our cup of tea. We got to the restaurant about 7:30 and had no trouble getting a table but it was filled by 8. I assume that when we left around 9:30, they were getting ready for another seating. We had absolutely delicious meals there – I had duck confit and SO had leg of lamb which came with fabulous scalloped potatoes.

We also had dinner one night at Brasserie Lipp. The place is great looking – lots of wood and beautiful enamelled art nouveau wall panels, and those long-white-apron waiters. Very French, doncha know! We had the famous choucroute dinner which tasted great but caused a sleepless night later. They did have one of my very favourite desserts, Ile Flotante, and it was the biggest order of it I’d ever seen, so we shared one. It was so good, I was sorry I offered to share!

One night we went to a rotisserie called La Rotisserie d’en Face (2 rue Christine, 6th arr). It was a very pretty place and the food was good but I felt it was too expensive. As we left, I noticed a nice place right across the rue and it looked quite charming. Sorry, I don’t remember the name but go explore rue Christine, near the Seine in the Saint Germain area.

If you’re wandering through the Jewish area one day, stop in at Sacha Finkelsztan’s Boutique Jaune, a great little bakery and deli (27 rue des Rosiers, 4th arr). Unfortunately, we’d just had lunch – I would have loved to try some of the Jewish dishes – but we did manage to put away quite a hunk of delicious apple cake. All the baked goods were so tempting! They have a few tables if you want to eat in.

We also had lunch one day in the beautiful stained glass domed restaurant in Le Printemps department store. It’s certainly worth seeing. I made the mistake of ordering a salad and a main course – the salad was very good and quite large and would have made a fine lunch on its own. Stop in when you’re in the store just to see the restaurant, even if you’re not eating there.

Of course, I’ve already mentioned our very special lunch at the Musee D’Orsay. I’d explore the more casual room as well. It was very nice looking and behind the clock. If you go, you’ll see what I mean.

Our splurge-y dinner was at the Buddah Bar. The place is great looking and the menu very interesting but the food was less interesting than it sounded on the menu. Still, it was a fun experience. Next time, I’d consider going back for a drink and nibbles before dinner elsewhere. We did have a nice time chatting with the couple at the next table who had come to Paris for a long weekend from Norway, where they live. People who live over there are so lucky to be able to travel so cheaply and easily within Europe!

And so to bed. Tomorrow, Auxerre!

And now lovely Auxerre.

We stayed in Auxerre more or less by default. I would have liked to get Coco’s apartment in Dijon for a week but having left it so late (and the apartment being so popular), we could only get it for four days. Still and all, it turned out well in the end because we liked Auxerre very much. We picked up our rental car on the way out of Paris and after a few wrong turns here and there, finally found ourselves going in the right direction. We had originally planned to have dinner that night at Leslie Caron’s auberge (La Lucarne aux Chouettes) but after what turned out to be a longish drive, due to our wrong turns, and the fact that it was raining very hard by the time we got to our hotel, we decided to cancel our reservation there.

We stayed at Le Parc des Marechaux which was just beautiful. The common rooms and the garden are lovely and there is a pool (it wasn’t open yet in May but the pictures look very nice) but the real treat was our room, the St. Cyr. I’m not exaggerating here – it was about 25 feet long and about 15 feet wide with about 12 foot ceilings. The walls above the chair rail were a dark red fabric and below the chair rail, dark orange. The bed had one of those short canopy things (that don’t cover the whole bed, just the pillow area) of dark red fabric that matched the curtains which went from ceiling to floor. The little table in the room was set with all the regular niceties but also included gold-rimmed wine glasses. The bathroom was enormous and had all the amenities including robes. Oh yes, our room had three sets of double doors which opened onto the garden. I was a little concerned because our room was at the parking lot end of the building and I thought we might hear cars come in and out but that was no problem. I should say, though, that we could hear the people above us, perhaps moving their suitcases or something. It was no big deal but if you’re exceptionally sensitive to noise, you might want to consider an upstairs room. However, for sheer gorgeousness you can’t beat the St. Cyr.

Having cancelled our reservation, we needed a place for dinner and the hotel recommended a little place in town (about 10 minutes walk) called La P’tit Beursaude. Well. What a find! It was small and charming and it filled up by about 8 p.m. We had the prix fixee dinner which that night was some sort of delicious beef, potatoes cooked three (three!) ways and I do believe there was some kind of vegetable on the plate. We loved the main course but it was nothing compared to dessert. I can’t remember what it was called but whatever the name was, it lead me to believe it was going to be something like strawberries with cream or whipped cream on it. Well, my dear, it was nothing like that. I’ve never had a dessert like this before. It was something like a strawberry/cherry/raspberry soup (hot) on which they’d poured a sort of liquid meringue. Then they set the whole thing under the broiler until the meringue was a little brown and sticky. Omigosh. It was fabulous! Anyway, we loved our dinner so much, we went back to the same place the very next night.

Just FYI, there had been a post about Auxerre which led me to believe that almost all the restaurants were closed on Sunday and I was concerned that we’d have a problem finding someplace to eat. In fact, there were lots of restaurants open and we would have had quite a good choice.

We spent a lovely night in our beautiful hotel room and then the next day we explored Auxerre, just walking and looking and walking a looking some more – my favourite kind of touristing!

Tomorrow? Dijon and Coco’s!

i have to share my recent trip late may/early june to paris!
(spend 2 wks+ in an apt. near the lourve, lived like a local!)
my first time there and all of your wonderful tips really made my trip a memorable one that it was. merci!!!
i fell in love, like anyone should, w/ paris and am planning go back there very soon.
the french were so great and i got excellent service (& sometimes comp gifts) wherever i went.
i traveled with 4 other lady friends and they know paris which also helped.
we went to paris armed with compass, maps, notes and little books full of info.
each night we read up &/or post our inquries here and you all were so helpful. thanks again. (believe i have a couple tips to share in future chats.)
i frequest HK/China every year, as i am a native, so if i can ever return the favor by sharing tips about that part of the world. pls. let me know.
back to paris...
i went to auchan twice, which i coined it the french version of walmart / costco, and brought tons of goodies home (for gifts and own use-excellent assortment and best prices!!!)
one odd, new thing i purchased was
'Pollen de Fleurs', which i assumed it was honey in freeze dried form (looked like instant coffee but in shades of yellow, brown & pretty honey colors).
used it for the first time as honey for my tea today but it did not add any sweetness to the tea.
what the heck did i brought @ 7 euro+ a jar!
(i had seem them in gourment stores in SFO and HKG & the likes).
anyone out there to enlighten me as to what i had purchased (2 jars in fact) and how i should use them.
would appreciate any assistance. thanks!

Chineesegirl, it is not a sweetener but what they consider a "health" food that is debatable. It supposed to calm you, and other mythic benefits.

It's bee pollen, a health supplement that you can get at any health store in the US, and it's definitely not sweet! Probably made the coffee healthier, though!

thanks, cigalechanta & StCirg!
i didn't know it was my subconscious mind that urged me to buy these 'bee pollen' to clam me down!
by the way, the 1Euro promotional goodies i got at auchan were all delicious. didn't matter it was the chocolate cake (300g) or the choclate dipped cookies. (they were so cheap, i figure they were worth the gamble and they were good which i was very surprised.)
1st trip to auchan, they had italian coffee on promotion; they were less than 2Euros for 2 or 3 bags per pack-i chicken and did not get any. my other friend did (as she had tasted the same brand before) so she scored! they were regular priced when i went there the 2nd time (i brought them anyway as they are expensive and hard to find in USA) aloha as i live in honolulu!

just a warning, Some are allergic to this product. If not you add it to your cereal or yogurt. The Frnch have many forms of Pollen de fleurs.

hdm,

Is Brasserie Lipp known for the Ile Flontante? I was really disappointed that we didn't have a chance to try one in Paris - it sounds like their's was really good!

I don't know if it's known for the Ile Flottante but it certainly was delicious! And big! I think Brasserie Lipp is mostly known for it's choucroute dish -- sauerkraut, pork hock and sausages. Very tasty but not a really good idea at 10 p.m.

We left Auxerre and on the way to Dijon we stopped at Vezelay where we walked the steep hill to the cathedral and explored the town. Vezelay is chock full of interesting shops and restaurants and the cathedral and surrounds are beautiful. We spent just a few hours there but it was well worth the stop.

We also stopped in Avalon where we had lunch in a café and walked around a bit. Unless we missed something (which is entirely possible), we found Avalon not particularly interesting and had we known that, we might have chosen to spend more time in Vezelay.

And so -- onward to Dijon! Well, my dears. What can I say about Dijon that you don’t already know or haven’t seen on u-tube? We arrived in town about 4 in the afternoon and driving as per Coco’s instructions and helpful photos, we had no trouble at all finding the apartment building.

Well, let me start with Coco’s apartment and the charming Mme Coco herself. Right from the start, even on-line, even on paper, Coco is the most thorough and generous of hosts. I’d seen the website and read everyone’s positive comments so I was expecting good things but, my dear, you have no idea. Coco takes care of every detail, even to stocking the fridge for you. When we got to the apartment, Coco met us downstairs and took us up. The apartment, as you’ve seen on the website by now, is a large, airy studio with a kitchen, a bathroom and a separate toilet room. Coco had taken care of every possible detail – the table was set with pretty poppy dishes, linen napkins, and wine glasses and replete with little honey cakes and chocolate cakes. There were candies on our bedside tables, a library, email and internet access, free telephone calls to landlines in a long list of countries, binders of information on local shops and restaurants, a fully stocked kitchen and bathroom, umbrellas, mustard (of course) and even a cd of very French, very romantic accordion music! And just when we thought we had everything we could possibly need, there was a knock at the door and there was our hostess with bathrobes and slippers! Despite being right in the centre of town, the apartment was very quiet and we slept soundly every night. We did occasionally enjoy the piano-playing of our upstairs neighbour, a handsome young medical student we met in the courtyard one morning.

Dijon itself was charming and one of the highlights of our trip. A friend had told me that she found Dijon covered in grafitti, but we didn’t find that at all. In fact, it was beautifully clean and we found everyone we met there very friendly and helpful. As you know, Coco had arranged for Ron and I to spend a day with Ira and Roberta and we had a ball. Coco met them at a local shop, then the three of them came up to the apartment to collect us, and off we went to spend a fabulous morning at the market. Ron and Ira, both university professors, took to each other right away and the conversation just took off! Ira is so interesting and erudite. And FUNNY! And Roberta is charming and sophisticated, and has her own pretty wicked sense of humour. Coco was our guide, translator (and now that you’ve all heard me speak French, it’s pretty obvious why we needed a translator) and cinematographer. The market was great – we saw melons the size of artichokes and artichokes the size of melons and the seafood was gorgeous. There were about a million types of cheese and pates, sausages, fruits and vegetables, fish. We bought the items for a wonderful dinner that Ron cooked for the two of us that night – our menu was ham and parsley pate (persille?) which is a local dish and very delicious, coq au vin, white asparagus with cheese sauce, and fingerling potatoes. We’d hoped that Coco, Ira and Roberta could join us but everyone was on their way somewhere else. Oh well, more for us then! We were so full after dinner, we didn’t even get to enjoy the beautiful pastries I’d bought at the market.

After the market, we had a walk around the town, with Coco showing us secret delights hidden behind blue doors. We stopped for a light lunch and then walked back to the flat for the glass of wine and toast to Coco and Dijon a la Ira, which you witnessed on the video. It was a perfect day!

We spent the next day with a friend from home who had been vacationing nearby and we did the Owl Walk, which was fun and interesting and offered us plenty of photo ops. The three of us had an excellent dinner that night at a little bistro called Chez Leon, with Leon himself as our server. There wasn’t a word of English on the menu and I didn’t hear any spoken, so I think we stumbled just by luck on a real ‘local’ establishment. I’m sorry, I didn’t pick up a card so I can’t give you an address, but it was somewhat near the market area. After dinner we walked our friend back to her hotel and then Ron and I walked back through the silent streets of the Dijon night in a light rain, snuggling under our parapluie. Quel promenade romantique!

The following day, we hopped on the train and visited Beaune. Beaune is a charming town but much of it is devoted to wine, not a particular interest of mine (I can hear the gasps of disbelief from here!). The town itself is quite pretty, especially the colourful glazed-tile patterned rooftops. We walked around town for quite a while, had a light lunch at an outdoor café, and then went to the Museum of Wine which was quite interesting. I don’t know why, but both of us were particularly taken with a video on how wine barrels are made. Maybe it’s because by that time we were pooped and it was just a good opportunity to sit down for 20 minutes or so in front of the video monitor. After the museum, Ron settled down at a café with a glass of wine and a newspaper while I toured the shops, and then we took the train back to Dijon where we took our weary bones back to the apartment for a dinner of yummy leftovers (and yesterday’s pastries) and a quiet evening at home.

On our last morning in Dijon, I went off to the market by myself to pick up a few things for the long drive to Nice. Just as I was leaving the market, I stumbled on the antique postcard stand where I spend way too long picking out postcards of places we’d visited or were on our way to. I ran out of time after getting only four but I wish I’d gotten one more – every frame I’ve found since getting home has five 4x5 openings and here I am with only 4 cards. If any of you is going to Dijon…

A demain – Nice. And so to bed.

hdm, this is a lovely report! I only found it because I was stalking you, trying to figure out where I "knew" you from because your name was on the TO GTG thread. Lucky you to met Coco and Ira and Roberta! And that's where I remember "meeting" you, on the Dijon tape! Thanks for sharing and maybe we'll meet up some day even if not at the Toronto GTG.

I'm not sure how I missed this while you were posting, hdm, but this was delightful.

Anselm