Hi all, just got back on Monday from my 6th trip to Paris. AB Fab as always. Since we were on business, we travelled a bit differently than normal and basically saw how the other half lives. Here are some highlights:<BR>Flew Air France both ways. Security is tight at JFK in New York, but as usual, tighter at CDG. Both flights were uneventful, packed flight going, about 75% full coming home.<BR>Stayed at the George V. Beautiful hotel, but not a great area for tourists. It is definitely a business hotel. They cater to your every whim and need, but I was uncomfortable there. I much prefer the small neighborhood hotel with a bakery down the street and a cafe across the street. But an experience none the less.<BR>Dining: Le Grand Vefour - awesome. A ten course tasting menu that went on forever. Great, friendly service and a beautiful room. Guy Martin (the chef) greeted us as we were seated and gave us an autographed menu.<BR>L'Epi Dupin - great small little bistro near Bon Marche. Greatly enjoyed it.<BR>Lucas Carton - didn't care for it much. While the food was very good, the service was not so great. I felt they could have done better.<BR>Willie's Wine Bar - good food, great wine list.<BR>Bofinger - Great as always.<BR>Saw a concert at St. Chapelle, visited the Rodin and the Invalides, and did lots of shopping on this trip. The Louvre was closed on Sunday (strike?) so didn't get there. Paris was very empty, completely devoid of US tourists, which is a shame but great for us. The weather was good, but cold. Any questions, post here.

An interesting slice of Paris. I'm glad to have my suspicions about the really swank hotels confirmed--nice but not the true Paris experience we all crave. Sounds like you agree with me, better to spend the big bucks on food. Your Grand Vefour experience sounds terrific. I know that everyone likes "Epi Dupin" but I was not as impressed as most. While food was good, we found everything so cramped and warm that we had a tough time concentrating on the food and enjoying it. Don't know how many times I've tried to eat at Willi's Wine Bar, but I never seem to be there at the right time, closing or full or, etc. Sort of like the Louvre. On the strength of your recommendation, I'll keep trying to get there. Thanks for the report.

Lori - how did you find out if there was a concert at Ste. Chapelle? I leave tomorrow for Paris for a week - only one day of business!

For St. Chappelle reservations:<BR><BR>www.ampconcerts.com<BR><BR>Bo n voyage

Besides that website you can go to the tourist office on Champs Elysees to get tickets. If you reserve on the website they hold your reservation at the door for you to pick up. No credit cards.

Karen,<BR>Gretchen and XXX gave you the best suggestions. However, ampconcerts.com did not have all of the concerts listed. We went to the Tourist office on the Champs and got flyers with the info. We bought the tickets at the box office the day before the show. I highly recommend a concert at St. Chapelle, the setting is magnificent.

So you all don't start screaming at me, I will be anonymous.<BR><BR>When we can afford it, I will take the "swank" hotels anyday. They are pros at how to make guests feel comfortable, secure and happy. These little boutique hotels are quaint, but are not as clean or well maintained. They usually have a cash flow problem, so they nickle and dime you to death. I like the quiet beauty and serenity near the swank hotels and not the chaos near the boutique hotels.<BR><BR>I'm glad we don't all like the same thing. You take the boutique hotels and I will take the swank hotels that know how to run a hotel.

Lori, so glad you had a great time, reading your report made me long to be in Paris again-this is the first fall in 6 yrs that we haven't been there...we went to a concert at St Chappelle one year, it was so wonderful!I didn't care what the music was,the setting was so beautiful.We did that when we were in London also, an evening concert at St Martin in the Fields, not quite as an amazing setting but definitely worth going.I was interested in hearing about the Right Bank "swank" vs the Left Bank charm, I think as always-I prefer the charm and character of the Left Bank.When I travel in the US, I go for the 4-5 star" wait- on- me- hand and foot travel", but in Europe somehow, it isn't as important..What other restaurants did you go to? What else did you do? Tell me more!! C

Thanks for the info on St. Chappelle - we will definitely see if we can go this coming week! Have a happy Thanksgiving - I am off to Paris tomorrow. <BR>Karen

AMP (Ampconcerts) is a musical organization/booking firm for a group that does concerts around Paris (Violons de France is one, I think); they sort of have gotten regular gigs at Ste Chappelle for a long time now (and rarely vary their repertoire, I remember them playing the same main two pieces as now over ten years ago), but they are not an official org. of Ste Chapelle and not the only group that can perform there. For a complete list of concerts, I have found the entertainment section of the Paris Tourist Office is the most comprehensive for advance purposes, and does list some of the smaller concerts in churches, etc, including Sainte Chapelle (www.paris-touristoffice.com). That web site has lots of stuff and searches well, but the only problem is it can be very slow sometimes. For current stuff, just view the entertainment guide Pariscope www.pariscope.fr. I'd just buy one of those upon getting there, they are good Wed thru Tues each week. I don't think that group is performing at Ste Chapelle much at all from Nov to end of year, I don't know why. They are performing at St Ephrem church in the 5th arr on Nov 24th, though, and there are quite a few concerts in other churches through the next week; St-Julien le Pauvre, the Madeleine, St-Roch, and St-Germain churches have a lot of musical performances in them. I'm sure you can find something nice, most of those concerts have superior repertoire to the group that plays at the Ste Chapelle IMO.

Thanks for the tip Christina. I am looking forward to the trip.

Les Violons de Paris perform a lot at Ste. Chappelle and the concert we heard in March was absolutely wonderful--we couldn't have asked for more. It does appear that their repertoire is quite repetitive in that venue but it is enough for a trip. Do dress warmly!

One way to check on what is going on at St. Chapelle is to go to the church. There is a ticket table outside during the day and you can check what concerts are going to take place during your stay in Paris.

Lori,<BR><BR>Please tell me about the flowers!! I must hear about the flowers!! I was at the George V a couple of months ago, and I was just in awe of them.

Lori<BR>Sounds like you had a great time! Yay!!<BR><BR>Could you tell me about the concert at Ste. Chapelle? I'm wanting to include one (or several) in my next itinerary.<BR><BR>Thanks,<BR>mary

Another source, we've used with success, for concert information, reservations and tickets: www.ticketavenue.com