Just back from Paris
 

Just got back Sunday from a 3 week trip to Europe that included 5 days in Paris.
I will be doing a detailed trip report with photo's on Bavaria Bens web sight in the next 2 weeks, but here is a quick run down.
Left the Rheinland Pfalz area around 9am and stopped in Verdun for a few hours. Arrived at 5pm near Paris and took 2 hours including a quick spin around the Arc de Triumph before we found our hotel, the Londres Eiffel. The manager gave our room away however. He came up with 3 different excuses which I will detail in the report, but I had a confirmed reservation which he would not honor. So I sat down and told him I would not leave until he found me another hotel. He finllay found us a room but "forgot" to tell them we had 2 kids with us.
The next day we moved into our apartment from Paris Perfect, the Montrachet. What a fantastic place. The view of the Eiffel tower was just fantastic and the people the best. Again, I'll go into deaper detail in my report, but this place was worth every penny.
The next morning we purchased our 3 days subway passes and 3 day museum passes at a subway station near the tunnel Princess Diana died at.
We toured the Eiffel tower, took a cruise up the river to Notre Dame, climbed to the bell with the kids (6,9) bought a few boxes of ice cream at Berthillon's (fantastic!), spent a few hours at Lux gardens, saw the Mona Lisa & Venus De Milo, saw The Thinker & Gates of Hell, Napoleans tomb, climbed the Ard de Triumph and walked the avenue, viewed sunset from Sacre Cour, had a wondeful dinner near Notre Dame, walked the Latin Qtr, watched my 6 year old daughter wolf down 6 snails, paid 4 Euro for a coke, and then spent our last evening on a blanket with a candle and bottle of red wine under the Eiffel tower.
Did not see one dog poop or witness any rudeness other than the jerk at the hotel that had given our room away.
The day we went to leave I walked to the outdoor parking lot to get my car I had left under a tree. I did not realize this was the official bird shit tree of Paris. I have NEVER seen so much bird poop on one car in my life. 75 Euro for 4 nights, not bad. We left on a Monday and the city was pretty dead so we drove around the Arc De triumph a few times laughing as we joked about the Chevy Chase scene in European Vacation. I actually found driving in Paris much easier than Brussels. At least they follow the rules and know what a red light is in Paris. Brussels is just the worst.
As we left my wife and I both agreed we had a better than expected time and would love to return again.
Once the report is finished I'll post it on the Fodors board and include a link to Ben's sight so you can see some of the 15 rolls of photo's I took.
One more thing, the weather was quite warm. I had packed mostly fall clothing since the computer had showed the weather had cooled. But it felt like mid 80's and the evening never felt like they got below 70, so I was sweating most of the time climbing the Notre Dame and Arc, etc...
Still, its better than being too cold or rainy.
Snails, yummy!!!

We also used parisperfect.com when we were in Paris in May for 6 nights. We booked Cabarnet and WOW was it wonderful. Philipe and Madeline are wonderful people to deal with - didn't you think so and the viw......Ah Paree

We had planned to go to Paris in May. I made reservations at the Londres Eiffel. We had a lot of problems with them. They had special prices and quoted me that price but when the confirmation came back the price was jacked up much higher. I noticed then they took the special price off the website. I forwarded them the quoted price and I received a nasty e-mail back but stating they would honor it. Fortunately, I had to cancel that trip and reschedule so I didn't reschedule there. I see my hunch was right about them.

Hi,
My DH loves to drive through all the cities in Europe. He has a wonderful sence of direction and is really good. He agrees, Brussels is the worst. How we got into and out of Brussels is a true testament to his skills, but he does not want to drive there again.

Brussels IS a nightmare for driving not only due to the inconsiderate drivers, but also due to the maze of tiny, one way streets that go under and over other streets (frustrating when you think you're going to intersect with a street you need, only to realize it's *above* you). If you want to read how expats in Brussels feel about Belgian drivers, go to www.xpats.com and click on the poll topic discussion (this week it's about Belgian driving).
Sorry about your hotel experience. That is maddening. Glad you posted your info here.