Leaving for AMS/Paris today
 

Well still haven't finished my last report on Paris and I am off again. My sister (25) and I (pushing 40) are visting Amsterdam for 2 nights and then rented an apartment in the Marais for a week. I have been to Amsterdam numerous times, but my sister hasn't. She spent her sophomore summer year of HS in Paris. Here are some things we plan to do. Any other recommendations? We will have our computer, so will try to write along the way.

Amsterdam:
Heiny Tour
Cafes/Red light District
Anne Frank House
Keukenkof
Rijksmuseum
Jewish museum
Our lord in the Attic

Paris:
Orangerie
Picnic on Pont de Arts
Visit Nez a Nez for perfume
Jewish Museum
St Chappelle - maybe a concert
Museum of Moyen Age
Carnavelet Museum
Versailles
Angelinas for hot chocalate
A night of partying on Oberkampf

Well made it to Paris after two nights in Amsterdam. Didn't accomplish all on the list in AMS, but Keukenkof was absolutely amazing. Took so many amazing pictures. Really enjoyed the floating flower market as well. Stayed at Hotel Bellevue which is well located on a tram line and near to Central Sataion. Room was tiny, but bed was really a delight - very comfy. However, realy noisy when the window was opened. We are now in our apt in the Marais. It's very adorable and the images form the rentparis website were completely accurate. Neighborhood seems good, but after hitting the Monoprix by Chatelet for food and wine, we made dinner and are now calling it a night. The trip from AMS was long and my 25 year sister kept me out like a 25 year old in AMS last night.

Which apartment are you in?

Hope you have a great time!

I envy you being in Paris now. I bet you're exhausted, but it is a good type of tiredness I am sure. Enjoy the rest of your trip! The Marais is wonderful.

Just returned from Paris. Make a concert at Saint Chapelle a MUST DO
(25E BTW) (7 & 8:30 pm) They do not
take reservs but 1/2 hr ahead of time
should be sufficient. Heard Vivaldi's
4 seasons w/a little Mozart staring at
the famous windows. A real thrill!

No Van Gogh Museum ?? :-(

Great day today. Rambled through Marais, had some latkes on Rue Rosiers, window shopped, visited Museum Carnavalet (MC), Place Vosges and walked on the Promenade Plantee Park. Really enjoyed the paintings of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI in the MC, since I had just seen the Kirsten Dunst film. Also models of the Bastille were interesting. They have a lot of great portraits, which I love -especially of women. Place de Vosges was hopping.

happytotravel - we are staying in Apt #22. There is a market just down the street and we can see the backside of the Pompidou from our tiny balconies.

After a good nap during some major thunderstorms and rain, we headed out for dinner about 9:30 PM. We planned to just find a place, but I forgot my menu translator so we ended up at Patapapa on St Denis. I am a veg so finding a place with veg options needs some translation. Pastapapa is a chain, but food was good and portions large. Would def be a take home type of place in the States and recommend as an option for those traveling with children. We then ended up in an Irish bar on St Denis with a band singing mostly rock and roll and where we met a number of people from all over (France, Russia, Austria). Will tell you that with the $ being at an all time low, we are feeling it, but trying to deal.

Where is the Jewish Museum in Paris?

Oh, lucky you! We leave one month from now for Amsterdam, Paris, Nice, & Italy and I cn't wait - what's the weather like, I am hoping for cooler temps, not mid-summer heat, know what I mean? Do tell where the best pastries are to be found in Paris, and Amsterdam, too - I am a total foodie and I can't wait to sample foreign (yep, a Floridian) - are you finding the restaurants very expensive with the euro so high? Didn't mean to monopolize here, an am quite new to Fodor so hope I haven't "overstepped the bounds" or anything. Thanks for whatever info you share. Have a lovely time.
Leslie

Yesterday was another big day, walk, walk, walk. We headed first for Breakfast in America, but when we got there realized we were no in the mood for eggs or pancakes, so we had sandwiches for breakfast from a boulangerie around St Paul. We then crossed over on to Ile St Louis and onto Ile de La Cite. Wow, this was our first experience with major crowds. I don't remember it being this busy back in September. The lines to just get into Notre Dame were huge - not that we were planning on going in. But my sister was happy to see all the scalfolding gone because when she was here 9 yrs ago it was covered. We walked passed St Chappele but again lines too long, plus we have tickets to see a concert on Thurs night. We then walked along the Seine buying souveniers from the bookinistas and headed to Shakespeare & Co. Took some pictures, walked though the side streets of the 5arr and headed to the Cluny. We really enjoyed the museum, especially of course the Lady & the Unicorn tapestries. We then had lunch on Rue Huchette. Its very touristy, but we had greek salads with the creamiest mild feta ever - yummy. We headed back the apt for a drop off of our souveniers and then headed through the Halles. We went underground to see a French mall. We then had a cool respite in St Eustache and walked the length of Rue Montorgueil. This is a great street! For dinner we ate at OZO on Rue Quincampoix. In this restaurant, you choose your protein, your sauce, and up to 4 different sides. Dinner, with two apertifs, which came with tapas, and a half carafe of red wine was 68Euros. We really enjoyed it.

We learned today is Labor Day and nearly everything is closed, so our plans to visit Versaille today went up in smoke. Instead we are resting in this morning and then will just hit the cobblestones. Having an apt is great, laundry, coffee in the morning, space to hang . . . highly recommend this option.

Hi Leslie - I am not a foodie. You can find a number of past posts where you can get info on resturants. There are some really knowledgble people on Fodors, many experts on Paris restaurants, who will be better able to respond to your queries. I am more of a walk and see where you end up type of traveler. I have ideas of what I want to see/do, which generally does not include resturants. And more often than not, I just end up where the road takes me.

As I mentioned in my previous post, yesterday was Labor day in France, so we really got to see the French in action. We walked up to the Republic area where unions and folks with various views were protesting; anarchists, feminists, pro drugs, political supporters, groups representing different ethnic backgrounds, and many others with socialist/communist agendas. It was really interesting. Although most stores and public places were closed, many restaurants and cafes were open. During happy hour time we wandered the Marais where many gay men were out and about socializing in the cafes. Great place to be if you swing that way. We had dinner at L'as du Falafel at about 10 PM. No shortage of people sitting down at that hour to eat. My sister and I were able to split a vegetarian plate it was so much. We stopped in a couple of bars on the way home; Joy and the Lizard Lounge and then called it a night.

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