Barbara_in_FL

Thank you Les! My 9-year-old and I just spent 3 days in Paris but his attention span and interests do not always coincide with mine, so I really enjoyed reading your report. (We never made it to the Louvre, for example, but did spend quite a few very enjoyable hours in the Musee de L'Armee at Les Invalides.) Thanks for sharing all the details.

opaldog

Les: Where is your wife's report and could you link us to your apartment?

d_claude_bear

I enjoyed reading this (these?) report(s). Let me add a few observations.

In a previous posting, I lauded the Musee des Arts et Metiers. It is not a "prime" museum promoted by most tour books, but very much worth a visit.

We rented an apartment from a private party owner located in the US. This had the advantage of lower cost (no agency fees) and great flexibility as to arrival/departure dates, method of payment, etc. Also, the furnishings (linens and towels, rugs, artwork) were very pleasant.

However, when something went wrong (the clothes dryer did not work when we arrived; the cable TV had been switched to a new provider and many channels did not work, although they had been paid for) there was no one on hand to fix them. It took two weeks for the owner, building gardien, and Darty to come to fix the dryer, and the TV situation won't be cleared up until the owner's next visit to Paris.

Finally, as I have posted previously, virtually every encounter with a Parisian (or resident of Dijon, Provins, and Reims) was proper, helpful, and (in their fashion) even friendly.

kagoo

Wonderful report -- thanks!

You say "...description of the apartment and neighborhood provided courtesy of my wife in an earlier posting on this thread." But there is no earlier posting by your wife on this thread. Is there another thread? I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd like to know more about the apartment.

Thanks again.

cherrybomb

Thanks for posting Les--I avoid museums like the plague, but looking forward to checking out Musee des Arts et Metiers when I am back in November. It sounds interesting. Was it crowded?

moolyn

Les, thanks so much for all your effort to produce this lovely, detailed and humorous report.

Here's a link to the earlier thread with a link to your apartment and your wife's description of the area where you stayed.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35130248

Nikki

Great report, delightful reading.

Armed with a wheelchair, I love it! And never follow a Frenchman across the street, funny.

Great to hear about it all, and I'm imagining the "most wondrous things" you encountered on the way.

Meanwhile, I really enjoyed the Canal St. Martin boat ride because it gave lovely perspectives for photographs and plenty of time while the locks were opening to take pictures. The best photos come to me when I am still for a while, so for those purposes it was just right.

bailey6325

I really enjoyed reading your report. Thank you for taking the time to write it.

txgrl99

Thank you for the marvelous trip report. It was well worth the wait! (And really, a month is not a long delay at all.) I will be bookmarking it for my December trip. Merci!

bozama

Les, Honestly one of the best trip reports I have read( hilarious), and since I am a regular on about 4 different travel forums I can assure you I have read many many trip reports.

thoughts:

Although you mention Paris as being "wheelchair friendly" I would strongly disagree, and only wonder what would constitute " wheelchair UNfriendly" to you. I think the PEOPLE made it wheelchair friendly( all that line skipping is great) but the city itself I noted as being horrible. I worked with disabled for years, so when in Paris I was shocked at how difficult it would be for someone who was completely wheelchair bound. Your wife was able, and was required, to get up serveral times to manage stairs etc, remember, many people are not capable of even a few steps.

Also most cafes I noticed had washrooms that were downstairs, I impagine since you had an apartment you ate more meals in then those who stay in hotels.

Anyways, you must return to Paris and write more reports, I need the day brightening,, LOL

Barb_in_Ga

Les--your report is great! I, too, sometimes feel intimidated about writing them, as there are so many more erudite writers than I, but people seem to enjoy the different perspective each person has.

I traveled in France with my wheelchair-bound brother, with 5 days in Paris. We rented a ground floor apartment, owned by a friend of a friend, and it worked great. The tough part we had to deal with is that Gary can stand up to transfer to and from the chair, but is paralyzed on the left side and can't take even a few steps. We enjoyed the gardens at the Rodin, but weren't able to go in the house. We walked from there to the Invalides, only to find there were steps required to go in, so we left.

He wanted a boat ride on the Seine, and that required some strong-arm chair lifting by a couple of men on the boat, but he was glad we did it.

As you mentioned, one of the inconveniences was the common practice of cars blocking the corner ramps, but we managed to make our way around. We had a car, having gone first to LeMans, but parking was tough. I sometimes had to drop him off at a building, then park and walk back.

I didn't mean to hijack your thread, but someone may search on Paris wheelchair, and I think your info is useful.

I'm planning another Paris trip in October, and I love reading trip reports. Thanks, Barb

palette

I also love the St. Martin Canal ride - at least four trips now. I prefer the company that leaves from the Quai d'Orsay because that way you also get to see everything along the Seine before you turn into the Arsenal. Yes, it's slow but I find it just the break I need from walking hours on hours.

We also saw (in April) those beggars who sat on the sidewalk with huge dogs, sometimes smoking and chatting with "friends." Strange.

I was stopped in the Tuileries by the "do you speak English" scam. The young woman was so well dressed that I thought it truly was someone who had a question. Wasn't until she shoved the card into my face that I realized she was begging.

Your way of travel is what I love after 7+ visits. Just start walking and see what happens. There's usually more beauty around the next corner.

And we had many acts of kindness from the locals. One young man in the Metro led us to our train because the route was complicated and he wasn't sure we would take the correct train.

Thanks for taking the time to share. Loved it.

suetibu

Love your writing.. I just burst out laughing in my office (I just beat them off with my wife's cane). Priceless how you set that up..Its always nice to hear a fellow New yorker's take on the outside world..

Please continue,
S

nancy1652

Great report! We stayed near your apartment for a month last year and loved the neighborhood too. Bought back many great memories. So glad you were "forced" into writing the report.

Les

Wow! Thank you for all the kind responses to my report! I'm glad it was helpful to so many of you.

There are a few postings that I need to respond to, so here goes:

For opaldog and kagoo: moolyn was kind enough to post a link to my previous report that contains my wife's description and links to the apartment info (thank you so much, moolyn). I also topped the thread for you (entitled "Thank you for Paris help&quot.
For convenience, here are the apartment links:
http://www.vrbo.com/117698
http://www.chemouni.com/bretagne/

d_claude_bear: The apartment we rented was also from an American (ex-parisian living in San Francisco). The nice part about this is that the price was in U.S. dollars, so the decline in value of the dollar over the months after we made the reservations didn't affect the cost of the apartment. In our case (and in many cases, I gather), the owner had an "on-site" (or nearby) local representative, who spoke English, and was available on short notice to fix any problems, change the linens, provide any assistance we needed. I think that this definitely should be a consideration for any potential renters. The owner was very responsive to my emails, and I had a very nice conversation with his college-age daughter when I called. She had lived in the apartment last summer, and was very enthusiastic. All of that helped convince me to rent this apartment, and I wasn't disappointed.

bozama and Barb_in_Ga: I can see your point about Paris being difficult for a wheelchair-bound person. If my wife were unable to walk at all, the entire situation would have been different. But bear in mind that in the United States, almost all new public construction must, by law, be handicap-accessible, and existing businesses must make accommodations. That would be difficult or impossible to do in cities like Paris, where most of the attractions and buildings have historical significance that would make modification difficult (just look at the sites in the U.S that have been designated as "historical landmarks" - it takes an act of God to modify them). Having said that, this was the first trip we've taken with the recently purchased wheelchair, and I was pleasantly surprised. Hopefully, this will also be the last trip with a wheelchair, as my wife is scheduled to have knee replacements later this summer.

Leely2

Les, I have somehow missed that apartment listing everytime I've looked browsed VRBO. Looks great and I see it's fully booked through next March.

Thanks for the additional information.

LCBoniti

Les, I finally had the time this morning to read and thoroughly enjoy your trip report. I know writing one can be intimidating, (due to so many fantastic trip reports posted here), but yours is one of the ones I have enjoyed most. Very amusing writing style and very useful information.

I hope your retirement means much more traveling and that you will continue to share your adventures with us.

LLindaC

Les, I just returned from Paris last night. Those gypsy girls from Bosnia were doing their thing in front of the Notre Dame. Well, they approached us, too, but we moved away. Evidently, one swiped something ...not sure, but suddenly police were chasing them all over the place and they rounded them all up and threw them in the paddy wagon! It was pretty exciting, lol! Then we saw a waiter chase a guy who stiffed him and soon the police jumped in. Both waiter and cheapskate were excellent sprinters.....

kerouac

Over the years, the gypsy girls have been from "Romania," "Yugoslavia," "Bosnia," and "Kosovo" -- they always try for whichever country is having the most problems and needs sympathy.

After their working day, they change into normal clothes and are indistinguishable from ordinary French girls.

socialworker

Les, I have only just read part one of your report but you brought me to tears when you spoke so kindly, yet matter of factly, about pushing your wife in the wheelchair. Forgive the conclusion-jumping but I think you must be a wonderful man!

Now to go back and read the rest.....