Images2

We took a "mini break" to Paris leaving Jan.12 and returning Jan.17. We have been to Paris many times and always love returning. We have a longer trip to Brittnay and Paris planned for April. Delta offered double miles for direct flights from Cincinnati right now, so we jumped on the opportunity. I went to Hotwire to see if I could get a reasonably priced hotel at short notice, choosing the Bercy area from what was available. They listed a 2.5* hotel for $58 USD per night. I jumped on it. We were given the Pavillon Bercy Gare de Lyon. The trip advisor reviews were a bit worrying, but in fact it met our needs beautifully. It had no charm, located at the Dugommier metro line 6 stop, in fact the hotel is right outside the entrance of the metro, which is so convienent. The beds were the most comfortable we have had in Paris, wonderful pillows, spotless room and bathroom, hot water,good elevator. It was perfect. There was some car noise because it is on a busy street. The key to staying here is to use line 14 of the metro whenever possible. It is fast access to the center of Paris. this hotel is used for functions at Bercy, so the prices can be much higher.

Our flight on a 777 was smooth. The individual screens at each seat are wonderful, showing many films, but the 3 3 3 seating is difficult, and the legroom much less than the 767's. It's fine to bring your own wine for the flight. We do each time, pouring it into a water bottle for transport!

We always take the train into Paris from the airport. This time the lines to buy tickets were so long. We tried using the ticket machines. They wouldn't take cash and wouldn't take our credit card because we don't have the smart chip on the front of our US credit card. An Air France flight attendant was behind us in line and kindly offered to buy our tickets using her card. She seemed very honest, so we gave her our Euros and she used her card to buy her ticket and ours. She stayed with us on the train into Paris, not realizing we were very familiar with the route, and do this on each trip. It was a fun way to pass the time, talking about her experience flying for Air France. She lives in Quimper and takes the train into Paris every three days in order to fly from there.

Paris had very low clouds on Friday. When landing the ground wasn't visable until the last moment. Only the bottom of the Eiffel Tower could be seen.We checked into our hotel and they gave us our room right away. Many times the hotel will hold our luggage and we can't check in until a later time. We took the metro to Odeon to book a reservation for Le Comptoir du Relais for dinner in April. It is a highly regarded restaurant and can be hard to book. What a surprise when we arrived and saw that the interior had been gutted. We inquired at the hotel next door, owned by Yves Camdeborde, as is the restaurant. We were told it would not reopen until June. Oh well, maybe next year.

On to Mulot at 76, rue de Seine for a lunch of pastries, macarons and shrimp sandwiches! Yummmm! After enjoying Rue de Seine, Rue de Buci and Rue Jacob I tried to finally go into Sennelier. They were just locking up for lunch. We crossed over the Seine and walked through the Tulleries and up St.Honore. We went to Colette at 213 rue St Honore. I just had to check out the water bar here. Quite a trendy place. It was packed, and I know we were not "cool" enough to enjoy this hot spot. It was quite a site to see the crowd here. We spent all afternoon going into the shops here so were worn out by the time we were going to see the Musee Jaquemart-Andre. We skipped it, maybe in April we'll fit it in. We decided to go to the Virgin store on the Champs Elysees where I bought 8 CD's! One they didn't have so we found the FNAC store close by at #74, Champs Elysees in the Galerie du Claridge. They had the CD I was looking for. Prices were the same at both stores. Next we needed to go to Dehillerin, the very best kitchen shop in Paris. I always bring home another copper pan. The prices here are so much less than in the U.S. From there we had to go to BHV, for my favorite fabric dept. in Paris. Here you can buy the beautiful French lace curtains, the good stuff! I wasn't to happy to see that this year they didn't have the lace on sale. Usually it is 20% off during the sales. This year, only the ready made packages of curtains were on sale. Oh well, I still bought what I came for. The same pattern in all different lengths has been here for several years, so it has been easy to add more and more in my home. It did seem that the overall selection was less this year though.

We needed a rest before dinner so took line 14 back to Bercy, then transfered to line 6 for the 1 stop to our hotel. A good hours rest did us wonders!

Dinner was at Le Pre Verre at 8 rue Thenard in the 5th. It is a wine bar and restaurant. What an excellent dinner we had here. The place is modern and comfy. Blackboards hang throughout with the menu choices. We were so, so pleased with the food, wine, service and atmosphere here. The menu is only 25€ each for 3 courses. All excellent.

Saturday we awoke to a bright blue sky! We began our morning at the Marche de' Aligre. It is close to the metro stop Ledru-Rollin. This is a large outdoor market and they also have an indoor market here. The produce, cheese and bread were great, but the area could use a good cleaning. We really didn't want to linger. We had planned on going to the Louvre this morning, but it was so beautiful out, we thought it would be a waste. We've been several times before so we weren't missing out. Instead we went to Hotel de Ville where there was a short line for the Willy Ronis exhibit. This exhibit is excellent, showing his black and white photos of Paris of the past, and taped interview with him. I think this closes in mid February. Go if you can. It is a free exhibit.

We enjoyed just walking around this beautiful city this morning, ending up at Gibert Jeune for awhile. They have a wonderful selection of books for foreigners learning French. Both my husband and I are learning French, he can speak it fairly well, I can only read it! It was wonderful to browse through their teaching guides. Of course we bought a couple. We then headed for the Sorbonne. We were hoping to peak inside but the door into the main courtyard was guarded and you had to have the proper id to get inside. I did peak in though. In front of this area we found a bistro with excellent Croquet Monsieurs on Poilane bread. We wanted to sit outside, it was so beautiful, but they said it was to chilly to serve us there. We did end up with a table at the front window though!

It was time to go enjoy Luxembourg Gardens, our favorite spot in Paris. Several others had the same idea. Most of the green chairs around the basin were occupied already! We went up to the terasse area and found some and just dozed in the sunshine for an hour! What a wonderful spot to catch up on a little well needed rest! We had never seen La Closerie des Lilas at 171 Blvd de Montparnasse before so we walked through the end of the gardens and peaked at the very expensive menu here and their terasse. Well, I'm glad I got a picture, but won't be eating here anytime soon. We walked on and found a Kayser boulangerie where we bought some more goodies. We returned to the gardens where we saw the Puppet show had ended and the children were streaming out of the theatre. They were being treated with goodies by their parents. Everyone was getting a gouter, or afternoon snack. Some had brought them with them, as the mom who brought a very large chocoate piece and was breaking off pieces of it for each child, others bought something from a vender there. Also they were buying ballons. Very large animal shaped ballons were being sold, along with smaller ballons. No one was left out. Each child had a treat. It was wonderful to see how special the children were to the families here.

We returned to our hotel for a hour of rest before dinner. We went to Le Coupe Chou at 9-11 rue de Lanneau in the 5th. We had heard good things about this restaurant and we had a table in the main room with the large fireplace. We were nervous about the quality of the food so we ordered off the carte menu. This is not the best Paris has to offer. Most of the guests were French this evening, but I think it's living on reputation, not quality. Our food was fine, but not up to what we expect to get at a really good restaurant here. We met a nice couple from England and stayed very late talking with them. The carte menu here is much better that the prix fixed menu, so if you need to go here, upgrade your menu choices.

Our original plan was to go to Aux Lyonnais Saturday evening. They had on-line reservations so we reserved that way. I never heard back from them though, so by the time we thought this might be a problem and called, they said they were already booked up. Next time we'll call first, and not try their on-line reservation system.

At 1:30 in the morning our phone rang, waking us. Now, it is never good news when your family must call you when you're in Paris! Our fire alarms were sounding, very loudly throughout our home. A neighbor walking their dog heard them and contacted our neighbor. They called our daughter, who rushed over to our home. It was deafening. All the smoke detectors are connected to each other and are wired into the electrical system. There was no fire thankgoodness, but they couldn't get them to stop. The police were called. It took 2 calls for them to come, finally the fire department was called. How exciting for the neighborhood. The firemen came inside and checked things out. One detector had failed and had a red light on it. They had to climb on our bed and disconnect it from the ceiling. The fireman said he didn't even know about the red light sign until he worked for the dept. It took 2 hours and a couple of phone calls to us, but the excitement was over. Good thing we had a comfortable bed at this hotel so we could get some more sleep! I now want to have the fire detectors wired to the alarm system which is connected to the police station so it won't take so long to get help. If there had been an actual fire, our home would have burned before help came.

Sunday morning we woke again to a beautiful sunny day! 2 in a row in Paris in January! What luck. The tempertures were in the mid 40's. We never were cold. We went to my favorite Boulangerie in the Marais this morning. It's Boulangerie Malineau on Vieille du Temple. They are my favorite since they have raspberry/chocolate bread! Both fillings inside. Incredible!! They are now open every day. We took them to Place des Vosges, sat on a bench enjoying the early morning. We then looked in at our hotel for our next trip, the Hotel Jeanne D'Arc on Place Catherine. It looks just fine! We went to the Memorial de la Shoah Museum at 17, rue geoffroy l'Asnier which opened at 10 a.m. It is an excellent museum focusing on the plight of the Jews in WWII. We had been here once last year and didn't have enough time to see it all, so returned. You can spend at least 2 hours here. It is free, and is just excellent. By the time we were finished, the Marais had woken up so we spent time walking the streets here, looking at the shops and enjoying some falafels and geleto at Amorino. We chose 2 flavors to share, but they asked if we wouldn't like a 3rd to add to it! Sure, of course we do!! Who can't enjoy this excellent geleto even when it's in the 40's outside!

We then went to Musee Marmottan at 2, rue Louis Boilly. They were having an excellent sculpture collection exhibit from Camille Claudel (who studied under Rodin). I was so excited to see this. We had just rented the film about her life from netflix before we left so we had a pretty good idea of the ordeal she lived. It was thrilling to see such an excellent exhibit. There was a line to get in here so if you go, leave time for a line. We walked down rue de Passy upon leaving the Marmottan and walked to the Eiffel tower. We wanted to ice skate on level 1. The line was long! We decided to go find some wine or hot chocotate instead. It was Sunday evening and not to much was open. We walked to Rue Cler, where we often stay. All was closed down, they were cleaning the streets! Well, at least they cared here enough to clean them. Many areas looked like no one cared. There was way to much trash on the streets this visit. We hopped on the metro and went to St.Germain. We had hot chocolate at Le Deux Magots outside, under a heating lamp. 12€ for 2, so very pricy, but what a wonderful spot to rest our aching feet! At 6:45 the church bells started ringing. People started pouring into the church for mass. Not a few people, but many, many people. They were young, not old. They came on foot, they came on motorcycle. It was just amazing to see this in Paris. We decided to join them. The church was filled to the brim when we arrived. The side steps were full, the back was full. We ended up standing with several others at the side. We are not catholic, but really enjoyed the service and the younger people involved in it. The priest was also in his 30's. My husband understood much of his message, and I understood some. It was very heartfelt. We will return in April when we are there.

We were worried we would miss our Bengals in the playoffs when we were in Paris this weekend. Unfortunatly Pittsburg took out our quarterback on the 2nd play of our playoff game with them, the week before so the Bengals didn't have a chance. We didn't need to find a place that would be showing the game.

Dinner on a Sunday in Paris. Not always an easy thing to book. This time we chose Le Caveau de l'Isle at 36, rue St.Louis en I'Isle. We reserved ahead, as we always do, and should always be done for respect. It was not full though. This is a small place, but attractive, old fashioned, and had very good duck! I loved my onion soup, and duck and a cassis dessert. My husband ordered the lamb chops and they were not as good. The dauphinois potatoes that came with both were excellent. It is a 25€ menu, so an excellent value. We were trying to keep our dinner costs down this trip since we will be returning soon. We were overall very pleased with our dinners, even at this low cost.

Monday we woke to cloudy skies. We had decided to go to Fontainebleau today. We bought a Carte Mobilis zone 1-6 ticket for this. We had used a Mobilis Zone 1-2 for each of our other days. It is a good value at about 5.40€ for unlimited metro travel in those zones for the day. The zone 1-6 ticket was €15.35 each and enabled us to go out to Fontainebleau and then use the metro inside Paris for the rest of the day. We enjoyed our visit there. It was so easy to get to. The regular SNCF commuter trains go about once an hour from Gare de Lyon. Just look for the grande lignes to Montereau and get off at Fontainebleau-Avon. Then take the right bus from the train station to the chateau. It is labeled. The mobilis also covers the bus fare. Don't try and walk this. The distance is several miles. The chateau opens at 9:30, the grounds at 9 a.m. Not many people were here. We arrived early and had hot chocolate in a cafe and then mailed a birthday card to our grandson for his 3rd birthday from the post office. The sun decided to come out and we had another beautiful day. The chateau was so nicely furnished. I can't imagine seeing this with crowds. It was a pleasure in January when only a few people were here. The grounds were also lovely. The town of Fontainebleau wasn't to inviting. We decided to have lunch back in Paris instead of staying here.

Back in Paris we walked to the shops at the Viaduct since it is so close to Gare de Lyon. We had bought a few things here in the past, but were disappointed at the current selection on shops. It had changed alot. We returned along the park on the top. It just wasn't the season for this. It wasn't to attractive. We then bought our favorite olive oil from Mouries in Provance (Moulin Saint-Michel) from a shop called Allicante at 26, Bd. Beaumarchais Metro Bastille or Chemin Vert. We first bought this in Mouries years ago, and were so happy to find that they sold it here in Paris. It's not something you want to carry around with you though, so we had to return to our hotel and drop it off! We had more on our shopping list so this afternoon we spent time "doing errands"! Well, better to do Paris errands, than those at home. We bought Leonidas chocolates which I love at 162, rue Montmartre in the 2nd then went to the Monoprix for Green Lentilles de Puy, sea salt, choc bars, soaps and cheese, snacks, and wine for the flight home tomorrow. Then to the Grand magasin's to check out the sales. It was so crowded, of course. We only bought my husband a new neck scarf. Next it was off to Le Maison du Meil at 24, rue Vignon for our honey and to Fauchon to pick up a gift for our neighbor who called about the fire alarms!

Again exhausted we walked back to the Champs Elysees, but got on the metro at Concorde (oh, our aching feet) to take it down to Franklin D. Roosevelt. We wanted a glass of wine, and some rest before our dinner reservation.

Dinner tonight was at Au Bascou 38, rue Reaumur Metro Arts et Metiers for an excellent Basque meal. Menu was a carte, but we each had an entre and a main for about 25€ each. Dessert looked so wonderful so we had 1 to share. I had piperade and then rabbit and vegables in a croustillant, which was so delicious. My husband had the soup with foi gras and the veal. Neither were as good of choices as mine. We had the chocolate dessert. They were so friendly here, it not full tonight.

Our flight out was Tuesday morning. It was pouring, and had stormed overnight. The metro was just outside our door so it was no problem getting to it with our luggage. We were flying from Terminal 2E, the terminal that collasped 2 years ago. You check into your flight from the same area that you did before the collapse. At that point your ticket says to allow 45 minutes to get to your gate. They have built a new holding area, a mini terminal, for you to wait in since the damaged portion isn't repaired. It's wise to get pastries at Pauls before you enter this area if you want somethng to eat. There is no Pauls in the new area. It did not take us 45 minutes to get to our gate, but the security line was short. We did have to walk further than normal to this new temporary terminal. We were to leave at 11:15, but air traffic wouldn't allow us to leave. Excuses, and more excuses. The pilot was so frustrated. He even had ground control speak to use about the situation. Nothing was resolved. Finally 2 hours late they allowed us to take off. It made for a very long trip home. A 7 year old girl, with an obvious large brain tumor sat behind me. She was traveling alone. The flight attendants were so frustrated with her because she would not speak. They didn't attend to her. It was heartbreaking. I took her to the bathroom several times, walked her around and got her drinks. She was so good. To travel that distance alone must have been so frightening to her. She only spoke 1 word to me the entire flight. She missed her flight from Cincinnati to Dayton since we were so late, so had to wait for 3 extra hours in Cincy for the next flight. I can't get this young child out of my mind.

This was a short trip, but it's not the first time we've come to Paris for a "mini break". Living in Cincinnati makes it an easy trip with the direct flight we have. Paris in January is just fine. In fact we had better weather on this trip than we did the last time we spent a week there in April. We enjoy our time spent here in low season much more than when we come through in the summer. There are so many crowds in the summer that just aren't here in the winter and early spring. The biggest drawback for us is the lack of leaves on the trees. They do add alot of beauty to this city.

francophile03

Thanks for the nice trip report. You had a fantastic visit to Paris again. Great tips too. I'm sorry to hear about the little girl. That's tragic that she travelled by herself and none of the flight attendants had any patience to tend to her needs.

ira

Thanks for sharing, I.


I was intrigued by a water bar at Colette.

I don't think that I would want to pay those prices when the waiters are dressed in jeans and tee shirts.

Here is a review by a person who is actually discussing pairing water with food.

http://www.finewaters.com/Newsletter...05/Colette.asp

Dave_in_Paris

Wonderful report. Thank you! Just a bit of mild scolding: You are missing a lot when you flee from unpainted, unsandblasted parts of the city like the one around Place d'Aligre. These are the sorts of neighborhoods that best recall "old Paris" and for a traveler still offer up many of its charms.

risab

Thanks for the great report. I am going to Paris with husband and teen daugther (our second trip) in April and also staying at Hotel Jeanne d'Arc in the Marias. I tried to book that hotel the first time we went but it was already booked up so we stayed in St. Germain but fell in love with the Marias and are looking forward to this trip (also a short trip-5 days). I will check out some of the shops and restaurants you mentioned and want to visit the Shoah Museum. I also look forward to checking out Monoprix for items and groceries to bring home. Thanks again.

DeborahAnn

Images, what a great mini break, you certainly made good use of your time along with some super shopping ideas. I usually go to the fabric stores near Sacre Coeur for my fabric fix, never thought of a department store.

I also prefer Paris in the off season. This year we will be there in August because of a wedding in Saintes Maries de la Mer. High tourist season in Paris is a time I have always been able to avoided.

I've eaten at Pre Verre and I'm glad to see it's still such a good value. I hope they don't close for August, your report reminded me to do my research and not take anything for granted just because I've been there so often.

I also was troubled by the account of a child traveling alone and not receiving adequate attention. I would have expected better of Delta. I also wonder why a child with a malady would be traveling alone

Thanks for this trip report and hope to read about your visit in April, Deborah

Images2

I hope you all have as wonderful of a time in Paris as we always do!

For shopping at Monoprix, I've found that they are all not equal, meaning not all stores have all items! I shopped at the one located at 56, Caumartin, close to Galeries Layfette. It had all the items on my list!

I agree about the little girl. I was shocked that she was alone. Her paperwork was very limited. The flight attendants had no idea where she began her trip or what nationality she was. When she wouldn't speak to them they were very agitated and kept barking questions to her. What language do you speak? You have to talk to us. We can't help you if you won't speak. To her it was probably just harsh sounding statements. The one word she said to me I couldn't understand. They just prefered to ignore her when they couldn't communicate with her. Her tumor was between her eyes, so they were offset. They may have been repulsed. I expected compassion from them, but they gave none. They were happy I took over her care.

Le Pre Verre is wonderful. I know we'll be back!

What I didn't care for at Marche de'Aligre wasn't the neighborhood or building conditions, it was the trash. I just saw so much more trash on the streets this time. I think the shop owners would take more care and clean their area. Paris is so beautiful, but the trash on the streets really detracts. Some parts of Paris just take much more care in keeping their neighborhood clean than others.

I'll be happy reporting back after our Brittnay/Paris trip in April.

bardo1

Images2 (photographer?),

Nice report. It's always great to get new ideas for the next visit.

<<La Closerie des Lilas ...but won't be eating here anytime soon.>> Perhaps, but is lingering for a while over drinks/coffee when it's not dining hours a possibility??

<<... we needed to go to Dehillerin...>>
Anybody who cooks needs to make this a "must visit" whenever in Paris.


ira,

Re. article - Oy vey!

flsd

What an interesting and helpful trip account, Images. Thank you!

yipper

I love your report. what a great mini break.

gomiki

Images2, thank you for the detailed report. I so enjoyed it. And bless you for taking that poor child under your wing.

mahya

I'll be making my first trip to Paris in April. Many thanks for the siteseeing and restaurant ideas.