October in Paris was spectacular
 

After much stress on this end we needed a European vacation that was comfortable & easy----that says Paris for us.

We've been many times in Sept. but not in Oct. and we were concerned about the weather. No concern needed. Yes, weather is unpredictable and this time we really lucked out. Cool in the morning but by noonish sunny and high 60's and not too cold at night and no rain...perfect!

Booking last minute was a challange. We had to change the dates several times as no direct flights were available from Chicago. We finally booked on United....Yikes, after reading bad reviews we expected the worst but had a very pleasant experience. Actually it was one of our better flights.

Apartments were also a challange last minute. All we could find was junk, nice but 4th floor walk up, not an area we wanted, and too expensive. So we opted to spend a little more for a shorter time. Also, we usually take the RER/metro form CDG into Paris but this time we booked a taxi through the apt. service. Good move. A bit more expensive but as we arrived at 9:30am would the apt. be ready? Excellent car, driver & service, worth every penny for the stress-free arrival.

Parisaddress.com had a lovely 1 bdrm on Ile St. Louis (our favorite location) overlooking Notre Dame and The Seine. Best decision we ever made....absolutely fantastic. 3rd(4th) floor with elevator, very French in design, This place was so comfortable, actually an apt. we could live in--------sell the house and let's stay for a year, haha! So comfortable just sitting & watching the boats go by, photo shoots on the quay, street music wafting up through the open floor to ceiling windows.....DH went to the bakery in the morning while I made coffee and we enjoyed the surroundings. Also coming in around 5pm, listening to music, having a glass of wine and relaxing until going out for dinner at 8pm was the best.

OK, enough about the apt.-----on to Paris itself!

Can't wait to hear about your Paris adventures!

Leaving for Paris on Monday. Hope the good weather holds up for me and fellow Fodorites who will be there at the same time.

Waiting impatiently for more!

This sounds great TPAYT. We have never stayed on ISL but we always love wandering along rue St Louis en L'Ile. Looking forward to reading this...we love our music while we are transitioning from the day into dinner mode (we take out little Bose wireless speaker and it's perfect!

Looking forward to your report as we were just there ourselves. Do you have a link to your apartment?

What a wonderful start to a great trip report. Can't wait to hear more from you.

tC

I have been wondering how October turned out for you. Great to hear the weather was ok.

Travelchat - it's been raining. Check forecast, be prepared.

We went Oct 3 to the 9th. We only had one rainy day. The colors were just changing so was nice for a Florida person.
We tried for an apartment on the ISL but since we were last minute we went with the 14th and I am converted.
Glad you got away though.

DebitNM - Thanks for the heads up. I have a daily weather calendar that I check daily for Paris as well as Bordeaux where I'll also be traveling. Rain will not deter me!

http://www.parisaddress.com/en/apart...ent-rental-318

Here's the link to the apt.....best view we ever had.

travelchat------you're leaving tomorrow. I wish you a great trip.

A highlight of our Paris adventures was a Vivaldi concert at St. Chapelle. The window restoration is finished & it was still light for a bit when we arrived. The setting for Vivaldi was perfrct and the outstanding violin music was enough to almost bring you to tears.

Since this was a trip to unwind & destress we mostly just wandered, sat at cafes, shopped a bit, and ate at our favorite restaurants.

As we hadn't been there in many years one day we took the Metro to the Arch de Triumph and walked down the Champs Elysees. I don't know why because we didn't like it the first time and even less this time. On the bright side, the weather was beautiful and we did have a very good lunch at The Fiat Cafe on the Champs and Ave. Marigny. Very plain setting but the coffee & food (melon, proscutto,& salad) was excellent. When MDH went in the building to use the restroom he didn't return for a long time. Just when I started to worry I found out why. The restroom was down several long spiral staircases with those gorgeous Fiats displayed on the way down. Guys & dream cars----no wonder he was gone so long!

I just looked at the apt. photos. When we were there the TV was moved into the LR and another bed was in the DR. There must have been 4 people there before us. The 2 beds in the DR were not in the way at all. The main BR had a king bed, a separate dressing room, and bath with a "car wash" shower (you know what I mean.) The toilet was in a separate little room in the hall with a small sink & mirror.

The photos make it look really big but the rooms were small and oh so comfortable.So quiet that if you talked from the bedroom you couldn't hear it in the DR.
Service from the beginning email to the airport pick up at the end was excellent.

The apartment looks very nice, especially the view!

Great views and your terrace was so nice.

Nice view....great for a glass of Champs! Would love to hit Ste Chapelle for Vivaldi..I am sure it was lovely. Glad to hear the restoration there is complete.

Apt looks very nice with a great view. Where did you get your tickets for St.Chapelle concert? thanks!

Paris ... what a lovely way to unwind & de-stress, TPAYT!

I look forward to reading more about your time there! DH & I had no travel plans for this year, So, I am living vicariously through your Paris stories!

Great view! Looking forward to more details....

A major reason for a revisit to Notre Dame........
June 2014 we brought our 13 yr. old GD to Paris & London. Not being a very religious family we were quite surprised at how she loved ND and spent quite a long time with her prayer while lighting a candle in ND. One of her favorite souvenirs was the cap from the candle. Now the sad part......3 weeks before we left, our DD's family had a major fire in their home. Everyone got out but most everything was lost in the BDR's except what they were wearing. Our GD lost all of her possessions including that treasured candle cap. Of course we had to say a prayer and replace it for her. Oddly enough in her BD dresser, which was totally destroyed, the recovery crew found a tiny cloth bag with a pair if inexpensive Eiffel Tower earrings on a cardboard backing still intact while all else was in ashes.

We would have cancelled the trip but as we had booked on such short notice we had not taken out any insurance. Our DD assured us there was nothing we could do at that point. They were already moved into a rental for 1-2 yrs. and back to school & work.

OK, no more sad stuff! On to something that will give you a laugh (although upsetting to the people involved.)

After ND we walked over to St. Germain to have lunch at Les Deux Magots. While we were sitting outside watching the world go by, there was a guy parking (or moving) cars. He had a huge ring of keys. He was standing on a huge grate in the sidewalk. You guessed it!!! While fumbling with the keys he dropped one down the grate just as the car owner was returning. Needless to say much pointing down the grate followed by a big commotion. No idea how it was resolved but the car owner marched away in a huff.

BTW, lunch at LDM was very good, better than average for that tourist type of cafe.
And people watching was great.

Many on this forum ask what to wear in Paris.
Answer......anything, unless you are going to the very high end areas, shops, & restaurants. We saw tutus & converse tennis shoes, stripes against plaids, every kind of jacket, scarves galore, jeans & more jeans, stillettos on gals who could hardy walk, etc, etc. My idea....wear a blindfold, reach in your closet and put on whatever you grab & you will fit in!

Dinner tonight was at one of our favorites.
"L'Ilot Vache" on Rue St. Louis en Ile. I love the lamb chops there. They have a price fixe for 39 Euros, 3 courses. I had avocado turrine, lamb chops, creme brulee. MDH chose separate items that weren't on the PF menu. He had his favorite foie gras, & filet steak. Along with a cheese course for me (included for me) couple of wines & coffees it was 120 Euros. We've had dinner here many times. Everything was excellent except the brochette, kind of tough beef. Just a warning as it is on the PF menu. Wonderful service and very cute place,

The Paris sewer services have a special number to call for emergency retrieval of things lost down drains and grates.

You were luckier with the weather than us. We arrived on 10/13 and left 10/18. It was too cold for me! We had 40's and low 50's with sporadic rain and winds. Dreary skies, almost no sun. But it was still wonderful to be in Paris! Next time we'll go in mid-September or in late Spring.

We stayed on Ile de la Cite in a small 4th floor walk-up (husband wanted to kill me, lol) with a killer view. We enjoyed the location but think we'll be back in the 7th next time. One of our best experiences was also the Vivaldi Four Seasons concert at Sainte Chappelle. Magical.

We did get a tour of the Hotel de Ville, did you?

I'm looking forward to reading more about your trip!

I am enjoying reading your report. My husband & I stayed in this apartment a couple of years ago. We chose it mainly for the location and great view and we spent many late afternoons enjoying a drink on the little balcony.

We loved everything about this comfortable apartment and especially the great shops and restaurants on the Ile.

Enjoy the rest of your trip.

<i>Dreary skies, almost no sun. But it was still wonderful to be in Paris! Next time we'll go in mid-September or in late Spring.</i>

That is not a guarantee of anything. The meteorologists keep repeating that current temperatures are 5-6° below normal. When means that next year there is just as good a chance of temperatures being "normal" or 5-6° above normal.

The same goes for other months...

nola------yes, we were lucky with the weather, so sorry you were not. 2 yrs. ago we trained up from The Dordogne at the end of Sept. for 4 days. It rained all 4 days & nights so I feel your pain. Other Sept.'s the weather was beautiful. You just can't tell.
No, we didn't get to Hotel de Ville. We had planned to call on Thurs. for Fri. tour but just didn't think of it in time.
Are you writing a TR?

kerouac-----thanks for clearing that up. We wondered what would happen.

yestravel-----we ordered the concert tickets at classictic.com for 34 Euro each.
You can buy them at St. Chapelle or at the tabac across the street for less but as we had missed out once before, we wanted to make sure we got in.

Another day was D'Orsay. We hadn't been there in 10 yrs. or so. We spent about 3 hrs. there. The impressionists are always a joy along with sculptures, furrniture, etc. It was nice to not be in a hurry to get elswhere. We could just take our time and enjoy.

Late lunch @ Les Flore en Ile near our apt. Overpriced omelettes but good. We should have remembered that.

Dinner....."La Rotisserie" on left bank across from ND. It's part of "La Tour D'Argent" (the extra expensive restaurant across the street.) Small menu of rotisserie meats and also a veal head. I saw that served and was not tempted in the least. We had chicken & ff's. It was good but we like the other Ck. place Guy Savoy's "Atelier Matre Albert", a few blocks away, better. Should have gone there.

Baguette, pastry, coffee----walk and look----eat lunch----walk, look, shop a bit-----wine & dinner! Yikes! I love Paris!

I can appreciate a great view, but I always thought that the most charming aspect of visiting Paris was sitting at a cafe terrace with other people. I don't understand why people want to go sit by themselves on a private terrace or stick around their apartments or hotels when there are so many fascinating people and things to see outside. Why leave home at all?

Oh, you can do both.

kerouac-----I meant clearing up the key/grate thing not the weather.

I was replying to fuzzbucket about "great view vs café terrace."

fuzzbucket -- what stops one from having both? i love sitting in cafes people watching and passing the time and I equally love sitting on a nice balcony with a view sipping coffee or having a drink with my travel partner. Both fabulous!

TPAYT-thanks for info on St. Chapell.

@kerouac, weather is the most uncertain thing about travel! We'll try Paris in September and may get lucky with the weather. But if not, we'll still be in Paris--and that's all that really matters to me. I cried when I left because I know it will be at least a couple of years before I'm back.

@TPAYT, I'll be doing a trip report in the next few days/weeks. It was a busy but wonderful and varied two weeks in France. The Dordogne was beyond amazing.

@yestravel, I bought our tickets on billereduc.com and paid E25 (instead of E30) per person. We were in the middle section, open seating. It wasn't sold out when we were there.

Pffff.

I wanted to read this.
Really.

Then I started to find abbreviations. DH - ok a lot of people use it here.
Then MDH, BR, LR, BDR, ND (ok this one is easy), GD, BD, LDM, PF and TR.

TR is what I feel about it ... Toucher rectal...

We should have a section 'FUSPO' For US Posters Only.

Ok rant over.
CQFD.
RAB.
A+

TPAYT, wasn't it you who recommended Le Parc aux Cerfs to us? Did you eat there on this trip? Also I am still grateful for the LLBean (stylish) fleece you recommended!

TPAYT-- I am totally transported back to my time before Fodors and not an experienced traveler at all. My first meal in Paris was lunch at LDM and I was so afraid to even try to order French. I had the most wonderful waiter who said with a smile., "Try". I did and he kindly said, "Parfait".

It was not perfect and still isn't but a fond memory for me. Maybe that's where I got hooked. And even though my French skills are still terrible, that bit of encouragement has never left me, so I still try.

Proof that you never know what you will get....Atelier Maitre Albert was one of the worst meals we have ever had in Paris and we really wanted to like it. Maybe we hit it an off night. Glad you enjoyed it.

We also had a not so good meal at Atelier Maitre Albert. I was so looking forwrd to their chicken that I had read about. Good others have enjoyed it.

I think the site for the St Chapelle tickets is billetreduc.com The link above is missing a t

I'd have to agree with Pariswat on that remark. Either you have the time to type complete words or you don't. I guess it's almost time to say Merry Xmas.

nola----one of our best trips was to the Dordogne. I can't wait to hear about your time there.

socialworker----yes, we did like Le Parc aux Cerf and always said we return. It's near Montparnasse and Raspail and we just didn't get to that area this time. Maybe next trip.

denisea----ooops! You typed LDM and I guess that isn't the way the Fodorites like it!

So, as not to abbreviate, Oh My God, I so enjoyed my lunch back in the day at Les Deux Magots.

You can't win for losing on Fodors sometimes! :-)

Judy, thanks for posting the correct link. Typing while jet lagged is dangerous!

TPAYT

Not everybody here has been raised in US.
And we don't use so many abbreviations in Europe.
So you alienate some people by not extending the courtesy of writing in a way that foreigners could nuderstand.
Foreigners who spent a lot of efforts to communicate in your language.

You ever tried to learn another language ? And then you find tourself among people who don't do the minimum to be understood ? How do you feel about that ?

Well, I feel that I'm wasting my time with such people.

Imho. Fwiw.