PegS

Ugh. So, it looks like the studio in the 6th we were planning on renting has been taken off the market. Owner was very nice and is sending back our deposit check but now I'm on the hunt again. 2nd choice is also booked during our timeframe (Late Sept-early Oct).

Now that I'm going through VBRO again I'm wondering if the 1st would be an alternative. This will be are first Paris visit so I wanted to be centrally located, within walking distance of all the major sites. It's sort of why I'm eliminated the Marais from the list (though I'm willing to be persuaded). I'm now looking at some places in the 1st, close to the Seine, around the Louvre Rivoli metro. I'm worried there won't be shops and bakeries I can pop down to, as there were around St. Germain. I guess, as I start the apt hunt again, I'd just like some advice from you experts as to whether or not the 1st would be a bad idea, and if not, any places I should in particular target or avoid? TIA!!!

knoxvillecouple

Peg -

I don't know what your budget requirements are, or your absolute need for patisseries, etc.. We stayed at the Brighton Hotel on Rue de Rivoli (our first trip) and loved it. The views are incredible (get a renovated room facing Rue de Rivoli), and very near by Louvre, Musee d'Orsay, Seine, Place Vendome, Place de la Concorde, etc. and across the street from Tuileries and metro stop. Address is 218 Rue de Rivoli; http://www.esprit-de-france.com/pres...g=EN&id=7]

KC

StCirq

I don't understand the "I want to be within walking distance of all the major sites" mentality. It's not as though Paris was built yesterday and everything a tourist will want to do was dumped together in a convenient spot. The "main sights" are spread out all over the city and beyond. So being able to walk to all of them is a useless criterion.

To answer the question about the 1st, it has less of a "neighborhood" feel because most of it's smack downtown and commercial. It's not where I'd want to stay, in a hotel or an apartment. That said, I doubt if you'd ever be far from a boulangerie or "shops" anywhere in Paris. The 1st won't be a "bad" place to stay, but I'd concentrate on the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th in your search.

teaberry

PegS -

I remember you, because you were the poster who steered me to the thread here that gave such a wonderful description of VRBO #38764, in the 6th. Is that the studio you are now referring to that will be taken off the market? I am so sorry to hear that. We will actually be staying there this April (all deposits and payments are in). Hope we don't get any last minute surprises!!

Anyway, I thought I could return the favor of your kindness by referring you to this apartment: http://www.parisbestlodge.com/mazarine.html
Of course, I have never been there, but I have read nothing but very very nice reviews about it, and it is in the 6th near all the sites and bakeries. Maybe this will help.

Best of luck, tea

ira

Ditto StCirq.

Ian

Like KC, on one of our business trips we stayed at the Brighton for 2 nights facing the Tuileries. Rivoli is a busy noisy road but a thick glass door killed the noise, but be cautioned. It is not a nice, quaint area as you'll find in the 5th, 6th or 7th.

But, you will be able to walk the bulk of sight-seeing Paris easily. We did.

Ian

luveurop

Is there some reason why you must stay in an apartment?

There are probably 100 or more hotels in all price ranges in the 6th.

grantop

The first time we were in Paris we stayed in the 1st and it was fine! It was a block from the Seine and we walked all over. It was a hotel though (basic, not fancy), and not an apartment. Here's the link http://hovicha.com

I understand what you are saying when you want to be close to things - you don't want to be in an outer area and have to metro just to have breakfast!

Julienas

Put me down as enjoying my stays in the 1st as much as my stays on the left bank. I like being walking distance to the Louvre, I like being walking distance to Place de la Concorde (and being able easily to see it lit up at night) and I like being walking distance to Place Vendome, Opera Garnier, etc.

It IS true that there a fewer choices for good-value 'pop-in' cafes but there are some, and I don't ever limit my dinners anyway, to just what's near my hotel.

La Sourdiere is one good place for dinner in the 1st.
La Tour de Montlhery/Chez Denis, Le Dauphin, Le Safran, are others.

There are four Boulangerie Paul in the 1st, if that helps.

PegS

Teaberry, oui, c'est moi. <waves> The studio is off the market beginning in July and we'll there in Oct. I'll check out that other apt, thanks. I am glad, though, that you'll be able to enjoy the Rue de Tournon studio.

Luveurop, I want an apt because I like to cook and it drives me crazy to go by gorgeous meat and produce without being able to buy anything.

Ian, Julienas, Grantop, thanks so much for the reassurance.

I appreciate all the replies and I"ll take them all to heart.

SUNSHINE1223

I don't know about everyone else but my 4 trips to Paris, I always stay in the 1st arr. I love it. I have stayed at the Hotel du Louvre, Albany St James and Hotel Lotti and a smaller one on Rue St Roch right off Rue de Riovli. There is an awesome patisserie/boulangerie right at Rue St Roch and St Honore. Absolutely wonderful. I always make a pit stop there to bring home baguettes and pain au chocolats for my sisters. I think the 1st is so centrally located and I usually walk everywhere from there. We have walked back from the Monet museum.
Try looking online. I got the HOtel Lotti ( 5 star ) for $100 u.s. That was an awesome steal. The St James also was very nice. I used the Entertainment book with that one when I took my sister there for her birthday.

tuscanlifeedit

This is so off topic, but my spiritual mentor has a saying that keeps popping into my mind every time I go by this thread title. She always says, "I believe that people are just about as happy as they decide to be."

I guess that could apply to being in the 1st, or anywhere else. Oh, I know you were looking for specific things, and I always am too, but her words kept ringing in my mind all day, so I had to share them.

TahitiTams

Love the 1st..Hotel Lotti and Hotel du Louvre.. great deals on Expedia..never a problem for a pastries and a latte. Never booked an Apt. we should.
We have had great luck in the 7th and it is always walking distance to one of the finest restaurants in town..
Le Florimond.
Have fun and enjoy wherever you may be.
We will be there during your time frame.

Christina

A lot of folks are very happy staying in the 1st, so I guess you will find it satisfactory. I agree with some others, it isn't quite as "quaint" or residential as some others others, though, as it is more of a business area (plus some other major buildings and things that aren't residential). But you are in the center of a major metropolitan area, so you can't expect it to just be a neighborhood.

The one thing I found kind of unusual about your comments are that you rejected the Marais because you think it isn't central enough. huh??? You are being pretty darn picky.

Trudaine

There are really two parts in the 1st arrondissement (clearly reflected in the real estate prices), the "bad" one around Les Halles which is so-so (simply because major mass transit lines intersect there, making it the gateway to the city for those coming from the suburbs), and the "good" one, basically west of the rue du Louvre, which is very fine with the Palais-Royal (gardens with galleries), the place du marché Saint-Honoré, with its posh restaurants, not to mention the Louvre and the Tuileries gardens.
Check on a map the place were you might be located.

lowrancs

PegS, I was in Paris a year and a half ago and stayed for 5 weeks in an apartment in the 6th, right off Place St. Michel. It was perfect and I absolutely loved it, but the apartment was not available for this trip (we're going next month). This time, I got an apartment very close by in the 1st. It's on Place Dauphine which is at the very tip of Ile de la Cite, so although I, too, was a little concerned about the lack of shops, bakeries, etc., it's just a couple of minutes over the bridge to all of that in St. Germain. Don't know when you're going or what your price range is, but I'll give you a report on it when I get back! Here's the link to the apartment: http://www.apartrental.com/detail_54.html.

Doubletee

Please don't rule out the Marais! I had two friends who visited Paris and rented an apartment on rue des Tournelles just off of place des Vosges and were quite satisfied with their choice! (And they got to walk to the Bastille or St-Paul Metro stations via place des Vosges -- talk about a perk.)

I stay almost exclusively in the Marais; it's not a long walk at all to the pleasures of Ile-St-Louis...which is of course a short stroll from Notre-Dame...which is of course a bridge away from the Latin Quarter...and...

See? Pas de probleme.

PegS

Okay, after all of that drama and a few places that were either unavailable or never responded, I ended up...heh, in the Marais, the 3rd to be more specific. The owner sent me a bunch of good reviews and seems very nice. The place looks cute and is inexpensive. Most importantly, it's available! ;-)
http://www.vrbo.com/49273

basingstoke

Everything you say that you want is nearby the Hotel du Danube*** - my favorite hotel in Paris. [email protected]
The address is 58 Rue Jacob in St Germain. Price is about 165 euro.

LAX

Trudaine:

Is the "bad" of 1st safe? Would you feel safe to walk in that neighborhood at night? I am also trying to decide whether staying in 1st is a good idea. I am leaning towards it mainly because it's at the center of Paris (it doesn't get any more central than that!). TIA.

LAX