Paris, done all the touristy stuff...
 

Fourth time in Paris, this time we are more interested in doing things at a slower pace.
Last time we were there we went to place des vosges on a Sunday and we loved it. any other similar experiences? what about Jardins de Luxoumbourg (sp)? or any other suggestions
Thank you all

Bonjour lol!

Just back from five wonderful days in Paris!

I suggest you have a look at the thread '100 Great Things to do in Paris' to which I just added another nice place to visit (Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson).

BTW, the Jardin du Luxembourg was absolutely packed these days. It was hot and sticky in the city, so a walk in the park was a nice thing to do.
You shouldn't run out of non-touristy things to do. Just walk in areas where you've never been before.

At your arrival airport you can buy for 70 eurocents the listings magazine Pariscope, with many ideas for afternoon and evening music and for temporary exhibitions that few tourists go to, and many Parisians.

[email protected]

Have you been to the tea-rooms and hammam by the Paris Mosque? Located on the corner of rue Daubenton and rue Geoffroy Saint Hilaire. The tea rooms are splendid, with outdoor patio and covered terrace, and the sweet mint tea and pastries are cheap and tasty. I've never been to the Hammam myself, though I've heard its worthwhile. You might need to check the opening times and days, as I think it's open alternate days for men and women.
The mosque is right near the Jardin des Plantes and the Natural History Museum, and not far from the Institut du Monde Arabe, which often has interesting cultural exhibitions.

Hi lol,

Sunday brunch at the Jacquemar-Andre' museum followed by a stroll through the Parc Monceau and surrounding neighborhood is very nice.

Even with crowds, Luxembourg Gardens is wonderful.
Have you been to Pere Lechaise Cemetery? That's definitely worth your time.

I never really considered the Parks to be so "touristy" considering how many Parisians use them every day.
I never feel that a trip is complete without sitting in the Luxembourg Gardens for a couple of hours, just absorbing the loveliness of it all:)
Other suggestions might be the Passey area where Claude Monets home/museum is, walk the neighborhood, see the shops and interesting architecture.
The Parc aux Buttes is a little out of the way and wonderful.
Then there are the Markets. The bird market, the rue Cler market, the Flea Markets.
Then you have the vineyards in Montmarte.
Personally, after our 4th, 5th visits, we were content to skip the big tourist attractions (although I must go to museums every visit) and we just walked, stopping for meals and then continuing. No real plan, just walking and being there.
Have fun!

I think a visit to Basilique St-Denis at the end of Metro line 13 is worth a visit. It has some wonderful sculptures on the tombs.

An early morning stroll along the top of the Viaduc des Arts among the plantings and treetops is very refreshing. Start at the Opera Bastille end walk towards the Gare de Lyon. Return at street level when the shops and studios have opened.

When you return to Place de la Bastille walk up Blvd Richard Lenoir to the Canal St Martin for a leisurely canal boat ride.

St.Denis basilic is a must, please dont miss it, is worth the long metro trip. Everytime I go to Paris ,I always go back there..I have visited many cathedrals in France, but I never felt so peaceful or spiritual like in St.Denis...The tombs are a work of art, all in marbles but the details and carvings are exceptionals..
Have a nice trip,
Ciao, kismet

thank you all for the responses.
can you please tell me more about Pere Lachaise Cemetery and how to get there?
thank you

I love Jardin du Luxembourg! My mom and I went picnic shopping in a pedestrian market south of the Monteparness cemetary and then had a wonderful lunch on the grass watching the kids sail their boats in the pond!

How about a canal ride on the Canal St. Martin? You get the boats at Bastille Metro Stop. The boats go up and down locks to La Villette & it takes about 2 1/2 hours. (You might call and make a reservation, when we did this recently the boat was quite full).

You can also take the Metro to Chateaux Vincennes -- it's at the end of the Metro line marked Vincennes.

Stroll the streets on the "backside" of Montmartre (behind Sacre Couer).

Stroll around the area near the Marmattan Museum, nice area, cafes, etc. Closest Metro is LaMuette.

Have you seen the view from Montparnasse Tower? Many repeat visitors still never make it up there.

My two favorite things in Paris are markets and passages. The markets are everyday except Monday but in different arrondissements on different days. Patricia Wells in the Food Lover's Guide to Paris lists them and I believe there is also a listing in the Eyewitness guide to Paris. But the best is a book called Paris in a Basket by Nicolle Meyer and Amanda Smith. They tell you a bit about the flavor of the market and the arrondissement it's in.

The other neat thing to do to get into areas of Paris you might not otherwise see is to take in the passages, covered streets often glass-roofed. There are many of these in the 1st and 2nd and a few in the 9th and 10th. Go to http://www.timeout.com/paris/feature...ng/arches.html for a list of some of the more interesting passages with a bit of info on the types of shops or attractions therein.

Re Pere Lachaise:

http://www.fodors.com/miniguides/mgr...=full&pg=3

...will tell you the metro stops, the streets w/entrances, and even Rants & Raves ratings (currently at 4.7 out of 5!)

Just back from Paris. I second (third, fouth?) the Jardin de Luxembourg as a great place to relax. We spent a LOT of time there. Go to one of the marionette shows in the park. The kids are so cute. They shout at all the characters. There is a free exhibit of new artists showing large works based on the animal theme in the park.

If you are interested in museums, try the Louvre on Monday night when it is open until 9:45pm. It was not crowded at all. Of course there is so much in there to see it is great to pick a particular section or two and enjoy the art to yourself.

The Jacquesmart Andre and Parc Monceau are good suggestions too.

If you like to shop, spend the day poking around the boutiques of Saint Germain or spend some time in the the Galeries Lafayette (I really like to shop).

It stays light until 10pm these days so you have plenty of time to wander around the city. We stayed up late, taking advantage of the museums night openings, and had late dinners. That meant that all the tourists were gone from the restaurants.

I recommend the shopping passages too. I walked them with my Dad in May and really enjoyed them. I used an itinerary I found in "Lonely Planet Paris Condensed."

You might also find the "squat art" building on r. Rivoli very near the Chatelet metro stop. It's art is very modern and I've only ever walked past it 'cause I'm not a big modern art fan. But the exterior alone is worth walking past. I've been by 3 years in a row and it's different every time. You can key 'squat' 'art' 'paris' into google and come up with other locations.

I also did the Paris Arcades/covered passageways on a rainy afternoon in April. The Paris tourist office website had a lot of information on them in their section called - Reports - which I saved to a word file. Plus I used a book called Walking Paris by G. Desmons.
Mara

I spent a month in Paris so was also looking for sites not touted in the guide books. Parc Monceau, Jacquemart-Andre, Nissam Comondo house/museum are a few of my favorites. I also enjoyed spending some time in Jardin du Trocadero across from the Eiffel Tower - kids skating, playing in the fountain pool, fountains going off periodically - took a book but never bothered reading as it was such great people watching.

I also second the Paris Canal boat trip - you see a very different area of Paris and the narrator (live) is a lot of fun.

If you haven't visited Bonjour Paris (bparis.com) please do as I got a lot of ideas from that site.

For a day out of Paris, I highly recommend Rouen. I have a report on my day there. [email protected]

Here's another recommendation for Pere LaChaise and a HUGE tip. DO NOT get off the subway at Pere LaChaise...ride one stop further to Gambetta. Here, there's a lovely square with cafes (for fortifying yourself and visiting "nice" restrooms). As you head toward the (northern) entrance, stop in one of the florist shops and buy a map. Costs about $2 and is much more comprehensive than those on the web or in the tour guides, which omit many, many lanes (and the printing is in the proper direction) which makes it difficult to find the graves you're seeking. At any rate, this enables you to walk through DOWNHILL. This cemetary along a very steep hill! If Jim Morrison's grave is at the top of your list, you'll have saved the best for last (and you won't have had to hike up that hill for Oscar Wilde, who's near the top!). When you get to the bottom, skip the restrooms near the "main" entrance (ugh!) and head south on Menilmontant ("montant" means climbing, though easterly, not southerly) Ave where you'll find cafes with fine restroom facilities.

Montmartre is another terrific place to explore. Get off the subway at Lamarck Caulaincourt. Head over to rue Caulaincourt where there is a cafe with tables set on a deck perched over one of those steep sidewalks (steps, actually) with magnificent views.

Get a copy of the "Routard Paris" (Amazon, etc.). Chock full of dining destinations/cafes/wine bars NOT in all the tour guides, magazine articles, and so forth, accompanied by things do see and do all around, also not included in all the tour guides. Look beyond the 1st through 8th. The 16th is especially nice.

Another fabulous resource is "Bistros of Paris" by the Hamburgers. You'll inadvertently find charming neighborhoods to explore just by selecting appealing places to visit for lunch or dinner...

And, here's another recommendation for Basilique St-Denis - awesome!

We found the cruise down (we started at the north) Canal St. Martin (after a wonderful lunch on the way) a totally relaxing and enjoyable way to spend a beautiful afternoon.

If you really feel you've done all the "touristy stuff," and I do find that a bit hard to believe, as I'm going on something like 53 visits to Paris and I don't feel as though I've exhausted even the tourist sites, per se (some of them I just love to visit and revisit), check out Julian Green's book "Paris." It will completely change your approach to Paris and definitely steer you away from anything "touristy."

Here is the translated passages web site:

http://translate.google.com/translat...UTF-8%26sa%3DG

If you find yourself in the Passage de Panoramas, "La Creperie" serves a mouth watering array of coupes [ice cream parfaits and sundaes]. Galerie Colbert opens into the back of Le Grand Colbert, a very attractive restaurant. However I prefer Le Vaudeville, which is up the street and across from the Bourse.

I can recommend Paris Story, a multimedia presentation about the history of Paris playing hourly on the hour. It is located on r. Scribe, next door to the American Express.

For impressionist fans, take a day trip to Auvers-sur-Oise and see the show at the Auvers Chateau, which is clever beyond words.

I have a file on this and other day trips.

By the way, Place des Vosges is a block away from bus #69, one of the most senic routes. Hotel de Ville, Louvre, Musee d'Orsay, Rue cler, Champ de Mars.

http://www.citefutee.com/orienter/bus.php

Ronz: It's Paristoric....at 11, bus, rue Scribe.

Euuwww, sorry, that's 11 BIS rue Scribe.

It is called Paris Story in English -- they call it that themselves on their web site:
http://www.paris-story.com/versangl/accueil.htm

If you like museums, Paris has so many that you might try some of the lesser known ones -- several are suggested above. I particularly like the Maillol FOundation which has more modern art, as well as the Jacquemart-Andre (which is fairly well known). I'm been to some really unknown ones, such as the museum of public hospitals and a tour of Hotel Dieu because I'm a public health professional, but I know most wouldn't be interested in those.

I did find the folk art/culture museum very interesting, but I especially like that kind of thing -- I suppose it is touristy because it's a museum, but it's mostly French tourists. It has exhibits of furniture, dress, etc showing the history of France and Paris over the years. That is out near Neuilly near the Sablons metro stop.
The Music Museum is fantastic if you are at all interested in classical music and music history. Again, it's for tourists, I suppose, but not crammed with them.

If you haven't been to Luxembourg Gardens yet in four trips, definitely go. Some other parks that might be nice are Monceau and Montsouris. It's right next to the Jardin d'Acclimation which is for little kids.

See www.metropoleparis.com/
Almost every week Ric does a wonderful, detailed report on some street or area in Paris. And on Thursday afternoons you can go to the free club meeting near the Louvre and compare notes with others who are visiting or living there.

If you are a fan of Impressionist paintings, here's something for your to consider.
Buy the book "Guide to Impressionist Paris" by Patty Lurie. (I bought it on line at alldirect.com.)
It provides guided walks through the exact locations that inspired the Impressionists.
The book is a triple treat:
1. It offers 9 self-tours you can take.
2. It includes detailed discussions of each area.
3. It includes pairs of "then and now" pictures--a print of the artwork alongside a color photograph of the scene as it looks today.
Even if you don't take any of tours, it's a great read!

The Nissim-Camondo museum right agains the parc Monceau. The parc André Citroën with its tethered balloon ride and various nooks and crannies for picknicking.

Just returned from 6 wonderful days at the end of our 3 week vacation. Stayed in a great apartment which made us feel like we lived there as we could shop in the local markets and cook if we wanted which we did. If you haven't been to the Marmottan Museum (Metro La Muette) at 2 Rue Louis Boilly 75016 that is a nice museum especially if you enjoy the impressionist - Monet. Small and easy to do in a few hours. Lots of water lilly paintings. Also second the St. Denis trip. One of the oldest churches in France. Lots of royalty and Marie Antionette buried there. We went and were there on a day (Mon) when there ( was a HUGE flea market - quite international. Spending time in the gardens with a good book is always wonderful. There must be some neighborhoods you haven't conquered yet. We have a great book "Paris Walks" which we have used twice now and really enjoy the walks. Have a gerat trip in a great city. Shar

I have been to Paris many times and you have never done it all. Paris would be a lifetime project if you lived there.

On my last trip, I went out to Isle des Impressionists and had lunch at La Fournaise, the restaurant Renoir painted in his "Afternoon of the Boating Party".

I also spent time at The Louvre. You can never finish with that museum. Additionally, I saw the Picasso Museum and the new Jewish Museum and took the Thalys train to Brussels for the day.

My week in Paris went very quickly and I have plenty of stuff on my list for the next visit--whenever that is.

Be sure to leave time for just walking around.

Absolutely Luxembourg Gardens, or any public park for that matter i.e., Tuilleries, etc. These are well-used by Parisians on a daily basis. So I don't consider them a 'touristy' thing.

Personally for a slower pace (which is how I always travel) sitting at sidewalk cafes for coffee or wine and people-watching is a fine, authentic activity.

What about some of the more off-beat tours like the Catacombs?