Paris Fodor GT in May
 

The March Paris GT thread was getting busy with March and April, so I decided to start one for May.<BR><BR>I'll be in Paris May 8th, 9th &amp; 10th with my Dad. May 8th is the Victory 1945 holiday. <BR><BR>Anyone else in town and interested in meeting?

I will be there May 5 to June 2 ; staying in the 7 e. Would love to meet with anyone else. It will be nice to hear/speak English! <BR><BR>Are there big celebrations planned for May 8th..parade down the Champs? K.

Topping for David. Surely there are others who will be in Paris on the same dates as he.

David and Kay: We were in Paris in March 2002, and can hardly wait to return. This year, we will be in Paris on May 6, 7, and 8 (leaving on the 9th). It looks like May 8 would work. <BR><BR>It would be nice to meet fellow Fodorites to share tips and experiences. We will stay on the Left Bank in the St-Germain-de-Pres area, 6th Arrondisement.<BR><BR>We are watching the airfare prices from L.A. to Paris, hoping that the flights in May will go on sale. I see that Air France offers nonstop flights from LAX to CDG. I would appreciate any tips or insights on typically when would be the best time to purchase flights for May.<BR><BR>Woody

Topping to see if anyone has bought tickets to Paris for May yet. :-)

Yes, we have our tickets but they are for May 10 - 15. Would love to meet if these dates work for anyone.

I booked our LAX/CDG flights on Air France, and we will be in Paris May 6, 7 and 8, before leaving for other destinations. <BR><BR>The non-stop roundtrip price on AirFrance.com was $636 per person, which was in the ballpark of what we were willing to spend for non-stop flights in May between L.A. and Paris. Following the good advice of other Fodorites in posts about shopping for airfare, I watched the fares daily and bought when the fare unexpectedly dropped for only one day.<BR><BR>Not having flown on Air France, and despite the divergent views on the airline (it seems that people either love or hate Air France, with NO middle ground), I thought I would give them a try.<BR><BR>We can meet fellow Fodorites on May 8 in Paris if that date works for others.<BR><BR>Woody

I wouldn't mind meeting for drinks around 5-ish both Thursday May, 8th and Saturday May 10th . That's about the time I'm tired from the day and ready to kick back, relax and have a cocktail anyway. Might as well do it with some Fodorites. Besides after two full weeks of quality father/son time we'll both be ready to chat with some other people.

We'll be there but after 10 days in Provence....we'll spend May 19-22 in Paris.

It looks like we will be in Paris May 22-27. Would be interested in joining others for a drink or coffee if anything happens that late in the month.<BR><BR>Gee, I've never met ANYONE from this board before. What could be more fitting than to meet in Paris?

Will be in Paris 12-16 May. Would like to meet some fellow Fodorites. Oh! staying at the New Roblin Hotel.

We'll be in Paris May 9 and 10, then again May 17 and 18. Staying at the Hotel des Grandes Ecoles in the 5th for the first stay; Hotel de Banville in the 17th for the second.<BR><BR>Woody, I think I am that rare person who doesn't love or hate Air France. Of the three airlines that we've used to fly into CDG, AF falls right in the middle. The surprising bit of info is that United holds the top spot and American comes in last. This year, however, American offered the best price, so we're giving them another try.<BR><BR>Air France was actually quite lovely and may have been closer to top place if our direct flight hadn't been cancelled. They immediately made arrangements for us to fly Delta to Atlanta, but unfortunately we had about a six-hour-layover there, so we pretty much lost a half-day of Paris time to traveling time (especially sad for us because this trip was basically a long weekend).<BR>

elle: Thank you for sharing your comments about Air France. One reason we chose AF was that it offers nonstop flights between L.A. and Paris. The scheduled flight time from LAX to CDG is 10 hours 40 minutes. <BR><BR>As for your flights to Paris on American Airlines, the extra legroom and individual video screens are a plus.<BR><BR>Woody

That's part of the problem--our American flight in 2001 didn't have individual video screens, but our United flight in 2000 did.<BR><BR>And while there may be more leg room on American, on our United flight, we were the only two people in our row of three seats, so it seemed roomier. . . <BR><BR>Plus, the United flight was part of our honeymoon. I expect that colored our experience a bit!

elle: Individual video screens, a row to yourselves, and honeymoon bliss. What a terrific combination -- on any airline.

I just remembered one other reason why the United flight was so wonderful: the price ($250 RT from Philadelphia to Paris on Priceline, in late April-early May).<BR><BR>

Back to the top just to check and see. <BR><BR>Hey Eyespy, Christina or anyone else. Would you know of a cafe in the 6th that might be open for drinks the late afternoon of May 8th? It's the Victory 1945 holiday and I'm not sure what will be open.<BR><BR>What about those couple of cafe's at the intersection of r. de Buci and r. de l'Ancienne Comedie? There was some great people watching last time I was there this past spring.

TTT<BR><BR>And where's the real &quot;TTT&quot; or &quot;ttt&quot; when you need them? :-)

I just rented an apt. in Paris for late June/July, but haven't been there on that holiday. Having been there for bigger holidays, I would assume most cafes will be open on May 8th. How about Cafe de la Mairie on St-Sulpice place? I don't usually hang on at the ones on bd St-Germain that much myself because it's so crowded, but I do sort of like the Mandarin, however, at the corner of bd St-Germain and rue de Seine (NW corner) and La Palette a little farther north on rue de Seine, just past rue Jacob. All of these will be fine for people-watching. Actually, I used to really like Cafe Cluny at the corner of bd St-Germain and St-Michel because it seemed you ran into someone you knew there sooner or later no matter what, but the last time I was there they had turned that into some awful pizza place or something. That really bummed me out, the owner was a funny guy.

We will be in Paris 5/14-5/17, staying at the Lancaster. Our first trip, a Valentine's Day present for my wife. From there, we're staying at a Chateau near Alencon for a week. Would love to meet up with anyone who is interested.