My husband and I are going to Paris for our 3rd anniversary in the middle of May. We will arrive on a Thursday morning and will leave on Sunday.
We need help to decide where to stay in order to maximize our trip.
Whenever we travel we fit a lot into each trip. we enjoy seeing the sights but we also try not to get caught up in the "touristy" scenarios.
Several friends have recomended hotels on the left bank but we are not sure about location so that we can do and see as much as possible. Is the Left bank the best place for use to be? Anyone that can recommend accomodations as well as what to do and see in our 4 days, would be really helpful!
Thanks in advance.

Maybe you should get a guidebook first, and decide what you want to see.

I agree with Tulips. In a microcosm, you are asking us to tell you how to arrange your life.

Take the hotel scene. Paris has well over 500 hotels from which to make a reasonable selection. I have a sample size of 3. Two of them I do not go back to, the 3rd done I do. But that does not mean I don't have a list of several more I have thought of trying.

The list of attractions in Paris is incredibly long. How to select from the list is formidable even for those of us who know what we would like to see. For example, being an art fan, it is always a question for me of fitting in the Musee d'Orsay. Another friend of mine looks at me and says, "You saw that last time. Why again?"

Not being a big cathedral or church visitor, Sacre Coeur gets low priority for me. That same friend again rolls her eyes when I say I might see it; I might not.

The best advice I have read on this forum has to do with Paris.
It is hard to research attractions on the Internet if you cannot spell the names correctly. I guess it is real fame, however, when you enter a misspelling and still get information.
Sacre Coer is a good example, you can get a picture of Sacre Coeur with the above name.

Hi, do you have a budget in mind for your hotel? Let us know and you'll get a lot of suggestions.

One activity you may want to consider is a hop on/hop off bus tour, here is a webisite: http://www.paris-opentour.com/index_eng.htm

Sorry for being so vague. We don't really need recomendations on the sights. We don't have a budget for our hotel however, since we won't be there too much, we are really interested in the location, and having a clean, safe place to rest our heads- with our own bath. A few friends have recommended hotels on the Left Bank. Is this a good location to be able to get around? Does anyone have any experience with either of these hotels? Hotel Le Ste.Beuve or
Hotel de l'Abbaye? Any help is greatly appreciated!

Hi 2seeds,

Congratulations on three years of marriage. Out of the 5 hotels I've stayed at in Paris (all budget) I would recommend Hotel des Grandes Ecoles in the 5th. Here's why: Friendly staff (madame greets all the guests in the morning with "bonjour&quot, security locks at night you open with a small device as you would a car, elevator, lovely rooms (best rooms overlooking the garden in the building across from receiption on the first floor, not ground floor), a fabulous garden where you can have breakfast or picnic lunches and dinners (there are plenty of tables and chairs), promixity to cafes (Place de la Contrascarpe) for late night dessert, coffee, or wine, Rue Mouffetard market (best on weekends), near 2 metro stations, walkable to many sights including things first-timers don't see such as the Mosque and Pantheon, smack in the middle of Hemingway country - he lived across the street when he first came to Paris, lots of restaurants in the area although some are very touristy and not that great.

The drawback is that you will find lots of Americans staying at this hotel so if you want to avoid other Americans (presuming you are American) then this isn't the place for you.

Have a great stay in Paris and a great anniversary.

adrienne

In your initial post you asked for recommendations on what to see and then in a previous post you said you don't need recommendations on the sights. Which is it? I didn't post any recommendations since you didn't seem to want them.

Adrienne:
Thanks for the info. I posted that I wasn't interested in recommendations for the sights b/c others said there was too much info in my post. So I had to prioritize with the hotels being my first concern however if you have recommendations you'd like to share I'd love to hear them!

2seeds, adrienne, has a wealth of info on what to see and do in Paris. I've been to Paris many times and still benefited greatly from her advice.

THANKS CHAT!!

Many times I feel that I post info and no one is really interested in what I have to say so you've made me feel very, very good.

2seeds - I'm leaving in a couple of hours for Malta but would like to give you some advice. Could you give me an idea of the types of things you like to see/do.

Don't worry about putting too much info in your posts. But, be succinct. Break questions into paragraphs so people don't overlook what you want to know.

Adrienne:
Thanks for your willingness to help! We are very active in our early 30's.
We like to pack as much as we can into our trips. Since this one is only 4 days, we want to maximize our days as much as possible.
Based on the Fodor's "if you have 3 days" we can pretty much figure out the major sights like the Eiffel Tower, Louvre, Notre Dame, etc. but maybe you can help with other "little known" ideas as well as scheduling each day since I know there is a lot we will want to see. I hope I am not asking too much.
Also, recommendations for restaurants would be helpful, especially in the evening.
I'd be happy to email you my direct email if you would rather do it that way, just let me know on this post.
Thanks again!

I recently stayed at le Sainte-Beuve. Here's a link to a thread with my comments and those of others:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=2

Thanks Elle- how do I view the link? I clicked on it and it just sent me back to the forum. I also tries cutting and pasting. Is there something else I should do?

Oh, that's weird. Same thing happened to me. Sorry.

Probably best to put the words "Sainte Beuve" into the search box, then click on find. Not only will you see the thread I mentioned, but all previous threads that mention le Saint-Beuve.

Elle:
That suggestion worked better but I was wondering if you remembered the title of the post you referred to. I skimmed through a few but didn't see your screen name.

I hope this isn't totally illegal in Fodor-land, but I've just copied my comments from that thread and will paste them here. Here goes:

Message:
Just checked out of the Sainte-Beuve yesterday morning, so unless the hotel changed dramatically overnight, my comments should be very up-to-date .

It's a very nice hotel and the price is quite decent. We had a Classic Room, which was a good size--double bed, two night stands, armoire, luggage rack, tv over mini bar, and a tall, thin chest of drawers (kind of like a lingerie chest). Furniture is in dark woods; upholstery is light, curtains floral and plaid in muted colors.

The toilet is separate from the bath/sink area, which is always nice. Bathroom was a good size, with marble top sink, a selection of toiletries, hairdryer, decent towels, imprinted terrycloth slippers, and embroidered Porthault bathrobes (that, frankly, had seen a few too many washings). The bed linens are Porthault too, I think.

Everything sparkled. We had a lovely balcony and enjoyed having the windows open a lot (this week was rather mild). The hotel is quite small (22 rooms), and there were just three rooms on our floor. We peaked into the one next to ours. It was a little bit larger; had two double beds and a desk.

Staff was extremely courteous and helpful (we had some problems with our phone, some other guests had problems with the tv--they handled these concerns patiently). Public areas are also quite tasteful, designed by British decorator David Hicks. They may have been a bit TOO tasteful for us--we had just transferred from a very funky hotel in the Marais, so the Saint-Beuve seemed subdued to say the least. Halls and public areas have sisal carpeting. Guests seemed to be primarily fair-haired anglophones (my husband was one of the few dark-haired, darker-skinned people in the breakfast room and he was afraid to smoke there because he felt sure that he would be subject to their blue-eyed wrath. . . )

Breakfast was a little too copious and the coffee was not quite up to our standards (I prefer mine dark and thick, this coffee was rather "American" in strength and flavor. Also, my husband prefers cafe creme, and the hotel's version was more like a cappuccino).

I like the location, which makes the hotel feel more like a part of Montparnasse than St. Germain, despite the fact that there is nothing even remotely bohemian about it.
The historic cafes of the Carrefour Vavin--La Coupole, Le Dome, Le Select, La Rotunde--are practically out the front door. There are two metro stations very close--Vavin and Notre Dames des Champs--that have pretty good lines and connections.

Shopping in the immediate neighborhood tends to focus on lighting, furniture, and other design-oriented stores, although there is a L'Occitane around the corner. Just a short walk up the Boulevard Raspail is an outdoor market. On Sundays it focuses on organic foods and wines.

The shops and sights of the "heart" of St. Germain aren't in the immediate area, but are just a 10-20 minute walk. The hotel is also well situated for visiting Luxembourg Gardens (which we did not do on this trip).

Hope this is helpful. If you have any specific questions, let me know. . .

Hi 2seeds - here's a link to my trip report from last year:
http://fodors.com/forums/pgMessages....xt=bells+of+st

Restaurants - there are lots of recommendations on this board. I usually just eat near my hotel since I'm usually too tired to go far for dinner.

Here are the things I like to do in Paris:

Museums: Cluny (medieval art, the building is over third-century Roman baths, also the heads of the kings of Judea broken off the façade of Notre Dame Cathedral), Lady and the Unicorn tapisteries.
Jacquemart-Andre (a look at a 19th century home of wealthy Parisians - wonderful Italianate frescoes).
Rodin Museum (since I like sculpture) - if you don't have a lot of time you can just explore the garden with its sculptures; discount admission for garden only.
Marmatton - in the Bois de Boulogne - wonderful small Impressionist Museum although it's a bit far away if you only have 4 days in Paris.

Pere Lachaise Cemetery - get a map at the entrance; 100,000 tombs in 108 acres; many of the tombs are large and fabulous.

Ste-Chappelle - if you only see one church in Paris this is the one to see. Try to get there around 2:00 in the afternoon and you may run into an English tour given by a grad student.

Notre Dame free English tours - 1.5 hours Wed & Thurs at 12:00 and Sat at 12:30. Describe the history of Gothic cathedrals, part of the façade statuary, and the inside of the church.

Deportation Museum (behind Notre Dame) - very moving - a memorial to the French Holocaust victims; open 9-12 and 2-7. This will only take about 20 minutes.

Roman Arena - 1st century - only the remains of the original arena.

Luxembourg Gardens

Metro Stations: If you use the metro there are lots of stations that have art work:
Abbesses - paintings on the walls by local artists; one of the two remaining original entrances designed by Guimard and there are lots more metro stations that are interesting.

Pre-trip Reading:
I'll Always have Paris - Art Buchwald - recounts his years during the 40s and 50s when he was a columnist for the International Herald Tribune
A Moveable Feast - Ernest Hemingway - his memoir of his early years in Paris.
Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris - very funny book, part of which describes his time in Paris
Maigret Mysteries - slice of life in 1930s Paris
French or Foe - Polly Platt - a guide to understanding French culture
Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett - the origins of Gothic cathedrals

Thanks so much! I'll look it over and let you know, in this post, if I have any questions. Also any other suggestions you have would be great.
Also, Adrienne, I hope you can help too!

2seeds, One thing that really helped in my trips to Paris was to decide what we wanted to see, then get a map of Paris and group them by arrondissement and keep those in the same area for the same day. This way you don't waste a lot of time backtracking across the city. If you do this and post a tentative itinerary, people can suggest other lesser-known things in the areas where you will be.

The Left Bank is definitely a good place to be as far as getting around, I like the 5th & 6th. We stayed at Hotel Grand des Balcons for $110 (2 years ago), not including breakfast. Great location in the 6th, close to the metro at Odeon. Not plush, but nice. Also stayed at Hotel Parc de Severin in the 5th last year, much closer to the river and close to St. Michel metro and bus lines. Some people think this area is too touristy and noisy, but we enjoyed the hustle & bustle. The hotel is off the main street where the noise is, so we didn't have any trouble sleeping.

Have fun in Paris!

Adrienne:
Thanks so much! I must have posted before I saw your message. I have been having trouble with the links that appear in posts so if you remember the title of your post that you sent the link for maybe I can find it that way. Again, thanks so much for your advice.
I'll post when we get back so you know how it was! Have a safe trip to Malta.