Paris for the First Time
 

We are planning a trip to Paris with another couple, end of May, beg. June for 10 days.<BR>We would like to have a nice hotel, holding around $200./nite, but don't understand the "arrondissements." Knowing that we will be doing a lot of walking, but want to take in "everything," how do we pick out a hotel and location. Where is the train station?<BR>This is my first query. I have just begun to do my homework, but would appreciate some direction. Thank you so much.

You may enjoy staying in the 5th arroundisment, aka the "quartier latin". Near Notre Dame, Pantheon, St. Germain, Seine. Lots of cafes and street markets.<BR><BR>If so, try the Hotel du Pantheon, which is around $159 per night right now (don't know what the rates will be later on in spring).<BR><BR>

Go to paris.org, or france.com to see a map of the arrondisements. They are districts/neighborhoods/areas in Paris. To be close to the major sites, you'll want to stay near the Seine. I like the 7th, the tour eiffel is usually just around the corner.

Hi Nana. For arrondisements, think AROUNDdisments. They are, as Yvonne noted, districts -- numbering from 1 to 20 -- which spiral around like a seashell, clockwise, from the center of Paris. The 1st is in the very heart of the city, where Notre Dame is located, and the 20th is on the outer, eastern edge of Paris. <BR><BR>The lower-numbered arrondisements, especially the 1st through the 6th, are the most centrally-located; the 7th contains the Eiffel Tower, to the west of the center; and the 8th contains the Arc de Triomphe, also to the west of the center. <BR><BR>The 1st through the 4th are on the Right Bank (La Rive Droite); the 5th through the 7th are on the Left Bank (La Rive Gauche); and then back across to the Right Bank for the 8th. <BR><BR>I like both the character and very central location of the 6th and always try to stay there. For around $200/night, you should have plenty of hotels to choose from in that arrondisement, or others. <BR><BR>Paris doesn't have "a" train station; it has six train stations (or "gares" in French), which serve different parts of the country. See the website below for their locations:<BR><BR>http://www.paris.org/Gares/

who moved notre dame from the fourth arrondissement? inquiring minds want to know.

I did. You think I just sit around all day scaring little children and frightening tourists? No way. I've got bells to ring, gargoyles to scrub, rose windows to wash, cathedrals to move.

hunchback-no wonder you stoop like that. aren't those cathedrals heavy? or, do you move them with a stroke of a typewriter key?