Grandmere, my grams was the best traveller I have ever known. she visited places others wouldn't bother to visit, she noticed things others missed completely, she new how to make her money stretch and she was so so good at simplicity in travel. I have a feeling she too would advise us to spend more to know we'll be comfortable and start planning another trip to belgium.
and isn't it a grandmother's job to instill values? i didn't find your values imposing at all.
Beatchick, I hadn't even thought of being in the 14th. is it really feasible? how long does it take to get to the center by train? mmmm, crepes. If i just eat pastries and crepes I'll have more money for other things.......critter likes crepes......
and what about the place Grandmere was suggesting? any more comments on that location?

I liked being in the 14th because we were close to four metro lines, two grocery stores, and a major bus loop. Of course not all locations in the 14th are that convenient. No matter where you stay, you can't have everything, so you just have to balance it out.

Yeah, Beatchick, I get absolutely insulted when folks put down that aging but ageless Angelina, beautiful Belle Epoque lady--to say nothing of Le Mont Blanc! :-)

Well said, WillTravel. The no. 6 line will take you east to the 12th arrondissement, west to Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe, the RER-B is almost a straight shot to the center (get off at the St-Michel-Notre-Dame stop, just 3 stops up). The no. 4 will drop one off right at the Cité metro stop nearest Notre Dame, plus it goes thru the St-Germain-des-Pres area in the 6th. You mentioned rue d'Alesia already with its great shopping, correct? I just wanted to point out that it's rue Josselin where the crêperie restaurants are. It is in Montparnasse that the crêpes are supposed to be most authentic since this food hails from the Brittany region and this area is where most settled about a century ago?

Also, trishiad, you COULD go to the top of the Tour Montparnasse for the wonderful view (which includes the Eiffel Tower - Oh la la!) and not have to view the ugly Tour Montparnasse FROM the ET!! The other point of interest in this area is the Catacombs but I doubt you'd want to take a 3-yr-old there. My 15-yr-old son wants to see this so this is one of the things we considered when looking into this area.

Don't know if you're a 1920s Expatriate fan but a lot of those ex-pats stayed in this area along with artists of that era: Modigliani, Picasso, Henry Miller, Kiki (the famous artist's model). The Dingo Bar (which is no longer in existence) was made famous by F. Scott Fitzgerald in his short story &quot;Babylon Revisited&quot; (which became the movie <u>The Last Time I Saw Paris</u> with Elizabeth Taylor) and Hemingway in <u>The Sun Also Rises</u>. The Dingo is where Hemingway met F. Scott as he describes it in <u>A Moveable Feast</u>.

The Dome, the Select, the Rotonde, &amp; La Coupole are all caf&eacute;s/brasseries still doing business that were popular back in the day. Hemingway &amp; Henry Miller wrote about the popularity of these places and how writers/artists would generally choose one as a home base.

There is also a street market nearby but I cannot recall the name just now. WillTravel, do you remember?

Trishiad, logistically it would take you about 20-30 minutes total to get to the &quot;city centre&quot; if you're counting the Ile de la Cit&eacute; (where Notre Dame is) as the centre. I believe the website says that it's a 10-minute walk to the RER-B (it's like the Metro but with fewer stops so it's faster) and then it should take another 10 minutes to get to the St-Michel-Notre-Dame stop.

Now getting from your metro stop to the Eiffel Tower is 9 stops so you can count on that being at least 30 minutes; BUT it is a straight shot from the Denfert-Rochereau and you won't need to do any transfers.

Well, MY DEAR grandmere! You and I both know you have IMPECCABLE taste so we'll let the general naysayers pooh-pooh Ang&eacute;lina and we'll continue to enjoy ourselves. N'est-ce pas? ;)

Another great place to eat in the lovely 14th, across from the Mairie, at 174 ave. du Maine:
Felicie, a cafe-restaurant, serving delicious, affordable food. I think they have an English menu as well, and they are open 7 days a week.
I enjoyed very much just wandering the area - I think it would be a great neighbourhood to stay in.

Beatchick, you've really studied up on the Montparnasse area! It is kind of a mixed bag and a bit off-central, but we don't mind the metro/bus rides b/c we rarely drop back to the hotel during the day. I am wondering, though, if trishiad's 3-yr old will need to be taken back to the hotel much during the day. If they go out to sightsee in the morning, maybe come back mid-day for lunch and rest, then out again for the afternoon I guess it wouldn't be too inconvenient. A Carte Orange pass would definitely be a benefit.

For info about the Carte Orange:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34533285
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34485350

Nikki, there were a couple of very recent Fodorites who commented negatively on the Familia:

&quot;...Author: dln ([email protected])
Date: 10/08/2004, 09:15 pm
Message: Tudorprincess, skip the Hotel Familia. The balcony is as charming as the photo on the website would indicate, but the room is the size of a postage stamp, the bathroom has no window is only slightly larger than an airline bathroom (I kid you not), the furnishings are all a bit careworn, and the street is incredibly busy and noisy, even at three in the morning, as I found to my dismay!...&quot;
&quot;....Author: metro ([email protected])
Date: 10/09/2004, 07:53 pm
Message: Bonjour tudorprincess, Ditto on skip Hotel Familia. Agree 100% with dln. Street noise is unbearable at all hours, especially 5:00 am trash pick-up - daily it seemed.
Re: room size: My dh came out of the bathroom and asked why I was in the bed! The only other space was in the closet which was smaller than the too small bathrm. And we booked their 'big' room MONTHS in adv. The Monsieur not the most obliging....&quot;

Hotel du Lourve near the Seine and the Lourve made for a wonderful stay for us when we in Paris in 2000. Not a big hotel but great location.

I have, Travelnut! And thanks to you, WillTravel &amp; Keren I have more tidbits to add to the itinerary. :)

Travelnut, you've brought up some salient points for trishiad and her 3-yr-old. I think if they had a stroller it'd be a lot easier. When the &quot;critter&quot; got tired they could just relax in a park. Like you, when I'm in Paris, after breakfast I am gone for the day until around 6-ish or 7-ish, I'll freshen up, get dressed for dinner and go out again. So it doesn't really matter where the hotel is. However, I don't think that the 14th is that far off. And as we've mentioned before there are lots of Metro stations around, not to mention the bus lines. I like, too, that the hotel is near an RER station because that makes it one shot from CDG to the hotel.

Travelnut, WillTravel, Keren, when did you all stay in Montparnasse? This is turning out to be an interesting discussion.

Willtravel stayed at the Meridian via Priceline, I believe. We stayed at Hotel Sophie Germain by metro Mouton Duvernet. We've been in 3 twin rooms now - I can see that the rooms have more wear than I originally thought, but the beds/baths are clean, there's a minibar, street is relatively quiet and the staff is nice. They could stand to replace the carpet in the rooms, get some new bedspreads, and touch up the paint here and there. They are running a 'special' this year at 90E incl breakfast. No triples that I've seen.

Travelnut is right. I would certainly recommend the Le Meridien Montparnasse hotel, but with Priceline you can't be sure what hotel you will get. We had a good-sized newly renovated room, a large bathroom, an ice machine down the hall, no noise from other rooms or the street, a nice lobby with piano bar, and helpful staff. My only complaint was the slippery bathroom floor and poor regulation of shower temperature. And I've already mentioned the convenience of metros, buses, and grocery stores.

Before I was fortunate enough to get that hotel on Priceline, I had booked the Mercure Raspail for 85 Euros per night. That is very near a metro and should be quite convenient. It's in the 14th, but very close to the border of the 6th.
http://www.mercure.com/mercure/fiche...he_hotel.shtml

My concern would be if they would allow your three-year-old for free and provide a cot. You'd have to ask.

I later saw an even better rate for this hotel through http://www.gtahotels.com .

Everybody ideas are excellent..
Unfortunately the child in question is only 3 years old..
To be honest I would feel very uncomfortable taking one metro after another with such a young child..

I would rather stay somewhere where I could walk to the sights, without having to take public transportations..

That's true - you might end up having to carry the child up and down all those steps to/from the metro.

Okay, okay, okay. I've been thinking about this one all day.

These are the parameters:
*central
*less than 100 euros/night
*needs 3 beds so a triple
*needs this in about 4 months
*en-suite bathroom

The H&ocirc;tel du Lys' triple goes for 125&euro;/night. Poster wanted to go &quot;well under 100&euro;&quot;. So that leaves us with a few options:
1)Take the triple with en-suite bathroom at the H&ocirc;tel de Blois for 70&euro; but not be in a centrally placed area. BUT have metros around that can get you to the general tourist attractions you want to go on one train (no or few transfers).
2)Take the triple at the H&ocirc;tel Saint-Andr&eacute;-des-Arts at 102&euro;. A little more than the &quot;well under 100&euro;&quot; but should still be do-able. It's central, all rooms have en-suite bathrooms, might have the odd dust-bunny, BUT the place is very popular with students (probably due to the price) and will be booked months in advance so you'll want to book right away. Also, I don't think there's an elevator so that might be a consideration for you with the b&eacute;b&eacute;.
http://www.123france.com/123/en/hote...d_hot=486#resa
http://www.france-hotel-guide.com/h7...dredesarts.htm
[email protected]
3)Stay at a Youth Hostel such as the centrally-located Young &amp; Happy - you might get lucky and get to have a whole dorm room to yourself since there will be 3 of you. It should cost you around 60-66&euro;/night, well within the budget, but there won't be en-suite bathrooms.
4)Eschew the trip to Brussels and up the hotel budget a bit.

OR

You might get lucky &amp; find an hotel room double for well under 100&euro; and only pay an extra 10&euro; for a baby bed (some places provide them for free).



WHEW! Lawsy!! :D

Hi Beatchick,
On my last trip, which was this September, I didn't stay in Montparnasse, but in the Gobelins area, at Residence les Gobelins, www.hotelgobelins.com
You might want to add them to your list, they have a tripple with bath &amp; wc for 89E. They are located just outside the 5th, about 5 minutes walk from rue Mouffetard and the restaurant Au Petit Marguery, which is highly recommended here by Underhill. It's a simple place, clean and nicely decorated and the staff is very welcoming.
I'd read good things about Montparnasse, my Rough Guides to Paris had some notable buildings in the area, I checked out some &quot;villas&quot; and walked all the way to parc Montsouris (lovely, some great &quot;villas&quot; right next to it).
I found the whole Alesia-Plaisance neighbourhood very pleasant to wander through and would definitely stay there. I walked by Hotel de la Loire, on 39Bis rue Moulin Vert, which looked very nice from the outside and was recommended by a few guides (you might want to take a look, it's on venere.com).

I agree with kismetchimera I would not want to be dragging a 3 year old around on the metro all day. I also would like to have a hotel close enough that you could go back for a nap or at least a rest if needed.

You might want to look at Grand Hotel Jeanne d'Arc in the 4th. This hotel is rated #33 on tripadvisor and people love it. Their triple is 112 E but their double room is 80 E and they said on their web site their is no charge for a baby bed if available.
Web site www.jeannedarchotel.com/
It looks like they have room available for Feb/March but I am sure this popular hotel books up fast. I would e-mail them directly and ask them about the baby bed. When I was looking for my hotel in Paris earlier this year, most hotels were very kind about e-mailing back and were very accomodating for requests.

Kerens recommendation of hotel Gobelins looks good. A couple of other reasonable hotels are in the Sorbonne area. The Hotel de la Sorbonne and Cujas Pantheon seem to be pretty good, check out their rates.

Lastly if nothing else I would book the Hotel Andre des Artes. The location is great and it generally gets great reviews (except for the dust). My only concern staying there with a 3 year old would be the noise. The cafes on the corner are very lively and can be noisy although I would expect in Feb/early March the noise would tend to be inside more. I am sure you could always ask for a room towards the back. The market, Paul's, etc are all close by. Don't know about a refrig but stores are close by.

The kink is the OP would also like a minibar to store milk, making it more difficult to find a room at her price.

Keren, thanks for the tip - I'll add that to my list.

Paula1470, I love the Jeanne d'Arc, I stayed there last trip. But my concern is that IF they had to take the Metro from the Marais to say the Eiffel Tower or other attractions they'd have to make several transfers. Of course, they COULD take a straight shot to the Tuileries, the Louvre and to the Arc de Triomphe on the ligne 1. And there are no jardins in the Marais; there are squares and little green areas but I imagine when a parent talks about gardens in Paris they mean the biggies like the Tuileries or the Luxembourg (which could be gotten to by the ligne 4 from Montparnasse) which has tons of attractions for little tykes.

My point with the 14th is that they'd take one trip on a Metro, no transfers, to the place they wanted to hang out in that day, sightsee, rest in the parcs/jardins, and they come back home one trip on the Metro. Places they could get to easily include the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Elys&eacute;es, anyplace in the 5th or 6th, Notre Dame/Crypte Arch&eacute;ologique/Sainte-Chapelle on the Ile de la Cit&eacute; and of course they could walk to the Ile St-Louis from there.

Travelnut, I'm thinking (hoping) that a small hotel like the Saint-Andr&eacute;-des-Arts would allow them to put the baby's milk in the kitchen fridge. I'm sure they'd let her do that at the Jeanne d'Arc, especially considering they have someone at the front desk 24/7.

My first trip I stayed at the St. Andre des Arts... I think at rue Guy Lassac. Loved it. I booked it because it was so old...and the web site stated it was one of the quarters for the real Musketeers. I like that stuff...so dust bunnies are &quot;forgiven somewhat&quot;.
We had a triple. Prices I see have gone up a tad since 2002! Notice, no elevator here if you are doing the stroller thing. Breakfast is very simple (coffee and baguette, butter, rolls) but free. When I as there, they were refurbishing a restaurant next door - and across the street is a passage, at the end of that is a great little restaurant. I have no clue of the name, in those days, I didn't think anyone cared about such things.
The triple was two full size doubles and an easy chair that folded outwards.

What about an apartment which we found much better -eating in part of the time and having more room????? just to add to the confusion.