Paris in January: 1 week, 2 women - your help and ideas on our itinerary would be much appreciated. Especially on RESTAURANTS
 

Hello all! I could use some thoughts on this itinerary.

I'll be in Paris for a week with a friend, arriving January 27th from Seattle. She flies home on the 3rd and I fly to Kenya where my daughter is in the Peace Corps (yikes!) My friend and I are in our late 40's, we love museums, we love to see neighborhoods and interesting things. This is her first trip to Europe so of course I want her to love it and have a fabulous time. I've been to Paris 4 times, most recently last Christmas with my family for a week.

We have an apartment in the 3rd on Rue Bailly, near Arts et Metiers: http://www.myparisdream.com/Home_Page.php

I need time each day to window shop, wander around, go to an internet cafe to check on the situation in Kenya, email with DD, work on my Kenya trip(which is unplanned and currently can't be planned). We'd also like to find time to go to a Hammann. I'd love feedback as well as ideas on the restaurants.

And about those restaurants: I love food and wine and am scouring the new Pudlo Paris as well as Fodor's recommendations. She's not as adventuresome but she'll find something to order. I'm hoping my dinners are 30 eu or less, not including wine (which I'll certainly be drinking mind you!) So no splurges, but good food, decent wine.

Here's what I have so far for an itinerary and any and all suggestions are welcome:

Sunday
Arrive at apartment around 1:30
Walk to Rue Montorgueil, get supplies. Wander to the Marais, shop/window shop. Isle St. Louis. Pylones.
Climb to the top of Notre Dame.
Optional: 5:30 Organ concert at St. Eustache if it's happening? Or perhaps this would be the best day to visit a Hamman?

Dinner at Café des Musee

Monday
Buy Navigo pass for metro. Q: do we need a pass or should we buy carnets?
Louvre: Denon wing - See Mona Lisa, Ghirlandaio, David, Michelangelo.
Walk through the Tuilleries, then wander Rue Castiglione for the perfume shops (Catherines, etc.)
Light lunch somewhere _____? Buy and immediately eat, macaroons at Laduree
Champs Elysees (Guerlain) to Arc de Triomphe – up to the top
Metro to Trocadero
Eiffel Tower – drinks at Altitude 95

Dinner at Le Louis Vins or Petit Prince de Paris or Le Fin Gourmet or Chez Denise or ____?

Tuesday
Go to the market – Enfants Rouge
Orsay!!!
Lunch at the museum café
Pop into Cluny
Jardin du Luxembourg
Left Bank, wander around

Dinner at Chez Nenesse

Wednesday
Montmartre – 10:30 walking tour w/ Paris Walks
Lunch somewhere in Montmartre?
Musee Marmatton. Check out the neighborhood there.
Back to apartment
Optional: 7:45 concert at St. Ephrem’s, Bach, violin

Dinner at Le Connetable

Thursday
Visit Jacquement-Andre museum
Department Stores – shop!
Lunch _______ where?
Apartment, wander Marais again
Quick visit to Pompidou for me
We may make a quick return visit to Orsay in the evening.

Dinner at Le Petit Keller or ____?

Friday –
Visit with friends at Gif sur Yvette

Saturday
Open
Lunch, but where?
Possible tour of the left bank w/ Paris Walks (if we really like the other tour) at 2:30, or ____?

Notre Dame for vespers & mass

Dinner at Le Hangar

Sunday, sadly, leave Paris, 7:30 pm flight. Time for one last lunch by myself! Where? Chez Denise or Dome du Marais or ____? Are they open Saturday?

It's totally chiched for Americans but I had a fantastic time at the Hemingway Bar...

I have written quite a bit about the places I loved eating in Paris - if you click on my username, you should be able to find my 2 previous trip reports for more info. Offhand, I loved Astier, Fontaine de Mars, and Le Petit Troquet; several others were good but not great, and I really really didn't enjoy Bistrot de Breteuil, Le Coupe Chou, and Fermette Marbeuf.

Savannah - I originally had the Ritz and Bar Heminway in my itinerary for Saturday night! It seems like a place my friend would love. But the price seems a little steep so I was uncertain.

tara - I'll check out your trip reports and read about those restaurants. Have you been to any of the ones I'm considering?

One drink is totally worth the price.

rosetravels: I'm sorry! I replied to your thread by mistake; I'd meant to post that elsewhere. In any case, no, I haven't been to the restaurants you're considering but I'm sure you'll enjoy yourself if you've researched them as it sounds like you have!

In the search section on this page type in - Paris Dining - and you will get some very useful threads answering your query about well priced Paris food

Hi R,

Sounds very nice.

> do we need a pass or should we buy carnets?

My Lady wife and I have not yet gone beyond 1 carnet pp/week

You might find these helpful:
Degas’s Paris Walks
http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34712768

Kerouac’s Ethnic Walk
http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=35095155

Enjoy your visit.

((I))

Sounds like a fabulous trip and you are covering a lot of territory. But you have left a little time to add some things. Some of my favorites, all things that we see everytime we go to Paris, include Ste. Chapelle (a must see - try to go on a sunny morning to see the stained glass at its best), the Orangerie (recently reopened after extensive restoration), the Rodin Museum and gardens (although I'm not sure what they are like in January) and the Winged Victory at the Louvre.

As for restaurants, a few of our favorites include Bastide de Odeon, L'Epi Dupin and Bouquinistes - all in the 6th, Fontaine de Mars in the 7th and, for atmosphere, one of the traditional brasseries - the Flo chain has some good ones. There are lots of good suggestions on this forum.

Have a wonderful time!

Near your apartment are three fine, resonably priced restaurants, Au Bascou, Le Petit Troquet and Auberge Nicolas Flamel.

Fabulous input - thanks. I'll add these ideas to my list. The Orangerie is reopened? What do they have there? And yes - the Rodin museum. I think my friend will enjoy that.

Ste.Chappelle - I do think we'll end up going there. I was hoping they'd have a concert but it doesn't seem to be happening.

Does anyone know how to find out if the St.Eustache organ concert will be playing?

The Orangerie has reopened. A major attraction is Monet's murals of waterlilies, absolutely fabulous. There is also other Impressionist art. Well worth a visit. I read somewhere (probably on this board) that the mornings are reserved for tour groups so you will need to schedule your visit for the afternoon.

As for concerts, we always use www.ampconcerts.com to see the schedule. It lists lots of concerts in churches and normally contains the Ste. Chapelle schedule. Right now neither Ste. Chapelle nor St. Eustache concerts are listed. I don't believe Ste. Chapelle has concerts in the winter as it is not heated. Not sure about St. Eustache.

Lunch somewhere in Montmartre?

Don't worry so much about finding a particular place. There are cafes surrounding the artist's area as well as one inside the square they form. You can get a drink and lunch in any of these, but there are more off any of the streets that flow away from the square. A very nice one is called La Terrace and the one across the street from it, with a ceramic chicken in front, is good for moules frites.

Pjk

Also near your apartment is Le Pamphlet, which I loved (although my visit was several years ago). 37, rue Debelleyme, 01 42 72 39 24.

Bookmarking...

I hope that you enjoy the spectacular Jacquemart-Andre museum as much as we did.

Since you have scheduled a morning visit and do not have lunch plans set for that day, you might consider staying at their cafe for lunch. We had a delicious and reasonably-priced light lunch in that very pretty room a few years back. Then you can revisit any favorite rooms or works of art before you leave the museum.

Your trip sounds wonderful. We will be in the Marais from 21-28 January and also intend to start out by laying in provisions from the market on rue Montorgueil.

There are always many concerts in Paris, there will be plenty outside Ste Chapelle. I also wouldn't worry so much about scheduling everything and every lunch.

That ampconcerts website isn't any schedule for anything but that particular musical group's own concerts. It only lists its own schedule, although there aren't any concerts in Ste Chapelle in Jan that I've seen on more official and comprehensive listings (like in the entertainment section of the Tourist Info website). They would never list organ recitals in churches on ampconcerts.

There are generally organ recitals in St Eustache at 5:30 on every Sunday of the year but a few. Their own website lists the schedule, but isn't updated for Jan 2008. But they had them throughout Dec., so I expect they will.
check back before going on
http://www.saint-eustache.org/vie-ar...e.php#concerts

You really should just buy an entertainment guide when you get their from a news kiosque, and you'll be able to see every concert going on by day. It's less than one euro, so I'd buy one even if you don't get there until Sunday (they come out on Wed), and then buy a new one later.

Not sure if you are interested in jazz (or older style French jazz), but Claude Bolling's group is playing at Le Petit Journal St Michel on Tuesday, 1/29 and that's when you plan to be in the area. if interested, check www.petitjournalsaintmichel.com

I highly recommend the Louis Vins. It's cute, has good food and good wine and a wine bar where you can wait if you need to--and reasonable prices. The restaurant you may be looking for in Montmartre is on Rue des Martyrs leading away from the Mont, toward the Notre Dame de Lorette. It's the street with the Amelie bar and a great walk in itself. Just off it, is Chez Tito, recommended in a 2005 NYTimes article on the street. It's actually an Italian food store with a few tall tables. Food is fantastic and the vibe very welcoming and warm. Not your typical Paris lunch but a great one and a nice change of pace. On the trip we made where we included it, it was one of my top three out of about 16 dining experiences, most several times more expensive than it and including a few "must do"s from every guidebook/restaurant listing.

Thanks all - this is such great help. I sent my friend the itinerary today. She thinks I'm a little over the top. I didn't tell her about fodors... and that I'm not the only one ;)

mamc - thanks for the information on the Orangerie. We're buying museum passes so that we feel free to stop in whereever we want. I love art but often want to see just a few things and look at just them for awhile. We'll go there.

Peter - the moules frites sound like a good idea. That sounds good right now actually!

Nikki - I've heard good things about Le Pamphlet too and it was on my original list. The ones I found are a little less expensive.

Christine - Perfect, thanks! I've been looking just at amp website. I'll pick up the guide when we arrive. We probably just want to go to one or two concerts but I have to plan it out or I forget.

Julie - great restaurant info, thanks!

Le Hanger is my all time favorite restaurant in Paris, wonderful food at very reasonable prices, kind of a funky back alley but nothing to worry about. We always make out way here, hope you enjoy it.