Paris Montparnasse suggestions please
 

For the first time I'll be staying in Montparnasse. What do you suggest ?(restaurants that you liked, what to see, etc.)<BR>Thanks for your help.<BR>Ismael

The Montparnasse Cemetery has some interesting gravesites; the catecombs; rue Daguerre is a nice street market (open all days); there is another market on Weds and Sats at Edgar Quinet; same location on Sundays is an art market (look for Maurice Tam's watercolors-he is originally from Singapore, speaks fluent English, and his work is quite good); Montparnasse Tower on a non-cloudy day gives a great view of the city, including the Eiffel Tower; same location has a "modern" shopping mall.

Beth, <BR>thanks for your reply. We'll be staying at Hotel Renoir (rue du Montparnasse)<BR>Ismael

Don't forget La Coupole on blvd. Montparnasse. Famous old brasserie. We had our best cassoulet there on our visit.

Ismal, I completely 2nd the other 2 posts! We had a light lunch at La coupole while wandering around the area looking for the old apartments of Picasso and Hemingway. Then cut through the cemetary on our way to Daguerre. We did some shopping and picked up some bread, cheese, fruit etc for a picnic. Then grabbed a bus up to Luxembourg gardens and relaxed. The area is really busy with cafes, parcs, etc.

Do visit the Montparnasse Cemetery, it is very interresting. Went last year to visit Auguste Bertholdi's grave. He's the one who designed the Statue of Liberty. This cemetery is behind high stone walls and only open during during the day.

Beth's suggestions are perfect. The Montparnasse Cemetery also has, close to the entrance (turn right and head down a bit) is Sartre's resting place (along with his love, De Beauvoir). It's located at the corner of Blvd Raspail & Edgar Quinet. For some great little Breton creperies, there's a bunch of them off Blvd. Raspail (heading north to Blvd. Du Montparnasse, along rue Huyghens and I believe rue Delambre. We've dined in most of them at one time or another, and almost all are very good. Just walk by, look at the menu, look in the window, and you can pretty much figure out which ones look interesting to you. You don't need to get on a bus to get to the Luxembourg Gardens -- you can walk to it.<BR>If you like seafood, you will enjoy Le Dome, at the corner of Montparnasse and Raspail.

Le Bistro du Dome (seafood) is on rue Delambre, but we missed it :-( because we didn't make reservations, and another vote for La Coupole. For an ordinary, but pretty good chain, Chez Clement is right next to La Coupole. I'm also fond of the Korean Barbecue on Delambre (not too authentic); you grill thin slices of meat and get a bowl of rice with sprouts and spinach. It nice and plain food.<BR><BR>There is an interesting WWII resistance museum and garden on top of the Gare Montparnasse (hard to explain). You take an elevator from street level. Also the Bourdelle Museum on 16, rue Antoine-Bourdelle--sculpteur, massive stuff. The Zadkine Museum is not too far either at 100, rue d'Assas--more sculpture--he did the huge memorial in Rotterdam (the Destroyed City). Those are both rather small museums, easy to see and I am pretty sure that they are both free since December 22, 2001, when the city of Paris made them so.

Thanks to all of you that made such good suggestions around Montparnasse area.<BR>Certainly we're going to La Coupole and other places.<BR>Formerly our hotel was the Daguerre Hotel at rue Daguerre. I think that rue du Montparnasse (Hotel Renoir) is also a good location.

Ismael,
How was the stay in hotel renoir. It's in my shortlist

JBTravel,
What you should know:
Rue du Montparnasse is extremely busy, also late at night. A lot of small restaurants (creperies, pizzerias, movie theaters, etc.).
If you can't get a room to the back, I'd forget about it, even if the hotel itself should be ok.
Sorry, can't comment on the hotel itself, having never stayed there. But I prefer to stay on a more quiet street, when in Paris.
Try Rue Delambre (Hotel Lenox or Delambre). Both *** as well, even better located and you can use two different metro stops (Vavin and Edgar-Quinet).

From your list, I'd probably choose the Cadran, although I prefer Montparnasse to the Rue Cler area.
You could also do a search for the Hotel Jardin le Brea***, off Blvd. Montparnasse, but still in the 6th arr. or Hotel Hotel Sainte-Beuve***, in the same neighbourhood, both on very quiet streets.

There are also a number of restaurants on Rue Odessa. We enjoy Manior Breton, especially the crepe with duck and plum sauce. If you venture to Rue Raymond Losserand at the Avenue du Maine end there is Monsieur Lapin which got a good review from Patricia Wells.

A real treat for a lover of 20th century art is at 49 rue du Montparnasse. It is called idem anciens Ets Mourlot and is one of the preimminent lithographers in Paris.

Fernand Mourlot (the square at the intersection of Avenue du Main and Boulevard Edgar Quinet is named for him)was the master who helped Chagall, Braque, Picasso, Dufy, Matisse, Miro, Leger and others produce some of their lithographs.

If you're fortunate the present manager, Patrice Forest, may be available to show you how lithographs are produced. When we were there in November, 2001 Andre Brasilier was overseeeing the production of one of his works. We were able to purchase a litho by Nicolas Vial in the shop.