Paris: Places to eat in the 6th Arr. -and- Velib bike rental question
 

Hello,

I shall be in Paris at the end of August. I'll be staying at a hotel (Saint Pierre Hotel) in the 6th Arrondissement. I was wondering if you'll could recommend some places to grab breakfast, lunch and dinner in the area. Nothing fancy, just a regular meal.

I am staying for 5 days; would $100/day for food and transportation be a reasonable estimate? I don't plan to take cabs, plan to take the bus or the metro. This would be my first time in Europe.

Also, I looking online at Velib bike rentals. I already ordered the Andrews Credit Union Chip and Pin card, will hopefully receive it soon. Has anyone on here tried the Velib bike rentals? Any other bike rentals that you would recommend?

Thanks for the help.

Vélib isn't hiring a bike the way you would hire a car. It's designed to encourage you to use it for short trips, which is why the first half-hour is free (apart from the initial subscription charge): after your ride, you park the bike and forget it (or get another as you need to). Think of it as a self-powered taxi, with very limited luggage-carrying capacity. It helps to buy a map which shows the Velib stations, so that you know in advance where you can drop it off (you can get a pocket-sized map book for about €5-7, or there are smartphone apps).

Some notes on my first experiences (I use it a lot of the time when I'm in Paris,now that I'm used to its quirks):
http://autolycus-london.blogspot.co.uk/2008/08/ouf.html
http://autolycus-london.blogspot.co....est-paris.html

For breakfast we like Paul on corner of Rue de seine and rue de bac, Lots of places for mderate dinner or lunch Bistro de paris on rue de Lille.cafe aST BENOIT ON RUE DE sT BENOIt, RELAIS DE eENTRECOTE NEXT DOOR,cafe au Pres Clercs rue JAcob,more expensive Le Reminet and Chez Fernand, Le bouqiunistre.Espadon Ble,Fisg ox rue de seine for a break for some Italian Del PApa on rue de Buci

Paulshould be rue de buci corner

You can read my report I just posted & I mention names of restaurants & cafes in the 6th. We stayed at Hotel Bonaparte. You are staying in an awesome area. Off the top of my head, some names are Fish on Rue de Seine, Cafe Mairie in St. Sulpice Square, but there are more, if you want to browse through my report.

No problem staying within $100 budget for eating and transportation. Every menu has to be posted outside with the prices clearly visible.

“I am staying for 5 days; would $100/day for food and transportation be a reasonable estimate?”

Hi Zatrams999,

I just spent five days in the 6th, near to Pont Neuf. Your budget sounds very doable to me. You might even include a vin rouge, eh? It seems that there are dozens of eating options on every street in the area.

Have a great time in Paris….

We like the Cafe Bonaparte on Rue Bonaparte across the square from the Church of St Germaine des Pres for breakfast. There are lots of good and reasonable restaurants in the 6th and next door in the 7th. Fish on rue de Seine, L'Epi Dupin on Rue Dupin, etc. Do a search of this forum by entering "Paris Restaurants" above.

Cafe Bonaparte has the same views as deux Magots and is lot cheaper! Ine my first post I misspelled FISH on rue de Seine,

Agree about Cafe Bonaparte! You can hardly go wrong for breakfast or lunch. Just pick a cafe and sit down.

You should be fine with $100 per day.

Love Cafe Bonaparte, also Le Danton is good for all 3 meals, as ie Les Editeurs, which are both right at the corner of Blvd St Germain at the carrefour de L' Odeon. Also Gerard Mulot is near by for excellent pain au chocolat and other pastries!

Also, next to Le Comptoir is a little window (L'Avant Comptoir) that sells great crepes that are inexpensive and rather large.

Hi zat,

>would $100/day for food and transportation be a reasonable..

Depends on your bar bill. :)

You can get a croissant and a cuppa standing at the counter for about 2E

A sandwich or salad for lunch is about 5E.

You can have dinner for 20E.

A carte of 10 tickets for the Metro and/or bus is 11.5E

There is a very good crepe stand on the corner of Boul St Germaine right at the Eglise.
Across the street is a nice pizza place - Vesuvio.

There are many restos along rue Guisard and rue des Cannettes.

Enjoy your visit.

((I))

From my notes for our trip in October: Great sandwiches at Cosi on Rue de aseine across from Fish.

Also great Paninis at Pane e Vino Right near the corner of rue de Buci and Rue de Seine.

For great pizza, try Pzza Positano at 15 Rue des Canettes ( between Rue Guisarde and Rue du Four). Last time we were in Paris, it was so crowded at lunch we had to skip it and move on to another place.

A great little sit down creperie is Little Breizh. They will be re-opening at the end of this month https://www.facebook.com/LittleBreizhCreperie

Second Cosi for sandwiches.

Most people are commenting on lunch, but I was in Paris in January (chilly but tourist-free and as beautiful and chic as ever!) and we used Velib. I didn't have a chip card, but I did have an American Express, which I used for day subscriptions. The system worked well in terms of price and the transactions were easy and smooth. BUT, a couple of tips:
1) Be sure to check out the bike you want before you rent it. Look at the tires, the chain, etc.
2) The most annoying thing was finding a place to drop it off once you were finished, especially in the 6th and 7th which has a lot of government buildings and offices. We were walking around from spot to spot looking for a Velib stop with empty slots to drop off our bike. If you go and try to drop off, but it is full, it will register an additional 15 minutes to allow you to try the next closest one, which worked out eventually, but in some cases you would find yourself far removed from your original destination.

Overall, I enjoyed it, as my apartment had a very handy low-trafficked Velib station nearby. I also felt more Parisian!

Thank you PatrickLondon and smithgardner for the feedback regarding using Velib in Paris. PatrickLondon, I checked out your blog and the comments, found it very helpful. Thanks to you both for the heads-up regarding what to watch out for, this information is very helpful for me.

Avalon2, Kwoo, kerouac, latedaytraveler, mamcalice, adrienne, denisea, ira, gh21 and Patty: Thanks so much for the feedback regarding places to eat! Now I have a nice list of places to go to for breakfast, lunch and dinner and get to check out some of these places! Fantastic. Cafe Bonaparte seems to be a favorite with a lot of folks on here, have to check this place out.

Good to know that I the food and transportation expenses would be in the range I was hoping for. Is it more customary in Paris to order alcoholic drinks with lunch/dinner?
And latedaytraveler, is "vin rouge" a glass of wine? Kwoo, I read your trip report -there is a wealth of information in there that will be very helpful.

I am learning some French from a Pimsleur CD set, so hopefully this will be ok for what I need for this trip.

Thank you for the help with my questions, I appreciate it.

I've seen people ordering wine at breakfast. Lunch and dinner wine is frin or sitting on a terreace jusy enjoying the view.

Vin Rouge is red wine/Un Verre de vin rouge is a glass of red

Did you manage to rent a Velib bike while in Paris? We tried to do it but couldn't without a pin chip card. I see that you were smart and ordered a card with a pin before your trip.

zatrams, on a couple of my trips to Paris, I went armed with lists of places and once there, ignored the lists for breakfasts and most days for lunch, too. Did use the lists/printouts for dinner. When I was ready for lunch, often I was in a museum with a lunch room or just out of a museum, and would see someplace adjacent or as I was walking and that was that. There are tea rooms and cafes everywhere.