hartlyn

I'm going to take the train (thanks to the people on this site) from London to Paris for a day. My daughters are in their twenties. Any suggestions? They're not museum lovers. They would love to find neat stores..not too expensive and a quaint funky french restaurant for lunch. Also what is the best neighborhood to stroll?

tank4

Hi, we're two college students who have been to Paris, and we definitely recommend visiting Jim Morrison's grave, and the Catacombs. The coolest things we found were when we were wandering around side streets off the Champs Elysees. Just be adventurous, the most fun was found on the days when there wasn't a set plan. Good luck!

roomatarles

The St. Germain/Odéon area is pretty hip, with various shops like Sonia Rykiel & Comptoir des Cotonniers (if I remember correctly) on bd. St. Germain, as well as one-off boutiques on the side streets (my favorite is Corinne Sarrut's on rue Pré-aux-Clercs). To the south is St. Sulpice, with, um, more shops. There also some cool ones along rue Francs-Bourgeois in the Marais, on the right bank.

As is obvious with this reply, I highly recommend exploring the St. Germain area if you've only got a day in the city. Might as well jaunt into the Latin Quarter too; it's home to the Sorbonne & the Collège de France, among other institutions, & filled with college(-aged) folks. Despite having lived in the 11th, I always found my favorite promenades to be in both areas, usually near the Jardin du Luxembourg.

Have a great time!

hartlyn

thanks so much for the great info!

Vincent

Funky stores/restaurants can be found in the rue Etienne Marcel/place des Victoires section (not far from Saint-Germain or Marais anyway). This triangle, plus a stroll down the Champs-Elysées should do the trick as the "skeleton" for a one day discovery. This will leave you enough room to wander off the beaten path, which is most of the fun, as tank4 pointed it out. BTW, you are not mentioning which season you are targeting, this might -marginally- change things. As for restaurants, the French take their food quite seriously, so there is no such thing as a "funky French restaurant". Quaint can be found though, but since you are only spending a few hours in town, I think it would be a carcan to plan ahead for lunch. Paris is not London: you don't have to try hard to find good, reasonably priced food. So when and where you feel hungry, pick up any restaurant/café/brasserie in the vicinity and off you go!

Maira

My 16 y/o niece LOVED Styx on Rue de Rivoli and Cosmos on Boulevard de St Germain. I have to admit the clothes were definitely for teenagers, but not not the same clothes you see in every other store of the kind here in the US. Different styles, gorgeous clothes at a good price. Forget about Le Samaritaine; it has become incredibly expensive. Zara has cute clothes; Sephora is fun. So, I guess I am recommending you head out to Rue Rivoli and shop away! Galleries Lafayette are also a great place to shop. I also thought the 2nd Arrond had great shopping.