hello fodors

we are back from paris and overall it really really was wonderful!!

we stayed at the marriot champs eleysees. Hotel was something of a disappointment. Foot towels were

shredding. They didn't refresh the bath robes after we put them in the wash. And they never got

around to fixing the room safe in the 5 nights we stayed there. (they came up once to check it -

said it needs a battery) and that was the end of that.

Location was excellent. the shopping on the champs de eleyesses was nice. Movie theatre in paris are

much much more comfortable than those in the states! Nice big clean new chairs! it was reallly good!

They had tub cotton candy and caramel and salt popcorn mix lol we felt like kids all over again



We went to Paradis latin - thoroughly dissapointed! very very boring. So we went to moulin rouge and

that was much much better! nicer show in a better location in town, costumes, dancing acting etc

were all much better.

We went to a few really nice restaurants as well:
Lauderee - oooh it was sooo heavenly! food and desserts were just yum! Take home a box of the

macaroons! - French

Booquiniste was really nice as well! - French

So was the Cantine du Fauboung - really interesting fusion food!

We ate at Lo Sushi - it was ok.. had better sushi - hubby got sick on the sashimi (i'm only a sushi

lover)

There is a HUGE pizza/italian restaurant right across from the marriot - i think it was Pizza pino

or something like that! Excellent excellent food! Dessert is better somewhere else though

La Maison Chocolate was YUMMMY

Also there is a boutique food store just after George V hotel - that was reallly nice as well!

There is a chinese/mandarin restaurant behind the Marriot - OVER PRICED and not worth the money.

Service was lousy. We came in at 2.30. Their kitchen closes at 3.00 and they rushed us like crazy!

We tried our luck with sushi again above galeries lafayette - but i wasn't too thrilled about it

either. I've had better in NY and UK.

For the sights - we went to Eiffel Tower, Lourve, M' Orsay, and then we took the Segway tour. The

segway was really really worth it! Very nice experience and lots of fun! Our guide was Bronwen (not

sure if i spelt her name correctly) but she really had lots of info and was very very pleasant!

Shopping was ok - i guess i have gone in a bad season - i'm living in the caribbean! lol but we went

to samaritane and galaries and galeries definetly was much better than samaritane!

There is a huge Sephora, Guerlan, Gap, Zara, Naf Naf, Morgan, Disney Store on the same street as the

marriot so that was pretty good.

It may not sound like much but we slept till about 10/11 every morning! so we started the day about

12 lol - we needed a SlEEP holiday more than anything else!

I loved loved loved the dogs SOO Cute!

We didn't see too much poop all over the place

BTW - Tube is much more economical and quite easy! Go for it!


US $ in paris were a waste!!!! It's better to use US$ in dept stores and collect change in Euro - they still give a better rate than the exchange bureaus.

Thanks for the info on the Marriott Champs Elysees.
I can't help but wonder though what led you to use US $ in Paris.

lack of euros. when we changed it at the bank in st.lucia they didn't have enough euros for us to convert

don't worry - we used our credit card as well

I want to comment on Pizza Pino. This is one of the few chain restaurants that I frequent - a chain but a very upscale chain. It is consistently very good in every city in which I have dined. It is always packed, and I have always had to wait in line for a table. The one in Lyon stays open until the wee hours of the morning, and it was full at all hours. This place fits the bill especially if you are traveling with teenagers since Mom and Dad don't have to suffer a second rate meal in order for the kids to get pizza.

Glad you enjoyed it.

I've had quite the opposite experiences at Pizza Pinos including the one in Paris but
if it works well for you, great.