Paris Trip Report
 

This is a continuation of our May trip report, the first portion of which can be found under the heading “Ghent Trip Report”. <BR> <BR>Wednesday morning we arrived in Brussels and hopped on the high-speed Thalys train to Paris. We paid the extra $30 each for first class. The seats weren’t that impressive, the small meal served was OK and the rest of the car was full of serious-minded business folk. We may have been a bit more comfortable in 2nd with the other tourists. The ride was very fast, and not as smooth as I expected (like a moderately turbulent flight), but being able to simply step off the train immediately after it stops at Garre du Nord made me acutely aware of its superiority to flying. <BR> <BR>Due to the French ATM courier strike, we had brought about $200 in francs with us, but we had to buy a pack of gum to get change to use the photo machines to get pictures for the weekly metro pass, Coupon Hebdomadaire. Lots of coin-only vending machines, but no change machines. Best bet would have been to bring our own pictures. <BR> <BR>When we went to purchase our Coupon Hebdomadaire (allowing unlimited rides on metro and buses for a Monday-Sunday week) we were told by an English-speaking but somewhat arrogant information officer that Tuesday was the last day that you could buy the weekly pass for that week. I still question whether this is true. The RAPT web site states “coupon hebdomadaire =&gt; du lundi au dimanche. Il peut être acheté jusqu'au mercredi pour la semaine en cours, et à partir du vendredi pour la semaine suivante.” My French isn’t great, but this tells me that they are sold up to Wednesday for that week. And later that day, I checked an automated ticket machine, and it seemed to be selling Coupon Hebdomadaires for that week. The officer dismissed my questioning by raising his voice as if he were instructing a child, so we said screw it and bought a couple of carnets (and ended up spending about 50% more on carnets over the trip than if we had been able to get the weekly passes).

We hopped on the next RER B line heading south and got squeezed in with a bunch of Spanish soccer fans heading either to or from a match. It was a bit uncomfortable with our luggage, but we only had to go 2 stops. This was the only time I moved my wallet from my back pocket to my front, and for the rest of the trip saw not a hint of crime or the dreaded Gypsies. At St. Michel we transferred easily to Metro line 10 and in just 2 more stops were within one block of our hotel in the 5th. <BR> <BR>We chose the Hotel Familia based on recommendations on this site. It was just what we were looking for. It’s a smaller independent hotel on a nice street just a couple blocks from the Seine and Notre Dame. We selected one of the more expensive rooms (FF630+FF30 breakfast) because it had a balcony on the 5th floor. The room was small with basic furnishings, a small modern bathroom with great shower pressure and hairdryer, TV, phone and even a minibar. The balcony was a delight – just enough room for a table and 2 chairs, thought the advertised view of Notre Dame is really just a glimpse. The windows are very well insulated from the street noise, but there is no A/C (we didn’t need it). The staff is great and was good enough to make our dinner reservations for us after we faxed a list. Eric the owner is very friendly and makes a point to personally meet all his guests. We were very happy with the Familia. <BR> <BR>We were able to check in at 1:00, so we had the afternoon to explore. I should interject here that we had no “grand plan” and while there were certain things we wanted to see, our style is to wander about and relax while on holiday. We didn’t feel like, “if we don’t see or do that our trip will be ruined!” So what did we do? Well, here’s what I remember: <BR> <BR>Took the #63 bus to the Place de Concorde to run an errand (3 bus lines run in front of the hotel). Compared to the metro, the bus was slower, more crowded, easier to get lost on (though there are good maps and automated stop announcements on the bus), but the big plus is that you see a lot more of the city in the bus. After taking care of our errand, we walked back over to the left bank and ambled down the shady Blvd Sainte-Germain (it was sunny and a bit warm) finally stopping in a café for a couple of beers and a croque monsieur. We continued our strolling and café hopping, did a lap around Notre Dame and walked back to the hotel to shower before dinner.

Our hotel had made us reservations at Le Petit Troquet in the 7th. Took the metro and were 15 minutes late for our 9:00 reservation (note: give yourself extra time for connections and the distance you have to walk from the metro – it can be longer than it looks on a map). We were warmly welcomed and our table had been saved for us. I can’t imagine a better place to have your first French dinner. The restaurant is adorably small, the atmosphere friendly and relaxed, and the food terribly pleasing. We started with a couple kirs, an aperitif of white wine and cassis (refreshing after the sprint to the restaurant) and we were presented with an amuse bouche, a tiny serving of asparagus gazpacho with a tiny little spoon (the cutest thing my wife had ever seen). Though English was spoken, we tried our best in French to order entrees of salmon tart et chevre and mussels in pastry and main courses of lapin (rabbit) et moutard and seafood ravioli. All was washed down with a good house red. Everything was terrific. Afraid I don’t remember desert. <BR> <BR>After dinner, I decided to treat my wife to a surprise view of the Eiffel Tower. As we walked the predetermined route, I kept trying to distract her from seeing it peek through the roof tops (wow, look at that, a real French trash can!). She must have though me drunk. When we came around the last corner, there it was, right in front of us. It was fantastic. Then it exploded. The whole damn thing started sparkling. I decided I must indeed be drunk. Is this a remnant of the 2000 celebration? <BR> <BR>Had a bit of trouble getting home. The first station we tried (an RER C line) wouldn’t take our metro tickets, so we had to make haste to find another metro station before it closed. We could have taken a cab, but I’m really more comfortable taking public transport than risking being ripped off in a cab. Anyway, we made it home before the metro shut down and even had time to stop in a bar next to the hotel, The Beer Academy, for a draft. There were some geeky-looking businessmen playing foosball and I begged my wife to let us challenge them, but she was too tired, so we packed it in. <BR> <BR>The next morning we missed breakfast as the small breakfast room had no seats available. I have since learned that we could have had breakfast in our room for FF5 extra – well worth it to eat on our little balcony. Breakfast consisted of coffee and bread or pastries, so we didn’t fret too much about missing it. A bottle of water and a pain au chocolate from the bakery across the street was fine with us.

Started the day with a visit to the top of L’Arc de Triomphe. Fantastic 360 degree view and we greatly enjoyed watching the antics of the drivers below. <BR> <BR>Stopped at a small Italian/Pizza restaurant for lunch. Didn’t have time to translate all the toppings offered, so I just picked one of the specialty pizzas at random. Ended up being fantastic: ham, marinated eggplant, peppers, andouille and a sunny side egg right in the middle. Drizzle it with the spicy olive oiled offered and wash it down with a cold beer. A wonderfully indulgent lunch. Margaret didn’t fare quite as well though she knew what she was ordering: capers, olives and anchovies. Took her a couple of beers to wash down all that salt. <BR> <BR>On our stroll home we stopped at a crepe stand, Margaret ordered what she thought was hazelnut but turned out to be something like apple butter. It was still delicious and thankfully unsalty. We shared it on a bridge over the Seine. Tres romantic. <BR> <BR>After a quick nap and a strong floor-splattering shower, I ran down the street to the corner store and returned with a bottle Bordeaux (kindly uncorked by the proprietor) and a bag of pistachios (perhaps not he best combination, but I love pistachios). We enjoyed the wine and the nuts on our little balcony watching big white clouds move quickly across a brilliantly blue sky. <BR> <BR>That evening we had tickets to the 7:15 concert at St Chapelle. We ordered the tickets on-line at www.ticketnet.fr and they were delivered via certified mail 5 days later. The fee charged was nominal and we felt better having the tickets than simply reserving them. We opted for the more expensive seats in the first few rows. The program was Vivaldi, lasted about an hour, and we enjoyed it but cannot comment on the quality of the performance as we are not that knowledgeable of classical music. The card table chairs are very uncomfortable, and they pack them together tightly (my bony butt was yearning for the comfort of a coach airline seat). The chapel is beautiful, though there is some scaffolding.

There has been a lot of debate on this forum regarding what to wear in Paris. There seem to be 2 camps, the extremes of which are “wear dark and stylish clothes to fit in” and “wear whatever makes you comfortable, even if that means shorts and running shoes, because you can’t blend in anyway.” Well, I’m in the former camp. We dressed stylishly - motivated 50% by wanting to fit in and 50% by vanity. I wore good, dark pants day and night with knit shirts or a sweater during the day and nicer shirts at night (hint: I brought 2 new pairs of cotton pants and did not wash them before the trip – they looked clean much longer than those that had already been washed). A black sportcoat, while not necessary at St. Chapelle or even the nicest restaurant we went to, worked good as a stylish jacket at night (it could get chilly). 2 pairs of good leather shoes worn alternately kept the feet in good shape. Wife wore dark pants during the day and pants or long skirts at night. If you’re a size 6 or less, tight-fitting microfiber pants are ubiquitous, with a pronounced flare at the cuff. Almost every single young female we saw (other than obvious tourists) were wearing these. No exaggeration. <BR> <BR>We were mistaken for French a couple of times, and I am convinced we were treated better because of the way we were dressed. Either way, we were more at ease and had more confidence. We were never anywhere that we felt overdressed. I think Paris is just that way. <BR> <BR>After the concert, we did a quick walk through the touristy area of the Latin Quarter. This area is bustling with tourist restaurants, cafes, bars, and lots of stands selling crepes, panini or gyros. I remember visiting this area as a wide-eyed backpacker years ago thinking we had stumbled upon some sort of midnight festival. Now I saw it as simply a tourist entertainment area, still lively and fun, but not as magical as it had once seemed. <BR> <BR>We hit a couple of bars in the area, included an English bar. If you ever get tired of using your French, head into any bar that looks like a pub and you’ll likely find bartenders who speak English as a first language. The first time we ordered a beer in one of these English bars in French, the barkeep replied, “A pint, then?” and gave us a look that said “no need to speak French in here.” <BR> <BR>Hungry, we went in search of dinner. This is something we usually do not do well. We have a hard time choosing a place, and sometimes when we have, we change our minds (we sat down in and ended up leaving 3 different restaurants in Boston’s North End one miserable night). We were lucky this night as we came across La Tournelle. A small country French restaurant, seemingly family-run, very casual and a bit smoky (our experience found smokiness strongly correlated with how casual the restaurant is). We ordered a half liter of the house vin du pays which comes served in crockery. I started with the pate paysanne which went wonderfully with thick slices of bread and the earthy wine. Margaret started with leeks in vinaigrette which she loved but I found slimy. Entrees of chateaubriand and veau roquefort were very good with a second ½ liter of wine. We skipped desert and coffee and paid a very fair $40.

Nourished, we hit a couple of bars/nightclubs on the way home. Live bands of questionable quality, though it was entertaining to hear French accents on English songs. There was no cover, but you paid for it in the drinks. Beers were FF50 for a petite at the bar. Not obscene, but more than we expected. But the beer was cold and the people watching was good, but we soon ran out of cash. Time to go home. <BR> <BR>Friday morning we headed out to Montmartre. Took the metro to Abbesses station, walked past the elevator and started up the stairs. Mistake. Climbing to the top of L’Arc de Triumphe was easier. We knew we’d be walking some stairs in Montmatre but hadn’t counted on this subterranean, never-ending spiral staircase. Emerging one and a half hours later (kidding), we sat for a spell in the quaint but somewhat grungy square over the station. <BR> <BR>Refreshed, we started our trek up to Sacre Coeur. This walk wasn’t too bad and we were curious as to why people take the funicular (it only covers a very small portion of the climb). Sacre Coeur seemed rather dingy on the outside (it seemed so white before) and the interior was covered in scaffolding. The view of the city was still great, though. We walked around the neighborhood for a while, stopping at a guidebook-recommended restaurant for lunch. This was the only place we went to in Paris where French was neither spoken nor understood. Though armed with our best French, we were not even able to communicate to our smiling but insistent waiter that we needed a minute to decide. We ended up ordering in haste, my wife didn’t like the food, but there was decent wine so all was not lost. The only bad meal we had in Paris. Oh well. <BR> <BR>We wandered some more and came to rest in a very nice little square called Place Emile Goudeau. On one side is a Tim Hotel – a chain, I think, but I would certainly consider staying there for it’s location on that charming little square. Next time we’ll spend more time in Montmatre – we looked hard but feel like we missed some cute places. Next time we’ll visit at night. excerpt <BR> <BR>On the way back that afternoon we stopped at a nice café and sat on the street with café cremes and split a tart with almonds and apricots. Finally Margaret forgot about the wasted lunch.

That night was our big dinner out, we had reservations at La Truffiere. Fell in love with the picture and description on www.top-restaurants.com (but don’t try the on-line reservation service – it doesn’t work). La Truffiere is a fairly expensive restaurant, but jackets are not required. The very few tables are in an ancient-looking cellar with a low arched ceiling. Pretty neat. Mostly Americans, but well dressed and behaved (no ugly Americans here). Wait staff was professional and friendly and offered to proceed in English of French. The wine list is huge and intimidating, but the staff is ready to help out (when I asked for a 500 franc recommendation he pointed out some nice 500 Euro bottles, but lucky for us I figured this out – I think it was just an honest miscommunication). I’m afraid I do not remember exactly what we had, but it was very good, with lots of, surprise, truffles. All-in, the bill was $200, but we were happy to pay it for both the food, neat atmosphere and pampering service. <BR> <BR>We strolled around a bit after dinner but were too full to join in with any of the Friday night festivities. Back to our little room. <BR> <BR>Saturday morning we headed over to the catacombs. It’s not cheap at FF33 each, but if you like underground tunnels or the macabre, this is for you. There are more human bones down there than you can imagine. Stacked neatly, they seem to go on forever. After about 20 minutes of walking past bones, it became a bit monotonous, and we were ready to get outside. And that’s about when we came to the end. <BR> <BR>The rich, sit down meals were starting to wear on us, so we headed over to the popular, if rather grungy, Place Constrascape (sp?) for a couple of paninis (Italian sandwiches of varying fillings pressed on the grill – somewhat like a long thin Cuban sandwich on better bread) and beers. To me, a panini is the perfect fast food – warm, tasty, cheap and easily eaten with one hand. I’m amazed they’re not widely available in the U.S. Much better than a burger or Subway. For dessert, Margaret procured a couple of petit gateaus from a bakery on the square to take back to our balcony. <BR> <BR>We rested our feet a bit and enjoyed wine and a couple of good books on our balcony that afternoon (greatly enjoyed “Down and Out in Paris and London” by George Orwel for it’s fascinating descriptions of life as a Paris dishwasher – not for the squeamish though). Later we bused over to Pont Alexander III. It was nice, but I prefer the feel and the views from the smaller bridges back in the 5th. <BR> <BR>For dinner we had reservations at Mavromatis in the 5th, and of course were a bit late, but were warmly welcomed by name. This is a bright and pleasant upscale Greek restaurant and we were very pleased (you can see it at www.top-restaurants.com). Wonderful appetizers of keffedes – well flavored fried ground beef balls with Tsatziki - and aubergines et fromage. For the main course, my wife had a huge and fresh portion of moussaka while I had what seemed to be the house specialty based on the number of others having it. It turned out to be ground lamb wrapped in intestines. Very tasty, but the smell of the intestines became less and less welcome as the meal went on. A good St. Emilion helped to dull the aroma. Nougat ice cream and coffee wrapped it up. Bill was around $100.

Sunday morning (last day, I promise) we missed breakfast again and headed to Versailles. Easily used a ticket machine to purchase the train ticket with a credit card at our local metro stop (one ticket got us the whole way). They were FF145 each. It’s not too hard to get on the right train at the RER station – you’ll be getting on with many other guidebook clutching tourists. <BR> <BR>We arrived around 11:00 (late for Versailles), but had only planned on touring the gardens anyway. If you fear hordes of tourists, don’t come here. Trying in vain to stay out of people’s pictures, we scooted to the left of the Chateau to enter the gardens. As it was Sunday, the fountains were on and music was being played. The downside is that it costs FF50 each to enter the gardens on Sunday. We paid our money and got to watch the fountains and listen to classical music piped over loudspeakers for about 15 minutes at which point the program ended not to come on again for 3 hours. We were underwhelmed. Best to come other days when the gardens are free. <BR> <BR>A lot of the area directly behind the chateau was dug up, so we wandered for a while looking for beauty. We did see some damage from last winter’s storms, but not too much. There are lots of dramatic rows of trees and it was neat to think that we were walking in the footsteps of people from the time of Louis XIV. We must have missed a lot of the flowers (did find a few) and it had grown very windy and cold and decided to head back to the shelter of the buildings of the streets of Paris. <BR> <BR>At the train station, I pulled my VISA card out of the ticket machine too fast and the transaction was cancelled. Unfortunately, the machine flagged my card as “problematic” and my VISA card issuer put a hold on the account. Great. I was stuck with only my American Express card (not a good thing in Europe). <BR> <BR>Back in Paris, we spent our last afternoon hitting numerous cafes and bars and shops. We had no dinner reservations and decided to stop in on of the bustling tourist restaurants in the Latin Quarter for fun. We looked for Italian because my wife had to have a pizza with a sunny-side-up egg on it. The first one we stopped at was full (good sign) and we were told by a friendly, but harried, waiter that it would only be 5-10 minutes. No problem. Then we noticed that few customers had any food or drink and many were looking expectantly at the 2 waiters that were trying to service about 25 tables. We decided to move on. We realized that every casual restaurant and café we had been to in Paris had been run by a skeleton staff – it was not unusual for there to be only one employee handling the entire front of a restaurant of 10 tables. Usually this was not a problem, but sometimes it was. Perhaps instead of mandating a 35 hour workweek to curb unemployment the government should mandate a minimum number of servers per table. <BR> <BR>Anyway, we did find a bustling Italian place which served a passable lasagna and, more importantly, pizza avec un oeuf. With salads and lot of wine, it was still only just over FF400. Went to bed happy. <BR> <BR>Next morning, we were finally able to get into the breakfast room where we were rewarded with big cups of café au lait and a selection of a bread and pastries. Packed up, checked out (had to use my super-emergency company Visa card to settle the bill), took the Metro to the St. Michel RER station and hopped on the first train to CDG which happened to be an express. The express is definitely worth waiting for – only about a 20 minute ride. Check in for our Air France flight home took about 30 minutes, hit the duty free (great deals on spirits) and settled into our 777 seats. The 777 was OK – liked the individual entertainment units and the food was OK, but the layout is 3-3-3, so you can’t get just 2 seats together. Arrived home on time. <BR> <BR>Please post with any questions.

Great report, Brian. Thanks for all the details.

Great report. I will check out the restaurant La Truffiere - sounds wonderful.

Wonderfully detailed report. Loved reading about the food. Out of curiosity, how pricey is Le Petit Troquet -- it sounded great. Also, does the Familia have A/C? I assume the reference to the "floor-spattering shower" means no shower curtain?

Loved your trip report, Brian, especially all of the restaurant details. So much great info! BTW, would you know of any Bastille Day activities for those of us Francophiles in the Atlanta area? Please e-mail if you do. Thanks! Peg

Brian: Makes me wish I were headed back to Paris instead Venice in November. Paris is definitely looking more and more like my Easter trip; you pushed it over the edge!

Thanks for all the kind words. <BR> <BR>Lisa: Le Petit Troquet was not pricey - just under $80 all-in. Our room at the Familia did not have A/C, and I would assume the others did not either. There is a small shower "door", but it's placed poorly making it hard to keep the floor completely dry even with practice (not a big problem though). <BR> <BR>Peg: I don't know of any Bastille day activities, but you could call these French restaurants to see if they're doing anything: Anis (Buckhead), Soleil (Buckhead) or Saint Amour (Midtown).

Your negative, somewhat chauvinistic attitudes about the metro pass seem out-of-line and are perhaps an example of why American tourists often create ill-will. "Sold up until Wednesday" EQUALS "Tuesday is the last day sold" in any language, I don't see why you think ythink these mean two different things. Perhaps your French isn't that great (for example, as the French phrase "jusqu'a midi" or "until noon" would never be interpreted as INCLUDING noon)--but even in English that means the same thing, "up to" or "until" a day does NOT mean including that day, that seems obvious. This isn't something the metro agent made up just to harrass you personally. This is the simplest way to phrase this in French. I think this kind of American touristic bitching about how you had to spend an extra dollar or two on the Parisian metro system while taking extensive advantage of the excellent publicly-supported French transportation system (not to mention museums, etc)shows ingratitude and pettiness. The Parisian metro system is a much better deal than any US public transportation system I've seen (try seeing how much you pay for metro tickets in Washington DC or NY as a resident), even with single tickets. A weekly Carte Orange runs about 82F, I believe, so you are whining about spending an extra 40F (less than US$6) over the course of four days on public transportation? This is incredible and unappreciative. <BR>

Geez Christina seems to me there's more bitching from you than Brian' mere mention. I too would have thought Wednesday was included. Lighten up!

I was hoping someone would provide an explanation of the weekly pass sales policy. Thanks. I misunderstood. If something is for sale in the US "until Wednesday", that usually means that it's still for sale on Wednesday. <BR> <BR>The only reason I pressed the issue with the information officer is that I have heard stories of Americans being steered away from buying the more economical weekly pass. In fact, the English version of the RAPT web site doesn't even list it as an option (and this resulted in my misunderstanding of the policy in French). <BR> <BR>Good information to have for next time.

And I should add that we went through 4 carnets for the trip.

Lighten up, Christina. Brian's question about the metro pass was hardly the xenophobic episode you made it out to be. The reason he posted the question was to ask if others (with perhaps more knowledge of the french language) thought he was charged the right price or not. Brian- I throughly enjoyed your trip report- I just returned from France myself (quick stop in Paris) and cannot wait to go back.

Brian, <BR>Loved your trip report, since I have stayed at the Familia 2 times and eaten at La Trufferie, it brought back lots of wonderful memories. We also tend to go to the Beer Academy for a nightcap - how funny is this place!!! Returning to the Familia for 4 nights in September and greatly looking forward to it. This trip to Paris will be alot like yours, no set plans, just wandering and ending up where the sights and aromas take us.