am needing help deciding where to stay in paris someone told me there was a red district don't want to be there which district is the safest and close to atractions ie louvre notre dame

no punctuation on your keyboard that's a problem but not the red district very safe attractions are all over paris

Now, now, be kind.

The lower the number of the arrondissement, the closer to the centre. The numbers run in a spiral. Try:

http://www.parisnet.net/parismap.html

http://goeurope.about.com/cs/france/l/bl_paris_mapf.htm

from what i recall there is a section in montmartre thats a bit of a red light and a section in les halles area i think rue st denis not sure thats also a bit of red light but theyre relatively small areas and if you stay anywhere near the seine close to the two little islands in the seine look at a map youre safe and close to everything glad to be of help

"Arrondissement" = District

There is an area called Pigalle which I guess would be called the red light district, but then again nearby is Montparnasse (Notre Dame, Amelie,etc.., and Moulin Rouge for that matter) which many people have stayed in. This is the 18th arr.

I would guess you want the 1 /4 /5 / 6 /7th arrondissements. Do a search here for hotel recs. These areas are either walkable to many of the main sites, or an easy metro/bus ride.

Mike

I'm assuming you mean red light district - ie a place where prostitution happens in which case there are two that I am aware of. The first is Pigalle, which has many sex shops and thinly disguised brothels.

There is also a part of the Rue st Denis, just up from Chatelet/les Halles which also has the shops etc and blatant street prostitution.

Neither are places I would want to stay (and there aren't really tourist hotels in the Rue St Denis you will see "hotels" but these are basically flop houses).

Pigalle is near Montmartre which is fine and does have hotels and is popular with tourists.

The Bois de Boulogne is iffy at night (gay sex/prostitution) as is Vincennes.

Just so nobody gets confused, in Michel Paris's post above, Pigalle is near Montmartre (rather than Montparnasse) and Sacre Coeur (rather than Notre Dame).

Yikes, now that's embarassing ;(
I put it down to lack of sleep...I really have been to Paris many times

Yes, Montmartre, north end of Paris, with Sacre Coeur cathedral offering nice views over Paris. Somewhat distant from downtown Paris and the sites located there. If you search here you will find recommendations for appartments people have rented in that area. There is a shuttle bus that takes you from the Metro to Sacre Coeur or you can use the funicular to take you up the mountain. Van Gogh and several other artists lived in this area. The Place du Tertre near SC is also known for the many artists who would be pleased to draw your portrait.
I've never stayed in that area,usually preferring to be more central so I can walk to sites.

The 4th arr does indeed include Notre Dame, St Chapelle, Ile St Louis,etc... Popular areas to stay the are near these sites include the Marais (right bank) and the 5th/6th arr (Latin Quarter / St Germain), aka the Left Bank.

I have stayed on Ile St Louis and am always happy to recommend it as a base. There are loads of hotels of all price ranges in the 5th/6th. I can recommend the Hotel De Notre Dame and Hotel Le Notre Dame, the Le Notre Dame is on the street running by the Seine, with views of Notre Dame. The De Notre Dame is one block from the Seine, very close to Notre Dame and Ile St Louis.The 5th/6th have plenty of restaurants and shops.

I have walked from Arc de Triomphe to my hotel in the 5th, passing by Louvre and Notre Dame..this walk would bring you by a lot of the sights you would want to see.

The 4/5/6 are all areas with activity at night, so I would rank these as "safe".

Depending on whether you want to stay in a quiet, residential area at night and do your touristy, sight seeing elsewhere during the day, there are other less hectic places you could stay. Last November I stayed in the 16th arr., with nary a tourist around. Yes, had to metro it every day to do things, but it gave me a different view of Paris.

Hope this is clearer!

Mike (Sacre Coeur...Scare Coeur...not Notre Dame)

The metro system is quite good, so when you look at where you want to stay, keep in mind that there will probably be a station nearby,which will get you to all of the main sites fairly quickly, depending on wether you need to change lines or not. I often use metro to go back to hotel for refresh before going out to dinner.

Hey everyone, thanks for the help. In my defense, this thread was started by the other person coming on thr trip with me, not by myself. I just thought I'd clear it up, as I am a big punctuation enthusiast myself.

That's a relief. Has the scoundrel without punctuation been scolded appropriately?