eurotravlr

Rue Cler is my weekly coffee and croissant stop before I fly back to US. I love sitting down early in the morning and have my coffee and pastry and read the Wall Street journal. The locals are very friendly and the shops are true authentic Parisian. There are a lot of other streets in Paris that are magnificient, all you need to do is walk and get lost. You will can always grab a cab.

grantop

"Hearing more English than French spoken on it sometimes is a little disconcerting" - Oh please, get over yourself!

AnthonyGA

"All you need is to walk and get lost. You can always get a cab"??

Sounds like you haven't been to Paris very much, despite the implications of your post. Paris has the finest system of public transport in the world, and Parisians do not take taxis except in very specific circumstances; they use the bus and Métro for everything.

And rue Clear is less and less "authentic" every day, thanks to Rick Steeves. There are many streets in Paris that are at least as charming as rue Cler (and now even more so, since Rick has poisoned that particular street), but since Rick Steeves apparently doesn't know that, he waxes praiseful in his book for several pages on this one street alone.

Finally, you don't need to use any transportation to get to other streets in Paris if you just find a hotel there in the first place. You don't have to stay in a hotel next to the sacred cobblestones of the rue Cler.

eurotravlr

Some people just need to understand that being jealous is all right, just keep it to yourself. The REAL locals in Paris do not have a problem with RS, he actually brings business to the community but wannabe locals will always act like it's an annoyance for them to see other people enjoying the city with their RS book with them. Also, If you do not like being in Rue Cler, then go someplace else,the real locals do mind the tourist. You already mentioned that most of the people in Paris are tourist.

You are right, AnthonyGA, I haven't been in Paris very much, I am just fortunate that my job allows me to travel to the City of Light on a weekly basis and staying there for a couple of days or so for the last 18 years and did I mention to you that my office is a B747.

AnthonyGA

The "real" locals like RS if they happen to operate businesses that he promotes in his book; otherwise they are likely to be indifferent or not very happy. I'm among those who are not very happy, since I don't like to see crowds of clueless tourists accumulating in any one area. The less clueless tourists don't like that, either. Not much point in visiting a place if the only people you see are other persons from home who are holding the same guide book you are.

If your office is a B747, you're probably a member of a flight crew. Airline crews coming through Paris know about as much about the city as I know about Osaka. I know that there is a common perception that flight attendants and pilots are expert on any number of exotic foreign destinations, but the reality is otherwise.

Trudaine

Anyway, I am sure the rue Cler merchants will soon erect a statue to Mr Rick Steeves, who was also received by the 7th arrondissement mayor and got thanks for his huge advertising of the place!

However, as a local, I do think rue Cler is a nondescript shopping street in a rather dull upper middle class neighbourhood, which from a tourist point of view has only the merit of being close to the Eiffel tower.

Iregeo

trudaine, I will be visiting soon. Can you tell me your preferences and recommendations for tourists?

Trudaine

To Iregeo :

If you are interested in seeing a neighbourhood shopping street (I mean a street with Paris's remaining independently-owned food shops like butcher's, fishmongers,etc) Parisians go to, I would preferably choose the outer arrondissements, that is the non touristic ones : among which rue Daguerre (14th), rue du commerce or rue de la Convention (15th) rue de Levis (17th), rue Lepic and rue des Abbesses (18th), to console yourself once you have fled the awful tourist trap that is Place du Tertre in Montmartre, rue des Martyrs (9th) just downhill from Montmartre, the Place Gambetta neighbourhood (20th.).

The ones you may have heard about (rue Mouffetard, rue de Buci, and now even the very "bobo-ised" rue Montorgueil are what I would call "semi-touristic&quot.

Try to be there on a Saturday morning, when these places are at their busiest, and you'll see the Parisians with their little shopping trolleys!

BTilke

Over by the Michel-Ange Auteuil metro stop on Place Lorrain, there is a beautiful open air food market on Wednesday and Saturday mornings, sometimes with live music. And if you walk about a block from there down Rue La Fontaine you will come to the small streets of rue Lepage and rue Guerin which hold several family owned and run food shops (cheese, fish, butcher, etc). You could continue down La Fontaine to see some beautiful Art Nouveau buildings or walk up Ave. Mozart to the Jasmin metro area and again, there are several independent food stores there along with cafes and restaurants. And nary a RS book or acolyte in sight (not that there's anything wrong with that).

PalQ

One of Paris' most unusual markets is at Place Allegre - near the Bastille. It's i think the only Parisian market that is open to "forains" or itinerant marketeers -
The marchands are very animated - yelling out prices, etc. And there, perhaps due to the nature of the sellers, an atmosphere of intrigue - i had a camcorder and more than one merchant waved no-no no photos. So a little intimidating perhaps but one of the most lively markets i've seen in Paris.

ehughes

We felt the same way about the market at the foot of Rue Mouffetard. After hiking uphill forever to get to the top of the street we were so disappointed in the general atmosphere and the market wasn't anything special either. We found a wonderful market somewhere around Blvd. St. Michel or Blvd. St. Germain. Can't remember where exactly.

Leely

The only market I've really spent any time in is the one at Place Aligre--loved it, very busy and hectic the experience made mincemeat of what I like to think of as my French. We did most of our shopping there for Christmas dinner.

I have walked through Rue Cler a couple of times. Cute enough, but it's no Place Aligre. But I'm not a fan of the 7th anyway; it feels stodgy to me. Isn't there a nice place to buy chocolates there?

Leely

I guess my point was unless you're really excited about markets, a market is a market is...

We liked Place Aligre becasue it felt vibrant and didn't seem upscale or overly santized (i know, I know, that sounds bad ). But mainly it was a convenient place to buy food we needed for our apartment. I'd probably be disappointed with any market I had trekked across the city for.

eurotravlr

I'll be happy to enlight you about Osaka. Anyway, AnthonyGa, you are right about RS recommending certain streets rather than the broad area of Paris. No matter how we feel about RS, people will continue to use his guides and we cannot do anything about it but to live by it and enjoy Paris. BTW, I have the best seat at my office and I don't have to mingle with my co-workers. Anybody willing to buy a nice apartment near Champ Elysee's? It's my second home for the last 18 years.

Byrd

Trudaine,

In October we happened upon the market on rue Daguerre (actually as we waited for the Catacombes to open).

Everything looked so good, and there I was with no kithcen!

Byrd

AnthonyGA

One of the advantages of going with an apartment or an apartment-hotel is that you can cook your own meals, which gives you an excuse to go to the open markets to buy food. Of course, this isn't persuasive for everyone, but when you stroll through the markets and realize you have no place to cook in a regular hotel room, it's a bit disappointing.

I detect a whale captain on this B747; that's certainly the best seat in the office, and about the only one that could pay for a <i>pied-&agrave;-terre</i> in the City of Light. But pilots are actually the <i>least</i> sophisticated when it comes to foreign destinations among air crews&mdash;because pilots get jobs as pilots out of a desire to fly airplanes, not out of a desire to travel. For many of them, going to foreign countries is a necessary evil they must tolerate in order to fly planes, not an interesting perk. Anyone who just wants to travel is much better off becoming a flight attendant: less pay, sure, but less training necessary, and more flexibility and opportunity to travel with fewer restrictions.

I'm not sure if airline crews are better sources of information than Rick Steves. Probably not, unless you want a recommendation for a single hotel and a single restaurant near the hotel in each of thirty different major cities.

grantop

I have to chuckle when someone says a market is nothing special: What would make it special? Clowns? Trick Ponies?

RS has to mention the Paris markets, and he happend to pick Rue Cler. Big deal. So people read about it and want to see it, what's wrong with that? The same thing would have happend if he mentioned any other market.

AnthonyGA

The problem is that RS nowhere indicates that the rue Cler is typical; on the contrary, he makes it sound like it is something unique and extremely special in Paris, when in fact it's like a zillion other streets in the city. So all his groupies descend on that one little street, and ignore the many other nearly identical streets.

jody

You all just need to buy or read &quot; Paris in a Baskit&quot;

grantop

That is a great book Jody, but all they want to do here is blame RS for a crowded street and pretend they wouldn't be caught dead any place where they might see a (gasp) TOURIST!