freberta

My husband and I will be in Paris in October and we want to attend a concert at Saint Chapelle on Sunday evening, Vivaldi's Four Seasons performed by Les Archets de Paris orchestra. Since I like to have everything arranged beforehand, I want to order the tickets online from FNAC and then pick them up from one of their locations close to my hotel. Is that the best way to do it? The tickets are 25 Euros each. I do not want to wait until I get to Paris to buy the tickets (even if they are cheaper) because I am afraid they will not be available or that we will blow it off for something a lot less interesting. Thanks.

Gretchen

Here is a site to order tickets online. And other concerts. You pick up the ticket that night. Be aware that there is no reserved seating so you want to arrive and queue up early to get seats near the front. And you will want to bring a jacket--it can be very cool inside.

http://translate.google.com/translat...erts%26hl%3Den

Croque_Madame

Thank you, Gretchen, for reminding me of this link. Just used it to book concerts at St Julien le Pauvre & Madeleine in November.

tekwriter

My mother and I went to a concert in early July and I ordered our tickets through FNAC and picked them up at the Bastille location the day before. It did cost more and the line was long. It turned out there was plenty of room for anyone who wanted to buy tickets at the door, which is would think might be more likely in October.

It was a terrific concert at an unparalleled venue. Be sure to go to the early concert to get as much sunlight as possible through the windows.

If you're looking for a great place for dinner, Le Fin Gourmet on Ile St. Louis was outstanding and such a nice walk from Ste. Chapelle.

freberta

Thanks for the advice. Actually, I was hoping to make a dinner reservation at Mon Vieil Ami, also on Ile St. Louis. I'll check out your recommendation.

Tekwriter - If I reserve tickets for the concert through FNAC, is there a fee tacked on similar to the one that Ticketmaster charges? Also, can I pick up the tickets anytime before the concert, like 5 days ahead of time? There's an FNAC location right near our hotel that I am sure we can stop into on our way to and from our planned activities/dinners. Thanks for your advice, and we will make sure we get there early (we're hoping to go to the Sunday 7 p.m. performance, so we don't have any real plans that day other than to wander the city.) Sunset is around 6:55 p.m. on that day, so it should be perfect.

freberta

One last thing -- the website provided by Gretchen lists a concert at Saint Chapelle by the Orchestre les Violins de France. The one that I want to attend is by the Orchestre les Archets des Paris on Sunday, October 19, and does not appear on the www.ampconcerts.com concert schedule. However, it is found on the Archets des Paris website. What's the difference between the two?

tekwriter

Sure, I don't see any reason why your tickets wouldn't be available any time after you purchased them. Or you should be able to walk up to the FNAC ticket desk and buy them on the spot. I can't remember exactly what the service charge was, maybe 7-8E total for two tickets. I was like you, not wanting to risk not getting in. Sounds like you'll have a lovely evening!

slangevar

Bookmarking (and waiting to a response for why the Sainte-Chapelle concerts aren't all showing up on the ampconcerts.com ticket site... the concert I want to attend isn't on there either, but is on the site the OP mentions)

Gretchen

I can't answer why all don't show up. It is a different group. We loved the Violins! They were a hoot on their encores. Did a big ham of an encore.
And I will say that sometimes you cannot count on tickets in October. We had hoped to go for a concert (can'tremember what it was now) on All Hallows Eve, and it was flat sold out.

hpeabody

bookmarking

ruby627

We were there on Oct 4, 2007 (our anniversary) and just bought tickets at the door. We got in line early. It was the most wonderful concert!

jrjcolllins

We bought tickets recently to the Les Archets de Paris for their Sept. 13th concert. We paid 29E and printed the tickets out online. The website is www.classictic.com. I thought it interesting that the website says they do not charge a fee but we found out later that the ticket price is actually 25E. Anyway, we're looking forward to the concert.

freberta

For some reason, the Les Archets de Paris performances at St. Chapelle are not listed on the Classictic website for the month of October. The only place I could find the October 19 concert is on the Les Archets de Paris website. Does that make any sense? Does the Classictic website only post these concerts a month in advance?

jrjcolllins

I don't know about the classictic policy. But they are advertising tickets to Les Solistes Francais in October. My friend saw that group last month and said they were excellent. Don't know what the program was.

Sherbrooke

With regard to CLASSICTIC, take care. We bought tickets on their website for a concert in May, at Eglise de la Madeleine in Paris, only to find that the concert had been cancelled and we had not been advised (if indeed there had ever been a concert there at all).I contacted them by telephone and e-mail when we got home to no avail and eventually Visa reversed the charge for us. However, and this is where it gets weird, Classictic charged me again (!) and in a telephone conversation with their guy in Germany I was told it was because I had complained about them on travel message boards. Goodness knows what kind of revenge this posting of mine will bring !

freberta

Thanks for the advice. I will avoid Classictic. I think I'll give Les Archets de Paris a call. My French is passable, but I am sure they speak English better than I speak French!

jrjcolllins

Thanks, Sherbrooke, for your warning. Unfortunately we found out too late. After reading your post, I went on the website of Les Archets de Paris and found that the date and time of our tickets is a different group and different repertoire. Classictic hadn't even told us. So I immediately emailed them about the problem and they said they'll try to change the ticket. I also told them to be sure and not charge my Visa a second time. Waiting to hear from them now.

Sherbrooke

jrjcollins: Don't be shy to phone Classictic if you don't mind making a long-distance call. Both men I spoke to (in Munich, I think) spoke excellent English.

Christina

Ampconcerts is just one particular booking agency and group, it is not any official website for booking Ste Chappelle concerts.

Other groups play there, not just the ones managed by Ampconcerts.

There is no reason to limit yourself to that website or that group in terms of the concerts you want to go to in Paris. They do have Ste Chappelle regularly booked, but other than that, there is nothing special about them (and their repertoire is hackneyed and doesn't vary year after year after year).