I have a GPS too.
Can I load Paris?

Yes - I have the whole of Europe on mine and taking to Ireland then Paris.

Speaking of maps, on the advice of a seasoned Paris traveler, I bought upon arrival the Blay Foldex "Paris Par arrondissement Special Pocket" map book. What a wonderful find it proved to be! Fits in my back pocket. When I need a street, I look it up in the index and it directs me to the appropriate map page and provides coordinates. Has listings for attractions, space for notes metro maps, etc. Far more convenient than the big laminated things. Sitting in a bistro, it's an easy, discrete check. It cost about 4 Euro at a news stand in the train station. I highly recommend it.

I used this book on our trip this past fall. Many key sights / points of interest noted.

http://www.amazon.ca/Paris-Mapguide-.../dp/0141469048

tod, where would one buy the Europe one for GPS ?

TTT
Also DH and myself will probably only eat out for one nice meal.
With a total of $100 dollars to spend,where should we go?
Lunch or dinner is fine. We would like something casual. Nothing formal or snooty. Great homestyle food in a friendly atmosphere.
We will be staying in either the 4th 5th or 6th....

For your one nice meal out, try Le Petit Pontoise, 12 rue de Lanneau, in the 5th near the Maubert Mutualite metro stop. It's small, exceedingly friendly, cute with little crocheted curtains, and best of all has great typical French food at very reasonable prices. We had dinner for two for 102 euros with a bottle of wine and 2 or 3 courses, each. One bit of advice, dress for a warm room. When the place fills up--and it will--it can get warm. Be sure to reserve. Because it's so good, it's also popular with both locals and tourists. 01 43 54 77 26. Enjoy.

thanks Julie
Sounds like the kind of place we are looking for.

Jetsetj,
Just returned from a week in Paris. We were in the 14th (Montparnesse) and there are many reasonable and good restaurants on rue Daguerre. We had excellent French food, Breton crepes and Moroccan. (Not to mention the market purchases and roast chicken.) Most of the patrons seem to be locals. You do not need to spend 100$/euros to eat well in Paris. The further out of the tourist areas, the lower the prices go, but the quality of the food (and wine) stays very high. We never had a bad meal!

wondering,
I am so glad you had a great trip.

We will probably only eat 1 meal out while in Paris.
Not counting quick treats of crepes or pastries.
we will cook in apt. mostly and look forward to having the roast chickens people have recommended here.

Well, there is travel and there is travel. I enjoy the zippy underground Metro, and it is part of the experience of Paris, but I love taking the batobus for plain old transportation. But then, I live on the sea and often take the boat for transportation for shopping, etc.

Also I disagree with the advice to use the internet for restaurant recommendations.

jetsetj, I hope you're still following this thread. I need to make a correction on the address for Petit Pontoise. I mistakenly gave you the address for Petit Prince. Petit Pontoise is at 9 rue de Pontoise. phone 43 29 25 20. Sorry to have misled you.

By the way, I didn't mean my comment about internet recommendations in response to JulieV, who does quite a bit of research on food before choosing restaurants. I too have eaten at Pontoise, and enjoyed it. I had lunch there and it was considerably cheaper than Julie's dinner.

But if you want to eat well in Paris, I think you are better off asking people which restaurant critics they like best. I don't use Zagat's. I think it's a disaster.

Julie, that's funny, because when I saw your post about P. Pontoise, I figured they'd moved!

For all my travel, hotel and dining decisions, I try to use as many sources as possible. Comparisons among guides and internet sites seems to improve chances of getting more hits than misses. Sometimes I'll note a review in one guide or on a site and check it in another only to find distinctly different reactions--or similar. If I see a post praising a place to the heavens, especially from a poster with whom I'm unfamiliar, and then read a review in a guide that seems a bit lukewarm on the place, I'm likely to leave it for another time while I find places more universally acclaimed or acclaimed by reviewers in whom I have more faith.

But nothing is a guarantee. I have read nothing but raves about Christophe and reviewers and posters (and actual people I know or have met) whose opinions I value highly have been uniformly gushing in their praise of the place. Nonethless neither DH nor I found the place warm or inviting, nor the service friendly and caring, not the food anything other than highly competent. I can't explain it by our mood. We were looking forward to the experience and had no problems getting there, etc. Maybe they were having a very off night. Whatever, it just goes to show, there's no sure thing even when there's unanimity before you get there.

About restaurant recommendations...
Obviously not everyone is going to like everything.
Yet, if 8 out of 10 say they enjoyed their experience somewhere then I tend to listen.

ALSO...
We are still looking for lodging with this criteria if anyone has a recommendation.

Studio Apt..
* Sept. 25-29, 2009
* 2 studios. 2 adults per studio. Within walking distance of
each other.
* No more that 110 euros per night per studio.
* Elevator if not on 1st or 2nd floor.
* In the 4th or 5th arrondisment.
* Real queen bed, not futon or pullout sofa.
* Separate sofa for sitting on in daytime.

Thanks for your help.

P.S.
We have secured our Amsterdam lodging..
http://www.valens.nl/nlhtmldocs/canalsite.html
YAHOOEEEEE!!!

Vacation In Paris have some apartments in the same building, you could email them and see what they have available. Here is one example. http://www.vacationinparis.com/apts/id_133.htm

gundy,
i just sent an email with our criteria..

thanks

BuckeyeBud - Agree with your choice - Paris Map Guide by Michael Middleditch. A very compact and useful guide with all the essential information. We will be bringing it with us in September.

Tod

I ordered the book you mentioned - it looks great, thank you for the reco.

jetset - great thread!