Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Some tips from Paris Trip report (Apr 04)

Just got back from 5 days trip to Paris (4/1-4/6). What a great city! The art, the people, culture, architecture, the food, the whole athmosphere is very different. We walked to everywhere, and got to see a lot.
Since there are many reports of Paris exist already, I won't go in details what we did on this post, but I will give some tips from our trip :
* Stayed at Villa D'Estrees in Latin Quarter. The hotel might not look too appealing from the outside (for a 4* hotel), but the the hotel room is actually nice, and big (for European size). Everyone who worked there is very nice & friendly.
* Almost everywhere in Paris is nice to visit. FAUCHON in Madeline is a nice cafe/bakery. They have many interesting desserts/breads/croissants with decent prices.
* Spend some time, during the day AND night time by the Eiffel Tower ! Daylight view is awesome, where Eiffel at night is magical.
* The shops near NotreDame has better prices & selections for buying souvenirs like Paris magnets.
* The Crêperie des Arts (27 rue St-André-des-Arts) is very good. There are 2 more creperies close to this place, and they all are owned by the same owner.
* The creperie stand next to McDonald?s on St. Michel boulevard is also very good. The panini sandwich is also good, and cheap!
* We didn't make it here, but I was told by someone who lives in Paris about this creperie - the best in town:
La crêperie de Josselin 67 rue du Montparnasse, 14th (metro Edgar Quinet/Montparnasse Bienvenue).
* La Grande Epicerie, Bon Marché (38 rue de Sèvres, 7e) is a great 1 stop shopping for a picnic fare.
* We went to Rue Montorgueil on a late Sunday morning. What a great street to just sit and relax. This is more like a street market. To find a good bakery/lunch place, just follow the Parisien crowd/long line. Make sure you get there by 12:30.
* Request a free map & 10% coupon from the Lafayette * PrintTemps before you leave.
And you could apply 10% off toward the Longchamps bags in Printemps, but not in the Lafayette.
* Monoprix is also a good place to buy Provence soaps.
* Many Parisien (women) wear sneakers, and they don't wear black all the time! Wear what ever you feel comfortable.
* Safe your Sunday to visit Marais.
* We took the RER to the airport from St. Michel. It was cheap & fast (express one). It took less than 30 mins to get to terminal 2. Just watch out for the pickpockets.