Stormygirl read you post from last year about you few days with the girls in PAris....we are hoping to plan out own gals trip from Dublin. So far its 3 of us in our 30's ....1 German friend living in Dublin who has an Irish accent, one Dubliner and me!

We are looking for a fun girls weekend (I have done the Eifel Tower and sights) but we are looking for fun places at night. I am thinking maybe we should stay near the Marais. I like the idea of a trip to reims as well but one of the girls suffers from severe travel sickness on any types of transport other than a car.

Also anyone with some suggestions for shopping...looking for yarns and fabrics to buy and try to turn into something fab. Also I am on the hunt for new kitchen gadgets.

The key words here are fun and food.

I can't help you with the nightlife part, but I can give you the names and addresses of two good yarn shops.

In the Marais, Anny Blatt at 40 rue des Francs-Boureois. The website, which has pictures of their gorgeous yarn, is www.pelote-paris.com. The other shop is La Droguerie at 9-11 rue du Jour. If you stand on the front steps of St. Eustache (near Les Halles) and look opposite, you will see the shop.

From my notes, I have La Vaisellerie listed as a shop that sells kitchenware, but I don't know anything else about it.

Marais, or rather the Bastille area, is a good base if you girls want to have fun. Basically, you can't go wrong if you patrol the rue du Faubourg Saint Antoine from Bastille to Ledru-Rollin. Ditto for rue de la Roquette from rue de Lappe to place Léon Blum. In the same area, but slightly further afield, you must already know the famous rue Oberkampf, busiest at its intersection with rue Saint-Maur, with its more "branché" (hip) crowd.

Art knows his nightlife! Eastern Paris shines after dark, when everyone still kicking has left the Left Bank behind.

Not far from St.-Eustache church that Mermaid mentioned is the kitchen shop called Dehillerin on rue Coquillière. It has two floors of kitchen gadgets in the messiest store imaginable. The clerks are comedians.
Boots

Siobhan,

Definitely check out TIME OUT: PARIS for an up-to-date list of clubs, music venues, bars and restaurants.

They are an excellent, in-depth source, and I have gotten a lot of ideas from them for our upcoming Paris trip.

Cheers.

Thanks, Boots, for mentioning that kitchen shop. I couldn't remember the name of it. We walked by it and peered in the windows and it is exactly as you say! Piles and piles of pots and pans and gadgets all over the place. If I hadn't brought carry-on luggage with me, I'd have been sorely tempted to buy a few things in there.

Buddha Bar-on rue Boissy d'Anglas-you can reach across this narrow little rue and touch the American Embassy. At Place de la Concorde. As far as I'm concerned, it's the first and only place to go in Paris-not bad Asian fusion food, the CDs they put out-world music-are best sellers around the world-first rate DJs-and the piece de resistance-a 30 foot high golden Buddha presiding over the downstairs restaurant and the upstairs bar area. You will never see so many beautiful men (really, beautiful people) from around the world anywhere. Not so pretentious either.

Also recommended, Man-Ray Bar, on Rue Marboeuf, just off the Champs d'Elysees. Asian motif (most of the hip bars in Paris are now going with the Asian theme) jazz and hip hop, part owned by Johnny Depp and Sean Penn.

Dehillerin is the shop that chefs shop. I think I've recommended it over the years to hear alot of wows. Another is Bain Mari, but I heard they have moved. Anyone know?

http://www.timeout.com/paris/shops/27.html

http://www.discoverparis.com/Article...ageID=47587683

Another vote for Dehillerin - an excellent shop for kitchen and dining gadgets with some of the most knowledgeable sales staff. The discounts gets better if you plan on returning and sticks with the same salesperson.
If one of your party is a student, the greater the discount, too.

Guys thanks so much for all the shop suggestions. I just saw a grapefruit cutter the other day...a must have for kitchen gadget people! I will check out time out for nightlife as well. I never went around the Marais area in past visits and this is the perfect opportunity for us to stay there, shop and have some fun going out in the evenings.
Any further suggestons would be great!

Having been on many a girls' night out in Paris, I can share some of my favourite haunts. The Bastille/Marais area is a good place to start. For decent food and a trendy, young atmosphere, try the Pause Café on rue de Charonne (on corner with Avenue Ledru Rollin). The Boca Chica, further along rue de Charonne, is a lively, popular place for tapas and drinks.
The Sans Sanz on is a bar-cum-restaurant-cum club where you can get a great dinner and then let your hair down as the atmosphere hots up and they crank up the volume.

The Lizard Lounge on rue Bourg-Tibourg is a popular spot with the young expat crowd and Parisians too - there's a happy hour in the (quieter) street level bar from 6 till 8pm, and then downstairs in the cellar bar from 8pm till 10pm. The bar belongs to the same owners as the Bottle Shop (on rue Trousseau in the Bastille area), which has more of a laid-back pub atmosphere.

If you want to go dancing, you could see what's on at the Batofar (www.batofar.org), a club on a boat moored on the Seine in the 13th arrondissement.

Oops, forgot to mention that the Sanz Sans is at 49 rue Faubourg St Antoine in the 11th (about 5-10 minutes walk from place de la bastille)

Here's one in the Marais you can case out for the good of the order:

http://www.7lezards.com/

Bon Voyage!

Just now seeing your post, I totally agree with staying in the Marais. There are so many fun places, you will hear them! haha!

I also love going out in the Oberkamfp area. There are great bars on both sides of the road and a nice mix of bar/dance/cocktail places. Also there are really tasty sidewalk stands selling crepes and panini.

I won't get back to Paris again until this fall so be sure to post your finds for me!

Hi stormygirl,

Were there any music/dance places that really stood out for you in the Oberkampf neighborhood?

We are going to stay in the Marais this June.

Did you happen to make it to Batofar, the club on a boat, in the 13th arrondissement?

Cheers,
Betty

Just this week I read about a new magazine called GoGo which was launched in Paris by the people from Time Out. It is apparently geared to a younger crowd with emphasis on trendy shopping and nighlife. Can't remember where I read about it (obviously I don't fit into its target market) but it did say that it is free and would be available wherever TimeOut was found.

Betty,

Charbon was the place when I was there but I'll try to email my girlfriend and see what is fun now. We didn't go to Batofar.

That TimeOut place sounds fun too!