terrific winter trip--Paris
Feb 21st, 2006, 11:39 AM
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terrific winter trip--Paris
This board has been so helpful in all my travel planning that I want to post a few words about my great time in Paris and answer any questions that may come up.
My daughter and I landed in paris Feb 1st for our 15 day stay. We flew in from DFW and after landing we easily figured out the purchase of metro tickets and Roissy bus tickets by credit card on the machines that are very easy to use. Our apartment was on the #8 line, ecole militaire stop, so the Roissy bus was quite convenient for us.
Our apartment was terrific. It is vrbo.com #9528 and I can highly recommend it; we were very comfortable and happy with it.
My focus for this trip was the art and I chose the winter to hopefully save with off-season rates for airfare and lodging and also have fewer people in the museums. That seemed to work out as we had no lines at any of the places we went with the exception of a special exhibit of an american museum's collection on tour at the Musee Luxembourg. It was the Phillips Collection from Washington DC that has been touring while they do renovations. I hadn't seen it in many years and we love it so we went and probably had 30 minutes in line to get in. We laughed about the irony of coming to Paris and the only place we have a line is to see an american collection!!
We did take a day trip to Chartres but the rest of our time we spent in Paris. The city is so wonderful and we did the standard things including Sacre Couer and walking around Montmartre,going up in the Arc de Triomphe, visiting Heloise and Abelard's grave at Pere Lachaise cemetary,seeing Notre Dame & climbing the tower, visiting many other wonderful churches, going up in the Eiffel Tower (only to the 2nd level for me as I am not fond of heights!) etc etc.
We loved the art the most of all and did spend almost 3 full days in the Louvre. That is such an amazing place! Also went to the Cluny, Jacquemart-Andre, Carnavalet, Rodin, Orsay, Picasso, Pompidou and Marmottan.
We went to a beautiful concert at St Germain des Pres one evening and listened to Vivaldi and Mozart. Sublime music in such a wonderful setting!
Also greatly enjoyed was all the fantastic food; whether shopping in a neighborhood grocery, stopping on our way back home for tommorows croissants/brioche, eating out in a small cosy restaurant or bistro or going through the fantastic food emporioums at La Grande Epicerie de Paris or Galleries Layfayette and bringing back terrific cheese and wine and pate for a meal 'at home' that night. it was all so great!!
I could blather on and on about how terrific Paris is but most people reading this are already convinced. I was in Florence and Rome last year and this trip was just as great in a different way. I've left out quite a few things that filled our time but don't want this to go too long. Any questions or more details wanted please ask. lynda
My daughter and I landed in paris Feb 1st for our 15 day stay. We flew in from DFW and after landing we easily figured out the purchase of metro tickets and Roissy bus tickets by credit card on the machines that are very easy to use. Our apartment was on the #8 line, ecole militaire stop, so the Roissy bus was quite convenient for us.
Our apartment was terrific. It is vrbo.com #9528 and I can highly recommend it; we were very comfortable and happy with it.
My focus for this trip was the art and I chose the winter to hopefully save with off-season rates for airfare and lodging and also have fewer people in the museums. That seemed to work out as we had no lines at any of the places we went with the exception of a special exhibit of an american museum's collection on tour at the Musee Luxembourg. It was the Phillips Collection from Washington DC that has been touring while they do renovations. I hadn't seen it in many years and we love it so we went and probably had 30 minutes in line to get in. We laughed about the irony of coming to Paris and the only place we have a line is to see an american collection!!
We did take a day trip to Chartres but the rest of our time we spent in Paris. The city is so wonderful and we did the standard things including Sacre Couer and walking around Montmartre,going up in the Arc de Triomphe, visiting Heloise and Abelard's grave at Pere Lachaise cemetary,seeing Notre Dame & climbing the tower, visiting many other wonderful churches, going up in the Eiffel Tower (only to the 2nd level for me as I am not fond of heights!) etc etc.
We loved the art the most of all and did spend almost 3 full days in the Louvre. That is such an amazing place! Also went to the Cluny, Jacquemart-Andre, Carnavalet, Rodin, Orsay, Picasso, Pompidou and Marmottan.
We went to a beautiful concert at St Germain des Pres one evening and listened to Vivaldi and Mozart. Sublime music in such a wonderful setting!
Also greatly enjoyed was all the fantastic food; whether shopping in a neighborhood grocery, stopping on our way back home for tommorows croissants/brioche, eating out in a small cosy restaurant or bistro or going through the fantastic food emporioums at La Grande Epicerie de Paris or Galleries Layfayette and bringing back terrific cheese and wine and pate for a meal 'at home' that night. it was all so great!!
I could blather on and on about how terrific Paris is but most people reading this are already convinced. I was in Florence and Rome last year and this trip was just as great in a different way. I've left out quite a few things that filled our time but don't want this to go too long. Any questions or more details wanted please ask. lynda
Feb 21st, 2006, 12:20 PM
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lyndash -
My husband and I are leaving in April for a week in Paris, and will be staying in the 6th at a vrbo rental. The one you stayed was our other choice. Your trip sounds so nice, and just reading it has gotten me excited, realizing how close it is. Thank you for sharing.
My husband and I are leaving in April for a week in Paris, and will be staying in the 6th at a vrbo rental. The one you stayed was our other choice. Your trip sounds so nice, and just reading it has gotten me excited, realizing how close it is. Thank you for sharing.
Feb 22nd, 2006, 01:59 PM
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thanks teaberry and SuzieC...I hope your trip is as great as ours, teaberry. Paris seems to me to be to be the city I can see going back to again and again, perhaps like New York? She doesn't reveal all her charms on your first introduction. lynda
Apr 3rd, 2006, 05:56 PM
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Hi lyndash! Your apartment looks just like SFowler & Starspinner's apartment, whom I visited Saturday the 19th. If this is true then I was in YOUR place just a few days after you left it. Funny! It's a lovely place and very roomy with a great price.
I went to Chartres, too - small world. I wonder if we just missed each other. Seems like we did a lot of the same things except I missed the Picasso, Marmottan & d'Orsay this trip.
Okay, I'll ask a question - what was your favorite:
patisserie?
bistro?
museum?
Did you see the macaron shop in Chartres? An amazing array of choices.
What did you do & see in Chartres?
I went to Chartres, too - small world. I wonder if we just missed each other. Seems like we did a lot of the same things except I missed the Picasso, Marmottan & d'Orsay this trip.
Okay, I'll ask a question - what was your favorite:
patisserie?
bistro?
museum?
Did you see the macaron shop in Chartres? An amazing array of choices.
What did you do & see in Chartres?
Apr 3rd, 2006, 06:24 PM
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"She doesn't reveal all her charms on your first introduction."
lynda, what a perfect description!
I was also in Paris at that time and like Beatchick, I end up wondering if we walked past each other, as I visited some of the same places. It is a delight to read about someone else's joy in that city.
Anselm
lynda, what a perfect description!
I was also in Paris at that time and like Beatchick, I end up wondering if we walked past each other, as I visited some of the same places. It is a delight to read about someone else's joy in that city.
Anselm
Apr 3rd, 2006, 06:36 PM
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Hi Lyndash - that apartment looks nice and very affordable. Do you know if the couch bed is comfortable? I'm going in September and we need a place with 2 beds. Were there restaurants and shops close by? Thanks!
Apr 4th, 2006, 05:22 PM
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Beatchick...Are you kidding me!!?? We left the 16th and you were visiting another Fodorite in that studio on the 19th?! AMAZING!! It truly is a small world or maybe we should say we truly live in a global age. 3 people in [probably] 3 different parts of the US end up crossing paths [sort of!] in a studio apt. in Paris in the same week because we all do so much of our travel arrangements on the internet!!
we loved our apartment and I will probably always try to finagle an apt. anywhere I travel for more than a few days if possible. There is something so civilized about making a cup of tea whenever you want one and having a crossiant while dressing and getting ready for the day!
We went to Chartres on Mon. the 13th. I loved the church [no surprise, I know!] but Malcolm Miller was a no- show which was a disappointment. We had guide books and did a do it yourself tour. Since I have been home I have gotten the Henry Adams book 'Mont. St Michel and Chartres' and I realize, of course, I must go back! We walked the town before getting our train back but only did a coffee stop in a cafe quite close to the cathedral.
My favorite Bistros were #1 Bistro de Breteuil..excellent lamb, escargot, and more. It was white tablecloth classy but with alot of energy and dash and was only 33E per person which included a Kir Royale and a half bottle of wine as well as entree, plat and dessert!! #2 Cafe Constant and # Le Petit Troquet were also great. They were smaller and more casual but we both thought the food was great and the people watching superb.
We didn't settle on a fave patisserie we ended up in so many and as to museum I have to say I was completely blown away by the Louvre.
OK, I am a museum junkie and can and do spend hours in them savoring the works of art I feel privileged to stand in front of and can't believe I am actually seeing things I've only seen in books but... that collection was so amazing I get tongue-tied talking about it!! the Persian antiquities for instance, the Durer self portrait, the Holbeins, the Leonardo Virgin and St Anne, the Botticellis and on and on.
I loved many other museums, like the Orsay and the Marmottan [such an interesting range of periods in that museum--absolutely incredible illuminated manuscripts AND gorgeous Monets!!] but the Louvre...sigh
Aselm..I should have said 4 of us overlapping in Paris! what dates were you there? Do you often travel in winter as well?
cls2paris...I don't know about the sofa bed. The bed is very comfortable and I measured it as 63" wide and 78" long. Not a knig by american standards but so roomy that my daughter and I bunked together. There are alot of good spots in the 7th as I mentioned to beatchick in this reply. It was a great place to stay and I am surprized it is as reasonable in price as it is. I did a review on their web page and left my email. Please send me any other questions you have either here or through email.
Ronda, My daughter is a grownup married lady of 31 who lives in Alaska and I live in Texas [I am 55] We are very close and the last 2 years we have had Mom and Jen's big adventure trips!! In 2005 we went to Rome and Florence and then this year it was Paris. She has what is termed a seasonal job so she is off 2 to 3 months in the winter and not too adverse to getting out of AK for awhile when its 40 below in Fairbanks!! I am very lucky that we are great traveling buddies and she shares my love for travel, art,food and wine so we have a great time together!
Cigal, another one in Paris in the winter!! You are much more widely traveled than I am, what do you think as to winter vs spring/summer travel? I very much enjoyed your last trip report.
and to tinyteacup...I would go to Paris tomorrow even with the hoopla! I was so taken with the city on so many levels I am just waiting for my next oppurtunity.......lynda
we loved our apartment and I will probably always try to finagle an apt. anywhere I travel for more than a few days if possible. There is something so civilized about making a cup of tea whenever you want one and having a crossiant while dressing and getting ready for the day!
We went to Chartres on Mon. the 13th. I loved the church [no surprise, I know!] but Malcolm Miller was a no- show which was a disappointment. We had guide books and did a do it yourself tour. Since I have been home I have gotten the Henry Adams book 'Mont. St Michel and Chartres' and I realize, of course, I must go back! We walked the town before getting our train back but only did a coffee stop in a cafe quite close to the cathedral.
My favorite Bistros were #1 Bistro de Breteuil..excellent lamb, escargot, and more. It was white tablecloth classy but with alot of energy and dash and was only 33E per person which included a Kir Royale and a half bottle of wine as well as entree, plat and dessert!! #2 Cafe Constant and # Le Petit Troquet were also great. They were smaller and more casual but we both thought the food was great and the people watching superb.
We didn't settle on a fave patisserie we ended up in so many and as to museum I have to say I was completely blown away by the Louvre.
OK, I am a museum junkie and can and do spend hours in them savoring the works of art I feel privileged to stand in front of and can't believe I am actually seeing things I've only seen in books but... that collection was so amazing I get tongue-tied talking about it!! the Persian antiquities for instance, the Durer self portrait, the Holbeins, the Leonardo Virgin and St Anne, the Botticellis and on and on.
I loved many other museums, like the Orsay and the Marmottan [such an interesting range of periods in that museum--absolutely incredible illuminated manuscripts AND gorgeous Monets!!] but the Louvre...sigh
Aselm..I should have said 4 of us overlapping in Paris! what dates were you there? Do you often travel in winter as well?
cls2paris...I don't know about the sofa bed. The bed is very comfortable and I measured it as 63" wide and 78" long. Not a knig by american standards but so roomy that my daughter and I bunked together. There are alot of good spots in the 7th as I mentioned to beatchick in this reply. It was a great place to stay and I am surprized it is as reasonable in price as it is. I did a review on their web page and left my email. Please send me any other questions you have either here or through email.
Ronda, My daughter is a grownup married lady of 31 who lives in Alaska and I live in Texas [I am 55] We are very close and the last 2 years we have had Mom and Jen's big adventure trips!! In 2005 we went to Rome and Florence and then this year it was Paris. She has what is termed a seasonal job so she is off 2 to 3 months in the winter and not too adverse to getting out of AK for awhile when its 40 below in Fairbanks!! I am very lucky that we are great traveling buddies and she shares my love for travel, art,food and wine so we have a great time together!
Cigal, another one in Paris in the winter!! You are much more widely traveled than I am, what do you think as to winter vs spring/summer travel? I very much enjoyed your last trip report.
and to tinyteacup...I would go to Paris tomorrow even with the hoopla! I was so taken with the city on so many levels I am just waiting for my next oppurtunity.......lynda
Apr 4th, 2006, 07:44 PM
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At the end of a long day's walking, it was heaven in this comfortable apartment to ease into that deep bathtub, slip beneath a bubbly froth of Roger & Gallet Lavande Royale with an "Ahhhhhh..." of absolute contentment.
Never, however, have I heard from a courtyard so many pigeons conversing so dementedly at so early an hour.
We slept with the windows open due to the unseasonable heat (in March!) and awoke, that first morning, to the shocked certainty that an entire coven of the creatures must have flown inside during the night to assemble stealthily on the headboard above us, to wait, snickering among themselves, for the exact moment of first daylight.
A crew of methamphetamine crazed roosters could not have been any louder.
Never, however, have I heard from a courtyard so many pigeons conversing so dementedly at so early an hour.
We slept with the windows open due to the unseasonable heat (in March!) and awoke, that first morning, to the shocked certainty that an entire coven of the creatures must have flown inside during the night to assemble stealthily on the headboard above us, to wait, snickering among themselves, for the exact moment of first daylight.
A crew of methamphetamine crazed roosters could not have been any louder.
Apr 4th, 2006, 08:07 PM
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<i>A crew of methamphetamine crazed roosters could not have been any louder. </i>
LOL!
Wow, C_M, what a moment you bring to life for us of Paris!
Lynda, I'm so glad you had such a great time in Paris! It does my heart glad.
Oui, I was in YOUR apartment. And Cigalechanta was almost there as she had dinner with SFowler & Starspinners the night before. So in a way, we almost met, too.
Ronda/Lynda, I think that's great that you're so close to your daughters!! I'm hoping my daughter & I are best buds when she grows up just like you guys. She's a really cool chick at just age 13!
LOL!
Wow, C_M, what a moment you bring to life for us of Paris!
Lynda, I'm so glad you had such a great time in Paris! It does my heart glad.
Oui, I was in YOUR apartment. And Cigalechanta was almost there as she had dinner with SFowler & Starspinners the night before. So in a way, we almost met, too.
Ronda/Lynda, I think that's great that you're so close to your daughters!! I'm hoping my daughter & I are best buds when she grows up just like you guys. She's a really cool chick at just age 13!
Apr 4th, 2006, 08:18 PM
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OH, and Lynda, I was in Chartres Wednesday the 15th so we missed each other there by a few days as well. We missed Malcolm Miller, too. 
Ah, oui, Bistrot de Breteuil, I've heard so many good things about that place!
cls2paris, SFowler & StCirq love the 7th, too, with all of its great restaurants. And I can confirm that the apartment was very spacious in the living quarters. The kitchen might be a bit small for some but I thought it was cleverly compact with everything you'd need for a kitchen. I got a kick out of Sally giving me the grand tour of it & convincing me that Mr. Connolly & I should try to get this place when we (someday) get to Paris. I thought the view was lovely, too, with the vines growing up the side of one of the buildings in the courtyard. Plus, it's not far at all from the Metro.
Well, cls2paris, you do have your work cut out for you deciding in which area of Paris to stay in. Sigh ~ what a horrible dilemma for you, m'dear!
We missed Malcolm Miller, too. Ah, oui, Bistrot de Breteuil, I've heard so many good things about that place!
cls2paris, SFowler & StCirq love the 7th, too, with all of its great restaurants. And I can confirm that the apartment was very spacious in the living quarters. The kitchen might be a bit small for some but I thought it was cleverly compact with everything you'd need for a kitchen. I got a kick out of Sally giving me the grand tour of it & convincing me that Mr. Connolly & I should try to get this place when we (someday) get to Paris. I thought the view was lovely, too, with the vines growing up the side of one of the buildings in the courtyard. Plus, it's not far at all from the Metro.
Well, cls2paris, you do have your work cut out for you deciding in which area of Paris to stay in. Sigh ~ what a horrible dilemma for you, m'dear!
