Tomorrow's the day! - last Paris questions
 

Thanks all for all your help. Put all my notes together last night and relived to see it's looking mighty good, thanks to all the advice received here.
I have my head around my basic IT for each day in Paris (allowing for changes due to weather of course) but for some downe times (I wish) I have a couple of "little questions" that I thought I would ask as an exit/withdrawal session from my fodorites support team..hee
Here goes (theyre pretty lame so excuse beforehand but Im down to the dreggs now hee)
If we just want to go to for a coffee and a small look at the St-Germain area (running out of schedule time..sigh) Where is the best Metro to get off to be close to the atmospheric part - what are the best streets for a "little wander"?
We're staying at Hotel Monge which is nearby (relatively?) but dont want to spend 1/2 day doing it..(so metro a stop or 2?)We would go maybe at the end for a wander after a hard day hitting the sights.

The same question "sort of" in regards to Rue Mouffetard - we are a stones throw from it at Hotel Monge but wondering if all of Rue Mouffetard is interesting or one end only? (It looks really long on the map? - maybe its not?)
If there is one area to go to near Rue Mouffetard for a small wander/coffee where is it in relation to Hotel Monge?
THANK YOU - THATS THE END OF MY FRANCE QUESTIONS (I hope..hee) Ill check back in this arvo and hopefully all is complete. Then itll be report time from me on our return in November- thanks again

You could take the metro to Odeon and walk along St. Germain and the back streets until you get to the St. Germain des Pres stop, taking the metro back from there. Rue Jacob is a good one, with two of my favorite shops, La Maison Ivre for pottery, and Huilerie J. Leblanc for all sorts of artisanal oil (I am partial to the truffled olive oil).

Rue Mouffetard is not really all that long. The street market part is at the bottom of the street, the Place de la Contrescarpe with several cafes is at the top of the street.

Place de la Contrescarpe many years ago was Hemingway country, if that is of interest.

You can also get off at the St-Germain-des-Prés métro station, which is just across the street from the church. From there head down the boulevard past the church (stop if you have time), then take about the second left and walk down to Paul's Boulangerie for coffee and perhaps a pastry. After that, just wander in the small streets nearby and down to the Seine.

Rue Mouffetard is interesting from beginning to end. There is a sort of flee market on Place de la Contrescarpe on Sunday afternoons. Good place to relax and have a drink before dinner time...

Hello Cosmo, just wanted to wish you a beautiful and memorable trip. Enjoy every moment!

Cosmo, the square in front of St Sulpice church is quite large and has a huge fountain in it that is illuminated at night. There are some benches around the edges of the square - it's very nice.

I guess someone told you already that there is a market at Place Monge - I think it is on Wed and Sun. Nothing too big, just a nice local market with colorful produce, meats, cheeses, maybe some crafts or clothing (a little)...

St Germain isn't quite as close to the Monge metro stop as you would like -- it's going to be 4-5 stops. The St Germain-des-Pres stop isn't going to work because it's not on the same metro line that you will be using -- you'll have to transfer at Jussieu and then either get off at Odeon and walk west (returning perhaps from Mabillon), or the other way around, get off at Mabillon and return from Odeon. The main boulevard isn't really the most atmospheric part of that area, though, so get off bd St-Germain.

Rue Mouffetard isn't quite as long as it may look, but it isn't like the bigger boulevards with nice cafes on it. There aren't any great cafes on most of it, it's other kind of shops. There are several cafes right around place Contrescarpe, as others mentioned, which is very close to that hotel. Those cafes skew pretty young, but will be most convenient, I think. I like the cafe down at the "bottom" or southern end in front of the St Medard church best (it's really in front of the side yard of it)-- I think it's called the Cafe Medard or something like that.

I think you should just walk or wander until you don't feel like it any more and pick places that appeal to you, rather than having specific destinations.

I may be in danger of offending some, but I spent some time last week in the St. Germain des Pres area -- and another afternoon wandering the rest of the Latin Quarter and found it quite dull in comparison to the Marais and other more lively neighborhoods. Blvd. St. Germain has a bunch of cafe's, but not much to look at. I'd rather spend an hour or two on Ile St. Louis shopping and taking in some cafe time. During a Fodors GTG in Paris last week, we walked down Ile Ste. Louis central street and I loved it so much I went back when I had time to look around and take in some cafe time.

I'm not saying not to go, but don't worry if you don't have the time to spend many hours there. St. Sulpice was underwhelming to me (I'd rather see the Pantheon again, and that's saying something). The best part of the Latin Quarter to me was the Luxumbourg Gardens.

Happy travels,

Jules

Thanks everyone.. lots of useful info as usual... (dont worry Jules, a walk around the Marais is already on the list..)
packing now done, housework done, dogs bathed.... one more sleep.
thank you everyone for your help
Gayle

Bon Voyage. Have a wonderful time.

All the best on your trip. I am so envious :-)

I know its too late for Cosmo to read this but I couldn't help but comment on Rue Mouffetard.

We were in Paris in June staying on the Rue de la Harpe and after reading all about Rue Mouffetard, we decided to go there. It was a warm day and it was a long trek up hill and although we had a map we couldn't find it. I asked three different people, all of whom spoke English, and they were of no help. Finally we reached the famous Rue Mouffetard and what a disappointment. It was a typical "student" area atmosphere, nothing interesting, rather dirty compared to the rest of Paris and the market was nothing compared to the one far down on, I believe it was Blvd. St. Michel. It was a long walk downhill after finding the Rue and then we had that long walk back to the hotel in the heat. In two trips to Paris, this was our only disappointment. My husbands groans if I even mention it.