Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - TR France Sep 2006

Well, I'm finally writing a bit of a trip report. I've been guilt ridden about not posting yet. I'm so appreciative of the help I received planning.

First, let me say the French people we encountered were soooo nice, helpful, funny. (all this with just a handy dandy Instant French pocket guide from Barnes & Noble)

Our trip was Sep 11th - 29th 2006.
We flew Air France from LAX to Paris.The plane was one of the old fleet, not an updated one as 70% of their fleet has been updated or so the in flight magazine says. The food in economy was better than our recent first class meal on Continental.

Paris hotel: www.hotel-paris-lademeure.com
a nice little hotel in the 13th right on the border of the Latin Quarter. The staff and owners are extremely nice and helpful. The lobby is welcoming. Our room was small. No, really... I figured it was an optimum room if you got food poisoning because you could be on the toilet and throw up in the sink at the same time since the sink was in your lap while sitting on the toilet. We had a beautiful view out the window on the 6th floor. We could see the Eiffel Tower in the distance. Lovely. We switched to a different room the next day when a larger one became avilable. Not a great view but worth the extra room. Breakfast was good, coffee, tea, juice, ham, cheese, croissants, pastries, yogurt and cereal. I recommend this hotel.

Restaurants in Paris we ate at:
Canon De Gobelins 13th: Unremarkable
Restaurant at the Musee D'Orsay: Enjoyed it very much. Excellent staff and food.
Sirocco (Morroccan)13th?: Delicious food and so much fun. This rest. was recommended by the hotel and we were not disappointed.
Anacreon (French)13th: Very nice atmosphere. We felt we could have been dressed nicer since we had been out touring all day and just ended up at this place next to the hotel. Crab bisque was amazing. Staff was very friendly(not much English)food was great $35eu for fixed menu.
Le Cupole 6th?: big restaurant. had lunch with our tour guide here. Food was good as was service. A nice time

Things we did:
Hired a tour guide, Sal Silitti (amazing)
www.voyages-in-provence.com Sal usually does tours in Provence so we were lucky. He is so much fun and so knowledgeable. Really knows his history. Speaks English, French, Italian and I think Spanish.

Musee Rodin: Enjoyed this, especially the top floor.
Musee D'Orsay: Excellent collection, esp. Art Noveau. I thought the layout was a bit confusing but I know they were working with the old train station which is a very interesting bldg...
Eiffel Tower: Impressive, wish we would have went up at night instead of afternoon, esp because it was hot and lots of sweaty people.
Notre Dame: Of course
Versailles: Wow, wish we had more time!
Louvre: see above
Pantheon: Do you know all the people buried there?
Napoleon's Tomb: Really impressive. This was an unexpected stop and so glad we did.
Sacre Coeur: Very beautiful outside ok inside.
Laduree: Ok, I call this a destination. yum! I got a pastry called Divine and it was. While I was devouring my box of macaroons, our tour guide Sal was pointing out a building that was the Department of Flavor. I thought, "amazing! that's why everything tastes so good here!" as I exclaimed out loud Department of Flavor!? Sal said "No, LABOR" I laughed and merrily picked out another macaroon.

That's most of Paris. We did get a museum pass and a metro pass which were invaluable. It was pretty hot and humid most of the time in Paris. My husband never did breakout the sportscoat we brought the entire trip. We were glad he did have it as an option at the Chateau D'Ige but that is another post.