Trip Report - Paris
 

This is a long-delayed trip report. My first trip to Paris was in 1971, when I spent a month in Paris with a college group. That January in Paris was very cold and damp and we tended to go everywhere on the Metro, rather than walking. Although we saw a great deal during the month, independently and as part of a group, I never had a great desire to go back. But my husband Bob had never been to Paris and we decided to combine a week in Paris with a planned week's visit with our English friends near London. What a revelation Paris was to me! Even though I'd been to all the major sights before and remembered them well, I was just stunned at how beautiful the city was.

Day 1 of our week in Paris (in April) did not go particularly well. We took the Eurostar from London and arrived at the Gare du Nord mid-afternoon. After a terrible time trying to find what I guess was the only ATM in the station, we proceeded to the taxi line. Rather early on we were approached by a driver who offered us an outrageous price to take us to our hotel (we declined) -- best to wait your turn in line for the legit taxis! I think the price difference was about 20-30 euro. We settled into our hotel and decided to walk along the Seine and find somewhere to eat. We walked across Pont Neuf and checked out 3-4 restaurants and either I couldn't see anything I wanted to eat or Bob didn't and we actually got tables in a couple restaurants but ended up leaving because of Bob’s sensitivity to smoking. After walking and walking, we finally ended up eating at an Italian restaurant a block from our hotel. It was the only mediocre meal we had in Paris, so not a great start.

Our junior suite at the Hotel de l'Academie on rue de Saints Peres in St. Germain was comfortable and attractive – the only problem was we both like to read and as we’ve often found when we travel, there was inadequate lighting for reading. The next morning I asked if there were any other jr. suites available that I could look at and was given 3 room keys to check out. Two had the same lighting – just small lamps with shades that could not be removed. Finally the last room had the same lighting, but also spotlights attached to the ceiling beams. This turned out to be the most attractive room as well (it was the room on the website), so we moved rooms.

That done, we headed out for our first full day in Paris. We walked to the Conciergerie, where there were no lines to get in and we could buy our museum passes with no fuss. The Conciergerie has a certain poignancy as the prison of Marie Antoinette and others, but was definitely not a highlight of our trip – not much to see. From there we went to Ste. Chappelle to admire the extraordinary stained glass (and got our 1st chance to appreciate the value of our museum passes, being able to bypass the long line). From there we made our way to Notre Dame, which we both admired, but decided neither of us was up to climbing the tower. (Note: Outside of Notre Dame next to the statue of Charlemagne on horseback is a stairway leading to underground toilets, which are clean and well-stocked due to the very “bossy” lady attendant, I’m sure. It’s very useful to know this – we stopped there several times during our week). Then we crossed over to Ile St. Louis and enjoyed omelets at a café at the foot of the pedestrian bridge where we were able to people watch and enjoy the cool but nice weather (I think it was La Chaumiere en l’Ile – I forgot to write the name down. I took a photo, but the name didn’t show as there was an obstruction). A couple who had just flown in from New Orleans sat at the next table – they were in Paris for a few hours on a layover on their way to Thailand. I admire their stamina. Maybe they can sleep well on planes – I can’t. They had their wheeled carryons with them and were going to make the most of the time they had. After our lunch we explored Ile St. Louis, which we thoroughly enjoyed – when I’d been in Paris in Jan. in ’71 we went to Notre Dame, but never went to Ile St. Louis, so I was pleasantly surprised at its charms. There were some American jazz musicians on the pedestrian bridge. We stopped and enjoyed their music. We went to Ile St. Louis a few times during our week in Paris and saw them several times. I was a rookie with my new digital camera. The last time we saw them, I got out my instruction book to find out how to make a short video of them. Finally, I was all set to record them and they started playing a song I don’t particularly like. So, I figure I’ll wait till the next song. Then they announce they’re taking a break (to sell their cds). We didn’t have time to wait for them to play again. I’m sure they’ll be there the next time we come.That evening we had dinner at Bofinger, which I’d read about often on this site. An enjoyable meal under the beautiful dome – we both had delicious duck entrees.

Can hardly wait for more...

Day 2, we made our way to the Musee D’Orsay, again very glad to have our museum passes and bypass a huge line. We were in heaven to see so many paintings that we’d admired for years in art books in person. And amazed at the extraordinary job the architect did in converting this train station into a museum! For us, a morning wasn’t nearly enough time to do the museum justice, so we were also glad of our passes so we could go back again. We strolled back over to Ile St. Louis and had lunch at Creperie "Le Sarrasin et Le Froment", where we had a surprising crepe dish. Believe it was called “totale”. On a plate all the different components of the meal were placed in different sections of the plate – mushrooms in one spot, the meat in another, and so on. Then the crepe was placed on top of it all and then it all was topped with salad. It seemed odd compared to how they’re usually served here, where the filling is placed on the crepe and then rolled or folded up. All the flavors blended nicely and it tasted very good, though. From there, took the batobus to the Eiffel Tower. I chose just to go to the second level, while my husband went on to the top (going to the top costs extra). I thoroughly enjoyed the view, but it was cold and very blustery up there and I was ready to leave after about 20 minutes. Bob loves heights and was totally in his element at the top. I’m freezing, hoping he’ll come down to the second level any minute. But no! He’s having a fabulous time snapping dozens of photos. I’d guess he was up there at least an hour (I found out later he had quite a wait for the elevator going up to the top). That evening we had dinner at Le Grand Colbert (we’d seen the Diane Keaton movie “Something’s Gotta Give” and the restaurant looked so nice I did a little research to see if it was real. Per Diane’s recommendation, I had the roast chicken, which was very good; Bob had duck. (he had a lot of duck on this trip – I never make it at home and he loves it).

Day 3, we went to Musee Jacquemart-Andre. I found it very interesting to see the collection of one couple and see the kind of choices they made. We had a light lunch at the café there . Then we went to the Galeries Lafayette, which is quite an experience. The dome ceiling and arches make it look more like an opera house than a store. We prefer small shops, so we didn’t spend too long there, but I did buy a watch. That evening we had dinner at L’Impasse (4 Impasse Guemenee, just north of Rue St-Antoine in the Marais), which we’d read about in our Access Paris book (we found this book very helpful and had it with us every day – particularly useful if you go somewhere that doesn’t pan out and need to figure out a “plan b”). This is a plain but attractive bistro; we had a delicious 3 course meal, starting with a baked goat-cheese salad, braised duck leg entrée, and chocolate torte. Bob just drinks water, so I usually just order a glass of wine – here they gave me a very large glass of wine (much appreciated). At first the waiter was a bit stern -- I think he warmed up a bit when I did my best to speak a little French (it's been a long time since my high school French -- my goal really was to manage well enough so that we didn't order anything too exotic (such as pigs feet or tripe). I managed all right -- but was lucky that so many people speak English. I can manage to be understood, but the hard part is understanding the answer you get back! Anyway, eventually he became a little talkative and asked if we were familiar with the Access Paris book and the Rick Steves book, where the restaurant had some good write-ups. This was our most economical evening meal and the food was just as enjoyable as Bofinger and Grand Colbert -- just not as fancy.

I am enjoying you report and it is great that you made it back to Paris after so many years. Hope there are some of your pictures that you are going to post.

Should have more tomorrow. We did have a wonderful time and we got some good pictures. I'm not exactly sure how I'd post them.

Try www.flickr.com.

Or www.kodakgallery.com

Day 4, we went back to the Musee d’Orsay, to see more of the museum and review some favorites. Then we headed out to find Marriage Freres, a tea shop and salon which we’d read many good things about. I don’t know if we missed something, but I was very disappointed. We made our way to the back tea room; I was expecting charm. The reality was a small, very dull room; I wanted to leave, but Bob said we’d worked so hard to find the place, we should stay. I don’t mind a splurge when it’s enjoyable, but this wasn’t the atmosphere I was expecting and I wanted to leave even more when I saw the menu prices. We ended up staying and each just had one pastry and some tea. The tea was delicious, but the pastry I had was a dried-out piece of cake. Maybe there was a second floor tea room we missed, but I don’t think so. They do have a very nice selection of teas and I really enjoyed the French breakfast tea I ordered (it has a very subtle hint of chocolate) and bought a pound to take home.

We’d found a brochure for the Musee Cognacq-Jay, which we’d never heard of. We were attracted by the portrait on the brochure and wanted to see it in person. So we headed there (8 rue de Elzevir, between Rues des Francs-Bourgeois and du Parc-Royal, Metro: St. Paul). This is a delightful museum. This is also the private collection of a married couple; it’s a real oasis for the tourist who is just tuckered and peopled out. I don’t think it’s very well known – I think there were only a few other people in the entire 5 story museum. It’s a charming collection of mostly 18th century paintings, furniture, and small decorative objects. On our way from Marriage Freres to Cognacq-Jay we came across Rue des Francs-Bourgeois, where we found many interesting little shops – I particularly enjoyed 3 little jewelry stores (one was Sattelite, can't remember the others' names) and bought several pairs of inexpensive earrings (for which I get compliments every time I wear them). That evening we had dinner at Le Petit Zinc off Blvd. St. Germain (www.petitzinc.com) which we enjoyed – more duck! I guess I’m going to have to get some good duck recipes.

Good report. What was the biggest difference between your 1st trip and your trip in April?

I assume this trip was last April. What dates were you there and can you give the temperature highs/lows and how much rain? We'll be there Mar 31-April 7 this year, and I am trying to guess the weather!

Thanks for the information about the Musee Cognacq-Jay - it sounds like something we would like. Also, our apartment is located very closeby - so that will be great for us to have on our itinerary. I've enjoyed your report - thanks!

Betteb: Other than the weather, another change was the availability of the batobus -- we really enjoyed using the Seine for transportation to many of the major sites. We may not have technically used it enough to make the passes we bought economical,since we walked a lot, but we enjoyed using it. And personally it was more fun to be there with my husband, rather than a bunch of students, most of whom I didn't know (though I did make 2 friends on that trip that I'm still very close to).

Edye: We were there in mid-April 2006. I think April 17-23 or so. The weather was cool enough to require a light coat or jacket (I think the temps were generally between high 50's and mid-60's). It was overcast most of the time, but we never got caught in the rain. I read a lot of reports about the rainy weather before and after we were there, so I guess you have to be prepared for that. Before we left I commented to someone we were pleased to be able to book frequent flyer seats just 3 mos. before our trip. Someone snidely commented "that's because no one wants to go then", which I didn't appreciate. Anyway, just go and have a great time. There are certainly plenty of wonderful museums and other indoor activities if you hit bad weather!
We really loved the Cognacq-Jay Museum -- I'm working on putting some photos together and will include a couple pictures from there, as I think it deserves more attention.

Thanks for posting. I've thought about lunch at Le Grand Colbert after seeing it in "Somethings Gotta Give" as well.

It gets very inconsistant reviews so I'm wondering if it would be appropriate to sit in the bar and have a drink... Did you walk through the Galerie Colbert?

We enjoyed our meal at Le Grand Colbert; we're not "foodies" but we enjoy going to good restaurants. We both had duck entrees and thought they were quite good. Prices are reasonable and we would go back again. We didn't go through the Galerie Colbert as it was closed (I think we were there on a Sunday evening).

Informative, enjoyable report on your Paris trip, but where did you stay?

We stayed at the Hotel de l'Academie on rue des Saints Peres in St. Germain (it's mentioned my first day's report). I also had reported on it some time ago in reply to someone's question about it.

PS to the previous questioner about Grand Colbert. I said I thought we both had duck, but I did have the roast chicken, which is what Diane Keaton's character mentions she likes the restaurant for.

The Galerie Colbert has been taken over by the university of Paris system and has lost its soul, however just adjacent is the Galerie Vivienne which is a favorite.

Day 5, it was time to tackle the Louvre. Again glad to have our museum passes, we made our way to Winged Victory. I always think of the Audrey Hepburn movie Funny Face, with her coming down that staircase. Anyway, we spent several hours looking at many wonderful paintings, which we appreciated, but Renaissance art doesn’t give me the same pleasure as the Impressionists. Of course we only barely touched the surface before museum fatigue set in. We then decided to have lunch at a restaurant we’d seen on Ile St. Louis, L’Auberge de La Reine Blanche, which is a charming little restaurant with doll furniture attached to the walls. Years ago I used to make Boeuf Bourguignon occasionally, but hadn’t had it for years, so I ordered that. It was good – but since I’ve been home I’ve made it several times for company using a recipe I found that I think tastes even better. After lunch we made our way to Square Jean-XXIII and sat on a park bench and enjoyed the view of Notre Dame and the flowering trees. Bob hadn’t seen the treasures in Notre Dame (admission is charged); I’d seen them years ago, so while he went in there, I crossed the bridge and roamed about the Latin Quarter a bit. By then, my feet were killing me, so we decided to head back to our hotel for a while before dinner. I committed the cardinal sin of only bringing one pair of walking shoes; I thought they were fully broken in, but the whole trip my feet were absolutely killing me. I took every opportunity there was to get off my feet. Note: whether you have broken in shoes or not, it's a good idea to bring along bandaids and cushion insoles, etc. from home, as they're a lot more expensive in Europe. You never know when you're going to need them. You do so much more walking on a trip like this than you do in daily life at home). I was determined, though, that wasn’t going to stop me enjoying myself and, for the most part, it didn’t. it.

Day 6 We devoted the morning to the Musee Marmottan-Monet, which has dozens of Monets on display (one of my favorites!). We’d been disappointed that the Orangerie was closed during our visit (I think it reopened a few weeks later), but this was a great opportunity to see a large body of his work. We’d decided we had to leave Giverny for another trip, so this was great. After lunch (I forget where – I knew I should have written this report sooner! Next time, I’m going to keep a travel journal), my feet were hurting, so we decided to use our batobus passes and took the whole route. Bob wanted to see Les Invalides (he loves military museums – they bore me) so we split up and he went there (I’d been before) and I did a little shopping. That evening we stuck close to our hotel and had some very good omelets at Café de Flore and made an early night of it as we had to pack.

Thank you for responding. We are travelling during our kid's spring break, so the weather will be what it will be. I had a similar comment made by the cashier in my local Barnes and Noble this past weekend as I purchased Paris Zagat guide. She said "oh that's an interesting time to go." Paris is Paris, IMO!!!

Day 7 We had a few hours in the morning before we had to leave, so we walked across the Pont des Arts to the Louvre and went to the underground shopping area there. I like to get a gold charm in cities we visit and I’d forgotten to get one; none of the shops there had anything, so we roamed around, but the only jewelry stores in the area were not open yet. We stopped in a perfume, small accessory shop where I found some cute cosmetics bags I thought my niece might like for a birthday present (as is often the case when I shop for others, I ended up keeping them for myself – in this case I knew it was a real possibility so I asked if they had two, but they didn’t). Then it was time to go back to the hotel and get a taxi to the Gare du Nord. We were taking the Eurostar to London, where my English friend’s husband would meet us at the train station and we’d take a commuter train to their home just outside London. We had a wonderful visit with them, but we both regretted having to leave Paris. We’d seen an awful lot, considering the condition of my feet, but there was so much more to see. We never got to Sacre Coeur, or made a day trip to Versailles or Vaux-le-Vicomte. All the more reason to go back again – which we are doing in September.

This was a special trip for us, as I had just completed chemotherapy and radiation following surgery for breast cancer. Mine was caught in the early stages, but no matter, it’s still quite a journey to go through, and this trip was a celebration for me and it was great to be in such a beautiful place, in a way seeing things through new eyes. I want to encourage women to have yearly mammograms (and men to remind them to do so) – it can save your life!

Vanne, enjoyed your report, and I'm sure you were glad you went back to Paris with your husband. And what a great celebration after your experience with the radiation, etc. I went thru the same thing 6 years ago, and took a celebratory trip to London after that. Now I try to get to France and/or England (mostly France) as much as possible. I too had been to Paris many, many years ago as a teenager, and had no desire to go back. What a revelation when I finally did - now I can't get enough of it!

Thanks, Sue - It was great. I finished my treatment the first wk. in Feb. 2006 and waited till April for our trip -- wanted to get some hair back first. As it was,my hair looked a bit like Gertrude Stein's -- appropriate for Paris I guess. Between college and our Paris trip I'd been to England many times (probably 15) and had one trip to Belgium and the Netherlands, but I just never made it back to Paris. Now we can't wait to go back.

Thank you so much for your journal. I am new to Fodor's and could spend hours on the site. We are headed to Paris on May 19 for a week and your info on the restaurants you visited (especially Le Grand Colbert) are very much appreciated. I know you are hearing this again, but I too, planned to go to Paris in November of 2005 and was diagnosed with breast cancer. We cancelled the trip then and I went through the chemo/radiation journey, finishing up on Aug. 3, 2006. Now, finally, we are headed to Paris with dear friends from the West Coast. Any additional recommendations you can make would be a great addition to our trip planning. We are staying on L'Universite in an apartment rented from ParisianFlat, not too far from Boulevard St. Germain. Thanks again for all your details.

Joybird - Life does seem to get in the way of our plans sometimes; we had a trip to Italy all planned in 2002 when I was laid off from my 29-year job and had to cancel. We still haven't taken that one. I tolerated the chemo and radiation very well, but still didn't get out very much during that time as I didn't want to risk catching some bug that might delay my treatments -- I just wanted to get it over with! Plus it was winter in Minneapolis. I think it's probably pretty typical once you've finished with that that you want to celebrate by getting out in the world and seeing it and walk as much as you can, because you never know what you'll find right around the corner!

Don't really have any more restaurant tips -- there are so many from others on this site who've been to Paris many times. The rest of the time we picked up sandwiches or other deli type food, plus we enjoyed the crepe stands you find around the city. None of the restaurants we went to were terribly expensive -- you'll find lots of tips for a big splurge on this site. Grand Colbert, Bofinger, and Le Petit Zinc were all under $100 for 2 (bearing in mind Bob had water and I just one glass of wine). My main advice is take time to really enjoy what you're seeing rather than rushing around to see everything.

Great report and congratulations on completing your treatments. I have volunteered with Komen here for five years and my son's birthday party this year, by his own choosing, is at our 5K Race for the Cure. He and his friends young and old (he will be eight) are running as a team in honor of a friend's grandmother who had a double masectomy yesterday.

Best wishes to you and your family,
DanM

Vanne, enjoyed your report. I've just started to plan a trip and all the reports on this site are so helpful.
Best wishes to you for good health!

Thanks for your report -- some of your tips will come in useful, particularly the one about the public toilets by Notre Dame! I'm sure it'll come in handy.