Trouble posting: Repost of Paris Trip Report Jan 6-13
Jan 14th, 2006, 09:34 PM
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Trouble posting: Repost of Paris Trip Report Jan 6-13
Trip Report – Paris 2006
Weather – Paris in the Winter??
It was supposed to rain off and on all week, but it only drizzled once for about two hours. We got lucky, and not once did the weather impede us or our plans. Don’t hesitate to go to Paris in winter. Bring an umbrella and enjoy the city when it’s not so flush with tourists. Besides, gray clouds just make it more atmospheric.
Arriving
We arrived at CDG at 11:45am, breezed through customs, got money painlessly from an ATM, and found the taxi queue, also with no difficulty. The driver got us to our hotel in the 7th in about 35 minutes, I’d guess, without driving like a maniac. The fare was 44 euros, and he seemed pleased enough with us rounding it up to 50.
The hotel – Relais-Bosquet
We loved this hotel. We had heard all the horror stories about tiny Parisian hotel rooms, and I had opted for a standard room. I could have paid about $200 more US dollars to get a larger Superior room for the week, but figured we wouldn’t be in the hotel room all that much, and besides, that’s a lot of extra spending money. After checking into our room, I was very glad I’d just gotten the standard size. It was plenty big enough. We took 2 large suitcases, and at no point did we feel like we were tripping over them or each other. The bathroom was small, but fine and well laid-out. We always had hot water and great water pressure. There was a shower curtain, washcloths (I’d brought my own), a hair dryer, and nice toiletries. The armoire had an iron and ironing board, and a safe. Just basic amenities we take for granted at hotels in the states, but were much appreciated in Paris.
The service at the hotel was also fantastic. The room was spotless, and daily housekeeping service was very good. We tipped the maid around 3-4 euros a day and got extra toiletries, and when we checked out, we discovered we’d not been charged for the 7 Euros’ worth of water and coke we’d had from the mini bar. The front desk assisted us with dinner reservations and calling taxis. They had free internet usage downstairs next to the lobby. All in all, **great** hotel.
The only slight problem I encountered was at check-out. Our taxi was outside waiting, so I was feeling a little pressured for time. When I’d reserved online, I’d gotten a confirmation for the 7 night stay. 5 nights were to be charged at 106 E, and the other 2 (weekend) nights were listed at 122 E. When I checked out, the lady at the front desk tried to charge us 122 per night for the whole week. I balked. She explained that 106 was the rate for 1 person, and 122 was the rate for two people and she didn’t know why my confirmation showed both rates. I explained that I used their website’s promotional rate and that was what I’d gotten, but she said “well maybe you made a mistake and entered 1 person instead of 2 for some of the days.” That would not have been possible. I simply requested 7 nights and 2 people, and took the rates that popped up. Thinking back on it, I think we got a discounted weekly rate because we stayed 7 nights. It looked like she wasn’t planning to budge, but she called over the general manager, and voila, the rate was changed. We thanked them, paid up, and headed for the airport. All in all, a very small problem that was handled graciously in the end.
Location
The 7th was much more calm/slow than the 5th or 6th, but we found this to be a very good thing. We were right down the street from Rue Cler, with all of its glorious food. The metro was a short 3 ½ minute walk. Yes, we timed it. After a long day of walking around or sightseeing, it was so nice to escape from the hustle and bustle and come “home” to the 7th. Would stay there again in a heartbeat.
Weather – Paris in the Winter??
It was supposed to rain off and on all week, but it only drizzled once for about two hours. We got lucky, and not once did the weather impede us or our plans. Don’t hesitate to go to Paris in winter. Bring an umbrella and enjoy the city when it’s not so flush with tourists. Besides, gray clouds just make it more atmospheric.
Arriving
We arrived at CDG at 11:45am, breezed through customs, got money painlessly from an ATM, and found the taxi queue, also with no difficulty. The driver got us to our hotel in the 7th in about 35 minutes, I’d guess, without driving like a maniac. The fare was 44 euros, and he seemed pleased enough with us rounding it up to 50.
The hotel – Relais-Bosquet
We loved this hotel. We had heard all the horror stories about tiny Parisian hotel rooms, and I had opted for a standard room. I could have paid about $200 more US dollars to get a larger Superior room for the week, but figured we wouldn’t be in the hotel room all that much, and besides, that’s a lot of extra spending money. After checking into our room, I was very glad I’d just gotten the standard size. It was plenty big enough. We took 2 large suitcases, and at no point did we feel like we were tripping over them or each other. The bathroom was small, but fine and well laid-out. We always had hot water and great water pressure. There was a shower curtain, washcloths (I’d brought my own), a hair dryer, and nice toiletries. The armoire had an iron and ironing board, and a safe. Just basic amenities we take for granted at hotels in the states, but were much appreciated in Paris.
The service at the hotel was also fantastic. The room was spotless, and daily housekeeping service was very good. We tipped the maid around 3-4 euros a day and got extra toiletries, and when we checked out, we discovered we’d not been charged for the 7 Euros’ worth of water and coke we’d had from the mini bar. The front desk assisted us with dinner reservations and calling taxis. They had free internet usage downstairs next to the lobby. All in all, **great** hotel.
The only slight problem I encountered was at check-out. Our taxi was outside waiting, so I was feeling a little pressured for time. When I’d reserved online, I’d gotten a confirmation for the 7 night stay. 5 nights were to be charged at 106 E, and the other 2 (weekend) nights were listed at 122 E. When I checked out, the lady at the front desk tried to charge us 122 per night for the whole week. I balked. She explained that 106 was the rate for 1 person, and 122 was the rate for two people and she didn’t know why my confirmation showed both rates. I explained that I used their website’s promotional rate and that was what I’d gotten, but she said “well maybe you made a mistake and entered 1 person instead of 2 for some of the days.” That would not have been possible. I simply requested 7 nights and 2 people, and took the rates that popped up. Thinking back on it, I think we got a discounted weekly rate because we stayed 7 nights. It looked like she wasn’t planning to budge, but she called over the general manager, and voila, the rate was changed. We thanked them, paid up, and headed for the airport. All in all, a very small problem that was handled graciously in the end.
Location
The 7th was much more calm/slow than the 5th or 6th, but we found this to be a very good thing. We were right down the street from Rue Cler, with all of its glorious food. The metro was a short 3 ½ minute walk. Yes, we timed it. After a long day of walking around or sightseeing, it was so nice to escape from the hustle and bustle and come “home” to the 7th. Would stay there again in a heartbeat.
Jan 14th, 2006, 09:35 PM
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Day 1:
After checking into the hotel, we grabbed a couple of pastries from the corner bakery, ate them, and promptly fell asleep. The hotel has electric blackout shades, which made the room pitch black and dampened any possible street noise. Napping turned out to be a bad idea. We’d meant to only sleep for 2-3 hours, but we were so exhausted. We’d tried to sleep on the plane, even had taken a half of an Ambien each, but to no avail. So from 2:30-7:30, we slept. We woke up, got ready for dinner, and were still feeling foggy and generally “off” all through the meal.
Our first dinner was at Le Florimond. We both had the terrine de veau for starters, confit de canard with the most amazing potatoes ever for the main, and sorbets for dessert. Great service, cute place, no smoking, and great food. It was a great way to start the week. We also quickly discovered that wine that cost about 15 euros for a half-bottle was consistently good, and much better than wines here at the same price point. I would definitely eat here again next time.
Back to the hotel for more sleeping. We went to bed hoping we would be able to hit the ground running on our second day there.
Day 2
Hit the ground running? Not so much. We were out of the hotel by 8:30 or 9, and had café crèmes and pain au chocolats at the Café du Marche – I wouldn’t want to eat an actual meal there, but for coffee and pastries, it was great. I discovered I love café crèmes more than any other type of coffee. *sigh*
We walked around Rue Cler, window-shopping, and then headed for the Eiffel Tower. It was very cold that day, low 30s, but clear with blue skies. The Tower was beautiful, and it really sank in that we were *here* in Paris. We wanted to go to the top, but the lines were very long and we didn’t want to waste the time. We never did end up making it to the top, but after seeing Paris from the tops of Notre Dame and the Arc de Triomphe later in the week, we didn’t feel any regret.
We headed towards what we thought was the Batobus embarkation point near the tower. Read their signs and everything, planned to get on at the tower and off at Notre Dame to explore the Ile a bit, but we ended up getting confused and accidently got on a tour boat with Bateaux Parisians instead. We were kind of upset when we realized our mistake, because now we couldn’t hop on and off. We were “stuck” for the next hour and half, which maybe wouldn’t have been so bad, per se, but it was getting to be later in the afternoon and we hated having less daylight time to walk around. It was nice to see Paris from the Seine, and definitely cool to go under the Pont Alexandre III, but other than that, it wasn’t one of our favorite things.
After the boat ride, we walked along the Seine. I’d been feeling bad all day, and so had the hubby, Jeff, but not as badly as I was. I’ve been battling a mild ear infection for over a month now that 2 rounds of antibiotics + steroids still hasn’t cleared up, and the cold from that day made my ear start aching. We headed back to the hotel for a nap before dinner. Jeff wasn’t too keen on “wasting” that time, but I couldn’t help it. The jet lag was pretty terrible.
Dinner that night was at the Bastide d’Opio in the 6th. Fabulous. Just wonderful. The restaurant was adorably cute, the service was great, and the food was really great. Even my picky eater hubby loved it, so we made plans to eat there again later in the trip, on the only day I hadn’t yet set aside for other places. For starters, Jeff had a tomato terrine, and I had raviole with basil and parm sauce. Mmmm. The mains were a penne dish for him, and chicken stuffed with pickled tomatoes and basil for me. My dessert was the only disappointment, some sort of sweeted cheese, similar to mascarpone, with raspberry sauce. His dessert was out-of-this-world-good… a chocolate fritter filled with warm, gooey, chocolate sauce, over a bed of pineapples. I tried a bite and nearly shot through the roof with delight, which amused him. He was full, so I got several more bites. Wow. Crude, but I commented that it was perhaps better than sex. If you go, get the chocolate fritter. Enough said. I will eat here on every future visit.
Back to the hotel and to bed.
After checking into the hotel, we grabbed a couple of pastries from the corner bakery, ate them, and promptly fell asleep. The hotel has electric blackout shades, which made the room pitch black and dampened any possible street noise. Napping turned out to be a bad idea. We’d meant to only sleep for 2-3 hours, but we were so exhausted. We’d tried to sleep on the plane, even had taken a half of an Ambien each, but to no avail. So from 2:30-7:30, we slept. We woke up, got ready for dinner, and were still feeling foggy and generally “off” all through the meal.
Our first dinner was at Le Florimond. We both had the terrine de veau for starters, confit de canard with the most amazing potatoes ever for the main, and sorbets for dessert. Great service, cute place, no smoking, and great food. It was a great way to start the week. We also quickly discovered that wine that cost about 15 euros for a half-bottle was consistently good, and much better than wines here at the same price point. I would definitely eat here again next time.
Back to the hotel for more sleeping. We went to bed hoping we would be able to hit the ground running on our second day there.
Day 2
Hit the ground running? Not so much. We were out of the hotel by 8:30 or 9, and had café crèmes and pain au chocolats at the Café du Marche – I wouldn’t want to eat an actual meal there, but for coffee and pastries, it was great. I discovered I love café crèmes more than any other type of coffee. *sigh*
We walked around Rue Cler, window-shopping, and then headed for the Eiffel Tower. It was very cold that day, low 30s, but clear with blue skies. The Tower was beautiful, and it really sank in that we were *here* in Paris. We wanted to go to the top, but the lines were very long and we didn’t want to waste the time. We never did end up making it to the top, but after seeing Paris from the tops of Notre Dame and the Arc de Triomphe later in the week, we didn’t feel any regret.
We headed towards what we thought was the Batobus embarkation point near the tower. Read their signs and everything, planned to get on at the tower and off at Notre Dame to explore the Ile a bit, but we ended up getting confused and accidently got on a tour boat with Bateaux Parisians instead. We were kind of upset when we realized our mistake, because now we couldn’t hop on and off. We were “stuck” for the next hour and half, which maybe wouldn’t have been so bad, per se, but it was getting to be later in the afternoon and we hated having less daylight time to walk around. It was nice to see Paris from the Seine, and definitely cool to go under the Pont Alexandre III, but other than that, it wasn’t one of our favorite things.
After the boat ride, we walked along the Seine. I’d been feeling bad all day, and so had the hubby, Jeff, but not as badly as I was. I’ve been battling a mild ear infection for over a month now that 2 rounds of antibiotics + steroids still hasn’t cleared up, and the cold from that day made my ear start aching. We headed back to the hotel for a nap before dinner. Jeff wasn’t too keen on “wasting” that time, but I couldn’t help it. The jet lag was pretty terrible.
Dinner that night was at the Bastide d’Opio in the 6th. Fabulous. Just wonderful. The restaurant was adorably cute, the service was great, and the food was really great. Even my picky eater hubby loved it, so we made plans to eat there again later in the trip, on the only day I hadn’t yet set aside for other places. For starters, Jeff had a tomato terrine, and I had raviole with basil and parm sauce. Mmmm. The mains were a penne dish for him, and chicken stuffed with pickled tomatoes and basil for me. My dessert was the only disappointment, some sort of sweeted cheese, similar to mascarpone, with raspberry sauce. His dessert was out-of-this-world-good… a chocolate fritter filled with warm, gooey, chocolate sauce, over a bed of pineapples. I tried a bite and nearly shot through the roof with delight, which amused him. He was full, so I got several more bites. Wow. Crude, but I commented that it was perhaps better than sex. If you go, get the chocolate fritter. Enough said. I will eat here on every future visit.
Back to the hotel and to bed.
Jan 14th, 2006, 09:35 PM
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Day 3
More pastries for breakfast, then we set off for the Musee d’Orsay. This was our first day of using the metro and I was a little intimidated by it. I’d never really been in a big city before, much less used a subway system. I found it painless and perfectly logical. By the end of the week, I had fallen in love with the metro. No traffic, no car accidents, less foot pain. Easy, fast, safe, and relatively clean. Only 2-3 times were we in an area where it smelled pretty bad, like urine. Other than that, it was fine. We weren’t pickpocketed. Not that I’d expected to be, as we’d taken precautions and the metro wasn’t too crowded because there weren’t many tourists, but still, I thought I would throw that in there for anyone who thinks that being pickpocketed in Paris is virtually a foregone conclusion.
Another side note is that we didn’t end up getting a Paris Visite pass, or even Mobilis passes or anything. We just used carnets. I was too intimidated to get a carte orange, but I will next time, as easy as the metro ended up being. We ended up using 4 carnets and a couple of extra tickets between the two of us for the entire week. Not bad, and this actually came out to MUCH less money than the Visite pass would have been, and even was less than Mobilis passes would have cost. The only better value was the carte orange.
Musee d’Orsay.
So nice. I particularly loved their small but beautiful collection of Art Nouveau furniture and vases. The Impressionist collection was breath-taking. Before seeing the paintings in real life, I’d always thought I really liked Monet, Manet, and Renoir the best. I still love Renoir, but I wasn’t terribly bowled over by Monet. Van Gogh was the surprise. I’d always thought I disliked his work, but now, I think he may be one of my favorite artists of all.
We had lunch at the restaurant in the Orsay, surrounded by gilded gold everywhere. Quite impressive. I had confit de canard again, and I can’t recall what Jeff had. I love duck, so I think I ate it at least 4 times that week. Dessert was a piece of galette de rois (?), the almond epiphany cake/pastry the French enjoy around Jan 6 and beyond.
From there we went to:
Cluny / Musee du Moyen Age
This was interesting, and I especially loved being able to walk through the Roman bath area, in a cavernous room from the 1-3 centuries AD. The tapestries were impressive, as were the many other relics, but by this time, I was museumed-out and getting a little grumpy. We walked around a bit more and then headed back to the hotel for another nap – which Jeff needed as well this time.
Dinner that night was at Ambassade d’Auvergne, which had been recommended to me by one of my ex-professors who’d taught me a seminar course on the French Revolution (as a history major, this was the best of all the history courses I took). I ordered the dishes he recommended – the lentil salad with ham and vinegar for an entrée, and the duck and aligot for the main. Unfortunately, neither my hubby or myself were impressed. To us, the food was just okay, and unlike in most of Paris, the portions were huge. This might be a good thing to some people, but we really love French portion sizes and being able to enjoy multi-course meals without stuffing ourselves. We skipped dessert and headed back to the hotel, disappointed. The aligot wasn’t even that good to me. Not that this restaurant was bad; it just wasn’t good. I probably would not eat here again.
Back to the hotel, to bed.
Day 4
Today was Notre Dame, Sainte Chapelle, and exploring the Saint-Germain area. I enjoyed Notre Dame more than I expected, because I’d heard how dark and even a little depressing it can be. I was awed. It was much bigger inside than I’d even imagined it would be, and even though we are not in the least bit religious, we enjoyed seeing the burning candles and hearing the mass that was taking place. We climbed the towers, enjoyed a fantastic view of Paris, admired the gargoyles, and came back down. The steps were winding and narrow, as expected, but even though I have a slight fear of heights and am a bit claustrophobic, I had no problems doing the tower climb. The actual climbing was easier than expected – if there’s anyone out there who is hesitant to do it because of the physical exertion, I really think it wasn’t too bad and was oh-so-worth-it. We were hungry after this, so we stopped for a couple of crepes. Ham and gruyere for the first, and a banana and nutella one for dessert. The first one was good, but oh, oh, oh the second. I don’t even like nutella (or anything hazelnut) all that much back home, but it is so much yummier when it’s warmed up and put with bananas. Mmmmmmmm.
Sainte Chapelle was nice, we went when the afternoon sun was streaming in the amazing stained glass, but despite that beautiful display, I was a little underwhelmed. I think I just preferred the grand gothic vastness of Notre Dame. It was smaller than I thought it would be, and the French government is making a killing off of its entry fees. I think it was 6-7 euros each, and we probably only looked at the stained glass for 15 minutes or so. We considered seeing the Conciergerie, but decided against it because I’d read many times on here about how disappointing it was. Plus, I wanted to shop!
We then walked all over the Saint Germain area, just window-shopping and such. French pharmacies are the best. I also knew I wanted to seek out Diptyque candles, so we went to their boutique and I treated myself to a couple of the best, but most expensive (36 euros each) candles (arguably) in the world.
It was getting late, so we headed back to the hotel to freshen up before dinner. Dinner tonight was at Le Coupe Chou. Hmm, another disappointment. Cute place, service was okay, but I really didn’t enjoy the food at all. The salads we got as starters had a soft boiled egg and lardons (bacon pieces) on it. It was decent, but the lardons were not edible. I bit directly into a bone/something incredibly hard, and had to find a discreet way to get the piece out of my mouth. I considered swallowing it, but decided against it. I thought it was a fluke, but not 1-2 minutes later, Jeff crunched down hard on a piece of bone in one of his lardons. We avoided the rest of them. Other than that… Boeuf bourgininon can be amazing, believe me, I know this, but here it was simply kind of …. Blah. Not bad, not good. Just mediocre. And at the prices we were paying for dinners in Paris, we were not happy with it considering we’d eaten fantastically on our first 2 nights for less money. I would not eat here again.
We headed back to the hotel to bed.
More pastries for breakfast, then we set off for the Musee d’Orsay. This was our first day of using the metro and I was a little intimidated by it. I’d never really been in a big city before, much less used a subway system. I found it painless and perfectly logical. By the end of the week, I had fallen in love with the metro. No traffic, no car accidents, less foot pain. Easy, fast, safe, and relatively clean. Only 2-3 times were we in an area where it smelled pretty bad, like urine. Other than that, it was fine. We weren’t pickpocketed. Not that I’d expected to be, as we’d taken precautions and the metro wasn’t too crowded because there weren’t many tourists, but still, I thought I would throw that in there for anyone who thinks that being pickpocketed in Paris is virtually a foregone conclusion.
Another side note is that we didn’t end up getting a Paris Visite pass, or even Mobilis passes or anything. We just used carnets. I was too intimidated to get a carte orange, but I will next time, as easy as the metro ended up being. We ended up using 4 carnets and a couple of extra tickets between the two of us for the entire week. Not bad, and this actually came out to MUCH less money than the Visite pass would have been, and even was less than Mobilis passes would have cost. The only better value was the carte orange.
Musee d’Orsay.
So nice. I particularly loved their small but beautiful collection of Art Nouveau furniture and vases. The Impressionist collection was breath-taking. Before seeing the paintings in real life, I’d always thought I really liked Monet, Manet, and Renoir the best. I still love Renoir, but I wasn’t terribly bowled over by Monet. Van Gogh was the surprise. I’d always thought I disliked his work, but now, I think he may be one of my favorite artists of all.
We had lunch at the restaurant in the Orsay, surrounded by gilded gold everywhere. Quite impressive. I had confit de canard again, and I can’t recall what Jeff had. I love duck, so I think I ate it at least 4 times that week. Dessert was a piece of galette de rois (?), the almond epiphany cake/pastry the French enjoy around Jan 6 and beyond.
From there we went to:
Cluny / Musee du Moyen Age
This was interesting, and I especially loved being able to walk through the Roman bath area, in a cavernous room from the 1-3 centuries AD. The tapestries were impressive, as were the many other relics, but by this time, I was museumed-out and getting a little grumpy. We walked around a bit more and then headed back to the hotel for another nap – which Jeff needed as well this time.
Dinner that night was at Ambassade d’Auvergne, which had been recommended to me by one of my ex-professors who’d taught me a seminar course on the French Revolution (as a history major, this was the best of all the history courses I took). I ordered the dishes he recommended – the lentil salad with ham and vinegar for an entrée, and the duck and aligot for the main. Unfortunately, neither my hubby or myself were impressed. To us, the food was just okay, and unlike in most of Paris, the portions were huge. This might be a good thing to some people, but we really love French portion sizes and being able to enjoy multi-course meals without stuffing ourselves. We skipped dessert and headed back to the hotel, disappointed. The aligot wasn’t even that good to me. Not that this restaurant was bad; it just wasn’t good. I probably would not eat here again.
Back to the hotel, to bed.
Day 4
Today was Notre Dame, Sainte Chapelle, and exploring the Saint-Germain area. I enjoyed Notre Dame more than I expected, because I’d heard how dark and even a little depressing it can be. I was awed. It was much bigger inside than I’d even imagined it would be, and even though we are not in the least bit religious, we enjoyed seeing the burning candles and hearing the mass that was taking place. We climbed the towers, enjoyed a fantastic view of Paris, admired the gargoyles, and came back down. The steps were winding and narrow, as expected, but even though I have a slight fear of heights and am a bit claustrophobic, I had no problems doing the tower climb. The actual climbing was easier than expected – if there’s anyone out there who is hesitant to do it because of the physical exertion, I really think it wasn’t too bad and was oh-so-worth-it. We were hungry after this, so we stopped for a couple of crepes. Ham and gruyere for the first, and a banana and nutella one for dessert. The first one was good, but oh, oh, oh the second. I don’t even like nutella (or anything hazelnut) all that much back home, but it is so much yummier when it’s warmed up and put with bananas. Mmmmmmmm.
Sainte Chapelle was nice, we went when the afternoon sun was streaming in the amazing stained glass, but despite that beautiful display, I was a little underwhelmed. I think I just preferred the grand gothic vastness of Notre Dame. It was smaller than I thought it would be, and the French government is making a killing off of its entry fees. I think it was 6-7 euros each, and we probably only looked at the stained glass for 15 minutes or so. We considered seeing the Conciergerie, but decided against it because I’d read many times on here about how disappointing it was. Plus, I wanted to shop!
We then walked all over the Saint Germain area, just window-shopping and such. French pharmacies are the best. I also knew I wanted to seek out Diptyque candles, so we went to their boutique and I treated myself to a couple of the best, but most expensive (36 euros each) candles (arguably) in the world.
It was getting late, so we headed back to the hotel to freshen up before dinner. Dinner tonight was at Le Coupe Chou. Hmm, another disappointment. Cute place, service was okay, but I really didn’t enjoy the food at all. The salads we got as starters had a soft boiled egg and lardons (bacon pieces) on it. It was decent, but the lardons were not edible. I bit directly into a bone/something incredibly hard, and had to find a discreet way to get the piece out of my mouth. I considered swallowing it, but decided against it. I thought it was a fluke, but not 1-2 minutes later, Jeff crunched down hard on a piece of bone in one of his lardons. We avoided the rest of them. Other than that… Boeuf bourgininon can be amazing, believe me, I know this, but here it was simply kind of …. Blah. Not bad, not good. Just mediocre. And at the prices we were paying for dinners in Paris, we were not happy with it considering we’d eaten fantastically on our first 2 nights for less money. I would not eat here again.
We headed back to the hotel to bed.
Jan 14th, 2006, 09:36 PM
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Day 5
Today we went to see Napoleon’s tomb and the army museum. Jeff was fascinated by the museum more than I was, and I was disappointed because the one wing I was most interested in seeing (which covered the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars) is closed until 2007. After this, we headed back to Rue Cler to do some shopping. We ended up with all kinds of gourmet goodies… olive oil, balsamic vinegar, pestos, jams, teas, chocolates, and wine. We took home 3 full bottles and 6 half-bottles. 2 of the large ones were for gifts, which doesn’t leave Jeff and I with all that much. We were afraid customs would give us trouble with the wine so we were afraid to buy more… and we didn’t know how much we could fit in the extra suitcase we’d brought along. Looking back on it now, I really wish we would have brought more home.
Dinner tonight was at La Fermette Marbeuf. The food, again, was lackluster for me. I had the duck a l’orange and it was not very good at all. Jeff, though, was very very happy with this place. He ordered the steak au poivre, and loved it. I tried a couple bites, and wouldn’t have enjoyed it either, had I ordered. This makes me sound like a picky eater, but actually it’s he who is picky. See, this entire trip pushed his boundaries with every meal. He could practically be a vegetarian. He loves organic food bars, wheatgrass shots... “rabbit food” as some call it. All meat must be well done, and he prefers to stick to only chicken and beef, but even then, it makes him a little sick to eat it on the bone. Somehow seeing it on the bone makes him remember that it was once an animal, and then he loses his appetite. So, Paris was naturally going to be a little tough for him. So I think that even though the steak was, in my opinion, pretty mediocre, it tasted like heaven to him because it was boneless, well-done beef… familiar and comforting.
The setting was quite pretty, though. I will give them that.
Back to the hotel, to rest our aching feet and to bed early to rest up for the dreaded Louvre Day.
Day 6
Actually, we were partially looking forward to the Louvre, and partially dreading it, but I ended up loving the time we spent there. We concentrated on the Egyptian, Roman, and Greek antiquities, as well as the Italian paintings in the Grand Gallery… then quick stops to see Napoleon III’s quarters, the French crown jewels, and Michangelo’s “Slaves” sculptures. The museum was open late this evening, so we were able to take our time a bit. We then grabbed a quick snack from the Carrousel du Louvre food court and shopped a little in the underground shops.
Dinner was at the Bistrot/Bastide d’Opio again. It was heaven, again. We each ordered different things from our original orders, except for the Chocoate Fritter Wonderfulness from the first time. This time I got my own. I floated back to the hotel.
Actually, I have a nice story about this place. The waiter recognized us as soon as we walked in from several nights prior, called us upstairs, sat us down with a smile and some fast French I couldn’t quite catch, but I understood the gist was that he was happy to see us back again. He patted Jeff’s back as he led us to our table, then brought us free kir royales to enjoy while we looked over the menu! We thanked him and generally had great service and a great time all night. He seemed to enjoy my efforts to speak only French to him, as his English was not that great. Very nice guy, and his special treat of the kir royales just melted my heart and made my week.
Over the week, I saw very clearly that Parisian waiters are not rude, and are undeserving of the stereotype. They are very busy, though. They work their you-know-whats off, constantly scuttling from here to there non-stop, up and down stairs oftentimes, and generally seem to work harder than their American counterparts. They are also generally very good at what they do. So if a waiter was not chatty or overwhelmingly nice, that was fine by me. I’m not particularly outgoing myself, and I could see that it wasn’t a personal affront in the least. And while I never got fawned over for speaking French, I could tell that it pleased them and even when I mangled something, they still seemed to think my efforts were cute. A few people greeted me in English or immediately switched to English upon speaking with me, but for the most part, people were eager and happy to continue in French, indulging me with a chance to practice it, and would only switch to English if I said I didn’t understand.
I asked one cheese shop owner if he spoke English, and he said no, that my French was better than his English, and I spoke well enough and should continue along anyway despite my hesitation. I bought some brie.
Side note: one disappointment was that I never got to find a French cheese I liked. Jeff and I both love cheese, and I figured we’d find some great ones in France, but the shop owners couldn’t speak English, and I didn’t know enough French to tell them what I wanted (something mild) and I didn’t know the names of the cheeses. So I ended up getting slices of brie on 2 different occasions from 2 shops and hated both of them. I didn’t know brie was a “stinky” cheese until I went to Paris. I love brie here, even if it isn’t the real thing. We have a really funny picture of a slice of brie sitting out on our windowsill until we got a chance to leave the hotel room and throw it away. It couldn’t stay in the room with us. Phew.
Anyway, wow, back to Day 6. Actually, no – on to Day 7…
Day 7 – the last day
Today was our Shopping Day. The January sales had begun the day before and we wanted to see if we could take advantage of them. Plus, we had yet to stroll along the Champs-Elysees. So, off we went. (First to breakfast of café crèmes, pain au chocolats, and a tartine with confiture, though) We strolled along, gawking at the Arc, the high-end stores, and the Beautiful People. Along a nearby street was some verrrry exclusive shopping… Dior, Louis Vuitton, Valentino, Harry Winston, Cartier, etc. As if the Champs were not exclusive enough. I wanted so badly to go into Louis Vuitton… Hell, I own 2 of them at home, but I didn’t have one with me as a safety blanket and I felt way too intimidated to go in. Actually, we did not stay on the Champs very long. We made our way to the Arc, climbed another few hundred stairs (man, we were getting good at this by now!) and enjoyed the great view of Paris, all the boulevards, and of course, the Eiffel Tower. Afterwards, we stopped in at Laduree for a refueling of macaroons, and then took the subway to Printemps.
Printemps was an utter madhouse. Even in Christmastime rush days, I don’t think I have ever seen a store so crowded. The macaroons had only been enough calories to make it so we wouldn’t pass out, but we were still starving by the time we got to Printemps, so we headed up to the 6th floor Café Flo. It sits, of course, under their beautiful stained glass dome. Here was the only time we ran into anyone even remotely resembling a rude waiter. Jeff and I were looking for something quick, and something we could share. Normally, we loved eating slow meals and enjoying the Parisian way of eating, but on this day, a plain old hamburger and fries sounded like the easiest option. Very splittable, simple, etc. First the waiter made fun of us for ordering it… saying why did we come all the way to Paris to order hamburgers? But this was half-joking with us too so it was not overtly and totally rude. Then, when the order came, we were each given a hamburger/fries, even though the waiter claimed (and seemed to) speak English quite well and seemed to understand what I’d told him about us wanting to share. He was nowhere to be found for many minutes, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to press the issue anyhow, so we just started eating our own meals. The burgers were quite underdone, and huge. So we each could barely eat even half of our respective meals, and we were a little miffed at the fact that we ended up paying 32 euros for 2 freaking hamburgers that we hadn’t even wanted, and were raw in the middle. Anyway.
Shopping – lots of good prices, but we weren’t really in the mood to seriously shop. More like browse. Other than Barney’s in NY, I wasn’t aware you could find Armani and Prada just sitting in a department store. I actually tried on 2 Prada sweaters. They were beautiful and on the verge of being affordable. They were marked down from 290 Euros to 125 Euros, and I thought I could get another 22% off of that – making them only 97 or so. My 10% off card was not valid for Prada, though (the card did not state any exclusions like this) and I ultimately couldn’t stomach the prices without the discount.
Jeff was amazed at the men’s store. At Printemps, the men have a separate, multi-storied store of their own. He was even more amazed at the vast sea of men, sans women, gladly shopping for clothes and shoes and even consulting each other about what looked good. He said he almost wanted to sneak a pic to show other people back home how much the average Parisian male cares about fashion so much more than the average American male. He also wanted to buy black pants while we were there. All week long, he’d been wearing jeans during the day and changing into khaki pants (no pleats) for dinners. He felt incredibly self-conscious in his clothes, and constantly thought people were probably making fun of him in their heads. I told him to stop worrying, we were obviously tourists anyway, and really, who cares? It all went fine, but I know he will refuse to return to Paris with me until we buy him some darker clothes.
Speaking of clothing… for the most part, I didn’t think Parisian women were all that more fashionable than American women, but when you did see someone dressed up fashionably, they really looked fantastic and pulled together in a way that American women can rarely achieve. For a nation known for their perfumes, cosmetics, etc., the Parisian women did not seem to care much for these things. Their hair always looked a little sloppy and never heat-styled/blow-dried, and they generally wore very little makeup. Many of them were beautiful in their own way nonetheless. But a word of advice: if you don’t want to stand out like a blinking neon Christmas bulb: wear black, and lots of it, all the time. Paris is truly a sea of black. Their coats are black. It is not uncommon to see someone dressed in a black shirt, with black pants, black shoes, black coat, black handbag, and then with a punch of color in a scarf. And everyone wears scarfs… men, women, children. That said, I wore a pink-blue-purple scarf one day with a pink cashmere sweater and felt like the aforementioned blinking bulb.
Anyhooow… after an exhausting day of just browsing/shopping, we headed back to the hotel for a quick catnap before our last dinner.
Our last dinner was at the Fontaine de Mars and it was absolutely flawless, start to finish, wonderful. We had a fairly expensive bottle of rose champagne. I had escargot to start while Jeff looked on in horror a bit, though he did actually try one himself. I didn’t know whether or not I would like them, but I figured it was the last night, and I’m in Paris, and I had to do it. They were actually pretty good. For dinner, Jeff had a filet with the most delicious béarnaise and fantastic potatoes. I had rabbit. Baby rabbit for that matter. It was very, very good. Desserts were Ile Flottants. Yum. Service was perfect, the hostess was so welcoming and friendly. Highly recommend. I will return on every future visit to Paris. I was so happy to end the trip with a great, unforgettable meal.
As we left the restaurant, admittedly a bit drunk, the Eiffel was doing its sparkly show and I got a little sentimental. Even my similarly stoic hubby did too. It’d been a great week, in a great city filled with great people and great wine, and great food. We held out the camera away from our faces to get a quick shot of the two of us, heads together, grinning and yet sad all at once.
I fell in love with Paris. I suspected I would, but I didn’t know. I was intimidated by my French language skills, by the size of the city, by its people, its metro, its food, etc. It charmed me. Strangely, and much to my utter delight, Jeff fell in love with it too and he has been moping about the house all day saying he wishes we were still there. I see a return trip in the near (6 months or less?) future. I think London will be next, with a few nights in Paris too. I feel like I am supposed to go see other places before returning to a place I’ve already been, but maybe I will just screw that idea. When it’s love, it’s love.
My Mom, other family members, and friends, can’t seem to fathom what it was like or why I love it so much, but I know you guys will understand. I think Paris is a city you love or hate. Either you’re a Paris type of person, or you’re not. Just as you’re either a Europe-person or a Carribean-cruise person. Sometimes both, but usually you have a preference for one type of vacation over the other. Everyone I know would much rather lay on a beach someplace warm drinking pina coladas than be in a “stuffy” museum in Europe in the winter. Not me. It feels good to be able to share this trip report with people who I hope understand this sentiment.
Some disappointments: We didn’t get around to Berthillon, Amorino gelato, Angelina, Versailles, the Catacombes, or the Rodin Museum. We didn’t want to rush from one sight to the next. We enjoyed strolling, and just enjoying Paris. Oh well. That’s what return trips are for… gotta leave some reasons to go back. (As if Paris needs any!)
FYI: As others on this board have stated, the dog poop problem is so vastly overstated it is amusing once you are there. So is the peeing-in-the-metro-or-on-the-street thing. Yeah, there were a couple of times where one part of the metro stunk. Yeah, I saw dog poop. But only 5 times. All week. Seriously… you don’t really have to watch where you’re going; it’s just so not a big deal.
Today we went to see Napoleon’s tomb and the army museum. Jeff was fascinated by the museum more than I was, and I was disappointed because the one wing I was most interested in seeing (which covered the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars) is closed until 2007. After this, we headed back to Rue Cler to do some shopping. We ended up with all kinds of gourmet goodies… olive oil, balsamic vinegar, pestos, jams, teas, chocolates, and wine. We took home 3 full bottles and 6 half-bottles. 2 of the large ones were for gifts, which doesn’t leave Jeff and I with all that much. We were afraid customs would give us trouble with the wine so we were afraid to buy more… and we didn’t know how much we could fit in the extra suitcase we’d brought along. Looking back on it now, I really wish we would have brought more home.
Dinner tonight was at La Fermette Marbeuf. The food, again, was lackluster for me. I had the duck a l’orange and it was not very good at all. Jeff, though, was very very happy with this place. He ordered the steak au poivre, and loved it. I tried a couple bites, and wouldn’t have enjoyed it either, had I ordered. This makes me sound like a picky eater, but actually it’s he who is picky. See, this entire trip pushed his boundaries with every meal. He could practically be a vegetarian. He loves organic food bars, wheatgrass shots... “rabbit food” as some call it. All meat must be well done, and he prefers to stick to only chicken and beef, but even then, it makes him a little sick to eat it on the bone. Somehow seeing it on the bone makes him remember that it was once an animal, and then he loses his appetite. So, Paris was naturally going to be a little tough for him. So I think that even though the steak was, in my opinion, pretty mediocre, it tasted like heaven to him because it was boneless, well-done beef… familiar and comforting.
The setting was quite pretty, though. I will give them that.
Back to the hotel, to rest our aching feet and to bed early to rest up for the dreaded Louvre Day.
Day 6
Actually, we were partially looking forward to the Louvre, and partially dreading it, but I ended up loving the time we spent there. We concentrated on the Egyptian, Roman, and Greek antiquities, as well as the Italian paintings in the Grand Gallery… then quick stops to see Napoleon III’s quarters, the French crown jewels, and Michangelo’s “Slaves” sculptures. The museum was open late this evening, so we were able to take our time a bit. We then grabbed a quick snack from the Carrousel du Louvre food court and shopped a little in the underground shops.
Dinner was at the Bistrot/Bastide d’Opio again. It was heaven, again. We each ordered different things from our original orders, except for the Chocoate Fritter Wonderfulness from the first time. This time I got my own. I floated back to the hotel.
Actually, I have a nice story about this place. The waiter recognized us as soon as we walked in from several nights prior, called us upstairs, sat us down with a smile and some fast French I couldn’t quite catch, but I understood the gist was that he was happy to see us back again. He patted Jeff’s back as he led us to our table, then brought us free kir royales to enjoy while we looked over the menu! We thanked him and generally had great service and a great time all night. He seemed to enjoy my efforts to speak only French to him, as his English was not that great. Very nice guy, and his special treat of the kir royales just melted my heart and made my week.
Over the week, I saw very clearly that Parisian waiters are not rude, and are undeserving of the stereotype. They are very busy, though. They work their you-know-whats off, constantly scuttling from here to there non-stop, up and down stairs oftentimes, and generally seem to work harder than their American counterparts. They are also generally very good at what they do. So if a waiter was not chatty or overwhelmingly nice, that was fine by me. I’m not particularly outgoing myself, and I could see that it wasn’t a personal affront in the least. And while I never got fawned over for speaking French, I could tell that it pleased them and even when I mangled something, they still seemed to think my efforts were cute. A few people greeted me in English or immediately switched to English upon speaking with me, but for the most part, people were eager and happy to continue in French, indulging me with a chance to practice it, and would only switch to English if I said I didn’t understand.
I asked one cheese shop owner if he spoke English, and he said no, that my French was better than his English, and I spoke well enough and should continue along anyway despite my hesitation. I bought some brie.
Side note: one disappointment was that I never got to find a French cheese I liked. Jeff and I both love cheese, and I figured we’d find some great ones in France, but the shop owners couldn’t speak English, and I didn’t know enough French to tell them what I wanted (something mild) and I didn’t know the names of the cheeses. So I ended up getting slices of brie on 2 different occasions from 2 shops and hated both of them. I didn’t know brie was a “stinky” cheese until I went to Paris. I love brie here, even if it isn’t the real thing. We have a really funny picture of a slice of brie sitting out on our windowsill until we got a chance to leave the hotel room and throw it away. It couldn’t stay in the room with us. Phew.
Anyway, wow, back to Day 6. Actually, no – on to Day 7…
Day 7 – the last day
Today was our Shopping Day. The January sales had begun the day before and we wanted to see if we could take advantage of them. Plus, we had yet to stroll along the Champs-Elysees. So, off we went. (First to breakfast of café crèmes, pain au chocolats, and a tartine with confiture, though) We strolled along, gawking at the Arc, the high-end stores, and the Beautiful People. Along a nearby street was some verrrry exclusive shopping… Dior, Louis Vuitton, Valentino, Harry Winston, Cartier, etc. As if the Champs were not exclusive enough. I wanted so badly to go into Louis Vuitton… Hell, I own 2 of them at home, but I didn’t have one with me as a safety blanket and I felt way too intimidated to go in. Actually, we did not stay on the Champs very long. We made our way to the Arc, climbed another few hundred stairs (man, we were getting good at this by now!) and enjoyed the great view of Paris, all the boulevards, and of course, the Eiffel Tower. Afterwards, we stopped in at Laduree for a refueling of macaroons, and then took the subway to Printemps.
Printemps was an utter madhouse. Even in Christmastime rush days, I don’t think I have ever seen a store so crowded. The macaroons had only been enough calories to make it so we wouldn’t pass out, but we were still starving by the time we got to Printemps, so we headed up to the 6th floor Café Flo. It sits, of course, under their beautiful stained glass dome. Here was the only time we ran into anyone even remotely resembling a rude waiter. Jeff and I were looking for something quick, and something we could share. Normally, we loved eating slow meals and enjoying the Parisian way of eating, but on this day, a plain old hamburger and fries sounded like the easiest option. Very splittable, simple, etc. First the waiter made fun of us for ordering it… saying why did we come all the way to Paris to order hamburgers? But this was half-joking with us too so it was not overtly and totally rude. Then, when the order came, we were each given a hamburger/fries, even though the waiter claimed (and seemed to) speak English quite well and seemed to understand what I’d told him about us wanting to share. He was nowhere to be found for many minutes, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to press the issue anyhow, so we just started eating our own meals. The burgers were quite underdone, and huge. So we each could barely eat even half of our respective meals, and we were a little miffed at the fact that we ended up paying 32 euros for 2 freaking hamburgers that we hadn’t even wanted, and were raw in the middle. Anyway.
Shopping – lots of good prices, but we weren’t really in the mood to seriously shop. More like browse. Other than Barney’s in NY, I wasn’t aware you could find Armani and Prada just sitting in a department store. I actually tried on 2 Prada sweaters. They were beautiful and on the verge of being affordable. They were marked down from 290 Euros to 125 Euros, and I thought I could get another 22% off of that – making them only 97 or so. My 10% off card was not valid for Prada, though (the card did not state any exclusions like this) and I ultimately couldn’t stomach the prices without the discount.
Jeff was amazed at the men’s store. At Printemps, the men have a separate, multi-storied store of their own. He was even more amazed at the vast sea of men, sans women, gladly shopping for clothes and shoes and even consulting each other about what looked good. He said he almost wanted to sneak a pic to show other people back home how much the average Parisian male cares about fashion so much more than the average American male. He also wanted to buy black pants while we were there. All week long, he’d been wearing jeans during the day and changing into khaki pants (no pleats) for dinners. He felt incredibly self-conscious in his clothes, and constantly thought people were probably making fun of him in their heads. I told him to stop worrying, we were obviously tourists anyway, and really, who cares? It all went fine, but I know he will refuse to return to Paris with me until we buy him some darker clothes.
Speaking of clothing… for the most part, I didn’t think Parisian women were all that more fashionable than American women, but when you did see someone dressed up fashionably, they really looked fantastic and pulled together in a way that American women can rarely achieve. For a nation known for their perfumes, cosmetics, etc., the Parisian women did not seem to care much for these things. Their hair always looked a little sloppy and never heat-styled/blow-dried, and they generally wore very little makeup. Many of them were beautiful in their own way nonetheless. But a word of advice: if you don’t want to stand out like a blinking neon Christmas bulb: wear black, and lots of it, all the time. Paris is truly a sea of black. Their coats are black. It is not uncommon to see someone dressed in a black shirt, with black pants, black shoes, black coat, black handbag, and then with a punch of color in a scarf. And everyone wears scarfs… men, women, children. That said, I wore a pink-blue-purple scarf one day with a pink cashmere sweater and felt like the aforementioned blinking bulb.
Anyhooow… after an exhausting day of just browsing/shopping, we headed back to the hotel for a quick catnap before our last dinner.
Our last dinner was at the Fontaine de Mars and it was absolutely flawless, start to finish, wonderful. We had a fairly expensive bottle of rose champagne. I had escargot to start while Jeff looked on in horror a bit, though he did actually try one himself. I didn’t know whether or not I would like them, but I figured it was the last night, and I’m in Paris, and I had to do it. They were actually pretty good. For dinner, Jeff had a filet with the most delicious béarnaise and fantastic potatoes. I had rabbit. Baby rabbit for that matter. It was very, very good. Desserts were Ile Flottants. Yum. Service was perfect, the hostess was so welcoming and friendly. Highly recommend. I will return on every future visit to Paris. I was so happy to end the trip with a great, unforgettable meal.
As we left the restaurant, admittedly a bit drunk, the Eiffel was doing its sparkly show and I got a little sentimental. Even my similarly stoic hubby did too. It’d been a great week, in a great city filled with great people and great wine, and great food. We held out the camera away from our faces to get a quick shot of the two of us, heads together, grinning and yet sad all at once.
I fell in love with Paris. I suspected I would, but I didn’t know. I was intimidated by my French language skills, by the size of the city, by its people, its metro, its food, etc. It charmed me. Strangely, and much to my utter delight, Jeff fell in love with it too and he has been moping about the house all day saying he wishes we were still there. I see a return trip in the near (6 months or less?) future. I think London will be next, with a few nights in Paris too. I feel like I am supposed to go see other places before returning to a place I’ve already been, but maybe I will just screw that idea. When it’s love, it’s love.
My Mom, other family members, and friends, can’t seem to fathom what it was like or why I love it so much, but I know you guys will understand. I think Paris is a city you love or hate. Either you’re a Paris type of person, or you’re not. Just as you’re either a Europe-person or a Carribean-cruise person. Sometimes both, but usually you have a preference for one type of vacation over the other. Everyone I know would much rather lay on a beach someplace warm drinking pina coladas than be in a “stuffy” museum in Europe in the winter. Not me. It feels good to be able to share this trip report with people who I hope understand this sentiment.
Some disappointments: We didn’t get around to Berthillon, Amorino gelato, Angelina, Versailles, the Catacombes, or the Rodin Museum. We didn’t want to rush from one sight to the next. We enjoyed strolling, and just enjoying Paris. Oh well. That’s what return trips are for… gotta leave some reasons to go back. (As if Paris needs any!)
FYI: As others on this board have stated, the dog poop problem is so vastly overstated it is amusing once you are there. So is the peeing-in-the-metro-or-on-the-street thing. Yeah, there were a couple of times where one part of the metro stunk. Yeah, I saw dog poop. But only 5 times. All week. Seriously… you don’t really have to watch where you’re going; it’s just so not a big deal.
Jan 14th, 2006, 09:43 PM
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Great report so far. I enjoy all the details and comments. Thanks for the comments about L'Ambassade d'Auvergne. I was thinking about eating there. I had Auvergne cuisine at Chantairelle and it was allright for the first time-heavy on the lentils and pork-but I'm not really crazy about it. Le Coupe Chou, it's a cute place, but, no, the food is good not great, you're right.
Hope to read more.
Hope to read more.
Jan 15th, 2006, 03:47 AM
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Thanks for your trip discription, I took alot of notes, I'm going in April with my husband and kids and am lookimg forward to it, I was leary about thee metro also but have heard great things about it. I have always wanted to go to paris jus tto see the eiffel tower and the louve so if that's all I get to see I'll be happy. Thanks Again for sharing!
Jan 15th, 2006, 04:07 AM
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Hi tara,
Thanks for a lovely report.
I checked the website at the Relais Bosquet. 122E/nite is the special rate for a double.
Very good of them to realize that they should have caught the error and not charged you for their mistake.
Thanks for a lovely report.
I checked the website at the Relais Bosquet. 122E/nite is the special rate for a double.
Very good of them to realize that they should have caught the error and not charged you for their mistake.
Jan 15th, 2006, 04:57 AM
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This report reminds me so much of my daughter and I going to Paris for a week for the first time. We stayed at The Relais Bosquet and were just as pleased as you were with our stay. No problems at all, but good your problem was soon resolved.
We visited much the same places you visited,but did get to Versaille one day and the Rodin Museum. We were there in May and found the city to be beautiful at that time. Even got to Angelinas Last year I fell in love with Rome,but Paris is my 2nd love.
Glad you enjoyed your trip as much as we did and would love to return.
We visited much the same places you visited,but did get to Versaille one day and the Rodin Museum. We were there in May and found the city to be beautiful at that time. Even got to Angelinas Last year I fell in love with Rome,but Paris is my 2nd love.
Glad you enjoyed your trip as much as we did and would love to return.
Jan 15th, 2006, 06:52 AM
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tara, feel free to come here any time and post about your affection for Paris; you will be well received.
And don't worry about the places that you did not get to this time - they simply move up on the list for your next visit. ;-)
And don't worry about the places that you did not get to this time - they simply move up on the list for your next visit. ;-)
Jan 15th, 2006, 08:18 AM
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Hi Tara, You wrote a great report. We've been to Paris several times and have the same longing to go back as soon as possible. We never feel we've seen enough. And like you, our friends and families consider us to be certifiable.
I have begun to plan a trip to London in May. At first I did it to appease everyone, but now I'm getting excited about it. We will go over Memorial Day so I can save as much of my time off to go to Paris in the fall.
I have begun to plan a trip to London in May. At first I did it to appease everyone, but now I'm getting excited about it. We will go over Memorial Day so I can save as much of my time off to go to Paris in the fall.
Jan 15th, 2006, 08:41 AM
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Jan 15th, 2006, 09:06 AM
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Hi Tara,
I LOVED your trip report.
Thank you so much for taking the time to share. I am planning our first trip to Paris for next June, and after reading your post I feel like I'm already in love with Paris.
Thanks again,
Dina
I LOVED your trip report.
Thank you so much for taking the time to share. I am planning our first trip to Paris for next June, and after reading your post I feel like I'm already in love with Paris.
Thanks again,
Dina
Jan 15th, 2006, 09:11 AM
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We had the same impression of Fermette Marbeuf---gorgeous place but food vastly overrated. We were among the mostly tourist crowd--definitely not a repeat! I know it has its supporters, but we are not in that group! Also, agree about Le Florimond--LOVED it!
Thanks for the great report!
Thanks for the great report!
Jan 15th, 2006, 11:13 AM
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Hi there, my parents and I are leaving for Paris tomorrow (good thing i am planning today, huh?), and i had a few questions. First, do you guys recommend using the RER lines from the airport if there is luggage involved? We each have one suitcase and one carry-on. Also, I am reading so much about the Carte Orange...would you recommend it for someone who is traveling from CDG to the city (St Michel), to Versailles and to Orly in a 4 day period? We are arriving on Tuesday and leaving on Saturday. also, any recs on Vegetarian options in the city? I really enjoyed your trip report also...I wish everyone would do this.
