Hello Parisemail:

You asked for unique experiences in Paris. Consider this from my recent trip report:

A PARTING "BELIEVE IT OR NOT": 30 years ago, I was having lunch with a business associate on a Sunday at Le Fouquet. While clearing plates, the waiter tipped the partial contents of a glass of red wine on my lap. My colleague, now departed, bless him, insisted in broken French that management pay to have my light colored slacks dry cleaned, and so it was. A few Sundays ago, after visiting Opera Garnier, I took my wife to Fouquet for lunch. We had a window seat right on the Champs and were mesmerized by the passing strollers. As the waiter cleared my plate from the table, you guessed it! My trousers still have the stain. Fouquet comped our coffee. An inducement to return for the charm, yes?

These are the things that bring us back. Have fun. Gradyghost

In 1995, I went to Paris to visit my friend, Christina, an editor at a fashion mag. She drove her car down a tiny street, near the Russian Embassy, that is known for its "flashers." Men stand on the sidewalk "flashing" cars that drive by. We had to drive down the street three times before someone finally flashed us. It was creepy, yet hilarious at the same time. Does anyone know the name of this street??????

Nobody but tourists go to Deux Magots. All the fashionable people hang out at Flore. (This is what I have been told by the fashion police of Paris.)

My American grandmother kept an apartment on Avenue Kleber until she died. Once, as a child, I was hit by a car near her apartment. I think that was a truly unique experience. :)

Thin, I think you win for the Most Unique..no one else has mentioned being hit by a car in Paris.
I sat near Catherine Deneuve at the Cafe Deux Magot once, she lives in the neighborhood..she must not have known that it was only for tourists.
I have heard of a street in the Pigalle area where the men expose themselves..around the sex shops.

I told the story before about my first time to paris with a girlfriend and the most gorgeous Frenchman and friend stopped us to speak to me. My friend was raised in a French convent and translated his need to talk to me. It turned out I looked exactly like his dead fiancée, I saw her picture- true, she was also wearing something like my style. Anyway, I greed to lunch the next day. He picked me up at my hotel and we went to his aunt's salon de Té and she said I shockingly looked like his love. We walked later along the Seine, and as we were talking, My back to the river, his to the stone steps leading up to the street, I saw this man dressed very darkly walking towards us exposing himself. I alerted my young friend who turned around and started spewing I don't know what at him. The creep slowly like a vampire walked up those stone stairs with arm bent in front of his face to block his features

If you have the inclination, take a trip to two of the other cemeteries in Paris: Montmartre and Montparnasse. Both are smaller than Pere Lachaise but also have many famous people interred there. Francois Truffaut and La Galoue, the can-can dancer, are buried at Montmartre. Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir are buried together in Montparnasse. There's also a market along the Blvd. Edgar Quinet right next to the cemetery.

Or you might go to Drouot Nord, 64 rue Doudeauville, in the 18th arrondissement, where they hammer down items too shabby to sold at the august Druout auction house at 7 rue Drouot in the 9th. No little Cezannes or autographed Colettes in this warehouse setting. Furniture, rugs, cafe tables, small items, often in boxes, poked over by a rough and tumble crowd, with lots of repartee between the regulars and the fearless auctioneer of the day! Monday through Friday, 8:45 a.m. to noon, or until the studd runs out. It a fascinating scene and if you're really daring you just might leave with a bargain!

Oops! "until the stuff runs out."

To add to Larry's note, the Edgar Quinet market is only held on Wednesday, 7 a.m. to 2.30 p.m.
Saturday 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Forgot about the dog cemetary - I've always wanted to go check it out. It seems I have notes on it somewhere at home...anyone remember where it is exactly?

I googled the dog cemetery and came up with this:
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/tr...dnesday_3.html

If you have any hobbies or special interests, you will no doubt find a Parisien who shares them with you. My work is related to radiology and my most memorable times in Paris include spending a couple of days under the Louvre at their x-ray labs, watching some of the world's greatest works of art being evaluated. I found it a truly fascinating experience (before that, I spent some time in the Curie museum tucked away in the grounds of the Institut Pasteur). A friend of mine from southern California is a dog groomer and she enjoyed a fun (for her) afternoon with her French equivalents at a grooming salon in the chic 16th arrondissement...they were introduced to each other via a dog fanciers group on Yahoo. (Last I heard, the Californian and the French groomers were planning a rendezvous in New York at the Westminster dog show.)
Meeting someone in a foreign country who shares your interests is a great way to make new friends and get an "inside" view you wouldn't get as a regular tourist.

That's a great suggestion BTilke! One of our visitors was a hospital emergency room nurse. She visited one day with her French counterparts at the Hopital St. Antoine. Also, there's no better way to improve your French than around something you're passionate about!

Btilke
are you returning to your beloved Vienna next month? As I recall, it's getting to be conference time.
:)

Yep, leaving in less than two weeks...I'm ready to go!

OK, for something really different & weird, try the Fragonard Museum~and I'm not talking perfume or painting here. It's a museum attached to the vet school in southeast Paris. Google the name, and you'll find the website & articles. While I haven't been myself (yet), it looks truly creepy~models of horses & people perserved in plastic and then disected. There's even a 'horseman of the Apocalypse'! YOu won't find that in any guidebook!
For a more romantic theme, there's a wall (in Montmarte I think) that has the word 'love' written in many, many different languages. Also, at the west end of Champs de Mars, there's a glass sculpture with the word 'peace' written in different languages.
For a really in depth look at the Parisianne cemeteries, find 'Permanent Parisians' (your local library might have a copy). It has great info on many Paris Cemetaries. Also, Time Out Paris Walks has a great 'guided' tour thru Pere Lachaise. And last time I was there, my friend (who speaks French) overheard a guide saying that Oscar Wilde's last lover (who died inthe 50s) was buried with him.

Oh, yes KateIP, the I Love You Wall in the Parc Jehan Rictus near Métro Abesses! I wrote about it here:
http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/tp/f9063/

Pick up a copy of "Unexplored Paris" by Rodolphe Trouilleux, published by Parigramme, which has over 150 little-known buildings or other sort-of-noteworthy sites, including one of the remaining official meter measures created in 1795, when the meter became the official standard measure of length. To insure accuracy, more than a dozen standard meters made of marble were installed all over Paris. One of the two remaining is at 36 rue de Vaugirard in the 6th arrondissement, on the short western wall, under the arches.

The poster who suggested you let Paris come to you had a good idea. If you're like me, your inexperience and stupidity will help a lot. Like the time on our first trip when we went to the Arc de Triomphe and haltingly weaved our way across the street, luckily seeing and dodging every kind
of vehicle in the circle. When we got to the Arc and saw the access for the underground walkway, we had a good laugh.

My husband and I go to Paris for a long weekend at least twice each year. Two of our favorite places are the Clown Bar, near the Cirque d'Hiver, 114 rue Amelot (11th),Métro Filles du Calvaire
(No Credit Cards) and Creperie Beaubourg (4th - right by Centre Pompidou), where you can have Breton galettes and hard cider and look out at the N. St. Phalle fountain, Place Igor Stravinsky, 2 rue Brisemiche. Also, we've gone to an evening concert on the first level of the Eiffel Tower. Listening to the music and being able to look out over the city is a wonderful experience. If there any concerts going on while you're there, you can get tickets at a kiosk right by the tower.

parisemail--

I think you're already in Paris, but I'll share my unique Parisian experience. A college friend in Paris took me and a friend to a nightclub/discoteque called Olé Bodega. I'm not sure of the arondissement. The nightclub is in a large circus tent, and almost all the music played is French, mostly popular and traditional songs that everybody knows. When an especially popular song comes on, everybody sings together with the music. It was really fascinating. I hadn't heard the music before, and I certainly hadn't ever heard so many young French people break out in song together. I'll never forget that experience. I had a blast!