Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Two-and-a-bit days in Paris with a first-timer

Just returned from a brief trip to Paris with an old friend who now lives in Australia and a friend of his who's never been out of Australia before.

We stayed in the same hotel as two of us had stayed in some years ago, on a package bought through Eurostar: Hotel Américain, at the top of rue Charlot near République - rather out of the usual tourist spots, but conveniently close to the metro and the Marais, and very
pleasant for a two-star hotel:
http://www.paris-hotel-americain.com/

We had single rooms at €62 a night: just about enough room for a 4'6" bed, a wardrobe, a wall-mounted TV and an ensuite shower-room. Recently redecorated, some paintwork showing signs of wear and some quirky placing of electrical sockets. One in the bathroom was right beside the door, meaning that once the adapter was in for my electric toothbrush to charge, it was at just the right height to smack me in the face if I wasn't careful. The only alternative (that I needed in any case for my travel kettle - can't do without a cup of tea) was on the three inches of wall between the entrance and bathroom doors. There's a two-person (or on plus luggage) lift. Breakfast at €6 was not over-generous, but what you would pay at least as much for in a nearby café - one croissant, one bread roll, one piece of butter and one sachet of jam. Rue Charlot is quiet on the whole, but there's always the chance of some street noise. Overall, it's fine for a short-break hotel, not perhaps for a longer stay, and good for the price.

I arrived a few hours before they did and explored a little bit towards rue de Picardie and rue du Temple. It's a classically ordinary Parisian neighbourhood: a small market and "square", and then on rue du Temple I discovered what seems to be a centre for wholesale jewellery and accessories. For those who like them sparkly and shiny, this would be handbag heaven.

For that evening, we walked down through the Marais and had dinner at Café Féria on place du Bourg Tibourg: two courses, pichet of red wine, water and coffee - roughly €30 person with tip - good food (I had an excellent lamb steak with some green beans and a lemon mousse) but noisy music.

Insofar as we planned any activities, we did so around our first-timer's "must sees" (and a troublesome ankle). Friday was rainy with very low cloud, but we wandered down through the place des Vosges, along past the Hotel de Ville where the ankle necessitated a bus to the Louvre pyramid (first on the list): neither time nor inclination allowed for a visit inside for this occasion, so it was on through the Tuileries for another bus up the Champs Elysées to the Arc de Triomphe. No lift, so no ascent to the roof. In the evening, since the streets had dried, a metro ride to Montparnasse to see the start of the rollerblade parade. Lunch at Deloren on Ave. Friedland (huge salads, with water, around €18 per person, I think); dinner at Equinox on rue des Rosiers (two courses - two of us had properly made hamburgers, one had a substantial piece of salmon and we all had a really rich chocolate mousse - with red wine, water and coffee roughly €30 person with tip) - food reasonable, service not over-obliging.

On Saturday the sun finally broke through. We started with a walk down to the Hotel de Ville, across the Ile de la Cité to Notre Dame; then the Batobus to rest the ankle, to the Eiffel Tower. Our first-timer went right up to the top and had a whale of a time, while we blasé ones strolled through the Champs de Mars and had a sandwich. Back on the Batobus loop to the Hotel de Ville, and a slow stroll back to the hotel via Jadis et Gourmande on rue des Archives to buy some chocolate to take home as gifts (such self-discipline):
http://www.geobeats.com/videoclips/f...hocolate-shops

Dinner at Chez Jenny, an Alsatian brasserie where the bvd. du Temple enters the place de la République. Just as well we went early, since by the time we left there was a substantial queue to get in - obviously very popular with local people. The best dinner of our three - three courses, a bottle of red wine, water, coffee and tip for €40 per head. Two of us had onion soup, one a quiche, followed by chicken supreme in a buttery white wine sauce - one had salmon, followed by apple tarts with ice cream (I had sorbets). The locals on the next table had a huge collection of shellfish followed by a pig's trotter with a mountain of sauerkraut; madame (d'un certain age) had a hairdo dotted with splashes of maroon and fuchsia on grey-blonde: either very chic, or she'd walked under a painter's ladder.

Back to London by Eurostar on Sunday morning: all very smooth, and very impressive to our first-timer: indeed the whole experience seemed to have given him the inspiration to follow up on this little taster in his tour.

Photos at