No problem. Just have a great and very memorable 25th. Smiles. Don't hesitate to ask the questions. I'm a night owl. Happy Travels!

It looks like you have given us enough to keep us busy. I looked up the shuttle from your previous post and it looks like it is kind of expensive. If I looked correctly it looked like it was over 100 euros for the shuttle. Is that correct? I'm so happy that our apartment is settled. There has to be an easier way to accomplish that. Too many choices for too much ignorance on my part! Thierry has answered questions quickly and seems very kind. I have been looking on what we should bring back and it looks like salt, chocolate, soap, etc. What do you usually bring back?

I also was looking at endless listings and had to finally pick one
ours is VRBO 159394 in the 4th district

now that i have my Paris rental out of the way now comes the Rome apartment search anybody have any suggestions for a place??

Thanks

birds4us - Your apartment looks great also. Isn't it terrible to choose with all of the choices out there? Thank goodness for the help on this forum.

I don't remember the price of the shuttle. It's in my apartment thread. It's cheaper to take a shuttle than to possibly take a taxi and be stuck in traffic. I arrived into Paris on a Saturday and there was standstill traffic. I thought to myself how glad I was not to be in a taxi. I had prepaid an exact amount and didn't have to worry about it.

As to what to bring, I bring toilet paper, salt and pepper, and some kitchen utensils depending on whatever I can't cook without in case the apartment doesn't have it. And I always hope that there's some olive oil at the apartment as I don't want to either bring a bottle along or buy one while there. Luckily #122 had olive oil and a cabinet full of seasonings. I didn't need to bring anything. Happy Travels!

I just noticed that you asked for things to "bring back". My brain never thinks in that direction. I'm always thinking of things I need to bring which I listed above.

As for what I shop for, well it's always handbags and accessories as there's a very wide range of those types of products in Paris. I shop for those types of items wherever I am in the world. I'm a fashion shopper. I also used to buy Alain Mikli eyeglass frames which are beautiful. But, those I would get discounted since his mom was my optician. I've bought eyeglass frames in Europe for decades. The colors and styles are cool and hip.

But, I'm mostly on a scavenger hunt for "THE" handbag of the trip. About every other trip it's Vuitton, depending on if there's a hot, to-die-for model, and then on other trips it's a non-Vuitton. They know me at the St. Germain boutique. Smiles. I'm SO glad that that boutique was built so that it's no longer necessary to slep across town to the Right Bank to go to Vuitton.

An inexensive item that I bring home to friends and they love them is the vinyl, shopping bag that the Bon Marche department store's grocery store makes. The grocery store is the one that I referred to in my above post. The name of the grocery store is L' Epicerie (sp?) Unless the price has changed, they are only 10 Euros each. They come in either black with white writing or beige with white writing and say, "L'Epicerie Paris" on the front. They are around 10 inches long and13 inches wide and have double, wide, cloth handles. They're great for carrying all sorts of stuff in although I use them, here in L.A., for groceries as I've been taking my own grocery bags to the market since the 70s. Happy Travels!

Guenmai - I didn't mean what to take along with me - I meant what should I buy in Paris and bring back to WI with me! But thanks for the tip on the TP. Would hate to be without that.

So romantic!

I think you might find Beaubourg a bit raucous. Lots of kids hang out there.

I, too, favor the ones on Pl. Jussieu and Ile St Louis.

But I suggest you check each place and make sure there aren't too many stairs. Remember that the floors start on the ground floor, so the first floor is really the second floor and the second floor is really the third floor and so on. With those high ceilings, stairs can become an issue.

I LOVE having my own apartment when I travel: we had our first gite experience in 2004 and now we are truly and firmly hooked!

In Paris you can pop out of bed and dash around the corner for breakfast baguette or croissants while your sweetie starts the coffee...

Have a marvelous time. And felicitations on that silvery milestone!

Yellowrose- We were posting at the exact same time. Look at my above post. Happy Travels!

One correction: in the first #11. If you get on the metro at Odeon and want to go to Poilane bakery and get off at Sevres Babylone, the Sevres Babylone will be TWO stops, from Odeon, not ONE as I wrote above. It goes, Odeon-Mabillon-Sevres Babylone. I'm just used to getting on at Mabillon and going one stop unitl it didn't hit me.

You can get on at the Mabillon metro station if you want. Then, from your apartment, just walk down (south) rue de Seine and when you get to rue Buci, make a right. Walk out rue Buci until you get to Blvd. St. Germain and then cross Blvd. St. Germain and you'll see the Mabillon metro station. From there, it'll be only ONE stop. Happy Travels!

You seem to be getting good tips, Yellowrose, so here are a couple of my favorites: top of the Printemps department store, 9th floor, Cafe Delicieux has the best 360 view of Paris. Food is cafeteria style, but good salads, bread decent, and some hot plates...quick and cheap. It may be cold for rooftop eating, but maybe you can just walk out for the view.

Gerard Mulot in St. Germain for the best pastries, esp. lemon tarts.Eat a nutella crepe from a street stand. (ask for freshly cooked)

We had good lunches at Allard and very reasonable and good meals at Perraudin, just the other side of the Luxembourg Gardens on rue St. Jacques.

Be sure to walk just across the Seine to Rue Rivoli and Angelina for their hot chocolate African. Unbelievable.

Our best lunch was at L'Ardoise a couple of streets over from Angelina and Rue Rivoli. Very small, busy, and filled with local businessmen and women.

If you get tired of French food,inexpensive Higuma for huge bowls of noodle soup is great...one on St. Anne and one on Rue St. Honore.

Walk everywhere to see the real Paris.

I'm getting hungry just reading your postings on food. I was in Colmar, France a couple of years ago - we were mainly in Germany and jumped over to say we were in France. I had the best pastries of my life there. So I can imagine what the pastries will be like in Paris. I'm kind of happy that our apartment is up a few flights - will keep me moving and able to eat more! Handbags, hmmm? Sounds great. I was going to buy new eyeglass frames before our vacation, but perhaps I should wait. If you buy frames in Paris, can you get the lenses here? or just do the whole thing while in there?

So what do cool and hip eyeglass frames cost in Paris (my frames are a Parisian brand and I know the $$$$ I pay here for them!)? The brand I wear is Lafont.

Alain Mikli's ( don't confuse with Miki) have gotten quite expensive. I used to get the plastic frames discounted , back in the mid-late 80s (?) for around $99.00-$125.00. They used to sometimes sell me the samples. Now, a pair of Alain Mikli frames would probably run a good $375 to start. Metal frames would cost much more. It's hard to say with the exchange rate these days. We can get Alain Mikli's here in L.A. County.

I still wear some of mine from the early 90s as I've had new lenses put in the old frames several times, 2-3 times. Now, they are retro.

The arm, of one pair of my sunglasses fell off, after a good 10 years, so I threw them into my drawer at home and took out the second pair of frames as I'd bought two identical pairs. When, years later, the arm fell off of the second pair, I just took the remaining arm off of the first pair and screwed it onto the second pair and got another couple of years of wear out of them. My optician laughed a lot. But, they were classic.

Another friend of mine, from the 80s and 90s, named Selima, has her own eyeglass line and company. She's Parisian, but moved to N.Y. I saw here in N.Y. while visiting , probably around 15-18 years ago. She used to work at Alain Mikli, in Paris, back in the good old days, and when I was in either she or Mikli's mom were handling my eyeglass transaction. The same day I saw Selima, in N.Y., I also saw Mikli's mom over at Mikli in N.Y.

Selima has a shop, in Paris, in the Marais. When I last went in, some years ago, her sister was running it. Years ago, she had also opened one on Melrose, in L.A., near Fred Segal, but it was short lived. Then, there's her N.Y. shop.

I buy frames and usually bring them home so that I can use my insurance to get the lenses put in. Lenses are a fortune these days. I bought my last pair of frames ,not Alain Miklis, but still expensive, about a year and a half ago and the lenses alone were over $300., with the insurance, and they were just regular clear lenses and the lenses aren't that strong. I only need them for distance. I don't need glasses to read in. Happy Travels!

What is hot chocolate African? I don't drink coffee. My hubby does. I love hot tea with milk and sugar. Is the evening meal - dinner - served late? or can you eat like 6:00 or so? I know in Spain the restaurants don't even open till like 9:00.

I always went to my friends' restaurant, in the 6th, at 7PM which is when they always opened. So, I'd say around 7PM is good. More people will be there at 8:00PM though. Happy Travels!

I don't know what hot chocolate African is as I'm deadly allergic to chocolate, but my friends have been swearing by the hot chocolate at Angelina's for decades. Happy Travels!

So, I've been reading about this museum pass that you can get. I read that you can purchase it at the airport when you get there. Is that the best place to get it?

It might be the easiest way to purchase it since you'll already be at the airport which would prevent you from having to go somewhere else to purchase it. Happy Travels!