Why is everybody so desperate to stay in the 6th arrondissement in Paris?
Oct 29th, 2002, 03:57 PM
#24
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True, the "center" of town to me can be way off to someone who lives there
<BR>But when I look at my little Streetwise Map of Paris, the hotel we like on rue Jacob is right in the middle! <BR>We have friends who live in Paris, her husband is from one of those very very old and wonderful French families, and although she stays at the family home, she says that her favorite hotel is on the Left Bank, in the 6th. So who am I to quibble with the "countess"? <BR>As someone living in Paris, where would you recommend staying ? and why? <BR>Thanks, and how did you get to be so lucky to get to live in Paris?
<BR>But when I look at my little Streetwise Map of Paris, the hotel we like on rue Jacob is right in the middle! <BR>We have friends who live in Paris, her husband is from one of those very very old and wonderful French families, and although she stays at the family home, she says that her favorite hotel is on the Left Bank, in the 6th. So who am I to quibble with the "countess"? <BR>As someone living in Paris, where would you recommend staying ? and why? <BR>Thanks, and how did you get to be so lucky to get to live in Paris?
Oct 29th, 2002, 04:27 PM
#26
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It seems to me that when you are in Paris, it is just "best" to be there, regardless of the arrondissement. The metro will take you anywhere in a matter of minutes. The Left Bank reminds me of Greenwich Village in some ways and I did find it teeming with tourists. Most recently there this October, we stayed with friends whose apartment was in the 10th, near Port St. Denis (already my memory is failing, I remember districts, not numbers for arrondissements, maybe it was the 11th), just bordering the Marais. Walked out of the door to a bustling street full of people coming and going to work, but of course the patisserie, the butcher (saw a man walking down the sidewalk delivering an entire frozen pig)and great clothing shops lined the street...very diverse. We walked to the Pompidou Center and Hotel de Ville from our location and the Left <BR>Bank was maybe 3 or 4 metro stops from our block. Very central location and good base to spread out from.
Oct 29th, 2002, 05:36 PM
#27
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I don't know if I'd say that I was desperate to stay in the 6th arrondissment, but I do enjoy it. I love the Café de Flore and the Café Deux Maggots. Our hotel is right near there, and it's not terribly expensive. The 6th is very well located, with the 7th on one side and the 5th on the other. The Seine is also very close. We've been to Paris twice, and both times we stayed in the 6th!<BR><BR>Sandy
Oct 29th, 2002, 06:12 PM
#28
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I haven't stayed in the 6th but if I were going to it would be because of the '20s expat literary flavor. The area of the Fitzgeralds (rue de Vaugirard) & the Hemingways plus Natalie Barney's apartment on the rue Jacob (and I certainly wouldn't mind staying at some of the hotels that Kate & JOdy prefer) and the original Shakespeare & Co. on rue de l'Odeon. And although I realize that most of the cafes associated with the intellectuals/literati are very commercialized today, I wouldn't mind hanging out at Cafe de la Mairie where Henry Miller used to hang out.
Oct 29th, 2002, 06:16 PM
#29
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Sure, there is no doubt that the metro and bus system can take you everywhere. However, in the 5th and 6th districts you can walk a block or so and find cafes, restaurants, and shops. In fact, in St. Germain des Pres you can find a Monoprix. <BR><BR>When I stayed in the 16th district-while quiet and very beautiful-I didn't find the convenience of a variety of shops and restaurants nearby.
Oct 30th, 2002, 12:09 AM
#32
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To the above poster ("What a Prat"
, I asked the question as I have lived in Paris for some years. Although I know the city like the back of my hand, I have never been "a tourist" <BR>in Paris, and have rarely had to find a hotel in the city (I was lucky enough to be able to accommodate friends and visitors). <BR><BR>I was therefore interested to learn why so many recommendations on this board, particularly with regard to hotels, are geared towards the sixth arrondissement. <BR><BR>Maybe "desperate" was too strong a word to use. Maybe I should have said "keen" instead. <BR><BR>Incidentally, I really don't have an issue with people having "more money than me". I was just interested in hearing people's views, my own being that the 6th can be a pretty expensive area (and there are other areas of Paris that are pretty, close to great restaurants and shops, transportation, and are generally less expensive, such as the Bastille area, the Montparnasse area, or Abbesses.)
, I asked the question as I have lived in Paris for some years. Although I know the city like the back of my hand, I have never been "a tourist" <BR>in Paris, and have rarely had to find a hotel in the city (I was lucky enough to be able to accommodate friends and visitors). <BR><BR>I was therefore interested to learn why so many recommendations on this board, particularly with regard to hotels, are geared towards the sixth arrondissement. <BR><BR>Maybe "desperate" was too strong a word to use. Maybe I should have said "keen" instead. <BR><BR>Incidentally, I really don't have an issue with people having "more money than me". I was just interested in hearing people's views, my own being that the 6th can be a pretty expensive area (and there are other areas of Paris that are pretty, close to great restaurants and shops, transportation, and are generally less expensive, such as the Bastille area, the Montparnasse area, or Abbesses.)
Oct 30th, 2002, 03:14 AM
#33
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I've stayed in Paris four times - two in the 7th, once in the 5th and once in the 6th. The hotel in the 6th was the least exensive of the four, and the most convenient for walking to a variety of places including many restaurants and many of the "tourist" sites. Also the metro lines near our hotel there usually only required one or two trains while in the 5th or 7th we often had to change twice (total 3 trains) to get places.
Oct 30th, 2002, 06:03 AM
#34
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I really enjoyed staying at the small hotel on the Ill St Louis, De Lutece. I would walk around there and imagine how wonderful it would be to live there.<BR>I think for an American to be able to live or stay for a long amount of time in Paris, they would want to be in the "thick of it" rather than on the outskirts.<BR>
Oct 30th, 2002, 06:15 AM
#35
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Maybe xx said it best that he/she lives in Paris and has never been a "tourist". When you live in a major "tourist" city you don't really appreciate what others see in your city. It's like that for me. I live in San Francisco and I find myself asking why do so many people want to visit? Then I have to remind myself of what my city has to offer.
Oct 30th, 2002, 08:14 AM
#37
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As a former New Yorker, I can understand the poster's question. For example, I never quite agreed with all the people who chose to stay in the Times Square area when they'd come to town. It's loud, garish, packed full of people, etc. There are so many other areas one could choose to stay in that are a)cheaper, b) more lovely and b) more representative of the "real" New York. <BR><BR>HOWEVER, I do understand that, for someone who doesn't live here and isn't familiar with all of the wonderful little neighborhoods that exist in New York City, that there is a certain comfort in staying in a well-known area that's centrally located and geared towards tourists. <BR><BR>I think the question is indicative of a certain subtly superior attitude (oftentimes unintentional) that "natives" sometimes feel towards "tourists" in major tourist areas. (And if you don't live there, that's what you are. Don't try to kid yourselves, people. This is totally an aside and not realy germane to the topic at hand, but the way people on this board try to distinguish between themselves and "tourists" as if they are two different things is fasinating to me. Take it from someone who spent a great part of my life in one of the most visited cities in the world, if you don't live there, you are a tourist. Yes, you. You are. Now there are "good tourists" and "bad tourists" to be sure, but you're all just a bunch of folks visiting from out of town, sorry to break it to you...).<BR><BR>Anyway, I digress. I was certainly guilty of that subtle superiority myself. I'd see people lining up to eat in restaurants that were listed in this guidebook or that one and think, "Oh my GOSH, I can't BELIEVE they're eating there. They could go two blocks down and get some GOOD food." Or whatever. I think it's a normal––although maybe not so nice––feeling to have.<BR><BR>Anyway, my point is, it's not that anything is wrong with the other 19 arr. in Paris, it's just that many of us who don't live in your wonderful city, simply don't have the same native insight into some of the lessor-known areas as you and your fellow (lucky!) Parisians.<BR><BR>Jennie<BR>
Oct 30th, 2002, 09:41 AM
#40
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Jennie-well said, and I might add as another native New Yorker, we who live here have all the time in the world to visit the places we love (museums, monuments, concerts, etc. etc., etc.). Tourists usually have a week or two to squeeze it all in and, as a Paris tourist myself, I really want to be in a very central location, so I can spend as little time as possible on transportation, as as much as possible on wandering about.
