Thanks for the folks that were helping to find a hotel for me and my family. I had almost given up on apartments when an inquiry paid off. It%26#39;s on Rue de l%26#39;Universite near Rue Surcouf. With the cleaning fee its $175US/night.
http://www.vacationinparis.com/apts/id_03.htm
I have until Monday to complete the reservation. Any warnings? The location looks very good.
I%26#39;ve always had good daytime locations when staying in Paris, but at night my hotel area(s) have seemed dead. I%26#39;m not looking for wild nightlife, just people on the street. Where should we go in this neighborhood to people watch in the evening and buy crepes?
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I don%26#39;t know the apartment, but we rented from Vacation In Paris last week and everything was as they portrayed. Jan at Vaction In Paris was helpful in telling about the neighborhood, good and bad, so I would trust her input.
Have a good time.
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To further assist anyone who might have answers, the nearest metro is LaTour-Maubourg in the 7th.
The 7th isn%26#39;t known for it%26#39;s night life, you know, but that can be a good thing for sleepers... lots of gov%26#39;t buildings and apartments...
I know there are small shops along rue St Dominique and a bar or two... and should be plenty of cafes along avenue Bosquet and avenue de la Bourdonnais, and maybe something in the rue Cler area...
Don%26#39;t know where the closest %26#39;crepes%26#39; stand is...
It%26#39;s about 1/2 mile walk to the Tour Eiffel...
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We rented one of their apartments last October and it was great.
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almost forgot, There is a good crepe stand on the south end of Rue Cler. There is a good cafe on the street as well, and good stores and bakeries. Buy a rotissied chicked they are really good. A good chinese takeout place is also on Rue Cler. Go to the food store at Bon Marche it is fabulous.
I found the area to be really quiet at night. Great for sleeping. It is an easy walk to many more lively nigt spots in the 5th, 6th or 8th and you can always take the metro. You close to the Seine where you can get cruises day and night.
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Looks EXCELLENT to me, Beth. I%26#39;ve got one booked in the Marais and I have websurfed countless appartments!!
After booking, I thought of two disadvantages to appartments in general. One is that there is rarely a safety deposit box, and although no-one should be in your appartment, I%26#39;m a bit reluctant about leaving a passport there (yet I don%26#39;t like carrying it either).
Secondly, our flights arrive in the wee small hours of the morning and there is no luggage storage as in hotels. We%26#39;ve worked out a way around this - we%26#39;ll use the railway station left luggage facilities until it%26#39;s time to check in at around 3pm.
All in all I am still excited to have the flexibility of an appartment but I thought I%26#39;d just mention these two things in case you need to cater for these also.
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Live right near there it%26#39;s great..... I am off to work for a while and when I get a chance I%26#39;ll give you a quick briefing of the hood and surroundings.
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Oh yes! I can%26#39;t wait. Questions abound... So far I%26#39;ve found there is an excellent boulangerie just around the corner, Boulangerie Poujauran. I forgot to mention that this was a highly desireable feature in a place to stay. My next critical place to identify is a coffee shop! We in the Pacific NW take our coffee at LEAST as seriously as any European. At least, I DO.
And since this is our first European stop I%26#39;ll be awake by 2AM. 7AM is a long time to wait for coffee.
In my mapbook it show there is a market on Rue Jean Nicot( at Rue de l%26#39;Universite. Anyone know what kind of market and when it occurs?
I hadn%26#39;t thought about the security, but I don%26#39;t tend to get that uptight about it. The safe is a great idea for an apartment. We own a vacation rental in Oregon and a safe might be a great addition, though I doubt anyone else has a safe, or have guests that actually lock the doors. (shameless personal plug www.rentsunriver.com) I actually am more worried about hotels than apartments because its a lot harder to prove who was in the room. My husband does the worrying, and securing of our important items. I did talk to the reservationist. We will be able to drop our bags off as early as 9:30AM on arrival which is more than sufficient. The more difficult issue is leaving by 9:30 AM on departure as our night train to Munchen is at 11PM. She recommended that we take our bags to the station we will be leaving from that night.
Please keep sending me ideas. My excel spreadsheet has lots more room!!! I%26#39;m so excited about this trip. Its my 4th visit to Paris, but the first time I%26#39;m bringing the children. Each time has been such a different experiece. My son is in his 3 yr of HS French and my daughter has been in a French immersion school since first grade. Their vocabulary and skills are distinctly different from each other and significantly better than mine. My husband jokes that they can%26#39;t ask for a decent hotel room, but know how to tell when its recess time. I tease the kids that all I really know is restaurant or cooking French. I do know things they dont. L%26#39;ddition SVP is deeply embedded. Without that phrase you may never get out of a restaurant.
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Crepestand: corner Latour Mauberg and Grenelle
St Dominique for the best local people watching.
Michel Chaudun, one of Paris%26#39; best chocolatier is on Universite.
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Portland Beth
phread is very right about the chocolate shop-
Paujaraun is right next door too- It figures someone from Portland would know where this bakery is- My wife is originally from Portland and a foodie in addition. Try their hard rolls that are filled with dates, raisons, etc. YUM. They supply about 20 of the top French restaurants with breads and desserts.....It%26#39;s a small lshop, very cute, and arguably one of the top bakeries around if you measure the lines out front, regardless of its restaurant provenance.
For market shopping you have rue Cler....The seafood monger there is also tops....Davoli has great Italian products like sausages etc...again a first rate shop. You%26#39;ll also have a number of open air stands, a super market and countless other shops. The guys at the Nicolas wine shop on rue Cler are very clever about selecting affordable and very good wines- they speak english.....and even though its a chain they%26#39;ll get you the best value for money wines around....some of the other small wine shops can be good but are also capable of selling you anything that is not moving. Around the corner from Cafe du Marche (very good cheap cafe/restaurant with a large outdoor terrace) you have Epicerie Fine for wonderful gormet items....and Marie Cantin....a killer cheese shop.....OK...I%26#39;ll say it...It%26#39;s the best in Paris.....bar none..... ;-)
The qaui near the river is closed on Sundays.....so a good idea for the kids or adults even may be to rent roller blades or bikes from a local shop and ride or blade the entire length of paris along the Seine. Along those lines there is a very good public pool on the other side of the Eiffel Tower near the Hilton at the sports complex there. They may require bathing caps and tight bathing suits. They also have a large sun deck.
Right across the river from where you are staying you have the Grand Palais and the museum there....10 minute walk...which is near the bottom of the Champs Elysses...and Concord.....so your fairly central without the hoards and countless tour buses.
The advantage of the 7th in tourist season is that it does not get overwhelmed with tourists like the 1st or other areas do- only near the base of the Eiffel Tower, and sometimes rue cler....So you won%26#39;t be seeing as many German or Japanese tourst busses plowing into each other.....also a bit less street level polution which is an issue here.....
If you have other sppecific questions type away and I%26#39;ll check back over the weekend to see if there is anything I can help direct you to.
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Oh, on Sunday mornings near the metro stop Grennelle- about a 10 minute walk from where you may be staying there is a large outdoor food market.....it%26#39;s a bit cheaper than the stands on rue cler and has many more vendors.....
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