Please someone reply!

I wrote the following requesting advice...

%26quot;Where to stay, what to see with 17 yo son in Paris

My son and I will be arriving in Paris in the early hours of Friday 1st July and heading down south on Sunday the 3rd for a week or so then back again on the evening of Friday or Saturday the 15th/16th until we fly out at midday on Tuesday the 20th.

My son is 17 and although he tells me he just wants to tag along and do what I want to do, I���d like this part of our trip to be more for him. I���m wondering what area we should look at staying and what we should hope to see. He���s into art and literature and music ��� plays Jazz and classical guitar. We don���t want to rush about looking at churches ��� rather just hang out a bit and make sure we���ve got plenty of time and flexibility.

Here are some places we���d like to see: Louvre and Monet���s Garden, Notre Dame and Sainte Chapelle (for me I think), just to walk past maybe. Jardin de Luxembourg and places des Fursternberg (sounds nice in lonely planet guide with magnolias perfuming the summer night air) if we are in the area and have time. Sacre Coeur and Montmartre, with a walk past Moulin Rouge (Tom played guitar in local theatre production of the movie) and I���ve read that places des Abbesses is not so touristy in that area so maybe that could be okay.

How are we going for time? Someone on this forum said that La Samaritaine was a good place to see the views of Paris rather than the Eiffel Tower but I don���t have a clue where that is?

If there is still lots of time we could visit Muzee Marmottan Monet and Bois de Bologne or maybe someone has other suggestions? Maybe this is all too much for 5 ��� 6 days. Can anyone advise us on this and maybe help us to put it all together. I���ve got no idea of how far places are from each other on foot.

I know my son will love Paris; at home he likes to spend a day in Melbourne exploring the city on trams and hanging out in underground caf��s with friends. That���s why I think he will love the Metro as well.

We will probably like to stay in a backpackers Hotel or something quite inexpensive. We could stay in the one area or two different areas for each visit. I���ve had a friend advise me on the Latin Quarter (lots of young people) and another friend advise me on the Montmartre area but I like the sound of the Marais area after researching this forum. It might get down to what���s available but I have 5 motels to look up in the Marais area and 4 to look up in the Latin Quarter. Any advice? I���d be very grateful. Forgot to mention we don���t eat meat so a market somewhere in the area would be good for fruit, vegies, cheese, etc%26quot;

...and no one replied. Does anyone have any suggestions

I%26#39;ve since found out about rue Moufetard with its wonderful street market so maybe thats the area to stay at least for the second Paris visit (which is the longest)

I%26#39;d so appreciate all your expert opinions

Deanne

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Sorry for the delay in responding.

LOUVRE - get a museum pass, go early in the morning, at

least 1/2 day.

NOTRE DAME/SAN CHAPELLE - I like San Chapelle but

Notre Dame is a big tourist attraction.

MONTMARTRE and SACRE COUER - you can spend a bit

of time with the art %26amp; artists. A great view of Paris

from Sacre Couer.

GIVERNY- the house garden and lily pond. Need to

check on train schedule how to get out there.

Might go to Marmatton afterwards to see MONET%26#39;S work.

Your son might enjoy INVALIDES and the CLUNY museum.

SANMARTINE is an excellent place to see Paris from.

I go to RUE MOUFFETARD every time I am in Paris.

Some good restaurants there.

There are numerous street markets with fruit, vegetables

and cheese. RUE CLER is my favorite.

If I were in your place I would stay in the LATIN QUARTER

(more things for you and your son to do) and you are

close to the Seine and the places I%26#39;ve mention.

I hope this is some help.

You can put anything in the search space on the top

right side of any page and hit the GO button; it will take you

to all of the responses on that topic in the forum

including hotels.

Best Wishes

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Given your criteria for a less structured visit and not rushing about and hanging out, what you probably need to do is get hold of a good Paris street map and oriient yourself to the city and its layout and locate the places, sites and things which interest you most so you can maximize your time by visiting those within the same general or adjacent neighborhoods by meandering at your own pace from place to place---but knowing what%26#39;s there and where. Then you can visit or do as much or as little or something else altogether...as mood and moment strike.

Monet%26#39;s Home %26amp; Gardens are located out at Giverny, which is approx an hour outside of Paris by SNCF train from Gare Saint Lazare (47 mins) then 10-15 mins by regional bus from the front doors of the VERNON train station to the the gates of the gardens. At best, this is at least a 1/2 day trip outside of Paris.

The La SAMARITAIN department store, with the rooftop terrace/observation deck is located at the Right Bank end of the Pont Neuf, about half-way between Notre Dame and Louvre.

If you enjoy jazz, then Paris is a great city for music, with some great jazz clubs and world-class musicians. Perhaps the best known jazz club in Paris and one of the premier jazz venues in the world, will be Le PETIT JOURNAL MONTPARNASSE...but there are several other really good jazz clubs. The area of the 1st arrondissement, near Chatelet along/near rue des Lombards. If you use the SEARCH feature for this forum and use PARIS JAZZ, you%26#39;ll find listings and details of many clubs in Paris.

In the meantime, get your son to do some of his own basic Paris research and define/refine some of his interests and expectations to integrate with your own.

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Places to hang out with a 17 year old...

Around the Les Halles/Centre Pompidou area (great museum, too... I prefer it to the Louvre because of all the natural light).

The Champs de Mars on a Friday night is full of young locals (and tourists) having picnic dinners, playing frisbee and soccer. It is at the foot of the Eiffle Tower, which I highly recommend you visit, because it is about so much more than the views... who knew that steel could be so elegant and graceful?

Place de la Contrescarpe at the top of the rue Mouffetard...esp for sandwiches at lunch time... teens galore.

The southern tip of the Luxenbourg gardens is another pop. lunch spot with the young university crowd.

Marais for a great (veggie) falafel sandwich on Sundays is the place to be.

All markets have great cheese and produce options. You will find some excellent hummous at most grocery stores if you want a break froma ll the dairy and the Bon Marche Epicerie has some of the best eggplant caviar on the planet... fresh at the catering counter.

Definitely take your son to the Petit Journal and there is often a street band playing jazz on the boul. St Germain, across form the Deux Magots in the evenings and an AMerican group that plays on the bridge between the Ile St Louis and Ile de la Cite on Sundays. Also plenty of live music options at the Place des Vosges (in the Marais) on Sunday afternoons... but more often Klezmer and classical.

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Avoid the mondays for the Rue Mouffetard, it is the only day of the week when the lower part of the street has no activity : no market and few shops open. The upper part of the street still has restaurants/Creperies open. You have to pay a small fee to go up the terrace of the Samaritaine. Also the Glaeris Lafayette have such a terrace which is free, but the view is better from Samaritaine.

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Thank you all so much for replying. I think because of the time difference my original message quickly disappeared to page two or three while you were all asleep in your beds so Randy please don���t apologise.

Wow, have we got some new plans now! Tonight I���m going to attempt to book somewhere to stay in the Latin Quarter. Thanks so much for suggestions for Jazz and music places to hang out, definitely got an excuse to see the Eiffel tower too now, and all the great suggestions re food. I can���t believe that I���m questionless right now.

Almost forgot, Tom is in the middle of year 11 exams but I���m sure these replies will inspire him to do some research and change his mind about ���tagging along���. He is keen to read ���The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier when we looked into visiting the Cluny museum; thankyou Randy for the suggestion.

Deanne

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I think Marais could be a good area to stay for you...It is a very lively area..I know a moderate budget hotel that maybe can interest you to stay in this area...It is called Hotel du Marais (in the 3rd). The area is good, not far away from Hotel de Ville area, a place I particularly appreciate for shopping, with the BHV for exple, a famous shop in Paris.

In le Marais, there are a lot of bars and restaurants so that culd be nice for your son...

Concerning arts, music such as jazz..have a look at the area of Saint Germain des Pres...

http://www.paris-hotel-marais.com is the website of the hotel tht can intesrest you, it is clean and simple. Staff is very nice too.

Have a nice trip in Paris!

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Since he is into literature, you should stop by the Shakespeare and company bookstore, which housed many famous writers and sells English books. It is not far from Rue Mouffetard. I agree with the Rue Mouffetard beign a great place to stay, my daughters loved it and it was relly pleasant even late at night.