Quick Trip Report

Hello Everyone!

We just came back last night from a glorious 7 night trip to Paris, May 25-June 1. It was our first time in Paris and it was wonderful. We stayed at an apartment in Montmartre, high up, away from all the noises and seediness. We used www.parisvacationapartments.com and they were wonderful.

Thanks to this site, I was able to pick up a lot of pointers and it really helped us. Here are some pointers, places we went and what we%26#39;ve noticed.

1. The museum passes really helped, we got the 5 day one and really felt it was worth it.

2. Get a Carte Orange, we got ours on Wednesday and used it until Sunday. At the funicular station the worker refused us, so we walket to metro Absesses and got it with no problems. It was nice to not have to count tickets and everywhere was accessible within a transfer.

3. Comfortable shoes is a must and try to break it in ahead of time. I brought a pair of Tsubo trainers and Born Mary Janes and pretty much rotated them, no blisters until the last day and we walked ALOT!!!

4. Museums we went to: Rodin, Louvre, Musee d%26#39;Orsay, Picasso, Carnevert (I actually fell on the marble stairs so make sure your shoes are not totally flat.), Arc de Triomphe, Concergie, Saint Chappelle, Notre Dame (did not climb), and Sacre Coeur.

5. Places we ate at: Le Restaurant, Bofinger, Le Coupe Chou, Cafe Beauberg, Tavergne de Montmartre, Saint Germain de Pres Cafe, the famous falafael place (yummy!) and numerous crossiants, sandwiches, crepes and orangina!

6. We were not fluent in French but used the basics. I cannot stress the importance of greeting the shop owners when you first walk in.

7. Overall, it was a pleasant experience with the French, not everyone went out of the way for us when we got stuck with our limited French but we took it with a grain of salt. This is something that happens in any city, anywhere in the world. We tried not to dwell on it too much.

8. Be aware of pickpockets and be alert but don%26#39;t let it stress you out too much. The most dangerous/confrontational thing we witnessed was at the flea market (the bad part) 2 large guys grabbed a little guy into their car and drove off. Not sure what that was about but hope the little guy was ok. Another incident had a woman yelling at an inconsiderate motorist and later on her husband joined in and there was a screaming match. Lastly, at one of the metro stops, a group of rowdy kids seemed to be looking for trouble, we just avoided eye contact and held each other and they ignored us.

9. Do not worry about what to wear, people were more casual than we expected, although it could have been the heat wave that hit the first few days we were there. My boyfriend wore shorts and it was not a problem. The most important thing is to be comfortable but also appropriate. Nothing to revealing because a lot of sites are churchs and museums. I believe one can be casual and comfortable without being sloppy and dumpy.

We truly felt a week was not enough and cannot wait to go back. One week was enough to take in the sights but next time we just want to enjoy walking all over the city and exploring the streets, cafes and the shops. The city was magcial.

Feel free to ask questions and sorry for any spelling mistakes, I%26#39;ll blame it on jetlag :-)

I envy everyone with an upcoming trip!

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ANother great trip report... I find that they are best when formatted by subject, like you have done here.

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Hello Moidorigal- sounds like you had a great time. I have 100 days to go as of today.

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Welcome back Midorigal. Glad that you had a great trip. Can we now count you among the Paris Addicted? I%26#39;m already obsessively planning MY next trip, which won%26#39;t take place until April 2006!!

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Thank you Phread.

PatlovesParis, I%26#39;m so envious, I remember counting down the days, we booked our trip in Dec. and can%26#39;t believe how quickly it came and went.

SisterEurope, I am addicted, April 2006 may seem far but at least you have it planned, I have no idea when I can go again. I do hope before 2010!

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midorigal -

Thanks for the report. As to the places you ate at - which one(s) would you recommend ?

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hi midorigal,

do you know of any hotels around the montmartre area? i am going to be in paris july 3rd and havent booked a hotel yet. hope you can give some advice.

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Great report, midorigal! Sounds like you had a lot of fun...

I%26#39;d love to hear your reaction to Le Restaurant and Bofinger when you get a chance - and have edovered from jetlag...

Your remark about shoes and marble remined me of something. There are quite a few places in Paris out of doors where you are actually walking on areas of polishe marbled or up and down marble steps. Marble can get to be almost as slick as ice when it is wet.

So: when you are breaking in the walking shoes you are taking, check to see how slippery they are on smooth wet surfaces. And BE CAREFUL!!! (And please do not embarrass me by asking how I know this...)

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Hello,

I forgot to mention we also went to Cluny and the Pompidou and at at a rowdy all you can eat restaurant on Ille St. Louis.

I am not sure of the hotels around Montmartre, the ones I saw were mostly at the bottom of the hill and did not seem very nice. Would you be able to rent an apartment? I know most places require a week but maybe you can see if there are any gaps.

As for restaurants, we went in with a few reservations and I think it would have been more fun if we just walked around and decided what to eat. It%26#39;s hard when you are having fun walking around and exploring and then must get to an area for your reservation. I would suggest making reservations the day of or for the next day if you decide you must go there.

If I had to choose one restaurant/cafe, I would say Cafe Beauberg by the Pompidou, it was a great place to people watch. We both got drinks and a small snack and the food was really good.

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Hi IrishRovr,

Thanks! Good thing to know I was not the only one with the marble mishap...wink...wink.

As for what we thought of Bofinger and Le Restaurant, it may not be popular but again it was only our experience.

Bofinger--I ordered a huge seafood platter and was amazed at how much food it contained and I can eat alot of seafood!!! It was kind of weird that mayanoisse was served but I got used to it. I used it on shrimp and my sea snails. There was also slices of rye bread served with a pickly onion sauce, I was not sure if I was suppose to put it on the bread so I put some my oysters. I felt kind of gauche and awkard but enjoyed the seafood.

My boyfriend was not so lucky, he got some dish with seafood on top of a mound of saurkarut. He was disappointed but blamed himself for ordering the wrong thing. He%26#39;s also not really into seafood so I couldn%26#39;t share my platter with him. In retrospect, I think we should have gotten the prix fixe menu as that seemed like a very good deal and looked yummy.

Le Restaurant--I was doing a self walking tour through Montmartre and Le Restaurnt came highly recommended. I made the reservation in person to a nice lady. At night, the server was different and she was not so helpful but again it was do to our lack of language and not her fault. Could she have been for helpful when we asked about the fish and meat of the day...sure, but did she need to be...no.

We both had the menu, I had caviar starter but it wasn%26#39;t what I thought, it was still good though, a lot of exotic spices. I also had the roasted duck, very good. My boyfriend had the calamari starter and it was yummy and the seafood bouillebaise, it was small but full of flavor. We both skipped dessert but I just read that the chef makes his own so I regret not getting it. Afterwards, we walked outside right by the kitchen and thanked the chef and other kitchen workers, they were all very nice.

I did get sick on the last night after Le Restaurant but did not think it was the food, my boyfriend had been sick before and during the trip so he probably gave me his bug!

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midorigal - no worries, you%26#39;ll be back MUCH sooner than 2010. You%26#39;ll become an expert at finding affordable airfare and hotels and will be making trips at least once every two years. You%26#39;re one of us now. Resistance is futile. :)