Yet another travel q. - Paris?

[Circe]

Don't roll your eyes at me! I know like 99.9 % of my recent posts have been travel questions - the husband's been getting some good assignments.

So it looks like I'm going to be making my first visit to Paris come the week of Thanksgiving, and I am excited. I'm trying to settle on a hotel, and to figure out what to do with a week of Parisian wandering ahead of me (the husband, sadly, will probably be working for most of it). I love museums, historical homes and districts, and ridiculously schmoopy romantic settings: in terms of shopping, if you could point me to the Parisian equivalent of the Burlington Arcade or Gray's Antique Market in London, and to any awesome shops for vintage clothing, I would be eternally grateful; sadly, most guidebooks ignore these most salient of questions. And of course, restaurant-wise, if you have any suggestions, I would just eat them up with a spoon (or fork, or other appropriate utensil).

At this point, it looks like we'll be staying at the Le Meridian in Montparnasse - any neighborhoods you'd suggest instead, for proximity to all of the above? I loooooooooove you all (and I'm going to go and update my NoLa thread now, promise). J'adore!

 

[blingmyring]

Hi Circe,

I don't know what the Burlington Arcade is and I've never been to Gray's Antique Market in London, however, if you're looking for the antique market in Paris it's up in the 18th arrondissement, completely north of where you're staying.

Here is a link: http://www.parispuces.com/en/Default.asp

To get to the market you have to walk past a flea market - watch your purse !! My favorite markets within the antique market (it's huge) are Paul Bert and Serpette (furniture). Each market has a specialty: fabrics and buttons, posters, etc....

One of my favorite websites for what's going on in Paris is Secrets of Paris: http://www.secretsofparis.com/... A lot of great info on this site.

Not far from where you're staying is the St. Germain des Pres neighborhood which has some really nice art galleries and expensive antiques. Read up on this neighborhood it's great (has some famous restaurants like Les Deux Magots and Cafe des Flores - food isn't very good but the people watching is!).

Don't forget to visit Place Vendome for the BLING !

As far as historical homes and neighborhoods goes everytime you turn a corner you'll run into something. However, definitely check out Places des Vosges, Victor Hugo's home is there and it has been turned into a museum.

Also look into getting a museum pass - it's cheaper in the long run and you can cut the line-ups. I have to run off to eat dinner but I'll be back to tell you the short cut to get into the Louvre.

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Don't roll your eyes at me! I know like 99.9 % of my recent posts have been travel questions - the husband's been getting some good assignments.

So it looks like I'm going to be making my first visit to Paris come the week of Thanksgiving, and I am excited. I'm trying to settle on a hotel, and to figure out what to do with a week of Parisian wandering ahead of me (the husband, sadly, will probably be working for most of it). I love museums, historical homes and districts, and ridiculously schmoopy romantic settings: in terms of shopping, if you could point me to the Parisian equivalent of the Burlington Arcade or Gray's Antique Market in London, and to any awesome shops for vintage clothing, I would be eternally grateful; sadly, most guidebooks ignore these most salient of questions. And of course, restaurant-wise, if you have any suggestions, I would just eat them up with a spoon (or fork, or other appropriate utensil).

At this point, it looks like we'll be staying at the Le Meridian in Montparnasse - any neighborhoods you'd suggest instead, for proximity to all of the above? I loooooooooove you all (and I'm going to go and update my NoLa thread now, promise). J'adore!

This restaurant, OMG, it was amazing http://www.ambassade-auvergne.com/internet/c_inetpub/index.asp

Somewhere in my thread history I have a thread about my trip to France in April/May. I'll try to find it when I have a sec.

 

[jaysonsmom]

I don't know if you're a steak lover, but I had the best steak in Paris when I went in September. SIL lives in Paris, and took us to this restaurant where their specialty is only steak and the best french fries ever! Here's the link:

http://www.relaisentrecote.fr/

The price was reasonable, and the food was great.

 

[Mara]

one thing we learned about Paris, it's hard to find a BAD restaurant. we even ate at some tourist trap over near the Louvre and their mussels and frites were amazing and far better than anything I've had in the US. also Parisians don't really eat a true breakfast--so good luck finding an American breakfast unless you are in a hotel.

and ... stop into every bakery you see. their croissants are ridiculous, pretty cheap, and there are no bad bakeries either!!!

a baguette with cheese is a fabulous lunch.

we ate at an amazing French restaurant one night that a coworker brought us to that was in a building from the 1600's. i don't like true French food but it was very good and everyone raved about it. I'll try to get the name from our coworker.