Arrival. Arrived at CDG and took RER to St. Michel, shuttling readily to the right terminal and buying tickets easily at the window. Walked the short distance to Hotel Le Regent, using our handy pocket compass to get our bearings once we came above ground. Only problem was figuring out at the airport that we had to upstairs to get down. (If it hadn%26#39;t been for 12 hours of flying, we might%26#39;ve realized that even those who don%26#39;t check luggage have to go through Customs, so we had to up to baggage claim area even though we were looking for a shuttle on the lower level.) Breezed through customs - no lines, no stop. After arrival at the hotel, we walked to La Samaritaine and went to the rooftop cafe for a brief city orientation; would%26#39;ve had coffee, but there was not even one table available in the late afternoon.
Rue de Buci. Our hotel was a few steps from this lively street for restaurants, shops and people-watching. Bought great olive oil and tapenades at L%26#39;Olivier and yummy gelato (even better than Berthillon ice cream, I thought). Within blocks, we visited Delacroix%26#39;s home (a lovely place, especially the outdoor spaces - interesting museum, although more images of M. Delacroix than I needed), Eglise St. Germain des Pres, Les Deux Magots, Cafe Boul Mich and Le Procope.
Marais. Walking tour from Opera Bastille, past Finkelstein%26#39;s on Rue des Rosiers for pastries and coffee. Lunch at Au Gamin de (Paris?) on Rue Vieille du Temple. (Delicious warm goat cheese and fig marmalade salad with freshly steamed asparagus on the side and the best onion soup anywhere.) Then to the Carnavalet and the Picasso - we wished the Carnavalet had audioguides or other English explanations of its exhibits, but it was free and quite charming; enjoyed the Picasso, especially the earlier works that were unfamiliar. We went on to the Pompidou, but were disappointed by the architecture and closure of the floor w/ art from 1900-1960 (until mid-June 2005).
The Louvre. First day, we only looked at Greek and Roman statuary. Big crowds around Venus de Milo and Winged Victory/Samothrace, but otherwise very accessible. Second day, we steeped ourselves in Italian and French painting - Mona Lisa impossible to get near, but the rest accessible and enjoyable (esp. with audioguides) until afternoon when the tour groups and hordes of schoolchildren became unbearable.
Restaurants. Angelina%26#39;s for hot chocolate and Laduree%26#39;s for macarons... of course. Le Procope was great for the history; food good but not great, prices reasonable. Le Petit Cours on Rue Mabillon was quiet and cozy and had very good food. Le Sargent Recruiter on Ile St. Louis was lots of fun, esp. with a group - all you can eat and drink - cut your own portions of crudites, saucissons, pate, fromages, etc. from communal platters, plus Berthillon a few doors away if the chocolate mousse for dessert wasn%26#39;t enough. Taillevent is wonderful for a special occasion - tasting menus for 130 and 180 euros, respectively - every morsel a taste of heaven; wine steward chose matching wines very well, but another 120 euros for 3 glasses each. The dining room at Hotel Raphael and its English bar were quiet, elegant and the food delicious; the Jardin Plein Ciel on the rooftop has stunning views in summer. All-time favorite: Le Don Juan, one of the Yachts de Paris fleet - delicious gourmet dinner while motoring down the Seine, watching the lights (seats 34, costs 165 euros, drinks not included).
Off the beaten path. The fondue restaurant near Sacre Coeur was recommended to us for the day we visited the Basilica Sacre Coeur- we were told its name was Trois Freres (actually the street it%26#39;s on is Trois Freres). Anyway, with the help of the toursim office, we identified a restaurant on Rue Simplon (several metro stops beyond the basilica, but arguably in the Montmartre area) called Chez Trois Freres. We walked far enough from the metro stop we were sure no one could call the place %26quot;near%26quot; Sacre Coeur, but we entered and asked about fondue. They didn%26#39;t understand us but we chalked it up to our bad French and went on in. The waiter was able to communicate to us that it was 33 degrees (91.4 fahrenheit) and bring us cold drinks. The waiter and cook were very excited to learn we were American and sent for a neighbor who spoke a little English who described the restaurant as a Mediterranean barbecue place. Then we realized the reason we couldn%26#39;t understand the waiter or read the signs wasn%26#39;t our poor eyesight and poor French - the signs were in a Cyrillic alphabet and the waiter couldn%26#39;t speak any more French than I could (which isn%26#39;t saying much). The only other guests in the place were described as Yugoslavian soldiers. We did have an interesting meal (especially their homemeade sausage) and they couldn%26#39;t have been kinder. An unexpected but pleasant encounter with a very different Paris than we%26#39;d have otherwise encountered. You%26#39;ve seen Saint Chapelle and Notre Dame and Saint Sulpice, etc. but have YOU seen the Greek Orthodox church on Rue Simplon?
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Thank you. There were some interesting little points in your report that I had not picked up before, eg the language issue at Carnavalet. I am still keen to go but I now see that our visit won%26#39;t be so long as my friends will no doubt tire of my poor translations of the French info.
Can I ask if you%26#39;re Marais walking tour was one of the organised tours by %26#39;Paris Walking Tours%26#39; or did you mean that you guided yourself with the aid of a book. If it was a professional tour I%26#39;d be keen to hear your more detailed opinion of the tour.
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We started with the Marais path recommended in the Rick Steves Paris book (it was our first full day and we were too jet-lagged to be creative). We then went off course a bit to eat at the highly-recommended Au Gamin and noticed we were a few blocks from the Picasso Museum, so we wandered off that direction and from there to the Pompidou by the most direct route. As far as our feet were concerned, that should%26#39;ve been the end of the day, but we went on to the Louvre by metro, then across the Pont des Arts and back through St. Germain.
We really liked and heavily used the Knopf Mapguide for Paris; it didn%26#39;t name every tiny street, but it was pocket-sized and it did have very good fold-out maps for each of 8 neighborhoods plus an overall map and a metro map... restaurants, shops, sights and other highlights were marked for each neighborhood, so we could easily create our own walking tours.
We avoided tours on this trip, trying instead to make it a journey of discovery.
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Was it the Hotel Le Regent in Montmarte and would you recommend it? My Husband and I would like to go to Paris for Christmas this year and this hotel is reasonably priced.
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Sorry for the delayed response to the question about Le Regent. We stayed in the hotel by that name on Rue Dauphine in Saint Germain des Pres. It was not anywhere near Montmartre, so there must be two with same or similar name. We did like the hotel very much; it was quiet, clean and reasonably priced (140 euros), but its best feature was its location. After deciding which hotels were within the budget and had decent reviews on this site, I looked for proximity to the Seine and to an RER station. We easily got to the hotel on foot after taking the RER to St. Michel and easily walked back and forth between left and right banks.
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DO NOT STAY AT LE REGENT MONTMARTE! It is a DUMP. Very beautiful area, but it is DEFINITELY not worth it. It is advertised as a hostel on some sites, and while there are private rooms, there are only toilets on every other floor, and no shower in the room (one on each floor, I think, but it is basically a closet with the shower in it). Very noisy as well, my boyfriend and I are 28 but there were many younger and noisier people there. I would NOT recommend it!! As far as I know Hotel Le Regent is definitely much nicer.
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