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Post by kittyhead on Jun 4, 2008 14:37:32 GMT -5
hello all! i'm heading to Paris in late july with my honey for a week. i've been to Paris twice and he's never been, so this trip will be a mix of where i've already been & enjoyed and someplace new. we're also staying at a friend's apartment in Meudon, SW of Paris & a 10 minute ride into Gare Montparnasse. we both love walking and exploring, but if i don't have an outline, i'll meander and really get off course, so i bought a set of City Walks:Paris cards at the book store to help plan our day. we're also going to buy a 4 day museum card pass to give us some flexibility where ever we go. so here goes... please, if anyone has any suggestions, i will be glad to take them!!  Day 1 Wed Arrive AM, settle into apartment, explore Meudon & weekly market PM Walks Card # 37 - Raspail/Montparnasse (Blvd. Raspail, Montparnasse Cemetery) & Walks Card # 35 - 14th Arrondissement Day 2 Thur Paris (pass 1) Walks card # 1 – Île de la Cité: Notre Dame gargoyles, Ste. Chapelle Walks card #2 – The Louvre: Walk thru Louvre campus, Jardin des Tulieries L’Orangerie, Angelina (lunch?) Time allowing: Walks card # 5 – La Madeleine for fun gourmet foodstuffs Day 3 Fri Paris (pass 2) Eiffel tower Walks card #22 & 23 - 7th Arrondissement JL Poujauran (I understand he's closed, now owned by Secco?? Oh I loved his olive fougasse!), Rodin Night bike tour w/ Fat Tire (7PM @ Eiffel Tower) Day 4 Sat Paris (pass 3) Walks Card # 8 – Le Marais: Place des Vosges, Mariages Freres, Falafel place (forgot the name but i just remember ordering from a window!), Picasso Museum Walks Card # 12: Ile St Louis walk over to Institute de Monde Arabe Rodin Museum, Meudon Day 5 Sun Paris (pass 4) Walks Card #26 Champs Élysées: Arc de Triomphe TDF Finish in Paris: Place de la Concorde - does anyone know what are peak times to see the finish? PM Walks Card #17 – St. Germain Latin Quarter, Luxembourg Gardens Day 6 Mon Paris Walks Card #29 – Canal St. Martin PM?? any suggestions? Bellevue? Day 7 Tues Giverny 8:15AM train, arriving @ 9:00AM Return train @ 12:38, 12:55, 2:59 Walks Card # 41 & 42 Montmartre Day 8 Wed Fly home  |
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Post by luckyluc on Jun 4, 2008 18:28:50 GMT -5
I am sure that others will join in and suggest lot of changes!
For my deux centimes: When visiting the Montparnasse cimetière don't miss the tomb of Charles Pigeon, very different!
Day 2: I would forget the Louvre and spend time in the Orangerie, Angelina is not a good choice for lunch, it is to much overun and the selection is not great. Do you know Le Soufflé? If you go to Hédiard don't forget the tea room on the first floor (nice ambiance and different view of Madeleine)
Day 3: I am sure that Laidback or GraceJoan will give you multiple choices for lunch !
Day 4: L'As du Falafel is the name you are looking for, don't go to the King of Falafel (a cheap imitation). Le Marais, Picasso, Rodin and l'Institut du Monde Arabe is a lot on one day, unless you have a special love for Picasso or Rodin I would prefer to introduce something more Parisian like the Carnavalet.
Day 5 : make sure that you have some time to SIT in the Luxembourg and do nothing. The doing nothing part is very important on a trip to Paris.
Day 6: I would forget Canal St-Martin and do a longer visit in Montmarthe.
Day 7: keep the afternoon open for returning to something of simply losing it.
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Post by Happygoin on Jun 5, 2008 6:30:23 GMT -5
Two suggestions: For walk card #37/Montparnasse, if you can, try to do that one on a Sunday. The Blvd Raspail organic market is on Sundays and well worth the visit. The second suggestion is more of an echo of something Luc said. He was kind enough to recommend Le Souffle to a few of us last December. It's wonderful! Highly recommended. In fact, I'm going again, to take my teen ami, when we go in Nov. Pete's gonna be blown away by all this. |
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Post by luckyluc on Jun 5, 2008 10:09:19 GMT -5
Topping since I am sure others will want to add on.....
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Post by kittyhead on Jun 5, 2008 10:29:31 GMT -5
hi luc, thanks for your deux centimes! on day 2: i wasn't planning on going to the louvre, just passing thru. we don't have any interests in BIG museums like that!  someone's gonna smite me for that... Thanks for the suggestion for Le Soufflé. I had not been there, so I will look it up. on day 4, i realize that looks to be a heavy day. the picasso museum was on my list the last 2 trips and i was danged if i missed out again. i will keep carnavalet in my back pocket tho. i love rodin and found out that there's a museum in meudon, a couple of miles from our apartment and it's where he's buried. the problem is that it's open only fri-sat & sun afternoons. grr. well all is not lost if i don't go there. just that it's so close to the apartment i think i need to keep canal st martin in the itinerary. pete loves mechanical things so seeing the locks will be much fun for him. it's also an area i haven't seen so i'd like to go. as for day 7, i'd like to go to giverny, since i've never been in paris in the summer when the flowers are in bloom. but i can keep a "we shall see" attitude about it! hi happy, thanks for the reco on the market. since montparnasse is where we exit our train, we could stop there for snacks and goodies while we're hanging out waiting for the tour riders! |
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Post by luckyluc on Jun 5, 2008 10:38:11 GMT -5
If Pete like mechanicial things bring him to the Arts et Métiers he will be au septième ciel.
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Post by Anne on Jun 5, 2008 11:14:31 GMT -5
Here is the TDF schedule for the last étape (click on "itinéraire horaire" written in grey on top of the map) : www.letour.fr/2007/TDF/COURSE/fr/etape_par_etape_2000.htmlSo the caravane (the 200+ commercial-knick-knack-very popular cortège) reaches the Champs-Elysées at 2.18pm, the first bikers should arrive around 4, and all bikers will be going up and down the Champs-Elysées till about 5.30 . Be aware that the Champs Elysées (or the place de la Concorde) will be PACKED, you will have to come early to get a good viewing point . I am afraid that planning any other significant visit on the same afternoon would be a waste . |
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Post by goldenmama on Jun 5, 2008 12:19:56 GMT -5
Hi- Just want to second Luckyluc's opinion on Angelinas. Although my kids liked the hot chocolate, it was a major let-down for lunch. Mediocre food and over-priced. L'As du Falafel is one of the first places that I am running to when I get to Paris. I've been dreaming about that place for a year now! |
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Post by kittyhead on Jun 5, 2008 12:26:44 GMT -5
luc, you know, i was thinking of the arts et métiers but with so much else to see... ah i guess i will just ask him about that one...
anne, thanks so much for that link. i had no idea they got in that late in the afternoon, so i will replan that day!
hi goldenmama! i enjoyed the chocolate chaud when we were there, though i'd introduce pete to it. but if the food stinks & it's overpriced, well he can have it elsewhere. maybe charlotte de l'île. that was yummy too.
thanks for the tips, keep them coming!! ;D
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Post by kittyhead on Jun 5, 2008 20:47:31 GMT -5
oh you should've seen pete's face when i told him he had to eat at this falafel place i'd gone to previously. "falafel in paris?" he said? his expression was priceless. ;D
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Post by Shoesy on Jun 5, 2008 21:52:52 GMT -5
Kittyhead - You should have seen MY hubby's face 2 years ago before our trip to Paris when I told him that there's supposed to be a delicious falafel place in Paris. Since Israel is the home of falafel, he laughed at the suggestion that a place in Paris could even compare to what we get here. However, while we were in Paris, he suddenly became totally obsessed with the idea of going to L'As du Falafel, and one day I found myself rushing to the Marais so that we could have lunch there. (I think that's how I got my one little Paris blister.  )) Anyway, L'As du Falafel got my husband's approval, as well as mine.  |
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Post by Happygoin on Jun 6, 2008 6:40:08 GMT -5
I think I must be the only person in the world who was less-than-impressed with LdF. I loved the fried chickpea balls, but then, I'd love shoe leather if it was fried. The rest of it was just so-so for me  . I'm curious to see what yours and Pete's opinion is when you return and file a complete and detailed trip report for us. |
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Post by mez on Jun 6, 2008 7:39:12 GMT -5
Kittyhead,
You are the first person I have seen create a trip itinerary using the walks cards. I usually throw the box of cards into my case but they rarely see the light of day.
Now you're making me rethink my itinerary plan but I'm not sure if I should exalt you for the extra work you are causing me. ;D
Ahh...why not? Exalt coming your way.
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Post by kittyhead on Jun 6, 2008 10:26:52 GMT -5
shoesy & happygoin, i will definitely report back on the falafel meal for pete. i know i really enjoyed it, especially with the hot sauce! sloppy but good! ;D
thanks for the exalt, mez! well i really know there will be a fair amount of meandering but i figured these little cards will keep me on course somehow! when will you be going to paris??
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Post by geordy on Jun 6, 2008 10:43:10 GMT -5
Kitttyhead, Check out the Restaurant section here. There is a thread on Le Souffle. A few earlyl trips to Paris I booked through a travel agent with an outfit called Jet Vacations and with your documents they sent walking tour tapes. Didn't take the tapes but did listen beforehand(the pronunciations of the sites came in handy!  and did take the maps that came with the tapes. Did the walks, varying a bit when they included places I'd already been, but it was a fun way to explore! Then I got a gift of the little book "The Impressionists Paris"(there are now a few other versions, Picasso's etc.) and brought that along a couple of times and did those walks too..or parts of them..they also have restaurant/break suggestions. So your card idea sounds good to me! Also coincidently enough on my last trip, at the bar before my flight chatting with a guy who when I said I was going to Paris said his girlfriend's Mother was the/a developer of those cards! |
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Post by kittyhead on Jun 6, 2008 11:56:17 GMT -5
hi geordy! wow that's a small world! very cool. those cards are neat , they do have some restaurant recs but not much, so i will be relying on you all to give some good (not too expensive!) suggestions!! |
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Post by annettecinca on Jun 6, 2008 12:11:59 GMT -5
I think I must be the only person in the world who was less-than-impressed with LdF. I loved the fried chickpea balls, but then, I'd love shoe leather if it was fried. The rest of it was just so-so for me . Happy, my experience was a bit like yours--I'd had L'as built up in my head for so long and just knew it was going to be the most delicious thing I'd ever sunk my teeth into. It was good, but I didn't hear angels singing or anything! Hubby, on the other hand, LOVED it. My, my question would be: What does everyone order exactly? We went with the standard falafel. I assumed (incorrectly) that they only served one thing, so was a little surprised that there were quite a few different items on the menu. Hope I picked the right one! (I did use lots of sauce!) |
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Post by kittyhead on Jun 6, 2008 15:36:14 GMT -5
hi annette, when i was there, we had who we called the "falafel nazi", ;D cause he basically told everyone that they were having the special falafel, which had eggplant, the yogurt sauce & the optional hot sauce. so really we didn't have a choice. LOL
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Post by annettecinca on Jun 6, 2008 15:59:19 GMT -5
LOL The falafel nazi....I just caught the soup nazi on TV last night I'm pretty sure my falafel didn't have any eggplant. There were the above-mentioned chickpea balls (more like patties on mine) and lots of shredded fresh veggies. |
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someone's gonna smite me for that...
)) Anyway, L'As du Falafel got my husband's approval, as well as mine. 
. I'm curious to see what yours and Pete's opinion is when you return and file a complete and detailed trip report for us. 
and did take the maps that came with the tapes. Did the walks, varying a bit when they included places I'd already been, but it was a fun way to explore!
hahahha