Post by denise on Jul 6, 2008 11:52:32 GMT -5
:)First I must point out that I am not American, I have never read anything Rick Steeves has written and so we were pleasantly surprised when we "discovered" rue Cler in 2002 whilst staying at the hotel Splendid, at 29 Ave de Tourville opposite the Ecole Militaire. in the 7th arrondisement.
The splendid is a comfortable, pleasant 3 star, art deco hotel with views of the Eiffel tower from the rooms. it is opposite the Ecole militaire ( the military acadamy) there are very smart military gentlemen around and in the local cafes. One year there was an anti war demonstration in the square. Which was interesting to watch.
These photos were not taken by me.
The rue Cler is a pleasant market street situated in a middle class area of Paris. It is easily visited by taking the metro line 8 direction Balard and getting off at the Ecole militaire stop. Rue cler is just round the corner to the left off Ave Motte Piquette.
A taste of things to come is shown on Ave motte Piquette by a wonderful chocolatier just near the junction. (we never actually bought anything, we just looked in the window and drooled, amazed at the artistry!)
My husband, who loves to cook says rue Cler is a foodies paradise because you can buy all sorts of wonderful food there.
I especially like the ironmongers because these have largely died out in England due to DIY multiples.
We went in the fromagerie one day for cheese for a room picnic and were so overwhelmed by the choice of different cheeses.
The lady behind the counter was obviously proud of her cheeses and only too happy to help us choose a selection.
The market is open every day except Monday and we loved to watch the chic French ladies come to do their shopping with their trolleys, interacting with the shopkeepers, contrary to popular myth we did NOT find rue Cler full of American tourists and the primary language we heard was French. We always felt as if we were in a real part of Paris with Parisians. At the end of the street on the corner of rue Dominique there is a primary school and the mothers would shop before they collected the children every day.
We also stumbled upon the Grand Hotel Leveque, which is not "grand" at all, but a very nice two star hotel. We booked it for the following trip and really enjoyed staying in a hotel where you could fall out onto such a vibrant street.
We always stayed in the room above the flags, where we could watch the world go bye.
We stayed at the Grand Hotel Leveque four times in all and always had a pleasant stay. The staff were always friendly,( and ignored our blatant disregard of the "no food in the rooms " rule! ;D)
We usually had breakfast at the cafe next door so we could watch the street coming to life. Occasionally we ate at the cafe du Marche, which was not unpleasant but not the most memorable meal of our lives. We also had crepes from the crepe stall across the road which were delicious.
Running along the bottom of rue Cler is Rue St Dominique where we ate regularly in different types of restaurants from French to Asian. Laidback and Gracejoan has given good reviews of several restaurants. (I never remember restaurant names sorry)
Rue St Dominique is full of interesting little boutiques and shops. There are also quite a few upmarket baby/children's wear shops around.
L'Invallides (Napoleons tomb) is at the other end of rue St Dominique, my favourite museum in Paris, since I visited there aged 14 and was fascinated by the history of Napoleons France.
Rodins garden and Musee d'orsay are also within easy walking distance.
To the east you can wander through the streets towards St Germain and to the south you can easily walk to Montparnasse.
In the opposite direction of course the Eiffel tower is within strolling distance though the park of Champs de Mars and we would regularly take this walk before bed to watch the lights twinkling and put us in romantic mood.
On Sunday mornings we would visit the Market just further along the metro line at Grenelle. Here you can buy everything you can think of. From there of course we would make our annual visit to the races at Longchamps.
Eventually in 2006 we decided we'd had enough of staying in this area and moved on but I think it is a great place to stay. There are lots of green spaces around and interesting people to watch.
I am aware that this area often gets bad press and is described as "boring" "touristy" "out of the way" "quiet". We never found this but I would be interested in other peoples experiences.
Denise
love from england
The splendid is a comfortable, pleasant 3 star, art deco hotel with views of the Eiffel tower from the rooms. it is opposite the Ecole militaire ( the military acadamy) there are very smart military gentlemen around and in the local cafes. One year there was an anti war demonstration in the square. Which was interesting to watch.
These photos were not taken by me.
The rue Cler is a pleasant market street situated in a middle class area of Paris. It is easily visited by taking the metro line 8 direction Balard and getting off at the Ecole militaire stop. Rue cler is just round the corner to the left off Ave Motte Piquette.
A taste of things to come is shown on Ave motte Piquette by a wonderful chocolatier just near the junction. (we never actually bought anything, we just looked in the window and drooled, amazed at the artistry!)
My husband, who loves to cook says rue Cler is a foodies paradise because you can buy all sorts of wonderful food there.
I especially like the ironmongers because these have largely died out in England due to DIY multiples.
We went in the fromagerie one day for cheese for a room picnic and were so overwhelmed by the choice of different cheeses.
The lady behind the counter was obviously proud of her cheeses and only too happy to help us choose a selection.
The market is open every day except Monday and we loved to watch the chic French ladies come to do their shopping with their trolleys, interacting with the shopkeepers, contrary to popular myth we did NOT find rue Cler full of American tourists and the primary language we heard was French. We always felt as if we were in a real part of Paris with Parisians. At the end of the street on the corner of rue Dominique there is a primary school and the mothers would shop before they collected the children every day.
We also stumbled upon the Grand Hotel Leveque, which is not "grand" at all, but a very nice two star hotel. We booked it for the following trip and really enjoyed staying in a hotel where you could fall out onto such a vibrant street.
We always stayed in the room above the flags, where we could watch the world go bye.
We stayed at the Grand Hotel Leveque four times in all and always had a pleasant stay. The staff were always friendly,( and ignored our blatant disregard of the "no food in the rooms " rule! ;D)
We usually had breakfast at the cafe next door so we could watch the street coming to life. Occasionally we ate at the cafe du Marche, which was not unpleasant but not the most memorable meal of our lives. We also had crepes from the crepe stall across the road which were delicious.
Running along the bottom of rue Cler is Rue St Dominique where we ate regularly in different types of restaurants from French to Asian. Laidback and Gracejoan has given good reviews of several restaurants. (I never remember restaurant names sorry)
Rue St Dominique is full of interesting little boutiques and shops. There are also quite a few upmarket baby/children's wear shops around.
L'Invallides (Napoleons tomb) is at the other end of rue St Dominique, my favourite museum in Paris, since I visited there aged 14 and was fascinated by the history of Napoleons France.
Rodins garden and Musee d'orsay are also within easy walking distance.
To the east you can wander through the streets towards St Germain and to the south you can easily walk to Montparnasse.
In the opposite direction of course the Eiffel tower is within strolling distance though the park of Champs de Mars and we would regularly take this walk before bed to watch the lights twinkling and put us in romantic mood.
On Sunday mornings we would visit the Market just further along the metro line at Grenelle. Here you can buy everything you can think of. From there of course we would make our annual visit to the races at Longchamps.
Eventually in 2006 we decided we'd had enough of staying in this area and moved on but I think it is a great place to stay. There are lots of green spaces around and interesting people to watch.
I am aware that this area often gets bad press and is described as "boring" "touristy" "out of the way" "quiet". We never found this but I would be interested in other peoples experiences.
Denise
love from england
A full and detailed report it shall be........it may even be "we didn't go up" 
hahahha