Parc Asterix

[afds]

I did a search but no results came up, so perhaps no-one has asked about this before. I was thinking of making a short trip in October, the only autumn month in which the park is open during the week, just a couple of nights and one day at the park for my Asterix-mad son. Since the park is open from 10-6, obviously the rest of the time is best spent in Paris, so I was thinking of staying in Paris and taking the shuttle bus which runs from the Louvre to Parc Asterix rather than staying at the hotel in the Parc which has mixed reviews. Any advice? Has anyone visited recently? The person who wrote a recent review on TA is a frequent Disneyland visitor and may have had other expectations.

I was looking at plane fares, another option is by train, my husband is very keen on driving on the grounds that there will be lots of room in the car for jam and macarons...OK, now that I've been unmasked, yes, the visit to the Parc is just an excuse to go back. Perhaps I should have called this thread Hypocrite 2 ;D
Of course if we do decide to go I will have to start desperately searching for a hotel, an apartment for just 2 nights won't work. All suggestions welcome.

[afds]

Judging by the deluge of replies this is not a place OPF is particularly interested in, frankly neither am I but I can put up with a day of the Parc if it gets me to Paris.

I really need help to decide how to do the Macaron Run on this trip. The plan is to drive to Orry-la-Ville (where I booked Hotel Nonette based on TA reports) on the 26th of October. The next day (Monday) at the Parc, and on Tuesday go to Paris for an exclusively food-related shopping trip: macarons from Laduree on Rue Bonaparte and Herme if it's not too crowded, and terrines from Dubernet on Rue Augereau. The framboise jam is available at Monoprix so we'll probably find it in Chantilly. And after stocking up on these delights we plan to drive back to Italy. My question is, how feasible is this plan? Is it going to take the best part of the day to get to and from Rue Bonaparte? My husband feels that since Chantilly is north of Paris we should leave, do our shopping and carry on, planning to spend the night in Italy probably in Genoa. I think the shopping may take time and it may make more sense to go back and spend another night at the Nonette, and leave early the next morning to drive straight back to Italy, staying on the highway without deviations. Whose is the better idea? If someone was planning to shop in Rome, for instance, I would advise against trying to do that and drive to another country the same day because it takes ages to get anywhere in the city. Paris experts please, please help!

[Anne]

My personal choice would be to travel from Orry to Paris-Gare du Nord by train (TER) or RER, and then use the RER/métro/bus to do my shopping, and then back to Orry . But that comes from someone who never had the nerves to drive in Paris, and I don't even mention parking .

Anyway, whether your husband plan is reasonnable or not depends very much on the time of the day when you plan to enter Paris from Orry (no weekday before 9am) and exit Paris to head South (no late afternoon) . And then once in Paris there is the parking problem . Don't even consider driving from one shop to another and finding a nice parking space nearby, you'd rather find yourself a parking place somewhere and then use public transportation for your shopping .

But whether you go to Paris by car or by public transportation, your shopping trip shouldn't take you more than a few hours ...

[framboiseetrose]

afds - I will be no help in your choice of drive or train it to Paris. I used to be a regular at Dubernet as we lived a block and half from there. I bought foie gras cru, mi-cuit and their magret de canard. Not for everyday fare, mind you. Besides being tres cher, can you imagine how blocked our arteries would have been? Thanks for waking up the memories.........
framboise

[afds]

Thank you both for your replies. Anne, I think your comment - "Don't even consider driving from one shop to another and finding a nice parking space nearby, you'd rather find yourself a parking place somewhere and then use public transportation for your shopping " - is spot on. Any input on public parking places? Or a link which could help?
Framboiseetrose, don't remind me of the arteries! I try to pretend they don't exist ;-)
Comtesse du Barry has a website so maybe that part of the shopping can be done online. Why oh why doesn't Laduree ship outside France ? Life would be so much easier...

[Anne]

Re. parkings . Here are the details for each parking, per arrondissement (note that prices are those of Jan 2005) . You can locate each one on its arrondissement map : choose the "plan simplifié" or plan détaillé" option, not the "vue aérienne" .

www.v2asp.paris.fr/v2/deplacements/Stationnement/parkings/parkings.asp#1er

[afds]

Thank you, an exalt is coming your way!

[afds]

Next week this time I'll be in Paris, at last, gloat, gloat!
And my dear, sweet, most beloved child has decided that he
doesn't want to go to Parc Asterix after all, so that gives us more time in Paris. I promise I did not influence him in any way
Many thanks to OPF especially Laidback and Framboiseetrose, we have on our restaurant list : Au Petit Marguery, L'Epi Dupin, Chez Dumonet and Le Languedoc, none booked so far but I hope calling the day before will be enough. I'm really looking forward to visiting Herme, Laduree and Aoki for an intensive macaron test.