Post by slowpoke on Aug 18, 2011 16:57:16 GMT -5
We live in Paris, so this report is about what worked and what didn't during our family's visit this August.
1. Lodgings - Since we live on a barge on the Canal Saint-Martin at the Bastille, we rented a nearby apartment for our family. We thought that they would be happy with our choice, but it turns out that they were thrilled, over the moon, can't stop talking about or thanking us for the beautiful, thoughtfully decorated, well equipped apartment with a fabulous view of the Eiffel Tower. Who would have thought that you could stay near our port, and still have a great view of the twinkling tower every night. They are still talking about how comfortable the beds were, and we liked the fact that the bedrooms were pretty equal so that with two couples sharing, no one felt like they got the "small room". Oh, and the view from each bedroom is of the roof tops between the apartment and the Gare de Lyon. We can't say enough good things about this apartment, and while it was not inexpensive for us to rent for our daughters and their husbands, it was worth every penny of the price. Two couples sharing would make this a very reasonable and memorable accommodation. www.vrbo.com/158269
2. Best event - While we had many memorable moments during their visit, the outstanding event was a dinner cruise on Le Calife. As a family, we will always remember this a the highlight of our time together. Why? Because of the food, which is excellent. (We were a group of seven, and each and every one of us was thrilled with our meal.) The ambiance which is created by the captain and his crew, and by the barge itself. This is not a commercial dinner boat cruise the likes of Bateaux Mouches or Bateaux Parisian. This is an experience that makes most cruises pale in comparison. If you have not taken this cruise, please do not judge it by others that you have taken or only heard about.
Quoting from their website, "Le bateau "Calife", un restaurant navigant, vous accueille pour un dîner & croisière sur la Seine, dans un cadre insolite, chaleureux et romantique, au coeur de Paris."
We loved our dinner and we will always cherish the memories of "le tour du propriétaire" that the captain gave us after dinner. Le Calife is truly a work of art lovingly put together and cared for by its captain. Did I mention that he is a musician who built the boat originally as a music venue, and that it has its own recording studio. It is a magical place, and if you do go for dinner, make sure that you go downstairs to take in the full beauty of this barge. www.calife.com/index.html
3. Second best event - We live on a barge, so we love any and all kinds of boat trips where we do not have to be "on duty" and especially when they have a bar on board, as when cruising through Paris on our own barge, having a glass of Champagne in your hand is a no-no.
The only flaw with this cruise is that it only runs during the summer months on Friday and Saturday nights. We have taken this cruise so many times now that the Edith Piaff type singer, France Fannell, now greets us with kisses, and we recommend that you join her for an unforgettable cruise through the streets of Paris. www.canauxrama.com/produits/e_fiche92.htm
4. We bought Navigo cards for the whole family, and even though it is more expensive than buying individual tickets, the fact that you can use the métro and bus system as hop on/hop off transportation, makes it worth every penny spent. You can also tie your Navigo to your Vélib subscription, (You cannot do this on line, you must sign up up at the borne.), making it very easy to grab a bike whenever you want.
5. We had many great meals in nicer restaurants, but our local Chez Papa, where we went to dinner on their night of arrival, turned out to be a family favorite, so we also had our last meal in Paris there as well. The food is good, the staff friendly, and dinner for seven with wine, bottled water, dessert and everything anyone wanted was alot less than 200€! (I forget the exact amount, but our meals were good while the price was astonishingly cheap.)
6. Bic phone - This is where we come to the only part of my family's visit that didn't work. I wanted everyone to have a phone during their stay in Paris, so the Bic phone seemed like a good option. What I did not know is that when I paid 29€ for a phone where the box claimed that it came with 15€ of talk time, in reality, the phone only came with 5€ of time, and in order to get the promised 10 additional euros, I had to fill out a form to "identify" myself and mail it in with a photocopy of my identity card. The worst part was that until that form was received by Orange, the service provider, we could not recharge the phones. That meant that during the first week we had very, very brief conversations, and lots of stress about using up our phone minutes without being able to recharge them. When I had a discussion about this with an employee of an Orange Boutique, his I could care less about your problems attitude, made me want to smack him upside the head, but I refrained and called a friend to complain about French customer service instead. A few days after my rant against all things Bic/Orange, my form and photocopies reached their destination, and my family was then able to make frivolous phone calls to say, "come meet us here for lunch or because something fun was happening on this or that side of town." That was all we wanted to provide, and I could have very well done without all the stress of buying a phone that we could not charge with a prepaid card until we had identified ourselves, and who ever heard of something as silly as that. Avoid Bic phones!
We loved having our daughters and their families here with us in Paris, and they loved it too. It was a memorable vacation for them, and even after living here for five years, we are still in awe of this beautiful city and the magic it casts over its visitors.
1. Lodgings - Since we live on a barge on the Canal Saint-Martin at the Bastille, we rented a nearby apartment for our family. We thought that they would be happy with our choice, but it turns out that they were thrilled, over the moon, can't stop talking about or thanking us for the beautiful, thoughtfully decorated, well equipped apartment with a fabulous view of the Eiffel Tower. Who would have thought that you could stay near our port, and still have a great view of the twinkling tower every night. They are still talking about how comfortable the beds were, and we liked the fact that the bedrooms were pretty equal so that with two couples sharing, no one felt like they got the "small room". Oh, and the view from each bedroom is of the roof tops between the apartment and the Gare de Lyon. We can't say enough good things about this apartment, and while it was not inexpensive for us to rent for our daughters and their husbands, it was worth every penny of the price. Two couples sharing would make this a very reasonable and memorable accommodation. www.vrbo.com/158269
2. Best event - While we had many memorable moments during their visit, the outstanding event was a dinner cruise on Le Calife. As a family, we will always remember this a the highlight of our time together. Why? Because of the food, which is excellent. (We were a group of seven, and each and every one of us was thrilled with our meal.) The ambiance which is created by the captain and his crew, and by the barge itself. This is not a commercial dinner boat cruise the likes of Bateaux Mouches or Bateaux Parisian. This is an experience that makes most cruises pale in comparison. If you have not taken this cruise, please do not judge it by others that you have taken or only heard about.
Quoting from their website, "Le bateau "Calife", un restaurant navigant, vous accueille pour un dîner & croisière sur la Seine, dans un cadre insolite, chaleureux et romantique, au coeur de Paris."
We loved our dinner and we will always cherish the memories of "le tour du propriétaire" that the captain gave us after dinner. Le Calife is truly a work of art lovingly put together and cared for by its captain. Did I mention that he is a musician who built the boat originally as a music venue, and that it has its own recording studio. It is a magical place, and if you do go for dinner, make sure that you go downstairs to take in the full beauty of this barge. www.calife.com/index.html
3. Second best event - We live on a barge, so we love any and all kinds of boat trips where we do not have to be "on duty" and especially when they have a bar on board, as when cruising through Paris on our own barge, having a glass of Champagne in your hand is a no-no.
The only flaw with this cruise is that it only runs during the summer months on Friday and Saturday nights. We have taken this cruise so many times now that the Edith Piaff type singer, France Fannell, now greets us with kisses, and we recommend that you join her for an unforgettable cruise through the streets of Paris. www.canauxrama.com/produits/e_fiche92.htm
4. We bought Navigo cards for the whole family, and even though it is more expensive than buying individual tickets, the fact that you can use the métro and bus system as hop on/hop off transportation, makes it worth every penny spent. You can also tie your Navigo to your Vélib subscription, (You cannot do this on line, you must sign up up at the borne.), making it very easy to grab a bike whenever you want.
5. We had many great meals in nicer restaurants, but our local Chez Papa, where we went to dinner on their night of arrival, turned out to be a family favorite, so we also had our last meal in Paris there as well. The food is good, the staff friendly, and dinner for seven with wine, bottled water, dessert and everything anyone wanted was alot less than 200€! (I forget the exact amount, but our meals were good while the price was astonishingly cheap.)
6. Bic phone - This is where we come to the only part of my family's visit that didn't work. I wanted everyone to have a phone during their stay in Paris, so the Bic phone seemed like a good option. What I did not know is that when I paid 29€ for a phone where the box claimed that it came with 15€ of talk time, in reality, the phone only came with 5€ of time, and in order to get the promised 10 additional euros, I had to fill out a form to "identify" myself and mail it in with a photocopy of my identity card. The worst part was that until that form was received by Orange, the service provider, we could not recharge the phones. That meant that during the first week we had very, very brief conversations, and lots of stress about using up our phone minutes without being able to recharge them. When I had a discussion about this with an employee of an Orange Boutique, his I could care less about your problems attitude, made me want to smack him upside the head, but I refrained and called a friend to complain about French customer service instead. A few days after my rant against all things Bic/Orange, my form and photocopies reached their destination, and my family was then able to make frivolous phone calls to say, "come meet us here for lunch or because something fun was happening on this or that side of town." That was all we wanted to provide, and I could have very well done without all the stress of buying a phone that we could not charge with a prepaid card until we had identified ourselves, and who ever heard of something as silly as that. Avoid Bic phones!
We loved having our daughters and their families here with us in Paris, and they loved it too. It was a memorable vacation for them, and even after living here for five years, we are still in awe of this beautiful city and the magic it casts over its visitors.