Paris - Recommendations?

[EDS]

Anyone have any good recommendations for hotels (was looking at the Mon Hotel)/restaurants/things to do (yes, I have heard of the Louvre) for a couple visiting for a long weekend in the fall (this couple has never been to Paris before)?

[christian]

As long as you get to les fils de Emile Deyrolle, at 46 Rue du Bac, the rest is pretty much gravy.

[maunahaole]

The Orsay is better than the Louvre. And can be done in a lot less time. I'm partial to the Polar Bear. If you do the Louvre, get there early and go in the underground entrance beneath the pyramid, the line is shorter. The sewer museum is really fun and interesting if you have a thing about public infrastructure. Get the museum card - it gets you line cuts and free admission at a lot of choice spots.

Slow down, walk around and explore. Enjoy the place.

[echelon_john]

Bistro Paul Bert--18 rue Paul Bert
Restaurant Chez Georges—1 Rue du Mail
Get a reservation for both.

For people watching Café de Flore on Blvd St Germain by the metro stop.

Agree that the Musée d'Orsay is a really worthwhile addition or even alternative to the Louvre.

[WayneJ]

I have stayed in several hotels in the Paris area.

Tops on my list:

Splendid Etoile
Royal Magda Etoile
Montfleuri

All withing a short walk of the Arc de Triomphe

My favorite cheap restaurant:

Heureaux Comme Alexandre
Get the meal where you cook your own beef and veggies on a heated stone. For about 30 Euros, you can have a nice dinner for two with some cheap, but very drinkable wine.

High-end restaurant:
Restaurant Georges at the top of the Pompidou Centre (nice view of the city and the Tour Eiffel)

[kohlboto]

After 5 trips to Paris between my wife and I, this is a great choice for hotel:

ALISON - Hotel Alison - Paris

if you stay at the alison here are a few additional recommendations:

for Breakfast you should opt out of the Alison offerings and go to the Patissierie attatched to the cafe de l'Olympia (2 Bvld de la Madeleine) - it's two stores down from a starbucks...not sure of the exact name...great pain au chocolate...


There is a restaurant kitty corner to the Madeleine (you have to cross rue Royal right by the Polo store) called Cafe Metro...It is an outstanding place for informal and/or late night easy dining...they have great omlettes - I highly recommend the omlette mixed, with pomme frites and a picher of wine - brilliant when you are hungry at 11:00pm - the crowd is awesome there too - very diverse and lively


Le Pave in the Les Halles area (7 Rue des Lombards) - brilliant dinners


Ratatouille (168 rue Montmartre) - the best food of our trips, hands down...order the parsely crusted veal


Le Cafe des Inilies (3 Place des Deux-Ecus) in the Les halles area also they serve this amazing chicken frisee salad and it's right by Dehillerin, the groovy kitchen supply store, another must stop


There is a square called Place du Marche st Honore - It has probably a dozen very cool places to eat or have coffee or dessert - we went there multiple times and found something new each time - nothing there dissapointed.


L'Ecluse (15 Place de la Madeleine) is great for wine and the food is tres bon and it is a two minute walk from the hotel...a great place to end any evening - order the 2005 Chateau La Garde (if they still have it) and the earl gray creme brulee - pure heaven.


Mamie Gateaux Salon de The over near the Bon Marche (66 rue du Cherche -Midi) - an amazing lunch stop - Quiche and cake like you have never seen..unbelievable - then go check out the market at Bon Marche


Also, check out the Epicerie at Gallerie Lafayette for breakfast or lunch it will overwhelm you with the selection...


I can't prioritize these for you because these are the top picks from our experiences - L'Ecluse we hit pretty much every night and the Patisserie every morning (cafe au lait and pain au chocolate)...between Ratatouille, Place du Marche St Honore, and Le Pave you cannot go wrong with dinner - Ratatouille is a must though...


And, if they are cyclists...go to Cycles Laurent too...very cool shop

And, D'orsay is, I think as well, a better choice than the Louvre...if you have limited time, I would skip the tourist attractions/museums and just wander the streets and soak in the city...the fall is beautiful there...go walk the Canal St. Martin and wander around Monmartre...

[clunk]

And, if they are cyclists...go to Cycles Laurent too...very cool shop
just wander the streets and soak in the city...

Having just been there for the first time a month or so ago, +1 on this. Just walking around and absorbing the city is the best. Would also highly recommend a walk around Jardin du Luxembourg.

[summilux]

Go to the Louvre when they open in the evenings. Tour buses are gone and it is far less crowed.
+1 on Musee D'Orsay. If you like Medieval, the Cluny is very nice, very peaceful.
The flea market at Clingnoncourt is a fantastic fun day.
A fantastic view of the city can be had at Sacre Coure Bassilica on Montmartre. That's also a good club/restaurant place.

[sbornia]

My wife and I enjoyed our stay at the Hotel Britannique for a few nights in April 2010. Small rooms, but clean. Good location for getting around the city. Easy walk to major sites and more interesting neighborhoods.

+1 on the Orsay. Get a Museum Pass to save some bucks and a lot of time waiting in line at many places.

[EFHeath]

Has anyone been to the "Jacquemart-Andre Museum" in the 9th Arrondissement? It's supposed to be "similar to the Frick Collection". I don't want to type out the whole description I clipped out of an unknown newspaper, possibly the NYT, quite a few years ago, but it sounds awesome.

Because of proximity to a friend's house, my wife and I stayed in a little place called the "Perfect Hotel", which we thought was a run-down third-world dive. It was our first experience of French ultra-low-budget hotels. After trying several alternatives in Paris and a few other cities, we concluded that maybe, at that price level, the "Perfect" wasn't so badly named after all.

Presumably you are not planning to stay in such flea-bags.

[ABiCi]

Go to Ladurée and have a pistachio eclair and some macarons.

My personal favourite art gallery is the Centre Pompidou, its also a great building. D'Orsay and the Louvre also good, but it really depends on your tastes and interests. At the Louvre just pick out a few zones to check out rather than tryign to see everywhere - the classical artifacts were my favourite, as well as the attached but separate Musée des Arts Décoratifs.

Get some felafel at Chez Marianne in the Marais. Eat a fair bit in the Marais, actually, there is some great North African food around there.

Get a baguette from Djibril Bodian, a Sengalese guy that won the award for the award for the best baguette in Paris a couple of years back. His place is Le Grenier à Pain Abbesses in Montmartre.

[WayneJ]

The flea market at Clingnoncourt is a fantastic fun day.
A fantastic view of the city can be had at Sacre Coure Bassilica on Montmartre.

Good recommendations right there. Make sure you pay the 5 euros to walk up the old stone stairs to the top of the Bassilica.

[bigbill]

I'm moving to Paris, Texas next month. I'll post some pictures. Probably not the same as the one in France, but it's the second biggest Paris in the world.

[classtimesailer]

I can't remember the name of the cafes. Kinda near the Louvre(sp) Notre Dam etc. Google cafes where Ben Franklin, Tom Jefferson, Hemmingway, and the other guys kicked it. Just sit drink whatever and imagine -- back in the day...

[TACSTS]

Timely thread topic - my wife and I are going to Paris, London, and Barcelona for two weeks at the first of October. Keep the recommendations coming!

[busdriver1959]

I liked the Rodin Museum. A smaller museum and a good place to start. The Thinker sits outside in the weather year round. It's also a good place to buy the museum pass. Don't go to the Louvre without it. Study up on the Louvre now and figure out what you want to see. It's not possible to see everything in the first visit. Have a plan to hit the high points. Download a Paris Metro map before you go and buy a 10 pack of tickets at the first station you go to. This is the easiest train system to learn, everything is defined by route number, color and endpionts. If your bank offers a "chip and PIN" card, get it so you can use the rental bikes that are all over the city. Can't use cash or a standard card for the bikes. If you can use the bikes and the metro, it doesn't matter where you stay, the whole city is at your fingertips. Walk or run along the Seine. Go to see Notre Dame

[popandmod]

Agreed on the Rodin Museum, a great start. I also really recommend the Rick Steves podcast walking tours especially the one of the Louvre, he gets you in and around all the highlights and out before you go crazy. Highly recommended:
France: Paris Audio Walking Tours by Rick Steves

[El Chorizo]

God, I love Paris. I really can't recommend any particular restaurant - Paris' culinary culture is overwhelming.

If you want a smaller, centrally located hotel near the Louvre and the Orsay with reasonable rates, I would recommend the Louvre Hotel St. Anne.

Louvre Sainte Anne Hotel Paris ***, OFFICIAL SITE - Near Louvre & Opera

[busdriver1959]

I just checked into the Hotel Concorde La Fayette. It's a big hotel and I don't know the rates since my company gets our rooms. But if you don't need the B and B feel of a small place, this one has great views of the Eiffel tower at night from the bar on the 33rd floor. It's also on top of the Porte Maillot metro station. As I said before, the metro puts the whole city at your fingertips.

[dang]

For museums, if you've got any affection for impressionist and post-impressionist art, try the Musée d’Orsay and the Musée de l’Orangerie. Centre Pompidou -- the Beaubourg -- is uneven, but definitely worth a visit for 20th Century Art.

For falafel (seems like I'm joking, but not so), I like the Ace (As) but you can try several of the competitors in that part of the Marais. If you want to splurge on a Guide Michelin starred restaurant, but don't want to splurge several hundred bucks, there's a place called Ze Kitchen Gallerie on the left bank (one star, which really is a very favorable rating from the Guide) -- wife and I had the tasting menu there this July and it was terrific. Hit the foodie websites and, in addition to excellent bread and pastries, which you can find in many places, try something that's supposed to be great.

Hotels -- not sure. We spent two nights in a Best Western getting on towards the Tour Eiffel, not far from Les Invalides, and it was decent, and reasonable, all things considered. Then moved to an apartment, which is much better for a family (and maybe a couple too) if you are spending 4 or 5 days, or certainly a week or more. We've stayed elsewhere, but this was the first trip in a while so I don't know how current my other experiences might be.