In trying to find a way to summarize the trip, I thought I%26#39;d say this:
We had 12 nights in a two star hotel in Latin Quarter - loved it. That meant we really had about 10 full days, the first day was jet lag exhaustion - but we still saw Notre Dame and Ile St Louis that day) and the last day was just getting to the airport - indeed, even the day before that was mostly picking out souvenirs, packing, doing some last minute walks.
But, in that 10 days, we went to Notre Dame three times (including a mass), saw St. Chapelle and the Conciergerie (pardon my spelling), San Germain des Pres church twice, St Severin, St Sulpice, St Etienne du Monde, St Merrie%26#39;s, St Eustache, St Germain L%26#39;Auxerrois (the one that rang the bells for the Hugonaut massecre), St. Jacques le Pavre (well, the gardens and exterior anyway), St. Roche and St Gervais-et-St Protais. Oh, and the exterior of Sacre Couer, of course. We also saw the chapel next to Napoleon%26#39;s tomb (St. Louis something).
I was thrilled to go to the library of the History of Paris at Hotel du Sens (worth a trip just to see the building, climb its staircase, sit in its gardens) and find an encyclopedia of Parisian churches, in French, which we were able to find on amazon.fr when we got home.
We went to the Louvre 3 times for a total of about 18 hours (not enough), the D%26#39;Orsay for about 6 hours (not nearly enough), Orangerie for 2 hours (could have spent more), the Cluny Medieval Museum, Musée Carnavalet for at least 3 hours, Petit Palais (unfortunately most of their painting section was closed to the public - but the experience was lovely - about 2 hours), Pantheon, Napoleon%26#39;s Tomb (about one hour for each of those), Rodin Museum (maybe an hour and a half - not enough, but it was hot and we were tired), Eiffel Tower (didn%26#39;t go up it), Gallerie Lafayette (only an hour - not nearly enough), Rue Mouffetard and Rue Montorgueil (my spelling is really bad). Bought pastries, cheeses, baguettes, butter. Found a Monoprix and visited, needed a pharmacy for cough drops and found one.
Oh, and we went to the Kandinsky exhibit at the Pompidou.
We heard jazz in Montemartre till 2 am, walked through Pigalle, saw the lit exterior of the Moulin Rouge, sat in Place de la Concorde, visited the treasury at Notre Dame and walked nearly every street on the two islands (not enough time), went to Deux Magots twice, snacked there once, of course saw the other cafés, went to Rue Clair for dinner once, had steak tartare in San Germain des Pres area.
We hit the bookstore near Fountain St. Michel (could do a whole report on fountains we saw) - it%26#39;s much bigger than it looks, it%26#39;s amazing, and also to Shakespeare and Company.
Walked through the district of old houses in Le Marais and around Le Marais quite a bit, ate falafel.
Went to Milk, the internet cafe near Blvd. San Germain des Pres in the Latin Quarter. Shopped a little (very little - not enough).
Went to Pere LaChaise (half day) and Montparnasse cemetery (but only to the front to see Sartre and de Beauvoir). Spent a couple of hours in the Jardins du Luxembourg. Didn%26#39;t get to see the Lippi exhibit - too tired.
We took taxis to and from the airport (arranged departure taxi in advance - a must) and took taxis two other times out of exhaustion, never figured out the bus system, used the metro all the time.
And still - we did not make it past one third on our list of museums. I may have skipped a church - there%26#39;s an interior in our photos that I haven%26#39;t identified yet!~ Maybe Notre Dame des Victoires.
Not to be missed? Notre Dame, St Chapelle, Orangerie, D%26#39;Orsay and the Louvre, in my opinion.
Next trip, first day - the D%26#39;Orsay again and we will not miss the Marmottan and we%26#39;re hoping the anthropological museum will be open next time and that we have time to do an out of town trip to the archaeology museum and maybe Giverny or Fountainebleu. It will be trip number three, I%26#39;m sure, before we get to Versailles - I want to do the Moreau Museum and the Cognac-Jaye and a bunch of others first. Also, we want to go to Chartres before Versailles.
I took 1200 pictures, my husband took more than 2000 - and when I get them organized on photobucket, I%26#39;ll share my street scene pictures. I have some that I wrote down who I was seeing (for example, there were a few times when an American sort of stood out from the crowd - and many times when a French person%26#39;s dress really caught my attention, didn%26#39;t get snapshots of all of them, but they are fun to look at).
Please correct my spelling if you can - I want to stay on top of my French writing skills.
I left out so many small things - it%26#39;s amazing.
Paris is, quite simply, the most stimulating, exciting and worthwhile place I%26#39;ve ever visited.
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Which hotel did you stay in?
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Hotel Europe San Severin, on Rue San Severin, just off Place Michel.
They looked after us. It was two stars. The linens were very good (the towels were not luxurious, but clean). The tile was nearly new - but yeah, you could see that the grout would need to be replaced someday - but it was *clean*. The room was plenty big (we had a deluxe double - not the standard). We had two balconies with little tables and chairs - and a refrigerator. Mini bar was totally honor system, we used the fridge for our own purchases. We had a closet - good sized. Bed was plenty big and long.
Wood floors (important to my DH, who has allergies). Elevator easily fit two people plus luggage - we heard no noise from anyone at any time - except from the street. When we closed the windows, it was quiet (except for sirens - but that would be true of any hotel in the small numbered arrondissements, I think). We slept with the French doors open, anyway (used ear plugs). Square outside is very lively and noisy (cleaned each morning, too - which is also noisy - but we didn%26#39;t notice with the earplugs). The liveliness of the street was a joy to watch in and of itself (you could hear conversations, there were street performers, people from all over the world - so much fun to watch).
We asked for a room with a tub and handshower since that%26#39;s helpful to me (back problems). Very nice.
Front desk was efficient, reserved, but still concerned and very helpful - arranged each thing we needed without any problems.
Wireless internet was extra, but we didn%26#39;t use it - we went up half a block to the internet cafe, much easier (they have a computer that%26#39;s mostly-free in their lobby, but there was usually a line - if no one had signed in with a pay-code for awhile, it cost $3E).
Nightly rate was about $159E for the bigger room.
Would definitely recommend. Staff has been stable for years - they are very nice people.
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I enjoyed your trip report. Glad to hear you liked the hotel, we are staying there in August. They do seem nice because they sent me a very friendly e-mail confirmation.
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I am glad that you finish your trip report, I%26#39;ve been waiting for this last part for a while *hint hint: still waiting for your photos* :)
Thank you for taking your time and share with us.
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Thanks for a great trip report. Very informative. I completely agree that a first visit to Paris could involve so much and yet seem in some ways to barely scratch the surface. Oh well, I guess the only solution is multiple return visits. :)
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Cookie - great report. Very very informative. Cheers!
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