Paris Vacation - Any Advice?

[hornplayer]

A friend of mine stays here on her visits to Paris. Think it looks like a good place?

http://www.hotel-grandes-ecoles.com/

It looks like a nice French hotel. I like to stay in places like that. Last December I stayed at the Elysa. http://elysa-hotel-paris.com/

[rollhead]

Thanks. That one looks good, too. I am trying to talk the spousal support unit into taking a trip.

[hornplayer]

The Elysa is right up the street from a tasty and moderately priced bistro called Les Papilles. http://translate.google.com/translat...ed=0CFoQ7gEwAA

Tom Storer and I had a delicious dinner there!

(A little more fuel for your fire, Rollie.... )

[Pete C]

the spousal support unit

Is that a euphemism for the other woman?

[Uli]

Maybe this would convince the unit

http://www.vanityfair.com/society/20...history-france

[Pete C]

If anybody's looking for a cheap, convenient place, but no luxury, I'd recommend the Flor-Rivoli

http://hotel-paris-florrivoli.com/

It's a simple, clean place in an extremely convenient location, though the immediate area (near Chatelet-Les Halles) is nothing special.

But I like the fact that it's walking distance to most neighborhoods of interest.

[Pete C]

Maybe this would convince the unit

http://www.vanityfair.com/society/20...history-france

I think the closest Rollie has come is the crackers.

[rollhead]

I come from a long line of crackers.

[gonzo]

my advice to you would be TAKE ME!!

[Kevin Bresnahan]

So we're back and I'm just getting over the jet lag. Great trip overall. The food was incredible. Unfortunately, the city was overloaded with tourists. We got stuck in lines at Notre Dame for over an hour and at Versailles for almost 2 hours. The line at the Eiffel Tower was about 4 hours (for the elevator) so we took the stairs. Lines, lines everywhere.

The apartment we rented in Montparnasse was very nice except that it was a 6th floor walk up. I got sick of that spiral staircase after about the 3rd time up. It was a great bargain at only 100 Euros/night and if you're physically fit, I could recommend it. We won't do it again. Next time, we want an elevator. The patisserie next door was a nice bonus. We had fresh croissants every day for breakfast.

I got to spend some time in an English pub with Mr. Storer. As expected, we hit it off trading stories about the Jazz shows we've seen over the years. Unfortunately, my dinner reservations interfered with my ability to catch a Jazz show. Most restaurants don't start taking dinner reservations until 7:30 and the Jazz shows started at 9:00. Not enough time to do both. I hear I missed a great show with Scofield's Hollowbody Band.

Terrible flight home with Iberia Airlines through Madrid. First off, we flew out of Orly so we took the OrlyBus out of Denfert-Rochereau. No one on the bus could tell us what terminal to get out at. Of course, we guessed at the wrong one and even worse, no one in the terminal could tell us that. Then, we got in the "wrong" line during check in and stood in line for about 30 minutes while this clueless guy tried to check in the person in front of us. Then we found out that our emergency row seats were switched out so that we were seated in the last row of the plane. It was by far the worst airport I have ever visited in my life and I have been in a lot of them. The lack of signs was appalling.

Sadly, it was not much better in Madrid. When we arrived there, there were no signs anywhere telling us where to go and asking people in the terminal led to blank stares (again, just like Orly). We wandered around for about 10 minutes before we luckily bumped into a flight attendant who knew where our connecting flight was.

As for restaurants, this was how the week went...
Wed - L'Epi du Pin
Excellent meal. Maybe my favorite of the trip. I say maybe because Maceo was great too. I got a pork dish for my main course that was probably the best pork I've ever eaten. Tiny little place so make reservations. We saw quite a few people get turned away because they didn't have reservations. Excellent wait staff who spoke English very well.

Thurs. - Chez Paul
This was one of my daughter's choices. It came highly recommended by some website. It was basically a Parisian steak house. I was not that impressed and the prices were too high for what you got. The wine list was not good at all. Worse was that the wait staff could not understand a lick of English. Luckily, we were seated next to a gentleman from Montreal who translated for us.

Fri - Joanne cooked in.

Sat. - La Cagouille
All fish, all the way. My wife & daughter Melissa, the fish lovers, were in heaven. I was not. I was hoping for a shrimp dish but no such luck. No English menu and the waiter was not very adept at translating other than "fish". I did get to sip a nice glass of 1988 Cognac for dessert. If you like fish, put this place on your itinerary.

Sun. - Astier
An excellent rump steak here and the rum cake for dessert was very good. Joanne said that her raspberry tort was one of the best ones she's ever had. The wine was decent if a bit pricey. Definitely on the "recommended" list

Mon. - A local Italian place.

Tues. - Cing Mars
We had no plans this night and we were in the general vicinity of the D'Orsay Museum when I spotted a guy walking his dog. I figured he was a local (I was right) so I asked him if he knew of a nice restaurant nearby. He recommended Cinq Mars. He gave us an excellent recommendation. The food was marvelous. Joanne was very impressed with her calf's liver and Melissa loved the lamb chop. Decent wine too. We all agreed that this was a nice surprise for a random meal.

Wed. - Maceo
For our 25th wedding anniversary, we went to Maceo, next door to Willi's Wine Bar. Fabulous meal. I would recommend this place very highly. I had the Filet Mignon that was just perfect, particularly with the Chateauneuf du Pape we ordered. Mark, the owner, stopped by and chatted a bit (thanks June) and they made a special cake for our anniversary - raspberry and chocolate, our two favorites. After the meal, Mark sent us two glasses of Tokaji to top off a perfect night.

Thanks to all the help I got from those of you who sent me the recommendations and sorry I couldn't meet up with you, Douglas.

Au revoir,
Kevin

[hornplayer]

Thanks for the great report, Kevin. So glad you had a great trip, and sorry about the mess you encountered on the way home.

When you rent an apartment, you have to be really careful to make sure you don't get those 6th floor walkups. I couldn't even do a 4....

Oh, and btw, La Cagouille is one of my favorite places in Paris. But then, I love all things fish. If I'd known you were going, I'd have recommended the Moules Brule Droigt. Glad you enjoyed the Cognac. It's a big plus there.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

Oh, and btw, La Cagouille is one of my favorite places in Paris. But then, I love all things fish. If I'd known you were going, I'd have recommended the Moules Brule Droigt. Glad you enjoyed the Cognac. It's a big plus there.

Joanne & Melissa were very happy with your recommendation. Joanne got some kind of Sea Bass (the waiter could not translate it any better) and Melissa got Monkfish. I got Turbot and Amanda got your basic Cod. Mine was a very nice piece of fish, cooked to perfection. I'm just not a big fish eater. As I said, if seafood is your thing, do not miss it.

Kevin