Le Train Bleu & Fountainebleau

How can the phrase “tourist trap” be used for Shakespeare & Co.? It is a book store. It may be a disappointment but hardly a trap. You are not obliged to buy a book. As for le Train Bleu, I have never been, alas, but would love to. You can easily know ahead of time about the menu and cost so “trap” is hardly the right word for a place of such beauty. But then, if you EXPECT a place to be a tourist trap, your cynical expectations will likely be met.

Norma, Was just looking for previous experiences to help guide me. "Tourist trap" is common lingo that everyone understands. I don't want to spend my time in a location that is simply a ramped / marketed up bookstore (I have awesome bookstores & libaries where I live and spend my time) or spend +100 euros on overpriced food, and am looking for a good experience, which I think everyone here can understand. If you think I'm cynical, that is you projecting yourself onto me and I choose to not accept, but thanks for contributing your input! Hope that you find happiness in your life somewhere.

IMO, the food at Le Train Bleu is mediocre. I've been twice but the last time was in June 2015 so it's been a while. I would not say that it is a tourist trap but given its location (in a major train station), at any given time, many patrons are travelers. The definition of tourist trap is "A tourist trap is an establishment (or group of establishments) that has been created or re-purposed with the aim of attracting tourists and their money." I go to Shakespeare & Co. with my daughter almost every time we are in that area of Paris. We both love books and she loves rambling bookstores and the look of books. It is filled with tourists -- I mean it is an English-language bookstore in the middle of a very touristy part of Paris so what else can we expect -- but I would not and do not avoid it because of that.

Le Train Bleu is stunningly beautiful, we just went there for coffee. I wouldnt discribe either place as a 'tourist trap'. To me that is some where created solely for tourists, not some where historic.

We went to Le Train Bleu in May 2019 and had a lovely evening as the food and service were very good. Please go as you won’t be disappointed.

Maybe this article will help. I don't shop here as I'm not looking for English language books and I find the space for "just looking" too teeny and overcrowded.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/nov/15/100-years-shakespeare-and-company-paris-modernist-tourist

If you're going to Le Train Bleu for food there are better choices but for the splendor of French Art Nouveau it can't be beat.

With walking groups, I've done a lot of walking in the forest of Fontainebleau. Not something I'd recommend for a solo walker.

Regarding Fontainebleau: if you find that you have some extra time after visiting the palace, the grounds, and briefly strolling through the town, I strongly recommend going over to Moret-sur-Loing, a delightful medieval town. You can get there by train from Fontainebleau, or (my recommendation) by taxi / uber for about 20 euros, and it doesn't take much more than 2 hours to properly enjoy the place. It is then a direct train ride back to Paris; Navigo is valid.

A friend and I had a special birthday dinner at Le Train Bleu. I would suggest just a drink or dessert/coffee to enjoy the atmosphere. The interior is indeed stunning however we both found the (pricy) food just ok and the service very uptight.

After many years of staying in St Germain and the Latin Quarter and walking by Shakespeare & Co a thousand times, I finally went in last month. I had avoided it, thinking it touristy. Do go. It is a lovely interesting book shop. There were several instances I wanted to snap a pic, but understandably, they do not allow photography.

Shakespeare and company has a long history in literature of the ex-pat community in Paris. Many major authors bunked in the rooms above the store and the proprietor of the shop Sylvia Beach was a patron of literature and helped get things published including work by James Joyce. Joyce, Hemmingway, Ford and others were associated with the bookstore.

In addition, it mostly stocks serious English literature. Yes there are aimless tourists ticking off their checklists wandering about, but it remains an intellectual heart of the ex pat community.

You don't go to Train Bleu for the food -- it is a magnificent room but the food is so so.

Fontainbleau takes at least a full afternoon. You can get there with the Navigo Decouverte pass if you have one.

Agree with Balso that Moret-sur-Loing is a worthwhile stop. Beautiful little town, pleasant walk from the train station. We visited Fontainebleau on a different day but you can visit both on the same day if you have an early start.

We did Moret sur Loing in November when the restaurants along the Loing were closed and in fact we struggled to find a place to have lunch but it was still picturesque and a wonderful day trip.
https://janettravels.wordpress.com/2013/03/03/moret-sur-loing-for-charm-always-follow-the-impressionists/
Crecy la Chapelle is another wonderful day trip from Paris.

Barbra

I think 'martinet' may be a French word. Certainly rigidity is a French cultural thing. I have had waiters insist with a straight face that they cannot substitute vanilla for almond ice cream in a sundae on the menu although obviously it would take zero effort to do so since they are made up on the spot for each customer. (and on another occasion refuse to substitute coffee for chocolate ice dream in a chocolate Liegiose; they offered a chocolate version with chocolate sauce and a coffee version with coffee sauce and I wanted to combine the two with coffee ice cream and chocolate sauce. 'IMPOSSIBLE'. Have it your way not a French thing. It is hard to imagine a better example of mindless rigidity to no purpose at all then not letting you return to the counter to rent the audio guide.

Actually the Shakespeare & Co is a reincarnation started by George Whitman in the 1950s. Sylvia Beach’s shop closed in 1941.

I saw no pecan logs, shot glasses, or cedar log cabin jewelry boxes at Le Train Bleu or Shakespeare & Co. I think they both pass the “not a tourist trap” test.

Thank you everyone, this is a great help in setting up the day. Since it is expressed that Fountainebleau could take the full day, I'll stay flexible with Moret sur Loing tucked in the back of my mind in case I need to round out the afternoon (Ill have the Navigo)! Thank you for the tip, and also the heads up about visiting there in November!

Will also keep Shakespeare & Co on the list, and Le Train Bleu will be TBD on how I feel on my return.

Thanks all!

I did finally get my combined Cafe/chocolate Liegoise -- but only because my son's girlfriend spoke perfect French and could engage in a long long discussion with the waiter in which the compromise was that we acknowledge that the resulting identical product was NOT a liegoise -- although it was the same with the stated variation and cost the same. Was darn tasty too.

I ate at Le Train Blue for my birthday last summer and LOVED it. The food was quite good, I thought, but the rooms are what you go to see. It's completely of a different era - the luggage racks are still above the booths, the destination paintings are stunning, and the decor and symmetry are gorgeous from a design standpoint. It's Parisian in the extreme!
Shakespeare & Co is very visited but that's because it's unique and beautiful. To me a tourist trap is something that takes great effort or lots of money to see and isn't all it's cracked up to be. A bookstore doesn't cost you a penny. It's not at all out of the way and, if you go in and walk around and don't like it, then you can just leave. I personally love sitting on the day beds and browsing a book in hopes that the resident cat will come around!

@ Barbra and I am going off topic here, In response to "And, perhaps a discussion for another thread, but I'm seeing more and more that the French "non" and "c'est ne pas possible" don't necessarily mean that." I think those phrases are as a you say almost a default. France is all about the conversation and the discussion that, if done correctly, will eventually get you what you want that was first denied. Have you read "The Bonjour Effect" of "Demystifying the French: How to Love Them, And Make Them Love You?" The latter book has an entire chapter entitled "The Incomprehensible Appeal of the Negative" and the former has a chapter entitled "Finding the Yes in Non" on this very topic.

I had lunch at Train Bleu about 7/8 years ago - I can’t remember what my main course was - so it was neither particularly good or particularly bad . However I do remember the cheese plate I had for dessert was very good ! And the atmosphere is fabulous.