Paris for 6 nights, where to stay, Gare de Lyon area? also day trip ideas

I've stayed at the Hotel Observatoire Luxembourg a number of times over many years/visits, most recently on a last minute trip in May and love the location. 5th, quick walk to metro/RER, Cluny, Ile de France, Luxembourg Gardens and many restaurants and cafes. The rooms vary in size but are very comfortable and staff is wonderful. I got some great recommendations from the forum for outside ideas/walks including exploring Rue de Martyrs which we enjoyed. I would have suggested Reims but you've been along with Chartres and Rouen. Assuming you have also ready been to Versailles, but have you been to Fontainebleau? I love Monets Gardens & Vernon but I think November is too late

Thank you Daisycan, I have looked at Hotel Observatoire - my sister stayed there last year. It's just at the high end of our price range, so I wasn't ready to commit, but maybe I'll rethink that. As of now, I am still looking for refundable rates and that put it just above.
Thank you for the ideas for trips, I have never been to Versailles - it's definitely on our list for this trip, but we're going to watch the weather. If we're lucky we'll get a dry day to make that more fun. I'm also waiting on a 'trip report' from my brother who is in France right now and Rouen is on their list. Is that doable from Paris in a day? I think they were staying overnight.

1. The 10th arrondissement is big enough that different areas will have totally different feels so it might be helpful to know where you stayed and what you did not like about it in order to suggest other areas. The converse is true for the 5th --what did you like about where you stayed there? Staying near Gare de Lyon is actually a pretty good idea -- there are great transit connections and it is not too expensive. You can walk to Bastille in about 20 minutes and you are on the edge of Le Marais when you are on the south and west side of Place de la Bastille. Le Marais is quite popular so even with a $250 per night budget in November, your options could be limited but take a look at Hotel Turenne Le Marais on rue de Turenne to see if it is in budget. The Astotel Hotel chain has a number of properties that would be in budget -- none are in Le Marais but if you decide that you want to try elsewhere Hotel Malte on rue Richelieu in the 2nd is very good.
2. Take a look at https://anhourfromparis.com/. I have done a number of these trips and they were fun for me but I am not sure what type of trip you want to do. There is a very good food market tour and cooking class offered by La Cuisine. There are other good ones in Paris but I am keying in on La Cuisine because it is in Le Marais.

Edit: Rouen is definitely day trip material. I did it as a day trip from Paris in November one year. I went to the Cathedral, the clock, the fine arts museum, and the Église Sainte-Jeanne d'Arc. I arrived the Rouen Rive Droit train station and walked to the Cathedral and then to the clock and to the church and then had lunch and after that walked to the museum and spent a couple of hours there. It rained on and off all day. It was a beautiful soft rain that I enjoyed walking in. It was a great trip.

In March we started our trip at Hotel Des Nations St. Germain on Rue Monge, although I wasn't thrilled with the hotel (mostly didn't think it was good for the price, but it was fine) we absolutely loved the area. We were with our adult daughters and had stayed in the Latin Quarter in 2003 with them (they were under 10 at the time!) so the area brings back wonderful memories. We love the vibe, the restaurants and narrow streets and great access to the metro.
At the end of our trip in March we stayed at Hôtel Littéraire Arthur Rimbaud, BW Signature Collection, and I guess I was also just expecting more from the hotel but that's on me, I should have researched it better, again it was fine, just not fabulous. The area was more hustle and bustle, truthfully it's probably less touristy than the 5th but it didn't have the same 'old world charm' or same historic feel. I will admit that my feelings were jaded because my husband was having health issues, and wasn't able to walk or do stairs. In fact, part of the reason for this trip is as a do-over for him, he's fully recovered and is excited to walk everywhere, take lots of pictures and enjoy the food and wine this time.

I'm very encouraged to hear your thoughts on Gare de Lyon area, it did seem like a nice compromise, easy walk over the river to get to the 5th, but also close enough? to Le Marais to experience that.

Thank you for the link, I will check that out, that's exactly the kind of info that we are looking for.

sanomh,
I have no lodging recommendations, but re day trips...I really liked Rouen, but as a day trip from Paris you should get a very early start to have plenty of time there. It has a beautiful cathedral and medieval quarter, wonderful to explore. Versailles is an all-day experience with the grounds, Petit Trianon, Hameau, fountains and the chateau itself. Everyone should see it once, whatever your opinion of the over-the-top opulence. I hope you have a good weather day to visit it.
In Paris, if you haven't been to the Cluny Museum, try to go. I missed it on my first six trips to Paris, so finally went last year, and am so happy I did! It was wonderful! Also, if you haven't been to the Rodin Museum, I have gone every time I have been in Paris. The garden statuary never gets boring. The Burgers of Calais is my favorite, as well as The Gates of Hell. Look up the background of The Burgers of Calais. That makes it even more striking.
Have a wonderful time in the Capital of Europe (IMHO)!

Since the Gare de Lyon is the station that serves the city where we live in the south of France, we often stay near when we are in Paris 2-3 times a year. Transportation is excellent. We tend to take buses when possible. I've walked to the 5th from there, but in November, I'd take a bus.

We stayed at Hotel Reisner last time. We found our room was poorly designed. They stuffed the amenities into a small space to be able to qualify as a 4-star, but that meant no night table because it was filled with coffee pot, cups, etc, no closet, just a tiny rack in the room, no place for our clothes or suitcases, and even no shelves in the remodeled bathroom to put our toiletries. We won't return.

However, the area is filled with hotels: 4-star Marceau Bastille we liked and it had an included free breakfast that was better than others, but it has showers in the bathtub, no walk-in showers.
Standard chain hotels 4-star Mercure, 4-star Novotel.
3-star Palym had a good breakfast; we had a large room but most are small.
3-star Ibis Ledru-Rollin has a large garden in the back. We've stayed there many times. Rooms are small but well designed. Don't expect anything fancy, no amenities such as robe and slippers, but it works fine for us. I know exactly what to expect, so I'm never disappointed. Breakfast at the Ibis isn't as good as it used to be, but most of the hotel breakfasts are more industrial.

Citadine ApartHotel a bit further with fewer transportation links. There has to be about 50 more hotels in the area!

Elizabeth, THANK YOU, I was looking for a first hand account, and that's great. Funny but for me the night stand is almost a deal breaker, that and one side of the bed can't be pushed against the wall (guess who ends up on the inside!) I'm glad to hear confirmation that the areas is fine and not too out of the way.

I will definitely check out some of the other hotels you mentioned. I don't care about bathrobes and to be honest we tend not to use the coffee maker because the pods are often too weak for us and we like a little milk.
For this trip my room priorities are (sort of in order of importance):
1. Private bathroom, of course
2. night stands (my husband uses a CPAP so outlet is great, but we bring an extension cord)
3. both sides of the bed accessible
4. location of the hotel - good walkability and near public transit, hopefully not too loud of a neighborhood
5. Size of room, doesn't have to be huge, just anything more than a foot clearance all the way around the bed.

I don't care too much about breakfast, I'm fine going out and getting a pastry and coffee. Also bathrobes aren't important, I usually forget they are there.

We stayed at the Ibis Ledru-Rollin in 2014, and I agree with everything Elizabeth/Bets said - of course I can't opine about the current state of their breakfast. We had an early train to catch the next day, and the location was ideal for us.

It's always nice to hear positive comments about an old friend.

The area around the Ledru Rollin area is a great location. It’s very near the Marche d’Aligre, a terrific food market as well as the Marche Beauvau, a covered market within the Marche d’Aligre. It has loads of great restaurants and small shops.

It’s walkable to the Bastille which has easy Metro access to a lot of the tourist areas. Just watch for pickpockets as it’s on Line 1.

Thanks all for the replies and good info. I just booked Le Marceau Bastille direct from the hotel. I had booked it on booking.com but the official hotel website was less and I'd rather deal directly with the hotel when possible. Both of the Ibis hotels as well as some of the others that Elizabeth mentioned were already booked. I'm very happy to get Le Marceau for the price. Like I said I don't really care about breakfast, but it's included and we'll be sure to take advantage.

Now, I'm building my list of things to do, both in and out of Paris!

Yes, the Marceau isn't talked about much, but I liked it. I just booked my husband there for his trip to Paris after taking another look at the Mercure, Ibis, and comparing. Rooms are small, 172 sq. feet, but so is the Ibis, Mercure is larger; Marceau has tubs with showers instead of a walk-in shower, but the breakfast is free, good, and it's equal distance to Bastille, Gare de Lyon and easy bus access.