Paris ideas

I'll put in one of my plugs for the Museum of Counterfeits. It's in the 16th near the Porte Dauphine Metro, which is itself worth a visit as its entrance has all of the original Art Nouveau design intact.

I found Nissim Camondo on Parc Monceau to be interesting and moving. The Musee Albert Kahn has a wonderful collection of photos of disappearing cultures; he set out in the early 20th century to document primitive cultures that were disappearing as they came into contact with urbanized cultures. There is also a lovely garden with lots of different mini gardens there e.g. Japanese Garden, English ramble, French espaliered garden etc etc. It is at the St. Cloud Bologne stop of the #10. Snapshots here about half way into the post:
https://janettravels.wordpress.com/2010/05/23/secret-gardens/
Another must IMHO is St. Denis which is just over the Paris border but reached on the metro -- the Basilique St. Denis stop. It is the first Gothic church in Europe and is where the French kings were buried. The tombs are amazing. Snapshots here:
https://janettravels.wordpress.com/2010/10/26/confronting-mortality-at-st-denis/
I'd also recommend getting a good book of Paris walks especially one that focuses on areas away from the center. We did a great self guided walk in the 16th that focused on architecture of Guimard and others of that era. The Corbusier house and museum is along the way. There are just so many great walks. You can see some of ours in the Paris section of the photo journal listed above. Some of our favorite walks just involved going to the end of a metro line and seeing what was there. Or going to a park and walking along the Seine to the Eiffel Tower etc etc.

There are also literally dozens of great day trips. You can see some of ours in the photo journal under 'Day trips from Paris' but there are many more. The Simms book an Hour from Paris is a great resource for less well known trips e.g. Moret sur Loing and Crecy la Chapelle were two of our favorites.

Chani, you've been giving such good advice for so long it's hard to imagine what you haven't already seen in Paris! :-)

Try the Promenade Plantee, a pedestrian walkway (formerly a rail viaduct) that runs south and east from the back of the Opera Bastille. Most of it is elevated above street level and beautifully landscaped. A boar ride up or down the Canal St-Martin is also fun and shows you less-traveled parts of the city. If you haven't been to St-Denis Basilica I'd recommend it highly, for the royal tombs and early Gothic architecture. Also the Archeological Crypt beneath the square in front of Notre Dame, with remains of the Roman settlement. The Parc Monceau northeast of the Arc de Triomphe is beautifully designed. The Jacquemart-Andre Museum has several Rembrandts. You've probably been to most of these places!

We're not foodies either, but we liked Ma Bourgogne, at the northwest corner of the Place des Vosges, under the arcade. We also enjoyed a little place just east of the northeast corner, on Rue du Pas-de-la-Mule. Might have been Café Hugo, but I don't remember the name.

In Reims, we stayed at the Grand Hotel de l'Univers (no modesty there!) and liked it very much. Across the park from the station, right where the pedestrian area starts, and a few blocks from the cathedral. The cathedral is not to be forgotten. Also try not to miss the Roman gate, a few blocks north of the cathedral and east of the hotel, remarkably well preserved for so many centuries. We didn't visit the champagne cellars.

Have a wonderful trip, it's a wonderful time of year there!

I agree that St. Denis and Nissim Camodo are great, as well as the Carnavalet musem, if you haven't been there. If I were going to Paris this year I would definitely check out the remodeled Picasso Museum. I also like to check out new Paris parks I haven't been to. You can go to Trip Advisor and select the Maris neighborhood and see many restaurant options. Ones I like and frequent often are:
Cafe Hugo, 22 Place des Vosges, A Petit fer a Cheval 30 rue vielle-du-temple (tiny bar/resto great stop for glass of wine) & sister restaurant Les Philsophes a few doors down.
Breakfast in America in the Marais is good, 4 rue Mahler. I like L'As du Falafel on rue des Rosiers. Even when crowded and a line out front, they manage it very well and I always get a table quickly.

Of course Angelina's tea room, or Laudree are great treats you must try.
As a retired woman also, who often travels solo -- I frequent these places a lot.
Glad you are going back to Paris!

Chani,

If you have a rainy day, wander thru the Covered Passages. Start at the Palais Royal

Gallerie Valois and Vivienne. By Borse, cut into Passage Choiseul and angle over to Passage des

Panormas. You've make it to the Grand Boulevards. All under cover of Glass houses.

I visited Paris solo in 2013 and stayed not too far from where you are staying. I was 66 and retired. I had also been there before, so didn't need to spend a lot of time at the big sights. You might get some ideas from my blog at www.cjtparis2013.blogspot.com. I'm going back in May, this time with a friend. There's something about Paris that just keeps drawing one back. Enjoy your trip.

I enjoy the Institut du Monde Arabe for its architecture, view, and exhibits. The Louvre also opened its Islamic art wing in 2012. Another vote for the tombs at Basilique St. Denis. At Saint-Germain-en-Laye, I recommend the home/chapel/museum of Nabis painter Maurice Denis. I also like to visit the free exhibits or the live auctions at Christies and Sothebys to see what I could buy, if I won the lottery.

Hi Chani! Restaurants I've enjoyed in the Marais are Chez Janou (provencale - and you can get veggie options there) and Le Marche in the Place St. Catherine (a nice budget option in a small square). A friend recently told me there's a room in the Louvre with wonderful Impressionist paintings that not many people know about - sorry, you'd have to research it, but from what she said it sounds amazing.

Thank you all for the wonderful ideas.

Harold - I had never heard of the Counterfeits Museum. Sounds like fun. I'm also looking forward to the Art Deco of the metro. I'm just back from Barcelona and loved the creations of Montaner, so now I'm eager for more.

Janet - I've been to the Nissim Camondo but not the Albert Hahn, so that's on my list now. The gardens look wonderful. I will be exploring your website more in the coming days. Do you live in Chicago? I visit often. . . Uh oh, now I'm thinking about pizza. I went to St. Denis about 20 years ago and I was planning to go back. I'm glad you mentioned a book of walking tours. Do you have a recommendation for one book? I found "Secrets, Legends and Mysteries of Old Paris" on my shelf from a visit, probably about 5 years ago and I'll pack that, too. I will look at your day trips. I really don't want to plan too many. I do want to go to Versailles, since I've never been there when the fountains were operating. And I'm taking 2 or 3 of my precious days to visit Reims. Other than that, I think I'd rather just explore the city itself. Last time, I spent a lovely afternoon at the Musee de la Poupee and discovered the Anna Frank Garden right next to it, a lovely quiet nook just a stone's throw from the Pompidou Centre.

Dick - the Promenade Plantee sounds terrific, and right around the corner from my apartment! I've done the Canal ride, but you've reminded me that it would be a pleasant walk on a nice day! And thanks for the Jacquemart-Andre. It had once been on my list, and thanks to you, it's back there. A new exhibition "From Giotto to Caravaggio" starts at the end of this month and I am looking forward to it.

BG (and others) - I've made note of all the restaurant recommendations. I will try them all. . . except for the falafel. There's no way I'm going to eat that when there's so much good French food around. And I would never stand in line for more than 2 minutes for falafel. I'm sure I'll drop in at the Carnavalet, it's one of my faves and I go there every time I'm in town.

Gerri - now you have me wishing for a rainy day. I will definitely take that walk, even if I don't have rain - what are the chances in April ?

Carolyn - I'll look more carefully at your blog in the coming days too. I already picked up one or two ideas.

Again, thanks to you all. These are just the suggestions I was looking for. If anyone has more, bring 'em on.

Hi Chani, I loved the Marmottan Museum in the 16th for the private collection of Monet paintings. Or, how about a day trip to Giverny? We're doing a Fat Tire bike tour there in a few months. Can't wait!

Regarding Reims, our upcoming RS tour of Eastern France is staying at the Grand Hotel Continental.

Enjoy your trip!

I recommend the market scene on the Rue de Bucci.

This is really no big deal compared to the great sights of Paris, it's just incredibly atmospheric. Grab some fruit and a quiche or other food at the market and with a terrasse table and expensive coffee at one of the cafes for a very classy breakfast.

I love love love Reims! You will not regret an overnight or two there. Behind the cathedral is a great little restaurant whose name I forget, just follow your nose - there's a string of two or three. Lovely glass of champagne (rose) with a view of the buttresses of the cathedral.

In Reims, don't miss the WWII museum housed next to Lycee Roosevelt. There is also a little monument at an old Gestapo jail that's very moving. I enjoyed the champagne tour at Tattinger as well. Have fun!

How was the trip?

Paris was much better than I'd hoped and my hopes were very high. For the first 11 days, I had good to terrific weather. The trick was to wear the least clothing that would keep me warm in the chilly mornings, because by noon, it was warm and sunny and even at 10 or 11 p.m. it was not yet chilly.

I'd only been to Paris in June and September-October. Spring is glorious! Trees laden with colorful blossoms, thick grass in the parks (mostly with people sprawled out and enjoying it) and beds of multi-colored flowers everywhere, and aromatic lilacs in full bloom, just gorgeous. I didn't go to as many museums as I'd planned - it was simply too beautiful to spend daylight hours inside.

I went to Reims on Day 12 and it rained. But who cares, the champagne caves were warmer than the outside temps and drier too. One night there was perfect, just enough time to see Reims and Epernay and get back to Paris. After all I still had about 20 sights on my to-do list and only 4 days left. Yikes!

Giverny was spectacular. A riot of color, lots of tulips, not too many people. The only drawback was that it's too early in the year for water lilies.

Lessons learned: do your homework. I did not phone the Chartres Cathedral to verify the Malcolm Miller tour. When I got there (€32 round-trip train ticket), I found out that he was on vacation and would be resuming his tours the next day! I kept putting off going to the Cognac-Jay Museum, and when I finally went, they had just closed for renovations.

Early on in my visit, I found Cafe Martini just a few meters from the Place des Vosges and a 4-minute walk from my apartment. I looked for it because I had learned that it had the best hot chocolate in Paris. Well, it doesn't. Even though the new owner discontinued to chocolate, this very quickly became my neighborhood hang-out. They serve only Italian food and drink, very limited menu but excellent. I drank Aperol spritzes almost nightly (they're closed Sun-Mon), and was introduced to a fantastic red wine from Puglia, about the best I've ever drunk. It's a small place, owner and staff are super-friendly and speak English fluently. The clientele are a combination of locals and tourists. I often ended my day there, as it was on the way home. Okay, I went there, even when I was coming from another direction. So I never tried any of the other restaurant recommendations.

My biggest mistake was tasting one macaron while on a self-guided chocolate crawl (did I mention French chocolates? the best in the world). I'd never tried them because I was sure I wouldn't like them. After that, I must have eaten 50 - no, not all at once, but spaced out between the chocolates :-)

I'm keeping the list I compiled from all your wonderful suggestions for next time . . .

Love your report! Sorry you missed some things that were on your list but it sounds like you had a terrific time anyway.

I'm not sorry at all. I never expect to get to everything and I really enjoyed revisiting places I hadn't been to in many years. There is so much beauty to behold in Paris, I didn't feel the need to see everything. It was enough just to enjoy so many happy hours there. I think it's because I've visited many times and know I'll be back again . . . . and again.

Donna,
Any trip report? We are on the RS eastern France starting June 28. Will be arriving Reims on June 26. Looking for ideas. Thanks.

Donna, you could go to Epernay for a day. There are both buses and trains between Reims and Epernay. There's at TI on the Avenue de Champagne just a few minutes' walk straight uphill from the train station. Stop to visit the gardens of the Hotel de Ville. The Mercier champagne tour is fun - it's near the end of the Avenue de Champagne, a lovely walk past other champagne houses. At the TI they also suggested a short self-guided walking tour of the town center, but I didn't have time. Mercier was my favorite champagne - probably because they use the smallest percentage of chardonnay in their bubbly.

I also took the Taittinger and Martel tours (about a 5 minute walk from one to the other) in Reims. The three tours were quite different and I'm glad I did them all. Taittinger was the stingiest on tasting, yet a very interesting tour. Martel's tour was not much, since they no longer use that site for production, but they have a lot of the old wine-making implements on display. Also they were the most generous on tasting after the tour. Also be sure to see the Saint-Remy Basilica, which is close to them.

When you visit the champagne cellars, you'll want a warm jacket - all the caves are quite chilly.