Place d'Italie vs Montparnasse

We often stay at a friend's apartment near Place d'Italie and it is an area bordering the Butte aux Cailles which is a lovely and architecturally unique neighborhood. Lots of cafes and restaurants and many many bakeries. The weekly market on August Blanqui on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays is one of Paris's best. It is also near Chinatown. The 3 metros at Place d'Italie conveniently take you pretty much anywhere in Paris.

We have also stayed in Montparnasse on Rue Delambre just off of the Edgar Quinet metro stop and circle. I like this area even more. It is an easy walk to the center through the Luxembourg Gardens and nearby are the great Blve Montparnasse brasseries, the Rue Montparnasse crepe restaurants and also an excellent weekly market. One of the bigger Monoprix is right across from the Gare and has everything you might have forgotten to pack. Well connected by transport.

You can't lose here -- both good areas.

This is super helpful, thank you! Is one more flat than the other? (Mom has a bad knee)

Would you say there's a grocery store close to place d'italie too?

Thank you again!

LOL, of course there are grocery stores near the Place d'Italie. People actually live there. It looks like there are two Carrefours very nearby.

Have a look on Google Streetview.

Spent 5 days near Place d’ Italie in April. Loved it. We shopped for groceries at a Monoprix and Aldi.

In addition to the Metro, there is also a taxi stand and lots of buses. My wife and DIL both have some mobility issues and I wish we had used the bus and taxi more than the Metro.

Montparnasse is flatter but both are fairly flat --

there is a huge supermarket in the Italie Deux shopping center right at Place d'Italie. There are lots of bakeries in the area.

There are small grocery stores all over Paris. In Montparnasse the big Monoprix has a huge grocery store component.

Hi Janet. A little off subject but since you spent time near Place d'Italie can you recommend a restaurant in Chinatown? We found a great one years ago but then could never find it again! And thanks for the weekly market info. Any other places nearby that we should see?

Kay a few years ago we researched and went to a well recommended place in Chinatown and were so disappointed; it was like mediocre cantonese food in the US. WE later stumbled on a place with lacquered ducks hanging in the window and had a really good meal but can't remember the name. we are planning to see if we can find it again next time we stay in the area. Sorry to be useless.

We mostly eat in and there are some good small cafes and resturants i the area.

One thing we have found is that the gorgeous dim sum take outs you see all over Paris are supplied by some central kitchen and pretty terrible. It is possible that is not true now because we gave up on them 10 years ago -- but we found them sad and disappointing. They looked so good and then weren't. We tried them for Christmas Eve with famiily one year.

We stayed at La Hotel Manufacture a few years ago. Nice hotel and a short walk away from a laundromat (which was a quirky experience in itself). Close to the metro (but we almost always took buses) and as others have pointed out several grocery stores.

Recommend visiting the tapestry factory museum which ties together the whole Gobelins/"manufacture" heritage of the area.

Says they charge admission but I remember getting in free the day we went.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g187147-d232119-Reviews-Manufacture_des_Gobelins-Paris_Ile_de_France.html
https://www.mobiliernational.culture.gouv.fr/fr

Toto. we have been staying in the 13th for years but have never gone to the Gobelin factory partly because my understanding is that the tour is in French only and oiur French is nowhere near good enough to understand details about tapestry making. I'd love to hear more about your experience.

Very nice from what I remember. There's was quite a bit to see, very interesting (I apparently forgot the whole French only cards if that was the case). Very open/roomy area. It was the day we landed so honestly we were about half awake and were looking for something to visit near the hotel.

Thanks. May try it next time we stay in the area.

The Citadines at Place d’Italie is in the Italie 2 shopping mall. I stayed there about 12 years ago, but it looks unchanged when I’ve walked past recently. May depend on time of year, but I actally liked having a room whose window overlooked the interior of the mall, because I could have it open without traffic noise and pollution. Some noise of moviegoers but not super late.
There is a very large Carrefour supermarket in the mall and lots of food places in the mall and nearby, including Prêt à Manger which I like for sandwiches, etc.
Both,locations have very good metro access and general convenience.

Thanks, Janet! You're definitely NOT useless! You've helped me out several times. Now that I think of it there was an article in the New York Times during the Olympics in Paris where they mentioned what sounds like a very good casual Asian Café were some of the athletes liked to go. I'll see if I can locate the article.

Thanks everyone! I've booked Place d'italie: )