Special things in Paris

chaud chocolate in Galleries Lafayette market area is one....

digging through discount clothing boxes as I walked up from the Pigalle metro stop to Sacre Couer

sitting through a mass in Notre Dame..

brought up Catholic, but pope and I could disagree on pages of issues, BUT that experience was pretty neat.

This is exactly what I am looking for - indivduals and the experiences that are in their hearts! Merci!!

I don't know if this is considered an accident but it was special to attend a Christmas Eve Mass in Notre Dame, Paris & to witness the following unexpected event. After my family sat down along came this heavy set, older gentleman, definitely a priest wearing a simple, white robe. W/a serious look he examined all the participants for the next Mass while walking down the main aisle very slowly. He reminded me of a general inspecting the troops for battle. Before the final blessing of the Mass, this same priest, from no where, stepped to the front of the alter, & animatedly proceeded to talk about the various items from the church bulletin in perfect French. He kept waving the bulletin around, smiling, cracking a few jokes, & wishing everyone a Joyeux Noel. After Mass, w/a smile on his face, he followed the procession at the same pace as it was leaving the cathedral. This priest was Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois & Notre Dame was his church.

Agreeing with the last post, mass at Notre Dame is incredible, but if you are there in high season, it will be filled with more tourists than you might imagine. Still, pretty great.

Also the area close to Notre Dame, especially Ile St. Louis, just take time to wander around and explore.

If you are a foodie, go to la grande epicerie paris, which is the grocery store that is part of the le bon marche. Amazing, beautiful food, even if you are only there to browse, but I highly recommend a picnic! There is a small park two blocks away and the Luxumbourg Gardens are within walking distance.

Eiffel Tower lit up at night, Sacre Coeur and Montmartre, the 360 view from the top of the Arc de triomphe, though all touristy, all totally worth it.

Advice for Paris: Don't over plan. Take time to wander and explore. And though this is true of all travel, Paris will be very close to what you expect. Expect an amazingly beautiful city filled with culture, ambience and history. Bon Voyage!

My husband and I did a bike tour in Paris called the Fat Tire bike tours. We always try to do a bike tour when in a new city because it is a good way to get acquainted with the city and find places that we would like to go back to and explore on our own. My husband and I aren't the most social people with strangers but we always seem to end spending time with people from the bike tours even after the tour is over. This last time we met a couple of people that had just graduated from our college alma mater that we ended up going out to dinner with.

Here's a "special" one for you.

Me, my spouse, my brother and his girlfriend stumbled upon a public restroom near Sacre Couer. When you walk in on the right, there is a shoulder height wall with urinals on the other side for the men, and on the left were water closets (fully enclosed) for the women.

While the girlfriend and I were waiting for an open WC, we stood there and basically watched all the men come and go....literally.

It was definitely a unique cultural experience and we still laugh about it =)

I just wanted to add that this is not something I did..

but bought that brings back wonderful memories..

I've have a couple of scarfs that I wear in the winter that I bought in Paris my very 1st time there...which led to scarf collection from subsequent trips (but that's a whole other story- for say a shopping thread)

and in La Samaratain and Galleries Lafayette I bought a couple of barrettes...

I would of done purses, but there was the small problem of packing space and the purchase price....

:) :) :)

anyway, these items are total warm fuzzy souveniers that I treasure!

I loved sitting on a bench in Parc Monceau on a Sunday afternoon.

Eating a ham and cheese bagette (with butter) on the Champs Elysses, ice cream at Berthillon on I'le Saint Louis and crepes on any street corner.

I had a very short time in Paris. Not long enough to do very much. I arrived at 8am and had to leave the next day at 2pm. I have traveled many places and many countries and I can honestly say that no place affected they way Paris did. As I walked around I felt like I had to keep pinching myself saying "I'm in Paris. I AM IN PARIS!!!!!"

In the time I was there I took a bus from Rue Cler to Montparnasse ate crepes. Took a Segway tour from Fat Tire Bike Tours at night with all the lights. Walked around at night after the tour bought a baguette and went to the Eiffel Tower the next morning before I had to leave to get back to the Airport. I loved it.

I guess my special thing would have been the splurge I did with the night time Segway tour. Even thougth I didn't have time to see the whole city in detail I at least got to see the outsides of all the museums I will see from the inside the next time I go.

All the different places you can see the Tour Eiffel light on at night.

The Greek crepe man at Metro Saint Placid.

The Statue of Liberty at le Jardin du Luxembourg

Watching old American films in Odeon area with French subtitles.

Being in Notre Dame when accession mass begins.

Sitting on a bench anywhere watching people go by.

The first time you walk into a fromagerie.

Baguette at 6h30.

Live music playing from the sidewalk from the Cave d'Auteuil on Friday nights because the new wine is in.

Jardins des Tuilleries on Sunday's - a stroll that takes you back in time - I am propelled to 1868 somehow

Kent: I'm puzzled by your question/response to my post. I don't thing that I implied any "right or wrong" sentiment, it was just a funny experience that had when we stumbled upon this public restroom.

Check the guidebooks, but I think the first Sunday of the month means free admittance to National Museums. It saves a fair amount of money but be prepared to wait in line.
One of the coolest things I did was go to the Arc de Triomphe. Don't stop there - take the lift (I don't remember it being well labelled - just ask) to the highest level and walk up the last 30-40 stairs to the top of the Arc. It offers amazing views of Paris - including the Tour Eiffel!

In summer they make a sandy beach along the Seine. Amazing and it seems tacky but in Paris it works.

http://troi.cc.rochester.edu/~tdip/tomsguidetoparis.htm

Shara, I can't recall the names of a lot of fun places in Paris and I might (or not) find them again if I went looking, but setting all that aside, Tom's Guide to Paris sure has a lot of special stuff in it. Open the above URL and look. Bon Voyage! P

Just wander.....and enjoy.

This is all so great - I am enjoying every post.
Merci beaucoup!!!

I have never been a fan of Notre Dame because the crowds are too thick it takes all of the peace and beauty and spirit out that I find beautiful in catherderals.

This last week I was in Paris, very early on 7h30 I was wandering town down (looking for a lost boulangerie) when I saw someone entering the ND.

I think it was a cleric or priest getting ready for mass,I spoke with them and they let me in.

I was the only person in Notre Dame and I had about 20 minutes to walk around by myself before others started to arrive before mass.

In all of my years travelling it was one of my more profound moments.

I was in Sainte Chapelle listening to Les Solistes de l'Orchestre Symphonique Francais play the Four Seasons, the sun was setting behind the stained glass wall on one side of the chapel; the colors kept changing by the minute as the sun moved across the wall. In that place, that music, the color of the stained glass changing as the sun moved toward the night, it brought tears to the eyes. This is the kind of magic that Paris helps you find.

Take your time. I thought 2.5 days were plenty last fall, but I am so looking forward to getting to spend at least 5 days there this summer! Definately visit a crepe stand (more than once too!). See the Eiffel Tower at night, it is a glorious sight. And yes you will probably have the "pinch me I'm in Paris!" feeling the whole time there :) The city is just amazing.

On my first trip to Europe in 2003, I spent 4 days in Paris. During the first day, I and two women I'd met were looking for Notre Dame. We stopped at a street corner to watch a strike parade, and a young French woman walked up next to us. I asked her for directions, and she pulled out a map to help.

Then she said, "come with me to my parent's cafe for a rest." We followed her, and when we arrived she gave us free drinks. "I will take you to Notre Dame and give you a tour," she said. So, we stored our packs in her apartment and she took us down to Notre Dame.

Our interaction with her culminated in a final-day dinner at the restaurant - on the house, with no other customers. It was one of the best meals I've ever eaten in my life.

In 2007, I stopped in to visit, but the family was no longer directly involved with the restaurant. However, when I grabbed a business card, my first name was printed on the corner - surely a coincidence, but a great souvenir regardless!

Merci beaucoup and kudos to you, Shara, for a grand one-line question and for your invitation to the 'travellers' to reminisce; I hope they continue to do so. The responses are wonderful and I, for one, am putting pencil to paper to jot down the answers that 'grab' me. The special things for me in Paris over the years related to 'doing a deal' while there on business. This spring, my wife and I will be there as tourists, and my pencilled notes will be used as much, or more, than the tour books to 'find our way'. Thank you.

Have a sit at the cafe that's on the edge of the
Jardins des Tuilleries. They have tables under the umbrella and you can watch everyone go back and look at the flowers.

Have a glass of wine at the cafe beside Notre Dam. We sat for a long time watching people in line and the street preformer entertaining them

Strolling through the park near the Eiffel Tower at sunset, watching the Parisians with their families and dogs enjoying the day. Then watching the Tower light up.

The Rodin Museum garden.

The Mosque, which has a complete, traditional Turkish Bath, with separate days for men and women.

That is an experience I plan to repeat on every visit to Paris.

You will usually find the info you need listed somewhere in Paris Time Out, available at any hotel lobby.

Bring a bag with brush, and everything you like to have for a change of clothing, grooming etc. But do spend the extra 5-10 euros for one of their HUGE, thick, real turkish towels. And do use their soap. And do plan on it being a 6-8 hour day. Worth every second and every euro-cent.

The hot chocolate at Angelina's on the Rue de Rivoli is fantastic!!

There were 2 things that I will never forget.
The fireworks I've seen from Sacre Coeur on Montparnasse on New Year eve, and the after New Year party on the streets. We got out of the restaurant soon after 12 AM and the French were all outside, some of them in convertible cars, some of them just walking drinking champagne and celebrating. What a wonderful image!

The ice skating rink outside of the Hotel de Ville, this past January. I didn't skate, but watching the young kids do it was really fun, and I have many pictures of them that I look at often.
Also, the Village St. Paul antique courtyard area in the Marais.
And, coming upon the Berthillon ice cream parlor while wandering around Ile St. Louis -- I knew it was there, but had never been in it.

Taking the metro to the Pompidou Center on the weekend and strolling around. The streets were blocked off in the area and there were just thousands of people out walking around, enjoying the cafe's, etc. and in the courtyard of the Pompidou there was a mime putting on a show. It was a magical moment; I had planned on just visiting to see the outdoor fountains (well known to anyone who ever used "French in Action") but I ended up staying, enchanted, for hours!

Crepes and a cup of coffee on a rainy morning at Crepes du Clown in the 6th (on rue Canettes). We didn't have an umbrella so we waited out the storm, talking with other customers (and the owner) for hours.

Gèrard Mulot patisserie near Saint Sulpice- edible art.

Just about anywhere that you can see the Eiffel tower at night is special, but I like the park near the Ecole Militaire.

Visting the Marmottan (Monet) Museum. The walk from the metro takes you through a leafy park on the way to the museum, and it put me in just the right mood to see Impressionist Art.

There is a corner cafe a block kitty-corner from the Eiffel Tower (do not recall the name). They have some excellent wine selections and it is a great place to soak up the culture.

Shara,
... vividly remember the first all French discussion with anyone ... asked for a chocolate ice cream ... got it ... lady said Voila! as she handed it to me ... to which I replied Merci!... all on the Champs-Élysées ... bon voyage! P.

Yes, walk up from Pigalle to Sacre Couer - through the cemetery! You'll find painter Edgar De Gas (as the family name is spelled there), poet Heinrich Heine and other greats and near-greats.

Get up early and go to Sainte Chapelle, Louis IX's brilliant gothic chapel (built about1240 on Ile de la Cite) with it's jewel-like stained glass window. The Ministry of Justice building was built around it, so full light only comes in through the east windows. So get there as early as possible. Enter Ste. Ch. through a lower level and go up a flight of steps - and there it is! People literally stagger back, overcome by the sight. Imagine being inside a jewel that has all the colors of a diamond, ruby, sapphire and emerald. It seems impossible that the thin pillars support the building. The only problem: security at the Justice Ministry is extremely tight.
See Wikipedia for some nice photos.

I'll never forget watching a guy fill his overcoat with skulls and bones from the Catacombs. In the room waiting for the elevator up, we busted him. The language barrier kept him from understanding my verbal assalt in full. He got away, but the skulls did not. It wasn't a nice thing but the result was rather enjoyable. The next stop was a cafe where our bottle of Rose' was all the more sweet. Or dry. Josh.

Dinner in a restaurant rec'd by Rick. I was alone; seated at a tiny table, an American couple to my left, French couple to the right, a big US crowd beyond. They were classic 'ugly americans'... Menu in French, and it's been 40 yrs since high school classes. Cautiously ordered dinner in the best French I could muster, and got 5 star solid gold treatment from that point on, including big hugs! The waiter treated me as if I was his best friend. The group previously mentioned had same waiter, and their service was a mirror image of the way they treated him... I wanted to laugh!!! But best of all was the restaurant kitty, which had a chair of her own under the table near mine, and who was obviously well-loved by staff and customers.

Also - huge thunderstorm in the afternoon, while I was in Musee d'Orsay, and when closing time came they had a time of it getting everyone out of the lobby - it was absolutely POURING and nobody wanted to go out. They gave up until the rain quit!

-Missing the last train back to Gif-sur-Yvette where I was staying with a family. Spending a couple hours drinking wine and eating gaufres in a cafe that was open all night. Ending up walking along the Seine in the middle of the night with a young French man and then being kissed in the early hours in the deserted courtyard under the soft glow from the lights that light Notre Dame.

-Stumbling across the filming of 'Munich' and being transported back to that day everytime I see that part of the movie.

-Nutella crepes in Luxembourg Gardens

-Hearing the bells of Notre Dame

-Being wakened on my birthday by the most adorable French man in the world! (then 5yr old Benoit) He was so excited to give me the little bottle of perfume he had gotten me he couldn't stand it anymore.

-Having a street vendor tell my friend he'd give her the scarf she was looking at for 5 euros if she'd sing for it--and she did.

-A butterfly joining us for paninis in a park--it wanted the tomato

Nutella crepes,
Roasted chestnuts (never had them before)

Everything!! Walking around Paris produces a feeling that can't be duplicated. It is all special.

Perhaps my husband returning from a walk with the longest stemmed red rose I have ever seen.

Fresh bread to eat while strolling in the mornings and the scent of coffee.

Our dinner cruise with the Eiffel Tower lit and views of the City at night while dancing with my husband.

I look forward to returning next year.

Dumping my boyfriend because I realized that I was more in love with Paris than I was with him. He made the first two days insufferable- bored at the Louvre but spent hours at a military musuem (which I did in good humor) wasn't happy with anything...and I was in heaven! After he was gone- I just spent two weeks on my own-madly in love with the City.

Totally unplanned, we arrived in Paris on Bastille Day. We missed the morning parade, but we were able to watch spectacular fireworks with the Eiffel Tower in the background. We sat on top of a wall right next to the river meeting and talking with other travellers. Quite an impressive time.

Discovering The Rodin Museum http://www.musee-rodin.fr/ by chance and having coffee in the garden. Visiting Napolean's Tomb and coming across my realtive, General Bertrand's, as I walked down the stairway.

Thank you everyone - my trip has been the best - all the things you can imagine - Paris is a sensory paradise.

The City of Lights, one of the best in the World.

Not to have the butter, the pastries, the bread, the foie gras, the wine, the cream, the butter back in Canada will be sorely missed.

Monet's Water Lily's today at the Orangerie Museum was overwhelming.

Bon Soir Mes Amis!

Shara

My first visit to Paris was in 1975. I was in line at a grocery store and dropped my money (about $20 in Francs) and the man behind me tapped me on the shoulder and handed me my cash. So much for the often repeated myth about rude French folks. Now fast forward to 2006; I'm in line at a French grocery store and the young man in front of me droped 20 Euros. I couldn't believe my good fortune to be able to tap his shoulder and return his money. They say, "What goes aroung, comes around", and this circle took 31 years to complete. Charlie, Lodi, California

actually being up ON the tower when its lights came on....
visiting the cemetery where Jim Morrison is buried. We met a strange old man who became our guide to find the grave. What a fount of stories he shared..
just sitting outside a cafe and people watching...
climbing up Notre Dame to see the gargoyles...
I could go on and on!

Packing and getting ready to leave this amazing City.

Just have to quickly let the knitters out there know of this incredible store - La Droguerie - 9 et 11 rue du Jour - just off Rue Montmartre -what a place. By St. Eustache - next to Les Halles metro stop. An absolute must for a knitter - buttons, ribbons, yarn, beads - unreal. Rue Montorgueil right next to it. What a street.

For fabulous food souvenirs to bring back to North America - Le Grand Epicerie - right across the street from Le Bon Marche'.

Have fun -

Bon soir.

Yes! le Grand Epicerie is THE store for buying excellent food items to bring back as souveniers (for yourself or others) -- it is not inexpensive though, but the best usually isn't.

On a hot summer day ... enjoying the sun...walking around the Rue's, green parks, shaded paths in the heat... and then.....coming across one of the many Victorian Water fountians and taking your scarf and wetting it down and enjoying the beautiful feeling of the cool/cold water over your face and neck and realizing its ALL real and you are in PARIS!!!!!

Enjoying a beautiful hot summer day walking around the Rue's... grassy parks, shaded paths, wonderful sights, sounds and smells of the markets... and then to come across one of the old Victorian Water fountains still in use and being able to wet your scarf and the wonderful feeling that washes over you as you feel the water as it cools your face and neck... and then you realize it is ALL real and you are really in PARIS!!! merci!