A visit to Basilica St. Denis on the north side of Paris?

The Basilica at St. Denis is fascinating, full of tombs and effigies of all the dead kings and princes of France. Last time we were there, a concert was being recorded for Radio France, so that was an added delight and at no cost. We had an excellent lunch at a bistro right next to the market hall, the name of which I do not remember, sorry to say. As for the "surrounding area", can't help you there

Worth the time??? Depends on how much time you have, and how much of Paris you've seen, and what you already know about St Denis...I've lived in France for "several" years and still haven't gone, so , not a first choice for me despite its being 30 minutes by train...they drag French school kids there so we know it's important...

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

Hi Bill, copy and paste the link into your Internet search box, then touch ENTER on your keyboard.
... At the bottom of the page called "Neat Places" you will see where "readers chime in" ... and one person made note of trouble on rue St. Denis which may be worth your study... bon voyage! P

Rue St Denis in Paris....has nothing to do with the Basilica of St Denis which is located in the suburb of Paris, Saint-Denis, metro line 13...Just check on Google to clarify

Thanks to everybody! I really appreciate it!

Yes, I see that Rue St. Denis in the Marais is in maybe a "dodgy" area of the city.

This trip (2 weeks) will be the 3rd and 4th week that I've spent in Paris.

French history is amazing! I may try to work in a day trip to Reims to see where all these kings were crowned, then visit Basilica St. Denis to see where they are laid to rest.

I wouldn't describe the Marais as "dodgy"...it has a combination of great old houses (one housing the Picasso Museum) and a lively jewish neighborhood with restaurants and shops that will interest almost everyone.

We were in Paris in April and visited St. Denis on the advice of "Tom" from tomsguidetoparis.com. We enjoyed it, but arrived too late in the morning to take the (fairly pricey) tour of the tomb area and didn't want to wait around until 2PM or so when they started the tours back up. But there was still plenty to see in the public areas of the church. It is worth a visit for anyone who's been to Paris a few times already and is looking to see new things somewhat off the beaten path -- I'd absolutely not recommend it for anyone on their first visit unless they were staying for a month. The area around the church didn't really engage us so we had lunch and headed back to the center of Paris without exploring the environs. Unlike many sites/sights where we'll go back on future trips, St. Denis was a "been there, done that" experience for us.

I have a feeling that Bill # 1, who has been to Paris before, meant that the street loooked dodgy, not the entire Marais...and for those of you who are going to Paris, and not yet been in the Marais, you better go now. I just caught the tail end of a French TV program and the Jewish bakeries, small groceries and restaurants are closing left and right, being replaced by chic fashion and furniture boutiques. The Rue des Rosiers still has a few classics, but they're getting crowded (or more crowded...they never were empty)....And this has nothing to do with St. Denis, but i was too lazy to start a new topic.