If you had a week in Paris

[pink_]

I also love Shakespeare & Co. And just across the river by Notre Dame is the coolest flower market! It's a lovely place to wander through. not far from there is some wonderful gelato/sorbet on Ile de la Cite at Berthillon. My favorite part of the city is the Left Bank--Saint Germain des Pres. I could wander those streets for days.

[lightning]

Hmmmm....Quatre jours a Paris?

   Sounds like a film....(oh, wait, see Julie D's film, <<Deux jours a Paris>> for fun...)

With caveats that I haven't been there since Dec. 2020 (I know, I was sooo lucky to squeak in just before things closed down) so I don't know what's "still there" in the commercial sector, or even some of the private/public museum sites....I have made almost annual visits since 1996, and can think of a number of things, but you'll need to research them all because, Covid.

I'm just going to deal in generalities here; if something sounds good, I can say more.

So, three questions:

  1) How mobile is he (lots of subways don't have escalators, so lots of stairs--but walking 'up top' is more fun, in my opinion, you see more.)
      And is he OK with taking buses or subways further out of town, say, Versailles, or does he like to stay within the Metro map range of town?

  2) What has he already seen that he liked? Would like to see more of? Never wants to see again?

  3) Does he favor museums, churches, out-of-the-way bookstores (whether or not he speaks French, they can still be fun), sports, or sidewalk fairs?


Otherwise:

1. I would plan my days by going to a different arrondissement (region of the city) and spending the whole day in just that one place. Some have more to offer, so here are the five I'd recommend (in case a couple days spill over or he ends up with plans of his own):

a) 6e: (i.e., Sixth arrondissement, everyone says, "le sixieme")
Near the Hotel de Paris, the "city hall," basically. In winter there's an ice rink in front, the rest of the year there are usually a couple of pretty good accordionists in the area. This is near the Marais (originally a swamp) that at one time housed the outdoor market, "Les Halles," and there is still a lot of interesting commercial activity, including a longstanding family tea shop that smells heavenly when you enter and sticks with you long after you leave.

Two blocks away, a block or two from the Seine, is the Holocaust Museum, which I've never seen, but I understand is well-curated; the Rue des Barres has a couple of very old (i.e., 15th c. or earlier) walkways nearby, too.

The tower (all that remains) of St-Jacques and the Eglise St.-Merry are to the NW; for anyone with an interest in things liturgical, a conventual group at St. Gervais sings the Office, which anyone can attend (quietly); another block away is the Fountaine Stravinsky, a wacky fountain with rotating sculptures, properly outrageous, and the site of the 2009 CHE Old Forum Meetup (9 folks were in the area at the time!).

There are several decent little brasseries with outdoor tables near the fountain, and if the weather allows, that's a good spot for eating either breakfast or lunch; the Centre Pompidou is also nearby, with many good spots for buying hats, scarves, etc. surrounding it (I get those for gifts to take home--the scarves and ties--because they're usually eye-catching, and not very expensive, and take almost no room in a suitcase--and me--because I like hats, and France is the last place to have really full-cut Carnaby caps; not even London has them anymore, really.)

Further down to on Rue de Rivoli to the east are more cafes, the Baroque church, St. Paul's, and going down the Rue St. Paul towards the river again, is the Museum of Magic. Between the Hotel de Ville and the Musee de Magique, I forgot, there's the Maison Europeenne de la Photographie, whih I've also never visited but may be of interest.

Go back up to Rivoli, and keep walking east, the Hotel de Sully and its Jardin are near the Place ds Vosges, a large park, and another good place to eat in (I'd get a <<croque m'sieu>> and frites to go, and sit in the park and eat lunch there, having had my breakfast croissant near the fountain.

Victor Hugo's house, the outlet of the Canal St.-Martin, and the Bastille are further east, after those I'd turn back and walk west to the north and parallel to Rivoli. The Migneret Rose Garden and the Carnavalet (History of Paris) museum aren't always stunning, but are worth a glance, and they're on the way to the Musee Picasso, which, while smallish, is nearly always stunning.

From there, either walk (my preference, again, just be careful about directional turns on the streets there, the angles can be confusing) or take the Metro to Place de la Republique (one of my favorite places, literally; I usually stay at a hostel nearby).

There is/was(used to be) a WinterGarten cabaret show space near there, don't know if it's open now or not; there are many, many good restaurants surrounding the center area, which has been imaginatively re-designed lately, including a skateboard park that (when I was there last) attracts some amazing skateboarders.

This is where you meet your party for dinner--there are several American-like places, but many others of other extractions (Italian, Thai, Japanese, Turkish) serve moules/frites (interthreaduality); biftek/frites; many different rice and vegetable and meat offerings, etc.

The subway downstairs links to several lines so getting back to wherever you're staying shouldn't be too hard.

That's your first day.

Days to follow might include.
   b. Sorbonne/Moufftard/Ste. Genevieve/Pantheon/Shakespeares/Institut du monde arabe/Ile de la Cite (end with ice cream on Ile St.-Louis) area;
   c. Quai d'Orsay/Rodin sculpture garden; cross Pont Augustin to Petit Palais, Rue Voltaire/old Bib. Nat., Bourse, Blvd. Haussmann shops, Opera, etc.
   d. Trocadero/Textiles museum, town fair, across from the Eiffel Tower (walk the bridge) and over to the 7e/Champs de Mars, Invalides
   e. Rue de Vaugirard/Dominican House, Montparnasse (writers' homes), "English shops," cool views, you can just spend a day walking it.
   f.  Abbesses/Pigalle/Montmartre (walk up the whole way, seeing things as you go, or take the tram up and walk down)

2. Further out:

   g. St.-Denis, north of town, and if you're into sports, the Pershing Stadium is a bit further out, make it a day trip there and eat back at the
      St. Denis area again (have your party join you there) before returning to your hotel.   
   h. Versailles
   i. Chartres
   i. Sens (my favorite, 1 hour out of Paris and sooooo much to see and do)...

Main thing--if you like seeing plein-aire markets, each of these areas has one on a particular day of the week. You could plan each visit to be on the day its market runs (of course, you will run into some of the same marchands, because they serve the rota of the markets daily)

If you really want a plan, I use G'Maps and do my own walking plans all the time. Pick four or five and I'd be glad to oblige...

;--}

OK, I have to start a project...gotta stop now, more later.

M.

I'm ditching my Rick Steves book. You're better.

[hmaria1609]

Lots of great memories reading this thread!

Others to visit:
The Chocolate Museum
28 Boulevard de Bonne Nouvelle, 75010

Expiatory Chapel (Chapelle expiatoire)
This chapel was the first resting place for Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette and was dedicated in 1816.  The Saint-Augustin Metro is the closest station.

Le memorial des martyrs de la deportation
It's directly behind Notre Dame Cathedral. The memorial is dedicated to French Jews who were deported from Vichy France during WWII.

Further afield: Vaux-le-Vicomte
This chateau was the model for Versailles and has quite a story to go with it.

I've used Paris Pass (https://www.parispass.com) for my visit.  Saves you time and money visiting the main attractions. I've used the London version.

[Anselm]

Efficiency, efficiency, they say
Get to know the date and tell the time of day
As the crowds begin complaining
How the Beaujolais is raining
Down on darkened meetings on the Champs-Élysées

[mahagonny]

Random:
E. Y. 'Yip' Harburg was asked how he could have written such marvelous lyrics to 'April in Paris' without ever having been there and he answered, 'well, I've never been over the rainbow either.'

What if you had to write a song about a city you had visited, but didn't love? Maybe it would have been better just to imagine.

Wife and I were told we would find Parisians a bit 'prickly.'

ETA: We ended up traveling southward. But the music in Paris was first class. Our favorite museum, the Impressionist Art one, has since closed.

[fishbrains]

There are plenty of things to do in Paris... no matter which one you pick!

Paris, Idaho.
Paris, Texas.
Paris, Arkansas.
Paris, Missouri.
Paris, Grant County, Wisconsin.
Paris, Kenosha County, Wisconsin. ...
Paris, Illinois.

When I lived in Kentucky in a dry county, we used to drive down to Paris, Tennessee, to buy our liquor. I hear they have an Eiffel Tower Park in town now, but I don't think it would take a week to get the full experience. But, again, they do have liquor--and a Walmart.

[mamselle]

I hear they have an Eiffel Tower Park in town now,

That's like the imitation (sorry, guys) Parthenon in Athens, GA.

;--}


So--How did the trip go, Morris, or is it in progress as we speak (write?)

And--thanks, Lightning--we aim to please!

I haven't dared return to this thread for fear I'd start thinking of more good spots to visit and spend more time putting them down, but today I needed to do something different for a bit before diving into the day's work, so....

I forget if I noted upthread, earlier, but I usually suggest to people that they visit Paris AFTER they've gone somewhere else in France for several days and stayed there, both to test-drive their French, and to get a sense of the country before seeing Paris and interacting with Parisians.

Also, +1000 to the Bertillon (but I think it's on the Ile St-Louis, just across the bridge between St-Louis and Cite).

There's also a school along that street, heading east, with another Resistance plaque inside the door for children who attended. Jewish children were sometimes hidden by having them all wear school uniforms and attend a public school throughout the war; in some cases this succeeded, without any being suspected, betrayed, or captured(1); in this case, they were discovered and 165 were taken to the camps: they are all named and the plaque ends "Do not forget." (2)


OK, I've succumbed: I will do a mini-set of notes for another area, since department stores were mentioned, and one of the big ones is near my favorite library haunting grounds--the BnF/manuscripts building, etc. It's also easily reached from the Louvre, so here's a suggested walkway starting there.

And since I'm missing France, this at least allows a virtual visit! (I can do a Google map link of the walking path if anyone wants it; it's at the bottom rather than gludge up the post with it here, at (3)).

Two options:
1) Start at the Louvre, spend the AM there, have lunch in one of the underground sandwich shops after visiting the bookstore under the Pyramide, and then go upstairs and head towards the open area on the way to the Palais Royale. Follow the trail in no. 2 from there.

2) Start in the AM at the 'English Tea Room' near the Palais Royale, have tea/coffee/cocoa with toast/brioche/croissant for breakfast, then go out to bookstores, and gift shop associated with the nearby theater. (This route makes you miss the Moliere statue near the Academie Francaise (it's on the intersection of the Rue de Richelieu with the Rue Therese, which you miss if you go into the Palais Royale, but you could go see it and then double back)

Either way: When you get to (2):

a) Cross the Rue Rivoli from the Louvre side over to the area where the magazine sellers are. The English Tea room is on the right. When you leave there,

b) Walk through the jardin of the Palais Royale. There's a wacky-cool installation of striped bollards of various heights by D. Buren (1); kids play on them, people sit and eat on them, and then you go past to the echelons of pollarded trees that line the open gravel area of the back courtyard (often with a game of boules going on).

The tiny shops that line both sides of the courtyard are amazing for variety and in some cases, longevity: the oldest, last I was there, was the tiny tin soldiers shop which had been there since the late 19th c., I believe. Hats, very expensive clothes, shawls, men's wear, etc. abound--you're also at a theater-attender's paradise, people who shop here have funds and taste to match.

There are two or three smaller theaters as well as the Academie, and there are a couple inset restaurants where they do understand the concept of finishing your dinner in time to make your curtain (so the service is just slightly swifter than average).

c) Walk up the Rue de Richelieu, there's a cool map library when you're nearly at the BnF/Richelieu site: I think the entry is open, but it's a working archival library as well.

There may be displays you can see on the ground floor; you can only gain access to the collections if you're working on seals, maps, coins, and related oddments, as far as I understand (I'm usually rushing to get into the main library in time to call for my books and get some work done..., so I've not had the pleasure...) Keep going up the street and look for the large stone castle on  your right...there really is an entry, a couple blocks' lengths down.

d) The ground floor entrance has a bookstore, and you can glance into the old BnF reading room (with the dome ceiling and green lights at each desk). There are Asian archival collections and Western documents in the main MS library; you must have a reader's entry card to use them as well as the theater and dance collections.

You can usually get up to the 3rd floor entryway to the libraries, and the Theatre/Dance collection has an excellent set of exhibits in the darkened area to the left of the elevators (at various times I've seen Diaghilev dance films, 18th c. marionettes, Flamenco costumes, etc.).

Go back downstairs if you've gotten to go upstairs, after seeing the dioramas and mannequins.

The cocoa machines have been moved but still offer excellent cocoa for bleary-eyed researchers, along with more mundane fare; the fake-madeleines are still in the next machine over, and still as tasty if you're starving, or not, and the ones with waxy dark chocolate are still better than any Ho-Hos.

Go back out in the courtyard again, go back through the security gates (they'll wave you through, but you do have to squeeze past people going in they way you came...) and out to the sidewalk.

e) As you exit, look across the street--if you have your lunch with you, go find a bench and eat it in the pretty little park facing on the entry to the music library; if not, there is a good Asian restaurant on the corner a block back from the BnF, and others nearby. When you leave, go back to the Rue de Richelieu, make a left, and walk up to the Rue de St. Augustin, there's a triangular corner and then you'll see...

f) La Bourse: the French stock market, cool building. There were <<manifestations>> (demonstrations, a.k.a. "manif's") in the facing plaza last time I was there, so if you see a lot of police vans, just glance down a side-street towards the columned entry, which you can see from a couple blocks away. Usually they just walk around with placards on, but no need to get pulled into anything if you're not involved in that cause, that day.

Go to the other part of the triangle you entered on, which is the Rue du 4 Septembre, and walk west-by-northwest on that until you get to a busy intersection with an amazing building in front of you. You're at the...

g) Opera Garnier: You can just stand and gawp at the gorgeous statues and wonderful structure outside, or at some points it's possible to go inside and gawp some more. There is also an outrigger opera/music/ballet library of the BnF there; if Galicia shows that something you need is in that collection, your regular BnF card is usually good for getting into it as well (but double-check, it's been 10 years since I visited--and found my MA thesis advisor's German dance history dissertation, a total surprise--ask if it's free, or if you need to pay an additional fee, if you get a reader's card at the Rue Voltaire site--for which you need two letters of reference and to pay a fee).

h) Downstairs at the subway entrance level, first shop on the left (hoping it's still there--has been for decades) Get silk scarves and ties in amazing colors and designs for very reasonable prices here as gifts. They supply the last-minute "Let's go to the Opera, how will I dress up my work suit?" problem for knowledgeable inhabitants, and visitors like me go nuts with winter holiday shopping whatever month I'm there.

i) Go back upstairs, and go northwest along the Blvd Haussman to the large department store Printemps. Merchandising as theater is the theme in these palaces--Printemps has had open-column decor and glass-and-gold designs for centuries (but anything can change at anytime, so I might be wrong about these now). Gawp, spend money, or just sit and do some people-watching. I usually come away with a new idea for how to wear a scarf or how to match a plain colored-jacket with something more dramatic in a blouse color that pops.

j) Go back along Haussman to the southeast, if you want dinner, and look for the American Express office, and then start wandering. You'll have ended up back near the Place de l'Opera Garnier, with many good dinner choices in that area, have fun!!

------
Prior Addendum:
You could also, if you're not going to do the Louvre (part 1) part, start at Invalides, walk across the Pont Alexandre, take the Cours-la-Reine to the Place de la Concorde, walk through the Tuilleries, go left when you see the Louvre pyramid, to the Rue Rivoli, and then along the Rue Rivoli  to the Louvre Metro stop (Place Colette, I think) where (part 2) starts.

Maybe allow for a 20-25 min. walk if you don't stop, but give it 2-3 hours if you're going to visit Invalides, read the signs at Concorde, walk through the abutting Tuilleries, and stroll along the side of Rivoli where bookstores and an outrigger of the department store, Samaritins is/has been/was.

You could also find a bench at one of these spots along your way, have some tea and a croissant for a snack (well, I always start my day with a flask of tea and something to nosh on in my backpack--don't you?) , and then walk over to the Louvre stop.

Notes:
-------
(1) Buren columns: https://www.thegeographicalcure.com/post/the-tr%C3%A8s-modern-colonnes-de-buren-in-paris-palais-royal

(2) Other places where this worked include: http://museedelaresistanceenligne.org/media327-Inauguration-dune-plaque-A#fiche-tab ; see (p. 17)
at: https://books.google.com/books?id=ytczD_NN8j0C&dq=ile+st+louis+enfants+juifs&hl=fr&source=gbs_navlinks_s

(3) https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Invalides,+75007+Paris,+France/Mus%C3%A9e+du+Louvre/Domaine+National+du+Palais-Royal/Biblioth%C3%A8que+nationale+de+France+%7C+site+Richelieu,+Rue+de+Richelieu,+Paris,+France/Pl.+de+la+Bourse,+75002+Paris,+France/Palais+Garnier/Printemps+Haussmann,+Boulevard+Haussmann,+Paris,+France/@48.8751839,2.3212511,15z/data=!3m2!4b1!5s0x47e66e242ccaec27:0xfb8f2fc674d7629!4m54!4m53!1m15!1m1!1s0x47e66fd5a1f61e57:0x3c0518fc678bf8b7!2m2!1d2.3138127!2d48.8593608!3m4!1m2!1d2.3137!2d48.8643985!3s0x47e66fd0f8388845:0x29f5798e3544b6ce!3m4!1m2!1d2.3213749!2d48.8657415!3s0x47e66fd295f1a1d7:0x39d428b686658748!1m5!1m1!1s0x47e671d877937b0f:0xb975fcfa192f84d4!2m2!1d2.337644!2d48.8606111!1m5!1m1!1s0x47e66e1fd8767d47:0xcdcb526c397f16f5!2m2!1d2.3371261!2d48.8637569!1m5!1m1!1s0x47e66e3b15cb6245:0x4ff77a2495418885!2m2!1d2.3381821!2d48.8680388!1m5!1m1!1s0x47e66e3c67352799:0x67e68fc6159d3324!2m2!1d2.3413443!2d48.8686639!1m5!1m1!1s0x47e66e30d4668339:0xa9abf21c286d0767!2m2!1d2.3316014!2d48.8719697!1m5!1m1!1s0x47e66f051e3f022b:0xf443f2dee951e103!2m2!1d2.3280714!2d48.87401!3e2

[paultuttle]

There's also a Paris, Kentucky, which (according to Google Maps) "lies 18 miles northeast of Lexington on the Stoner Fork of the Licking River."



[sorry, I couldn't resist those names (!!)]

[filologos]

George and Tammy, "We're Not the Jet Set" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tRuzQOG0Yk)

By a fountain back in Rome
I fell in love with you
In a small cafe in Athens
You said you loved me too
And it was April in Paris
When I first held you close to me
Rome, Georgia
Athens, Texas
And Paris, Tennessee

No we're not the jet set
We're the old Chevrolet set
There's no Riviera
In Festus, Missouri
And you won't find Onassis
In Mullinville, Kansas
No, we're not the jet set
We're the old Chevrolet set
But ain't we got love?

[mamselle]

Mille apologies!

I mentioned Printemps, but totally omitted Galleries Lafayette in my discussion of the stores on Blvd. Haussmann.

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NMMWliHIdI

This is one of several videos of sites in Paris (and possibly elsewhere) in which the walker just walks around, no commentary, just lets you enjoy the ambiance as-is.

Tellingly, they walk past Printemps to get to GL....I should have remembered!

Clearly a refresher is needed...

M.

[quasihumanist]

The only place I like that I didn't see on mamselle's list is the church at Saint Germain des Pres.

[mamselle]

The only place I like that I didn't see on mamselle's list is the church at Saint Germain des Pres.

Yes, I've never been able to get in there; I'm usually at the libraries when it's open, and can't get back before it closes.

I'll have to go there sometime, too!!

Meanwhile, just ran across this series, which is showing up on my YouTube feed (maybe because I looked up one that I inserted above, in fact).

The person just walks places, taking a video as they go. A good alternative to going there:

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl5io9wCBa4

La France me manque....(I miss France).

M.