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Need some last minute trips for Paris please

Discussion in 'Non-Vegas Chat' started by katmu, Mar 2, 2015.

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  1. katmu

    katmu Well-Known Member

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    So a few months ago I found out I won a trip to Paris for 2 (from Tarte cosmetics). I'm taking my mom and bought an additional plane ticket for my younger son who is 22. We will be in Paris for 5 days starting on Friday and are staying in St. Germain, 6th arr. I was to Paris in the 80s as a teenager but I have not been back since. We will do some of the usual tourist things like the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, D'Orsay and Napoleon's tomb/ military museum.

    I'm really looking for some other ideas maybe a little more off the beaten track, good little places to eat, etc.

    Thanks.
     
  2. bribhoy

    bribhoy Low-Roller

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    Congrats on the trip. I had to read all the way through to make sure you weren't going to Paris in Vegas!

    If you're in the 6th, I would recommend an evening visit to Les Trois Mailletz: http://www.lestroismailletz.fr It's a piano bar / cabaret / concert cellar place and is always great fun. You can eat there as well, but we usually just quaff wine. Over in the 9th, there's a great old fashioned type of restaurant called Chartier, which I always like to visit when I'm in Paris: http://www.bouillon-chartier.com/en/
    If you find yourself in Montmartre at some point, try to take in Le Lapin Agile, a bar / cabaret place where Picasso used to hang out.

    I'm sure you'll have a great time.
     
  3. dannyocean

    dannyocean High-Roller

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    One restaurant I really love is this old school, traditional bistro called Bistrot Paul Bert near the Bastille. Highly recommended -- definitely want to call for a reservation. But it's classic and amazing.
     
  4. HoyaHeel

    HoyaHeel Grammar Police & Admin

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    We went to Paris in Nov 2012 - this is my map from the trip https://mapsengine.google.com/map/u/0/edit?mid=zrDV_oCfyVW0.ku7SZZn3d8ao

    We stayed in an apt in le Marais, so most of my restaurants are from that area, but not all. Since we had an apartment, we ate all breakfast and a couple of dinners in (I love to shop at markets locally!!! I even packed a chef's knife for my trip ;-) Also fun is Picard Surgeles, very fancy frozen food stores! (it's a chain) Our favorite place (and it could be the 3 bottles of wine we had) was a wine bar called Le Garde Robe, behind the Louvre (it's on the map as 41 Rue de l'Arbre Sec)

    David Lebovitz' blog is probably my favorite place for food recommendation, though of all ironies, I don't enjoy sweets (he's a former pastry chef from Chez Panisse who has lived in Paris and written a blog & some books in the past decade) http://www.davidlebovitz.com/
     
  5. mafig

    mafig Low-Roller

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    The Louvre (and most other museums) are closed one day a week. Used to be Tuesday. Might want to check that out.
     
  6. katmu

    katmu Well-Known Member

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    Thanks all for the great tips. The restaurants all look delicious and charming.

    I have an itinerary planned to account for the days the museums are closed, and to try to minimize our wait times as much as we can.

    Hoya- I think I just gained 5 lbs looking at David Lebovitz' blog. I normally don't eat a lot of sweets at home, but crème brulee is my most favorite desert ever. A girl can live for 5 days on crème brulee and wine, right??

    bribhoy- I think my son will love that piano bar.
     
  7. HoyaHeel

    HoyaHeel Grammar Police & Admin

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    Rick Steves' website has nice itineraries of many places (including Paris) for 1, 2, 3 or 5 day itineraries, taking advantage of days museums and other "hot spots" are closed. I don't follow his itineraries to the letter but they give me good ideas.

    I also download his walking tours & museum mp3 tours. Can't remember if I did any from Paris, but I definitely did the Archeology museum in Athens :) We didn't do his Notre Dame tour because we climbed the bell tower instead. And we did the Sewer museum in Paris - big hit! (my husband loves engineering and my background is public health plus an abiding love of history - that museum was the perfect combo for us!)
     
  8. ken2v

    ken2v This Space For Rent

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    :thumbsup:
     
  9. katmu

    katmu Well-Known Member

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    Thanks Ken. It feels really nice to do something good for my mom. She is always doing things for other people.

    She is 75 and volunteers at the food shelf in my hometown 3 days a week doing everything from IT to bookkeeping to packing up baskets for people. And she is still the president of the library board plus very active with Relay for Life as well.
     
  10. mdee

    mdee VIP Whale

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    Maybe a Bus tour of the City and/or a Boat Ride to see all of the Bridges.
    We enjoyed Disney Paris & Walt Disney (Hollywood) Studios. They were both fun.
     
  11. ken2v

    ken2v This Space For Rent

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    Minnesotans are givers!!
     
  12. katmu

    katmu Well-Known Member

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    I'm getting close to being ready.

    My clothes are all packed, and I managed to fit everything in a carry-on so pretty proud of myself.

    I've downloaded the Rick Steve's audio tours and an electronic copy of the Paris guidebook as well to both my phone and my iPad mini. I think either Fri or Sat night we will do one of the boat tours on the Seine and then a leisurely dinner, and then Sunday night we have reservations to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower. My son is still trying to settle on going to see some music one night, probably a later show for the two of us so we'll let my mom rest.

    Our weather here is not so nice at the moment, and temps are supposed to really drop tonight with wind gusts up to 35 MPH so lots of blowing snow. Paris is supposed to be mid to upper 50s by the weekend and no rain in the forecast so it should be really nice weather.

    I'm not sure if anyone would be interested in reading a trip report of a trip with no gambling?
     
  13. ken2v

    ken2v This Space For Rent

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    A TR? You bet. Gambling is gambling. You're going to Europe!!!!
     
  14. WichitaMuskie

    WichitaMuskie VIP Whale

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    Don't forget to visit Versailles. Didn't see that mentioned above.
     
  15. katmu

    katmu Well-Known Member

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    Assuming we are able to sleep some on the plane (non-stop evening flight), we are planning to visit Versailles on Friday.

    I will do my best to take more pictures than I normally do so I can at least do a mini trip report.
     
  16. katmu

    katmu Well-Known Member

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    Thanks everyone for all of the tips. We didn't get to do absolutely everything we wanted, but we hit all of the major sites.

    Unfortunately, when we arrived home yesterday my mom left her small carry-on bag unzipped and my chocolate lab enjoyed a very expensive box of French chocolates (luckily only about 1/4 dark) and a bag of trail mix (with raisins, also toxic to dogs) so we spent last night at the U of Mn Emergency Vet hospital. She is stable and will hopefully come home tomorrow.

    It may be a day or two before I post my pictures.
     
  17. katmu

    katmu Well-Known Member

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    Thanks everyone for all of the tips. We didn't get to do absolutely everything we wanted, but we hit all of the major sites.

    Unfortunately, when we arrived home yesterday my mom left her small carry-on bag unzipped and my chocolate lab enjoyed a very expensive box of French chocolates (luckily only about 1/4 dark) and a bag of trail mix (with raisins, also toxic to dogs) so we spent last night at the U of Mn Emergency Vet hospital. She is stable and will hopefully come home tomorrow.

    It may be a day or two before I post my pictures.
     
  18. bribhoy

    bribhoy Low-Roller

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    Welcome home! I hope the dog is on the road to recovery and you, your mom, and your son all had a great time. Looking forward to the pics.
     
  19. katmu

    katmu Well-Known Member

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    Thank you, she came home from the Vet hospital today. She shouldn't have any ill long term effects.

    I will try to post pics tonight.
     
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