Paris

Tanzanite · Post by **Tanzanite** » Wed May 4th, 2011, 5:47 pm

My daughter will be spending 6 weeks in London for an international study program in July/August. Before she starts school, she wants to go to Paris for 4/5 days and I'm going with her. If anyone has visted Paris, can you recommend any decent, relatively affordable hotels?

We'd like to see the usual tourist stuff and don't want to be too far out, but my daughter also wants to see Paris "like a local". Any suggestions??

Margaret · Post by **Margaret** » Wed May 4th, 2011, 7:31 pm

You might want to book a holiday apartment rather than a hotel. I haven't done this in Paris, but I've done it in England, Germany and Hungary, and the experience is great. You get an apartment for the price of a hotel (often less expensive - especially for two - lots of them have 2 bedrooms), and you have your own kitchen facilities, so you can shop in the local markets and grocery stores and cook your own meals. There's nothing like grocery shopping to experience life like a local. In England, the chickens are quite different (and tastier, I thought) than American chickens, and the eggs are individually stamped with freshness dates. In Germany, I discovered dense black rye bread that is like nothing sold in the U.S., and the sausages were wonderful. In Budapest, there is a gigantic farmer's market open daily with magnificent produce where I discovered parsley root, rather like parsnips but not as sweet, and great additions to stews. Parisians take their food very seriously, so I would imagine grocery shopping there could be a magnificent experience! Of course, if you're not up to cooking on a particular day, you can still eat out whenever you want. Even if you eat most of your meals in restaurants, it's great to have the option of fixing your own breakfast and not having to dress up and go out first thing in the morning.

You do have to book ahead online for these. If you don't speak French, find one where they do speak English.

fljustice · Post by **fljustice** » Thu May 5th, 2011, 3:39 pm

I agree with Margaret, renting an apartment is a wonderful experience. You get more room for the same or lower price, can save money preparing your own breakfast and other meals, laundry services, etc. It's so fun to shop for your stuff. We've usually done it for a least week ,so for fewer days, it might be more difficult to find accommodations.

BTW my daughter will be studying in England this fall and we're looking forward to some traveling together, maybe Paris, possibly Rome!

princess garnet · Post by **princess garnet** » Fri May 6th, 2011, 1:43 am

When I was on summer study aboard 7 years ago, our group stayed at Le Citadines in Les Halles. Our rooms were like apartments with amenities: think Extended Stay or Marriott Residence Hotel--only for a shorter time.

Tanzanite · Post by **Tanzanite** » Fri May 6th, 2011, 2:14 am

Faith - my daughter wanted to go to Rome as well, but since she is taking summer classes here before she goes, she only has so much time - and I only have so much money!!

Princess Garnet - Thanks for the suggestion, I'll definately check it out.

Ash · Post by **Ash** » Fri May 6th, 2011, 2:02 pm

We stayed at the Hotel du Dragon in A. 7, walking distance from the Les Deux Magot and the Louvre, easy access to metro and a great place to window shop. It was very reasonably priced at the time (about 10 years ago); I know they recently renovated so that may have changed.

http://www.hoteldudragon.com/Anglais/Anglais.html

Don't miss Shakespeare and Co, an English bookstore that was literally the home of many poor and famous authors over the decades.

Tanzanite · Post by **Tanzanite** » Fri May 6th, 2011, 11:35 pm

Thanks Ash. I'll also have three days in the UK after getting her settled in. I'm thinking about maybe taking the train to York since we had to skip our planned visit there back in October.

wendy · Post by **wendy** » Sun May 8th, 2011, 10:43 am

My son went to several European cities just after graduation from college three years ago. He got mugged in Rome by a very cunning gypsy band, one of whom pretended to be a foreign student staying at the YMCA. He befriended my son and his friends, took them to a local nightclub, ran off with a camera (seemingly as a joke) but when my son followed him out of the club the rest of his gang were waiting in an alley and they attacked him. Not only did they steal his wallet, keys, phone, and wristwatch, they even took his belt and shoes so he could not follow them. One of them stomped on his face when he was on the ground - my son ended up in hospital for a week having to have reconstructive surgery on his nose - and I ended up having to fly to Rome to sort everything out. Fortunately he was so shocked that he did not resist - we heard later that if he had fought back they would probably have knifed him as well.
The local police and US Embassy told us this happens all the time in Rome.
PLEASE WARN YOUR CHILDREN TO BE CAREFUL.

Madeleine · Post by **Madeleine** » Sun May 8th, 2011, 3:04 pm

Oh that's awful Wendy, I know most cities are notorious for pickpockets and bag-snatchers but what an awful level of violence to use. I hope he's recovered.

EC2 · Post by **EC2** » Sun May 8th, 2011, 3:48 pm

Are you going to see the Eleanor vase in the Louvre?
Notre Dame?
Versailles?

I went with the school many years ago and stayed in Paris for 5 nights, but we were lodged in a boarding school, so can't advise re hotels. I can ask around via Twitter followers.
Edited to add - yes, terrible Wendy. You have to be so careful.