Back from another journey and I%26#39;ve finally caught up to myself so here goes.... My mother and I arrived in Paris from London via the Eurostar on November 8 and stayed through November 12 narrowly missing the strike (whew!).
Where we stayed: Hotel Britannique, 1e. This is a lovely hotel that I can%26#39;t say enough good things about. Immaculate, comfortable and centrally located. I think it is my favorite now. For a full review, see tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g187147-d198…
The weather was overall perfect despite a couple small morning showers. I was comfortable during the day with my coat open and no gloves or hat.
This being the 6th visit to Paris for both of us, we mixed some old favorites with some new finds. Here%26#39;s our trip in bits %26amp; pieces in no particular order.
- Visited the Arch de Triomphe in the evening as a rememberence ceremony was being held. Since one must still climb 46 stairs after taking the lift (out of the question for my mother who has mobility issues) I climbed all 284 stairs (I believe that is the correct number - I am sure some one will correct me if it is not! It felt like 1,000) to the top alone. I was a little disappointed that I missed the ET twinkling and that the lights in the trees along the CE weren%26#39;t lit. But it was still exciting to be up there at night in the cold wind that felt good after that climb! I was soooo having that Creme Brulée for dessert !!!
- We were disappointed to find the cafes %26amp; restaurants still filled with smoke (yeah, yeah, yeah, I know: That%26#39;s Paris). When I was there in February of this year I had a conversation with a Parisian who said that a law had been passed that would ban smoking in restaurants, etc. and would go into effect in July of this year. Guess either he was wrong or no one told the Parisians (or they%26#39;re ignoring it!).
- One of my mother%26#39;s friends and her husband were visiting Paris as well and had rented an apartment on rue Mazarine in the 6th - turned out to be steps from the hotel I stayed in on rue Dauphine on my last visit. It was a nice little place and we had wine %26amp; cheese before the four of us headed down the street to grab a bite at Chez Fernand on rue Christine - which leads to my next tidbit of a story...
- Dinner at Chez Fernand was mediocre and I was at least enjoying sharing my hard-earned Creme Brulée with my mother when our waiter (who spoke very good English) asked if we minded if he moved the table next to us. We said sure, thinking he meant that he was going to move it out to allow other guests to get in. Not only did he move the table next to us, he grabbed our table and slid it where the other had been -- my spoon was halfway between my dessert and my mouth as he did this! Apparently what he actually should have said was %26quot;Do you mind if I move your table where this one is while you finish your dessert so that I can make room for a larger table next to you.%26quot; The group he was making room for were 10 men - all builders from the US who stood there looking stunned. When they sat down, they said to us - %26quot;We%26#39;ve never seen anything like that!%26quot; We agreed, asked for our check and headed to Café Laurent around the corner to catch a set by the Christian Brenner Trio. The builders were staying at the Hotel d%26#39;Aubusson that Café Laurent is attached to and they came in later still shaking their heads, joking to us, %26quot;Hey, we%26#39;re going to need your table there...%26quot;
- Roamed the fabric stores in Montmarte. I love the design of fabrics (as I design some myself) - it always makes me wish I actually could sew. LOL My mother bought some pretty holiday fabric to make a table cloth from and I went nuts for buttons (about 65 Euro worth!). I%26#39;ve never seen so many unique buttons. One store (I think it was Marche St. Pierre) has these miniature maniquinns wearing fabulous creations made from some of the fabric on the table they were over. Too cool.
- Silliest thing I did: My mother took a nap one afternoon and I had a lovely walk along the Seine, enjoying the crisp air. My destination was the D%26#39;Orsay. Mother had purchased tickets for the D%26#39;Orsay online from home because the cost of the few museums we planned to visit didn%26#39;t add up to the museum pass cost and these tickets would bypass any lines same as the pass. I get to the door and open my bag to retrieve the ticket, realizing at that moment that it was safely tucked inside a map - a map that I had left on my desk in my room that morning. I contemplated buying a ticket since I was there and the line wasn%26#39;t terribly long, but decided that since I%26#39;d been in the museum a few times before, that I would just enjoy a leisurely stroll back to the hotel weaving in and out of streets peering into gallery windows. I stopped for a drink and people watched. I quite enjoyed that, really. I thought that perhaps mom and I could fit the D%26#39;Orsay in before we left but it didn%26#39;t happen - oh well - something to save for next time.
- Mom had read about Restaurant 1728 and made reservations. Arriving there was kind of interesting - by looking at the website and reading about it, one would think that you%26#39;d pull up to some grand entrance when in reality it is a door covered with a heavy velvet curtain off an alley. We were seated in the Music Room which was very nice and filled with classical music. We laughed about the table as it was kind of like being seated at an end table. The service was wonderful and the food equally so, however, I am not sure it lived up to its price tag. It was fun to dine where Lafayette once lived, but I think we%26#39;d have both been just as content with the corner bistro. The star of mom%26#39;s dinner was the dessert - prepared by the famous chef Hermé. For me it was the soup served in a pumpkin. It seemed to be quite the date spot...the couple seated in front of us started making out when they sat down and barely stopped to eat - and I%26#39;m not talking peck on the cheek - we%26#39;re talking %26quot;get a room%26quot;. At first it was amusing then it was kind of annoying. There were also two other couples in the room doing the same thing!
- Went to Marche Aux Puces de la Porte Vanves - in my opinion the best flea market I%26#39;ve been to in Paris (yet that is; I certainly haven%26#39;t hit them all). I nearly emptied my wallet there finding unique treasures. Alas I had to leave the 500 Euro signed bronze sculpture behind... My mother had been on the hunt for a painting and had all but given up finding one that she wanted until the very last table (which happened to be in front of the Port-a-pottie). She now boasts that it came from the Gallery au Toilette.
- Visited the Musee Des Arts Decoratifs. What an interesting museum with so many different things. However, I misunderstood the ticket clerk (or he misunderstood me - or both!) and our tickets did not get us in to the special textile exhibition that I actually wanted to see. The line was very long when we realized this and we were getting tired so I let it go. Very nice exhibits of Middle Ages %26amp; Renaissance items as well as more modern pieces
- Visited Musee Marmottan. Lovely museum. So even though I missed the D%26#39;Orsay I got an Impressionists fix :-)
- Went for an evening cruise with Vedettes Pont-Neuf. We arrived just as one was leaving so we bought tickets and grabbed a drink in the bar to wait for the next. The weather was great for being outside and the ET twinkled just we as reached it. Even though I%26#39;ve taken that boat a few times, I enjoyed it just as much as before. It%26#39;s one of those %26quot;must dos%26quot; in Paris for me.
- Walked from breakfast to the bird market on Île de la Cité and enjoyed looking at all the different birds. I bought a tall metal black cat and left mom to go to Notre Dame while I hoofed my chat noir back to the hotel - no way was I carrying that around all day. When I found mom in ND mass was going on and the choir was singing. We stayed for a bit then headed back out into the sunshine.
- Wandered around the Marais a little on Sunday and had a terrible lunch (what was with our luck with food on this trip?). We grabbed a taxi from there and the driver argued with me about taking us only to Pont Neuf - I insisted, indicating my mother, that %26quot;Madame was handicapped and could not walk that far%26quot;. He finally relented and was well tipped for his trouble despite his ill manner. I understand his point, but please, it really was too far for someone who has as hard a time walking as my mother and this was the last day of the trip and my mother had pretty much maxed out her walking. We never even took the metro as the stairs were out of the question for her. The ones we had to use occassionaly in museums were hard enough for her (London was even less handicapped friendly). Prior to this trip I never really gave much thought to how hard it is for someone with disabilites to visit places like this. We take so much for granted. Viva la health!
- On our last afternoon we had a picnic of cheese and wine (sorry about the spicy olives, mom) in the lovely sitting room in our hotel. Later we went to the steak place so many have talked about - Les Relais de L%26#39;Entrecote - and found a very long line. We opted not to sand in line and chose an Italian restaurant nearby that was Ok, but not stellar (again, we didn%26#39;t have the best of luck with food this trip). The best place (aside from 1728), in my opinion, was Cafe Zimmer near the Chatelet metro near our hotel. Nice decor too.
I am likely done with Paris for a little while...of course I said that this past February!!!!!!!
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Thanks for an interesting report. Lucky for you that you missed the strike!
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Indeed! My mother%26#39;s friends that I mention left on Nov. 14 and had booked a car service to take them to the airport. It never showed up so they had to drag their lugggage (he%26#39;s 82!) to a taxi stand and waited for an hour before they could get one.
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Nice trip report. Sorry you didn%26#39;t enjoy your meals, lack of luck as there are sooo many good restaurants in Paris!
BJL, the law that will ban smoking from cafés and restaurant will be effective on January 2nd.
The guy you talked with was half right; a first law has been voted in 2007 to start with all public places except cafés and restaurants : such as offices, train stations, etc.
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I%26#39;m curious as to why the taxi driver wasn%26#39;t willing to take you where you wanted to go. You said that you %26#39;understood his point%26#39;. Am I missing something in reading between the lines?
I had the same disappointing experience with food on my trip this May--and it was my 10th trip.
Your hotel review was very helpful. Thanks.
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Taxi drivers often do not like to take very short trips, the fare is too small, they want to wait to take a more expensive fare. The distance to the bridge from where they were was very small, BUT, as BJL pointed out , if one has mobility issues it doesn%26#39;t take much walking to tire one out. Since her mom may not have intiallaly looked %26quot; disabled%26quot; the taxi driver just wanted to %26quot; dump them%26quot; , but relented when BLJ pleaded her mom was UNABLE to walk even that seeminly short distance. Luckily BLJ was able to speak enough French to do that.
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I, too, loved staying at the Britannique. I have a question, though. From the pictures you posted I noticed that your bathroom had a tub (not a stall shower like we did), and I was wondering if that very small wall was enough to prevent water from going on the floor while you showered.
I%26#39;ve never eaten in 1728, but I%26#39;ve heard that it%26#39;s a very romantic restaurant. However, I find it rather strange that couples would actually %26quot;make out%26quot; in such a classy place.
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%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;I%26#39;m curious as to why the taxi driver wasn%26#39;t willing to take you where you wanted to go.%26lt;%26lt;%26lt;
joan1 actually answered that very well - thanks :-)
Hi Shoesy! The Britannique is my new favorite hotel in Paris. And no, the small wall was not enough to prevent water from getting on the floor. I have never understood this European practice of only putting up a partial wall or glass. I guess most of them use the hand-held thing hand held. ::shrug: I usually kept my bath mat out of the way then used one of the washclothes to mop up the water (it usually wasn%26#39;t too much) before moving my mat back in place (I hate cold tile :-)
And yes, 1728 was very romantic and classy. I also found it surprising that they were getting so cozy right there as well. One couple - the one right in front of us - was far more demonstrative than the other. It really was %26quot;get a room%26quot;...
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Bravo for such a lovely TR. Thanks for sharing!
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So then, I take it that the daily mopping up of your bathroom floor didn%26#39;t prevent you from enjoying your stay at the Britannique. The truth is that the reason I brought up the subject in the first place is the fact that my daughter, who stayed there in room 52 this summer, found it a bit annoying. I guess the hotel has so many positive aspects that people tend to accept the bathroom flood issue in good spirit, and they don%26#39;t even mention it in their reviews.
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Hi again, Shoesy - No, the daily mopping of the bathroom (which really wasn%26#39;t that bad) didn%26#39;t deter me from loving the hotel - besides it is hard to give points off for that issue when I%26#39;ve only stayed in a couple in Europe where this hasn%26#39;t been a problem. No idea why European hotels can%26#39;t be bothered to put either a curtain or larger divider in bathrooms with tub/shower combos.
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