November in Paris 2007

Le Poulbot

Restaurant

Quote:

We passed turned the corner past Espace Dali (which is around the corner from Place du Tertre in Montmartre) to find a short cobbled street (Rue Poulbot) lined with cafes and restaurants and found the perfect spot, Le Poulbot. It was in an old building and inside it had low beamed ceilings, lots of prints and pictures and decorations. The hanging lamps had lacy covers and there was also a small back room as well. We sat down and had expected to order from the 15.50 euro fixed menu but were given a small menu that had a few choices for 10 euros. Must be a lunchtime special menu. It seemed to suit us so that’s what we ordered from. Lunchtime portions as well not quite as filling for Graham but he was s...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on January 20, 2008

Le Poulbot
14 Rue Poulbot
Paris

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La Muraille de Jade

Restaurant

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You don't usually think of Chinese or Asian food when you think of Paris but there are some good restaurants for this type of food, mostly in the 13th but we found La Muraille de Jade (Jade Wall) on a side street in St. Germain. We were there on a Wednesday night in November and the restaurant was not crowded at all. There are two floors and there were only a couple of tables taken on the main floor. We were seated promptly and the waiter was friendly and helpful. We decided to go for the "menu gastronomique", a fixed price with three dishes for 23 euro each. A bit pricey for the quanitity, though. The quantities served weren't what we are used to, most Chinese restaurants here in Canada and in the UK...Read More

Member Rating 3 out of 5 on January 20, 2008

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Le Mondrian

Restaurant

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Located on the corner of Rue de Seine and Boul. St. Germain beneath the Welcome Hotel, Le Mondrian is a nice little brasserie with indoor and of course, outdoor seating. We had dinner here one evening in a dimly lit corner. The bar at night is dark, with candles and coloured lights gleaming off the wooden tables. The wait staff was congenial and helpful and we had a very pleasant meal.They had several main dishes for 13 euro so we ordered onion soup, a main and had Berthillon ice cream for dessert. I had a fantastic piece of salmon with rice and salad and my partner had burger and chips. we each had two scoops of ice cream but ordered four different flavours to share. The flavours were ver...Read More

Member Rating 3 out of 5 on January 20, 2008

Le Mondrian
148, bd St-Germain
Paris, France
01 46 33 98 35

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Espace Dali

Attraction | "Espace Dali Montmartre"

Quote:

My fiance loves Salvadore Dali so on our afternoon wandering through Montmarte, the small Espace Dali was definitely on our list of things to do. It's just around the corner from Place du Tertre where the artists are. It's a little pricey at 10 euros each and isn’t covered by the museum pass but we hadn’t been to very many museums so we didn’t mind. The exhibit had a lot of his drawings and prints, and sculptures as well with explanations which was quite helpful since Dali is a bit incomprehensive. There was also a temporary exhibition where famous fashion designers were asked to produce a creation that is inspired by Dali so that was interesting too. The space was just a large open room w...Read More

Member Rating 3 out of 5 on January 20, 2008

Espace Dali
11 Rue Poulbot
Paris 75018
+33 (1) 42 64 40 10

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Musée du Louvre

Attraction

Quote:

The Musee du Louvre started off it's life as a Royal residence in the late 12th century but the building we see today was constructed in phases over several hundred years, from about mid 16th century onward. The two long sides are the Denon and Richelieu wings. The Richelieu wing has actually been a museum open to the public since the Revolution and the Louvre itself had ceased to be the main Royal residence about 100 years before that when Louis XIV decamped to Versailles and took the government with him. Today it's probably one of the most visited places in Paris and it houses thousands of artworks, artifacts, sculpture, Egyptian and many more types of art, many of which are some of the ...Read More

The Musee du Louvre started off it's life as a Royal residence in the late 12th century but the building we see today was constructed in phases over several hundred years, from about mid 16th century onward. The two long sides are the Denon and Richelieu wings. The Richelieu wing has actually been a museum open to the public since the Revolution and the Louvre itself had ceased to be the main Royal residence about 100 years before that when Louis XIV decamped to Versailles and took the government with him.

Today it's probably one of the most visited places in Paris and it houses thousands of artworks, artifacts, sculpture, Egyptian and many more types of art, many of which are some of the most famous pieces of art in the world including Leonardo DaVinci's Mona Lisa, the armless Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory. If you plan to go to the Louvre, it's probably best not to attempt to do the whole museum in one visit. There's just too much to see and it covers 650,000 square feet which is a fair old distance to walk! It's far better to take it in small bites of a couple of hours a day over a few days if there is quite a lot that you want to see. Alternatively, you can use a guide book or join a "highlights" tour through the museum. Probably a good idea to choose what you want to see most and make your way there via the map you can pick up at the entrance. The only caveat I would warn here is that the map seemed to me to be a bit confusing because one floor may be more than one level and things didn't seem to be found where they ought to be according to the map.

The museum is closed on Tuesdays for maintenance, and open all other days from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday and Friday it is open later until 10 p.m. and I would recommend going on one of the evening openings. It will be far less crowded if you head in about 6 p.m. (Check the website for the various holiday days of the year that the museum is also closed or closes early) There are other entrances besides the main pyramid entrance but the main entrance is the only one for the late openings. The other entrances are: Porte de Lions which is on the Seine side of the building past the Arch du Carroussel towards the Tuileries Gardens; 99 Rue Rivoli on the other wing of the building; Through the Arc du Carrousel in the courtyard. You can also get to the entrance hall from the Metro Palais-Royal-Musée stop. To get to the museum, many busses, including the city hop on hop off tour busses stop in the courtyard, the Metro as mentioned, stops there and the Batobus has a stop at the Louvre as well. There are disabled entrances and there are lifts and ramps in much of the building.

current fees are 9 euro for an adult which is a full day pass so you can leave and return. If you go to the evening opening after 6 p.m. it's a little cheaper. This does not include access to temporary exhibitions but you can either purchase tickets for those separately or as a combination ticket (13 euros or 11 evenings). There are discounts for seniors and children. You can also buy tickets online and if you have bought the Paris museum pass, you can get in without queuing and that pass would be the thing to have if you plan to return over several days to take more in.

Visiting the major pieces, the Venus de Milo and the Mona Lisa, will likely be crowded any time you go but less so in the evening. We went on a Wednesday night and there might have been a half dozen people looking at the Venus. The Mona Lisa is in a room that has some paintings on the walls but is itself on a free standing wall in the middle of the room with a roped off viewing area. I found it quite off putting, to tell the truth. Very "tourist trap" feeling. The painting is also behind glass so if taking a photo of it, take it at an angle or without a flash which you can do because the room is well lit.

After your visit, you can walk over to see the Arc du Carroussel and walk down towards Place de la Concorde through the Tuileries gardens. There used to be a palace at this end as well but it is long gone. There is still a nice little museum there, well worth a look and far less exhausting than the Louvre itself. The gardens have lots of sculpure to look at and manicured gardens which are very nice in the summer. In Concorde, there is a large observation wheel. The "pods" are free hanging and very low seated but the views are really quite good. They are open to the wind and weather, mind you, so if you've got a problem with heights or if it's windy, it might not be a good idea. There's a canopy over them so you do get shielded from the rain a little bit unless it's windy.

Louvre's English website Read Less

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on May 20, 2008

Musée du Louvre
99, rue de Rivoli
Paris, France 75001
+33 (1) 40 20 51 51

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Seine Boat Tours / Dinner Cruise

Attraction | "Cruising the Seine at Night"

Quote:

Most of the other reviews that I've read here describe experiences cruising the Seine in the daylight hours aside from one traveler who thought their night cruise was magic. I concur! We spent a very long day tramping around Montmartre and then tried to see a bit of the Louvre which was too much for my poor feet. After a rest, though, I decided I could manage to get to the boat dock at the Pont Neuf nearby for an evening cruise. We missed one boat and waited 40 minutes for the next as they aren't as frequent at night, and definitely not in November when we were there. The company is Vedettes du Pont Neuf. They charge 12 euros for an adult bu...Read More

Most of the other reviews that I've read here describe experiences cruising the Seine in the daylight hours aside from one traveler who thought their night cruise was magic. I concur! We spent a very long day tramping around Montmartre and then tried to see a bit of the Louvre which was too much for my poor feet. After a rest, though, I decided I could manage to get to the boat dock at the Pont Neuf nearby for an evening cruise. We missed one boat and waited 40 minutes for the next as they aren't as frequent at night, and definitely not in November when we were there.

The company is Vedettes du Pont Neuf. They charge 12 euros for an adult but you can get a really good deal on the website, a 5 euro discount so it's well worth it. Keep in mind, though, that booking on the website, the tickets are non-refundable. Also keep in mind, at least in our experience, they do not take credit cards (unless you buy off the website, of course). Make sure you have cash!

We had a live guide, not a taped commentary though the guide had an eastern European accent that made it a bit difficult to understand over the speakers. It was still really good, though, and there were lots of explanations about the various bridges and buildings that you glide past. You get to see the Eiffel tower lit up and sparkling on the hour, too which was absolutely beautiful.

When we boarded the boat, a photographer came around and took everyone's photo. These were printed and available when you returned if you wanted to purchase this souvenir of your cruise. We didn't bother.

There are lots of companies that do tours, both with or without a dinner involved. I think most of them have very little difference in the price charged but do check the websites for discounts. We went off season so the boat was nearly empty. It was a bit too chilly to stay up top so after the boat reached the Eiffel, we went down into the main inside area under the glass roof where it was warm!

I have to say, though it's a very touristy thing to do, it's well worth the cost which we felt was pretty reasonable. Read Less

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on April 22, 2009

Seine Boat Tours / Dinner Cruise
Seine River
Paris, France

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Paris 2007: Day one

Story/Tip

Quote:

We boarded the Air France plane in Manchester on time but then had to sit there for about an hour and 20 minutes because of fog in Charles De Gaulle in Paris! Aggh! You don’t really think of Paris as having fog issues do you? We made up some time and landed about 50 minutes later than scheduled so not too bad. Flight itself was fine but we only got a small cupcake and a coffee/tea on board. We were pretty hungry! All the flight attendants were men too, a bit unusual in my experience.The airport didn’t seem to be as busy as I thought it would be. Perhaps it was just that terminal, (2F) I don’t know. It’s a huge airport though, but very modern and lots of windows and light where we were. Bec...Read More

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Paris 2007: Day 2 - Peekpocket!

Story/Tip

Louvre from across the Seine Photo - Paris, France

Quote:

The skies are grey again today. Sometimes it looked like it might clear but it did rain a little at one point and sprinkle a bit now and then. The strikes are still on so we’re not quite sure how far afield we will get. We went back to Rue de Buci for breakfast, sitting outside in Café Conti which had an enclosed outdoor eating area. There were smokers inside so we stayed out. The café had old 70s and 80s music playing. We had omelets which were excellent though the waiter didn’t quite understand that I wanted milk with my tea. He only brought more hot water when I asked so I had it black. We walked down to the river again and found a statue of Voltaire which had a rather nasty...Read More

The skies are grey again today. Sometimes it looked like it might clear but it did rain a little at one point and sprinkle a bit now and then. The strikes are still on so we’re not quite sure how far afield we will get.

We went back to Rue de Buci for breakfast, sitting outside in Café Conti which had an enclosed outdoor eating area. There were smokers inside so we stayed out. The café had old 70s and 80s music playing. We had omelets which were excellent though the waiter didn’t quite understand that I wanted milk with my tea. He only brought more hot water when I asked so I had it black.

We walked down to the river again and found a statue of Voltaire which had a rather nasty expression on his face. I wonder if he was a bit of a plonker? We crossed over and had a look around the exterior of the Louvre which is closed on Tuesdays for maintenance. We saw a little round robot that was running up and down the glass pyramid cleaning the glass which was pretty cool. The Louvre was originally a palace and has been added to many times over the years. It’s a massive building with three wings. The courtyard now has a large glass pyramid that is the entrance hall underneath though you can also get to the entrance from the Louvre/Rivoli metro station. There are two smaller pyramids as well as some reflecting pools adding a bit of modernity to the old structure.

We went towards the Arc du Caroussel and the start of the Tuilleries Gardens. As we were walking out, a woman came up behind us and picked something up off the ground and showed it to us. It appeared to be a man’s heavy gold wedding ring. I wasn’t sure of everything she said but she wanted to give it to us for good luck. It was strange but we eventually took it and she left but then returned and seemed to say that it wasn’t good luck for us but for her. And then… asked for the price of a coffee. Ah HA! She seemed insistent though not aggressive and I thought I would give her a bit of change at least. I had less than one euro in coins and gave her that. You should have seen her face fall. She asked for 4 or 5 Euro (which, to be fair, is closer to the cost of a coffee in Paris) but I said that was all I had so she did go away. Serves her right, I thought. Stay tuned, though, that’s not the end of the story.

We walked over to the Musee D’Orsay which used to be a train station but is now a gallery and has some excellent Impressionist paintings. We had to queue to get through a security scan and then found the right line up to buy a museum pass but just as we got to the desk we noticed a sign that said the Impressionist galleries were closed because of the strike. That didn’t quite make sense but we found out later that there was also a general strike on today. Well, we didn’t want to bother paying for a pass or a ticket because it was the Impressionists that we particularly wanted to see. Any other museum we went to, we might as well just pay the entrance fee because it wouldn’t be worth getting a pass for at that point.

Where to next? Coffee, I think. Across the way from the museum was a café so that will do. Yes, more expensive, I suppose, because of it’s location but we just wanted to sit somewhere dry and warm. While we were waiting for our drinks, I took out that gold ring to have another look at it. Just as I realized it wasn’t in fact gold, but probably brass, the waiter came up and said something that ended in "pick pocket". My eyebrows raised and I said "Really??? A woman gave this to us…" He said "Oui, pickpocket!" Ah… Well it made more sense now then. And later on in the same day, someone approached Graham and tried to give him a gold ring but he said sorry, mate, I’ve already got one! This must be a common scam. I suppose when they’re bent down to "pick it up" they’re checking out where your wallet is and the state of your handbags and things. We didn’t lose anything to light fingers other than the few cents I gave the first woman so I guess we were pretty lucky!

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Paris 2007: Day 2 - Shopping and the Eiffel Tower

Story/Tip

Arc de Triomphe at nightfall Photo - Paris, France

Quote:

We walked a bit from the cafe by Musee D'Orsay to a metro stop, thinking we might be able to get over to the Musee Carnavalet but we waited about 20 minutes and no train seemed inclined to come and there were only a few people waiting. On the way out, I noticed the video screen that said the line we were waiting for was "non assuré " , which basically means service is spotty at best. We finally decided to hike to Place de la Concorde and maybe get the metro there. Well that was the plan anyway. We got to the square across the river, which was the location of the guillotine during the French Revolution. There are fountains and statues, an obelisk and the "Grande Roule", an observation whee...Read More

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Paris 2007: Day 3 - A sunny day finally!

Story/Tip

Winged Victory of Samothrace Photo - Paris, France

Quote:

We slept late today. I guess we were later to bed than I realized. We woke up about 10 this morning and between the two of us getting ready, we weren’t out of the room until about 11! The sun was shining, the sky was blue and we'd slept away half the day! At least it’s nice to see the sun! We had a quick breakfast at a café on Rue St. Germain and headed to where we could catch a bus that would go all the way into Montmartre. Turns out there was a bus stop just feet from the intersection but we'd gone across the road and up a few blocks to find a stop. Just as well though, we passed a post office so I managed to get stamps for a few postcards. The bus came after a few minutes. Still free o...Read More

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IgoUgo

Paris Journals

November in Paris 2007

Le Poulbot

La Muraille de Jade

Le Mondrian

Espace Dali

Musée du Louvre

Seine Boat Tours / Dinner Cruise

Paris 2007: Day one

Paris 2007: Day 2 - Peekpocket!

Paris 2007: Day 2 - Shopping and the Eiffel Tower

Paris 2007: Day 3 - A sunny day finally!

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