Paris Master Thread

[MC]

is that a bus? Boat?

L'open tour has both but with a short stopover like yours I would skip the Seine tour and just go with the bus to hit the major spots.

[penina]

is that a bus? Boat?

there is also a hop on hop off boat called the Batobus which stops at 8 different attractions

[penina]

We had a 7 hour stopover in Paris. We took a train directly from the airport to Notre dame which is about a 15 minute walk to La Marais which is the Jewish quarter. The train ride is about 40 minutes long. It was raining slightly but we still saw huge lines by the falafel store and people were standing under their umbrellas eating falafel on the street. We walked around and then ate lunch at Pizman.  The food was really great. We saw the shul which is next door to the pizza shop which is about 100 years old.
We then walked back to Notre Dame and took an hour boat ride around Paris. It was narrated and we got very close to the Eiffel Towers and we saw other famous sights from the water.

[Emkay]

We had a 7 hour stopover in Paris. We took a train directly from the airport to Notre dame which is about a 15 minute walk to La Marais which is the Jewish quarter. The train ride is about 40 minutes long. It was raining slightly but we still saw huge lines by the falafel store and people were standing under their umbrellas eating falafel on the street. We walked around and then ate lunch at Pizman.  The food was really great. We saw the shul which is next door to the pizza shop which is about 100 years old.
We then walked back to Notre Dame and took an hour boat ride around Paris. It was narrated and we got very close to the Eiffel Towers and we saw other famous sights from the water.

how much was the boat ride?

[penina]

about 16 euro

[moish]

I grow up and u still live in france and i never had any problems with anyone

The only problem that i had was when i was in the state

count your blessings

It seems to me the situation in France is slightly comparable to that in Israel. Bad things can and do happen but most people aren't walking around scared.

not walking around with constant fear, but cognizant of the fact theres no future for jews there. france will be the first western european muslim country. its inevitable.

some data

http://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-News/Poll-Three-out-of-four-French-Jews-mull-leaving-France-352779

more than 22% thinking about leaving due to antisemitism

[SRM]

Has anyone stayed in the Westin Paris Vendome? I know from the wiki that it's not as luxurious as the PHP but is it still very nice, are the rooms very small? How is it for Shabbos? TIA

[HeshiF]

Quickie Paris Trip Report

Just in case this will do somebody some good, here is a quick report of a two+ day stopover in Paris.

Hotels:  We don't really do the points thing (yet), and we were looking for a really moderately priced hotel, so we chose the Hotel Aida Opera.  It's a clear three star, but it was clean, cozy, and comfortable, with a good location.  It was a bit more $150 per night, the room was reasonable size, and we'd do it again if we were looking for a hotel in that price range.  It's definitely not the Park Hyatt, though... not even close.

Breakfast: It was included in the room price, and was just fine.  Chocolate chip croissants, baguettes, cereals, juice, hard-boiled eggs, yogurt, cheese... nothing fancy or elegant, but it worked very effectively.

Restaurants: we figured that we'd try doing some kind of poultry in Kavod, since the meat there is not glatt.  We had previously had fois gras in France, so we ordered the fois gras platter and the duck.  Both were quite disappointing, but we liked the restaurant ambiance.  Overall, a definite disappointment for both of us.

We did our other dinner at the L'Inte Cafe in the 8th district (pasta, a decadent dessert, and ice cream), and we both loved it.  Ambiance and service was very good, too.

We did lunch at L'as du Falafel (falafel and french fries); it was delicious.  We did our second lunch at Il Palazzo La Fayette (pasta and potatoes w/cheese), and it was delicious, too.

Chocolate at Damayal (9th), pastries at Korcarz (4th) -- both very good.

Sightseeing:  Louvre (A+), Musee d'Orsay (A), Musee Rodin (ok), Eiffel Tower (A-; worthwhile to see lit up on the hour at night), arc de Triomphe & walk along Champs Elysées (A), Le Marais walk (A-)

Travel:  Mendy's taxi service to and from the airport was excellent.

The city overall?  Very walkable, easy to get around with the Metro, definitely a nice stop.  We both liked it a lot.

[rots5]

Quickie Paris Trip Report

Just in case this will do somebody some good, here is a quick report of a two+ day stopover in Paris.

Hotels:  We don't really do the points thing (yet), and we were looking for a really moderately priced hotel, so we chose the Hotel Aida Opera.  It's a clear three star, but it was clean, cozy, and comfortable, with a good location.  It was a bit more $150 per night, the room was reasonable size, and we'd do it again if we were looking for a hotel in that price range.  It's definitely not the Park Hyatt, though... not even close.

Breakfast: It was included in the room price, and was just fine.  Chocolate chip croissants, baguettes, cereals, juice, hard-boiled eggs, yogurt, cheese... nothing fancy or elegant, but it worked very effectively.

Restaurants: we figured that we'd try doing some kind of poultry in Kavod, since the meat there is not glatt.  We had previously had fois gras in France, so we ordered the fois gras platter and the duck.  Both were quite disappointing, but we liked the restaurant ambiance.  Overall, a definite disappointment for both of us.

We did our other dinner at the L'Inte Cafe in the 8th district (pasta, a decadent dessert, and ice cream), and we both loved it.  Ambiance and service was very good, too.

We did lunch at L'as du Falafel (falafel and french fries); it was delicious.  We did our second lunch at Il Palazzo La Fayette (pasta and potatoes w/cheese), and it was delicious, too.

Chocolate at Damayal (9th), pastries at Korcarz (4th) -- both very good.

Sightseeing:  Louvre (A+), Musee d'Orsay (A), Musee Rodin (ok), Eiffel Tower (A-; worthwhile to see lit up on the hour at night), arc de Triomphe & walk along Champs Elysées (A), Le Marais walk (A-)

Travel:  Mendy's taxi service to and from the airport was excellent.

The city overall?  Very walkable, easy to get around with the Metro, definitely a nice stop.  We both liked it a lot.

Great stuff!

[Dan]

How come you didn't try to buy nights at the PHP here: http://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=12209.1485

[HeshiF]

How come you didn't try to buy nights at the PHP here: http://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=12209.1485

I did briefly post a query in the Paris thread when I was making reservations, but got no response that was detailed enough for me to follow up on.  And the full thread you pointed me to is 100 pages long!

The Hotel Aida Opera was definitely three-star, but for all of the tiny amount of time we spent in our room, it was good.  Next time I do Paris, I'll look at the PHP again...

[gunit770]

Hello Everybody,
I am planning on spending 6 days over the July 4th weekend in paris and I decided that to better plan my trip I would have to create a map of the kosher restaurants of paris near the tourist sites and around my home base, the PHP of course.
The result is a a google map with kosher restaurants labeled. This map is intended for the glatt kosher eating (not necessarily lubavitch shechita) traveller within the touristy center of Paris.
I am looking for some critiquing of this map. Any info on what restaurants have glatt meat and which ones are not. Or just general reviews about the restaurants in terms of price and taste would also be appreciated. Or restaurants that are worth visiting that I am missing on the map.
https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=zxm2vpJWcu_s.kly2xLZWJomA
Let me know what you think!

[MC]

Cool! Make sure to add it to the wiki

[Ergel]

Nice. Maybe allow others to edit it so we can crowd source? Also maybe add open times for all restaurants? also add attractions (other than food). I have a map with attractions and shuls marked. I'll share it later and we can merge the two.

[Allune]

Hello Everybody,
I am planning on spending 6 days over the July 4th weekend in paris and I decided that to better plan my trip I would have to create a map of the kosher restaurants of paris near the tourist sites and around my home base, the PHP of course.
The result is a a google map with kosher restaurants labeled. This map is intended for the glatt kosher eating (not necessarily lubavitch shechita) traveller within the touristy center of Paris.
I am looking for some critiquing of this map. Any info on what restaurants have glatt meat and which ones are not. Or just general reviews about the restaurants in terms of price and taste would also be appreciated. Or restaurants that are worth visiting that I am missing on the map.
https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=zxm2vpJWcu_s.kly2xLZWJomA
Let me know what you think!

Ever hear of Meat-In?
http://www.123cacher.com/en/kosher_restaurant/meatin.html

[gunit770]

Nice. Maybe allow others to edit it so we can crowd source? Also maybe add open times for all restaurants? also add attractions (other than food). I have a map with attractions and shuls marked. I'll share it later and we can merge the two.

I'm not sure thats a great idea. The map with just the food already is quite busy and I didn't want to add attractions for fear that it would become confusing and crowded, and anyway google does a pretty good job of letting you know when you are near one of the big sites. Shuls, however would be useful because that they are not typically marked on the google map.
I think it would be helpful to add opening times for the restaurants. Some of which I couldn't find online.
Opening it up to crowd sourcing is a bit of a problem since there seems to be wide variation in who eats what in paris and I don't want all of the "kosher" places to be on the map. Does everybody else also want this to be open source?

[mendoul]

All the sushi west closed down

[nathin]

Hi,

I'm being in Paris for 3 days in August and want to plan my trip.

Any ideas on attractions, transportation, minyan, restaurants...

Thanks in advance!

[Feivish]

Hi,

I'm being in Paris for 3 days in August and want to plan my trip.

Any ideas on attractions, transportation, minyan, restaurants...

Thanks in advance!

See the Trip Reports in the wiki.

[Allune]

Ever hear of Meat-In?
http://www.123cacher.com/en/kosher_restaurant/meatin.html

Bump