one week in Paris... suggestions...

[monochromejrnl]

my wife and I will be in Paris for a week in late February-early March this year ... we don't have any specific plans other than to walk the city and take it all in... she's encouraging me to make it a 'photo' trip so i'm planning to take my M6TTL, M3, VC21/4, 35'cron and Canon 50/1.5 LTM - and a ton of film...

I'm looking for suggestions for districts to visit, markets to see, 'must visit' cafes, museums, galleries and bars... we're planning to rent an apartment for the week and avoid tourist traps...

suggestions welcome and thanks in advance...

ken

 

[neelin]

If you go in only one museum, do Musée d'Orsay
Rodin Museum is closeby & recommended (exterior architecture of Quai Branley Museum is good, closeby also)

Of course you'll drop by the Louvre & Centre Pompidou (modern art & recommended). The arabic museum is just about 100% stainless steel (floor/walls/ceiling/stairs, everything!), and has automated motorized diaphram "apertures" on the wall/windows to control light (see my shots below), really cool.

La Defense area is the modern office towers area.
City of Sciences & Industry is the largest science museum in the EU.

some of my humble Paris shots http://www.pbase.com/neelin/paris_2007
http://www.pbase.com/neelin/france_2005

Make sure you hit City Hall, Pompideu, St. Denis area in the evening, it hops!
I liked the quality of the restaurants in Montparnasse-Bievenue area much better than the St. Denis area.


We found a great small really quiet apartment for rent at http://www.homelidays.com/ apartment # 110066 It was great, there are two shots of it in the 2007 photos. A really good bakery about 10 buildings down across the street, for morning croissants. (there is a computer, but it has a french keyboard, not like canada french, it is not DVORAK, we ended up WIFI with our laptop to their internet). A short walk from Les Halles, where the train from the airport drops you down-town. [no I don't get a commission]

Have fun, it's a GREAT place to spend time and don't forget to try all the pastries. Sleep when you get back!

robert
http://neelin.ca/blog/?2008-01-22-y43-musee_carnavaletparis_fr.html
http://neelin.ca/blog/?2008-02-03-rqw-Rue_de_SteinkerqueParis.html
http://neelin.ca/blog/?2008-01-26-qbd-la_cite_des_sciences_et_de_lIndustrieparis_fr.html

 

[SolaresLarrave]

Walk along the Seine in the area near L'ile de la citè, and photograph the Bouquinistes (book sellers).

Go to the famous plaza in front of the Hotel de Ville (Doisneau, remember?).

Take a walk by the Jewish quarter: Le Marais. It's a nice slice of life.

Place des Vosges in the afternoon. The home of Victor Hugo is nearby... and the area around it is gorgeous.

Tuileries is vastly overrated to me... The problem with the Notre Dame is that it's flooded with tourists. However, try to see the Medici fountain in the famous Parisian Luxembourg gardens. Those chairs are famous, and the people who sit there are one of a kind.

Near the Quartier Latin (on the Left Bank) is the Rue Moffetard. In that neck of the woods is a fountain, and if you walk down Mouffetard until its end you will have seen a gorgeous area that probably looks like Les Halles looked before they razed it.

Rue Vaugirard... the longest street in Paris.

The Saint Sulpice neighborhood... presumably, Catherine Deneuve used to live near the church. Nice concerts at St Julien Le Pauvre... Check out the former red-light district in St Denis (a walk on the wild side). I did walk down that area, and got asked some things in French. I chose to ignore the ladies.

Sacre Coeur in Montmartre... that's two for the price of one. You should go twice: once during the day, and later in the early evening (bring fast film for the steps that lead to the top of the hill where Sacre Coeur is). Don't forget Le Lapin Agile... or whatever is left of it: it was a cabaret where painters used to congregate and drink and pay with sketches for their liquour.

Oh, man... so many things to see, so little time... Enjoy, but travel light: one camera at a time, and don't forget your wide-angles! 🙂 If I were you, I'd take my M6TTL with a 35, and the M3 with a 50mm. Load the first with color film and the second with B&W. That's all you really will need.

I'm LIKE THIS with envy...

 

[SolaresLarrave]

In case you wonder... Hemingway used to live at the Rue Mouffetard when he went to Paris the first time, with his first wife Hadley. My wife and I were grad students back then, learning French for the heck of it, and also checking out some of the spots the illustrious Oak Parkian touched in his life.

Don't forget the Shakespeare Bookstore either! 🙂 And have a cup of coffee for me at the cafe nearby too! 🙂

 

[plummerl]

Walk along the Seine in the area near L'ile de la citè, and photograph the Bouquinistes (book sellers).

Go to the famous plaza in front of the Hotel de Ville (Doisneau, remember?).

Take a walk by the Jewish quarter: Le Marais. It's a nice slice of life.

...
...
...Oh, man... so many things to see, so little time... Enjoy, but travel light: one camera at a time, and don't forget your wide-angles! 🙂 If I were you, I'd take my M6TTL with a 35, and the M3 with a 50mm. Load the first with color film and the second with B&W. That's all you really will need.

I'm LIKE THIS with envy...

What he said! 😀

 

[jky]

...a pair of comfortable walking shoes that'll endure the miles you put on them...

Every corner you turn there's something to capture on film...
Have a great time!

ps: go to fodors.com (Europe forum) & type in "Paris apartment" in the search for reviews on Paris apartment rental agencies... also try vrbo.com.
My wife and I rented an apartment in the Latin Quarter (7-8 minutes door to door to the Notre Dame) for around $1100 CAD (7 night stay). Some can be had for <$1000....

 

[SolaresLarrave]

That's why a trip to the Shakespeare Bookstore is in order...

Although, now that I think about it... he really should book a place now and not wait.

I wish I could...

 

[sirius]

Be kind to yourself and take a light simple camera kit. Plan to walk lots. It's a city made for foot and subway travel. I liked the Musée Maillol---it's small, intimate, elegant, and full of beautiful sculptures, photos, paintings and drawings.

 

[nobbylon]

Just a gentle reminder to never let your bags out of your sight. My friend took his girl there for a break last year and on the first day sat at a cafe, got up to leave and bag had gone! they never noticed anything suspicious! camera, passport, cards and cash gone. French police where good though as where the Canadian Embassy.
Don't forget to buy a bag of nice pastries early one day and take your wife for breakfast up La tour d' Eiffel. Unforgettable! Have a great trip.http://bkwine.com/wine_pictures/mixed/eiffel_tower/index.htm

 

[jayjee]

well i just got back from my european backpack mini trip. i was only in paris a couple of days and ended up sticking to the touristy spots but had a good time...

by the bastille area you can find lots of skateboarders and people trying out hovercrafts. if you like the doors, check out pere lachaise cemetery and visit the lizard king himself. and oscar wilde while you're at it. it's a great spot to get lost in.

here are a few pictures i took
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jayjee/sets/72157603868662357/

 

[Michiel Fokkema]

Don't forget the flea market in st.Quentin.

Cheers,

Michiel Fokkema

 

[ravnish]

i suggest leaving your hotel room walking getting totally lost stopping at cafes bars on the way and take a cab back...paris is different to everyone..
for a change dont go to single museum...the entire city is one museum..
my 2 pence!!

 

[monochromejrnl]

WOW - RFF is truly a wealth of information... thanks for all the suggestions... i'm keeping notes...

keep it coming... we'll sleep when our vacation is over 😉

 

[adonf]

presumably, Catherine Deneuve used to live near the church.

She still does 😉 (she's not even unlisted in the phone book 😀 )

Be kind to yourself and take a light simple camera kit

Good advice 😉


If you want to see were the "real" Parisians are, do not hesitate to wander around the north east : Place de la république/Rue du Faubourg du Temple/Rue Oberkampf/Canal Saint Martin (great pictures to be taken)/Ménilmontant... A maybe less polished view of Paris, but a much more poetic one than tourists traps IMHO.
Parc des Buttes Chaumont & Parc de Belleville are also much, much cuter places than the most famous parks (Tuileries, Luxembourg...)

Depending on the kind of music you like, you'll also find great places to see concerts : l'Olympia (remember Piaf ?), l'Elysee Montmartre, La Cigale, le Divan du Monde, le Sunset/Sunside, le Grand Rex... The list is endless, and most of those places have a long, long history. There is so much more to Paris than Lido & Crazy Horse 😱
Check out http://www.eng.cityvox.fr/guide_paris/CityHome to see what might suit your taste.

Finally, be sure to check out photography exhibitions : there are dozens of them all the time. Currently, do not miss the Saul Leiter exhibition at the HCB foundation, near Montparnasse : http://www.henricartierbresson.org/index_en.htm
You also have to go to the MEP (Maison Européenne de la Photographie) : http://www.mep-fr.org/us/default_test_ok.htm
(rather cheap considering there are several exhibitions. Current exhibitions of Shoji Ueda and Edouard Boubat are surely not to miss). You may also want to go to the Hotel de Ville (town hall) to see the "Paris in Colors" exhibition (much too much people in the week ends, but it must be ok the rest of the time)

Oh, and your wife will want to go to Les Galleries Lafayette or Le Printemps department stores, near the Opera. Chose the former : awesome end of the XIXth century architecture (hint : pictures to be taken 😀 ), and you can climb on the roof for a nice view.

Beware that we Parisians are kinda rude, but generally harmless 😀

 

[iridium7777]

awesome thread. going to paris tomorrow and was going to post the same thing.


one question though, there is a famous paris? photograph in b&w of a long staircase going down, taken at night? where was it taken?

 

[SolaresLarrave]

I think you have in mind Brassai's photo of the steps in Montmartre, a bit away from Sacre Coeur.

At least, that's one photograph that I can identify... I saw it AFTER I visited Paris. Years after... 🙂

 

[leica M2 fan]

This is an awesome thread, so glad I caught it. Wonderful advice and suggestions, will be there in early May. Thanks for this great information.

 

[iridium7777]

yes, the steps of montmarte! would you know their address or streets crossings?

I think you have in mind Brassai's photo of the steps in Montmartre, a bit away from Sacre Coeur.

At least, that's one photograph that I can identify... I saw it AFTER I visited Paris. Years after... 🙂

 

[mjflory]

the entire city is one museum..

I couldn't agree more! My wife and I just spent a couple of weeks there and I enjoyed just photographing the streetscapes and the beautiful details of buildings. (We enjoyed the museums enormously, though. The Louvre is vast and there are many parts that are not as jammed as the room with the Mona Lisa.)

By the way, the color print processing I had done in Paris was quite a bit more expensive than the usual drugstore processing I use here, but the results were very, very nice. I used "Photo Service" and it was a treat to have a white-gloved employee insist on showing me the prints before I paid to be sure I was satisfied with the results. If you have more than a few rolls done it may pay to get their discount card. I think it was about 20E -- I'm not sure about that -- but I then saved 15% on the processing and supplies. The high cost of development in part reflected the practice of including a 36-exposure roll of film with the prints. (I chose Fuji Reala 100.)

Have a wonderful trip. The "rudeness" of the Parisians is greatly exaggerated, even by the Parisians! 😉

 

[photophorous]

Musee d'Orsay was by far my favorite museum. I liked the outside of the Louvre better than the inside...but that's just me.

Montmartre is nice. Lots of street artists, some of which don't want their photos taken.

Take a walk along the Seine, through Ile St. Louis, and around Notre Dame.

I also recommend taking a train over to Bruges, if you have the opportunity. And once you're there, you might as well skip on over to Amsterdam.