Tell me about Paris.

http://www.oscarheymanweddingring.com/icons/baguette.jpg

Thanks, Felicity!

Paris is an expensive city but it really can be done on the cheap (especially if you're me--I spent several months there just wandering around, which is a great thing to do). Go see lots of movies, though this will cost you some cash. But man, do they ever have the greatest theatres there. Check out the Champo, the Action cinemas on rue des ecoles (all the Actions are great, actually), the Quartier Latin. At the Forum des Images in Les Halles you can pay 30FF (now probably 7 Euros or so) and spend the day watching movies in their theatre or in the Videothèque, where a robot fetches your movie for you.

Eating out is pricey but pretty great no matter where you go. I'd suggest La Fourmi aillèe, a very charming place in the Quartier Latin (which you should try not to spend all your time in), or Bistro Beaubourg, or a million other places.

Walk around Montmartre at night; it's fairly easy to avoid the small tourist strip and there's nothing like it. Check out the Goutte d'or neighbourhood at the foot of the hill (metro Barbès-Rochechouart)—slowly gentrifying but a fascinating immigrant district. Good cous-cous and mint tea. Or walk around Belleville.

I'll try and think of more great things to do. You can also email me if you like.

If it's sunny, go and sit on a chair in Jardin Du Luxembourg and read the newspaper.

My favourite bar is in the Bastille. It is called The "Bar Sans Nom". It is like an opium den. But with cocktails. Many people also like the Batofar.

Skip the Champs Elysees if you're stuck for time.

Definitely make time for the catacombs, unless you're claustrophobic. Also watch, as they have erratic opening hours.

>>> A l'est de la guerre : documentaire de Ruth Beckermann (autrichien,
1997).

>>> A propos de Nice : documentaire de Jean Vigo (français, 1930).

>>> A Very Good City : court métrage de Mathias Woo .

>>> Adieu Jésus : court métrage de Paul Carpita (français, 1970).

>>> Adieu, plancher des vaches! : drame de Otar Iosseliani (français,
1999).

>>> Adolphe : drame de Benoît Jacquot (français, 2002).

>>> Afrique, je te plumerai : documentaire de Jean-Marie Teno
(franco-camerounais, 1992).

>>> Ah! Si j'étais riche : comédie de Michel Munz (français, 2002).

>>> Aime ton père : drame de Jacob Berger (français, 2002).

>>> Alexandre Nevski : drame de S. M. Eisenstein (soviétique, 1938).

>>> Ali G : comédie de Mark Mylod (britannique, 2002).

>>> Alice : fantastique de Jan Svankmajer (Tchéco-helvético-germano-brita,
1988).

>>> All or Nothing : drame de Mike Leigh (britannique, 2002).

>>> Amadeus, version intégrale : drame de Milos Forman (américain, 1984).

>>> Amanda : musical de Mark Sandrich (américain, 1938).

>>> Amen. : drame de Constantin Costa-Gavras (français, 2001).

>>> American Dream n 3 : court métrage de Moira Tierney (américain, 2002).

>>> Amours chiennes : drame de Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (mexicain,
2000).

>>> Anastasia : dessins animé de Don Bluth (américain, 1997).

>>> Andreï Roublev : drame de Andreï Tarkovski (soviétique, 1966).

>>> Angel Beach : court métrage de Scott Stark (américain, 2001).

>>> Angela : drame de Roberta Torre (italien, 2001).

>>> Animal Connection : documentaire de Radovan Tadic (français, 1996).

>>> Anita n'en fait qu'à sa tête : drame de Ventura Pons (espagnol, 2002).

>>> Annie Hall : drame de Woody Allen (américain, 1977).

>>> Apollo 13 : aventure de Ron Howard (américain, 1994).

>>> Apparitions : fantastique de Tom Shadyac (américain, 2002).

>>> Arac Attack : épouvante, horreur de Ellory Elkayem (américain, 2002).

>>> Aram : drame de Robert Kéchichian (français, 2002).

>>> Ararat : drame de Atom Egoyan (canadien, 2002).

>>> Arbres : documentaire de Sophie Bruneau (français, 2001).

>>> Arsenic et vieilles dentelles : comédie de Frank Capra (américain,
1944).

>>> Asa : court métrage de Carole Arcega (français, 2002).

>>> Ascenseur pour l'échafaud : policier de Louis Malle (français, 1957).

>>> Ashes to Ashes : court métrage de David Mallet .

>>> Assurance sur la mort : policier de Billy Wilder (américain, 1944).

>>> Astérix et Obélix: mission Cléopâtre : comédie de Alain Chabat
(français, 2001).

>>> Atanarjuat, la légende de l'homme rapide : drame de Zacharias Kunuk
(canadien, 2000).

>>> Au bonheur des dames : drame de Julien Duvivier (français, 1929).

>>> Au bord du lac : court métrage de Patrick Bokanowski (français, 1994).

>>> Au commencement Ryoanji : court métrage de Sarkis .

>>> Au commencement, la tête touchée : court métrage de Sarkis (français,
2).

>>> Au commencement, le rouge : court métrage de Sarkis (français, 2002).

>>> Au fil du temps : drame de Wim Wenders (allemand, 1975).

>>> Au hasard, Balthazar : drame de Robert Bresson (français, 1966).

>>> Au pays des sourds : documentaire .

>>> Au plus près du paradis : comédie de Tonie Marshall (français, 2002).

>>> Augustin roi du kung-fu : drame de Anne Fontaine (français, 1998).

>>> Aujourd'hui madame : court métrage de César Vayssie (français, 2001).

>>> Austin Powers dans Goldmember : comédie de Jay Roach (américain, 2002).

>>> Autoportrait : court métrage de F. Lemaître (français, 2002).

>>> Autoportrait en 3'23 : court métrage de Cécilia Rodriguez (français,
2002).

>>> Aux frontières : documentaire .

>>> Avalon : fantastique de Mamoru Oshii (franco-japonais, 2001).

>>> Aventurer : court métrage .

>>> Aventures fantastiques : fantastique de Karel Zeman (tchécoslovaque,
1958).

>>> Avoir vingt ans à Kaboul : documentaire .

>>> L'Accordéon : drame de Igor Savtchenko (soviétique, 1934).

>>> L'Adversaire : drame de Nicole Garcia (français, 2002).

>>> L'Affaire Cicéron : policier de Jospeh L. Mankiewicz (américain, 1952).

>>> L'Afghanistan : documentaire .

>>> L'Age de glace : dessins animé de Chris Wedge (américain, 2002).

>>> L'Alliance : fantastique de Christian de Chalonge (français, 1970).

>>> L'ami de mon ami : divers de Saïd Ahmed .

>>> L'Ange : fantastique de Patrick Bokanowski (français, 1982).

>>> L'Anguille : drame de Shohei Imamura (japonais, 1997).

>>> L'Année du dragon : policier de Michael Cimino (américain, 1985).

>>> L'Argent de poche : drame de François Truffaut (français, 1975).

>>> L'assassin habite au 21 : policier de Henri-Georges Clouzot (français,
1942).

>>> L'Auberge espagnole : drame de Cédric Klapisch (français, 2002).

>>> L'Aventure de Mme Muir : comédie de J. L. Mankiewicz (américain, 1947).

>>> L'Avis des animaux : court métrage de Nick Park (britannique, 1990).

>>> Les Aventures de Tigrou et de Winnie l'ourson : dessins animé de Jun
Falkenstein (américain, 2000).

Anyone? Nordicskillz?

damn cross

I've found it fairly cheap to stay in, but it depends how fussy you are - there are cheap hotels, but they aren't very nice.

More later on shops and sights. I didn't find anything France Gall related that I couldn't find at home, really. (But if you do find anything, let me know!!)

Sorry nits, don't mean to rain on your parade, and if I find time I'll tell you what I think of Paris. The answer I'd've posted to the Momus thread.

A big must is to go to the 13th arrondisement, Clichy, home of really cheap Vietnamese food, Asian strip malls, weird Le Corb-style architecture, and the durian corral at Tang Freres ('git along you stinky, stinky little dogies'). All the good galleries, like Gallerie Jennifer Flay, are all in the same road just by Place D'Italie in the northernmost part of the 13th. Go also to Emmanuel Perrotin - it's the Nara/Murakami outlet that started everything going.

Nick and I really like one Viet restaurant, Hawai, just off Rue Caillaux in the 13th. Brought Ed there last summer and he liked it too. It's all about the NEMS (Vietnamese spring rolls). If you can't get in there, any of the surrounding restaurants will do - and one of my favourite things to do is to go to the traiteur asiatique and get crystal rolls and weird green cake.

Le Fourmi on rue des Martyrs (9/18th border) is a great bar to drink in (and where I meet Toog for bouze when passing through) and it's still fun to go into Collette for a good look at what the design whore of the moment is wearing/reading/listening to etc.

And one last thing: PALAIS. DE. TOKYO. Just go there.

(Correction to Martin: it would be more accurate to say that I am accompanying Nory, not the other way around.)

The thing to do in Paris is to wander aimlessly around looking at all the pretty buildings, stopping periodically for coffee and treats. If you feel you have to go to museums, the Musee Cluny has a nice collection of european mediaeval stuff, and isn't terrifyingly big like the Musee D'Orsay.

I recommend highly going to the Pere Lachaise Cemetary. Not merely was it the sight of the Paris Commune's last stand, it has every famous French person ever buried in it, and is a really beautiful and pleasant place.

Don't forget to eat loads of crepes!

I am very annoyed I missed this when I visited the cemetery.

Galerie Samagra
52 rue Jacob - 75006 Paris

A l'enseigne des Oudin
58, rue Quincampoix - 75004

Michèle Broutta
25 Quai Voltaire - 75007

Eterso
37 rue Raynouard
Galerie Serge Laurent
25 rue Jean Mermoz 75008

Centre Pompidou
Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris

Art I'd See.
There is a good ethnographic musuem and a v. good picasso one.

Nabisco, I don’t really get this joke, and i feel a bit uncomfortable with it.

LA DEFENSE

The scariest lift, the best view.

(ha ha, I just found my pics in the drawer above my underwear drawer. maybe i should store them IN my underwear drawer.)

(I have no scanner, boo)

nitsuh, this is all very near the Musee d'Orsay

Yes! My friends and I were always given directions before we asked or even knew that we wanted them. We were just ambling about in the Montparnasse Cemetery when a worker drove by and said "Are you looking for Baudelaire's grave? It's over there." And the staff at the Musee d'Art et d'Histoire du Judaisme were superfriendly and sweet when checking my student ID and I totally forgot how to say 24 in French.

I also got a free sticker from the cashier at a souvenir stand, although that wasn't as much "friendly" as it was "hitting on".

Fifty-Five Tips for Planning an Affordable Trip to Paris on $80 a Day
Frommer's Best Bets for Budget Meals in Paris

At the Louvre, don't leave until you see Napoleon's apartments and the halls of large-format paintings. Regarding the former, stand by the entrance for a while and just listen to people's immediate reactions as they walk in. It's amazing.

I loved the people watching. Cafes, yummy pastries and espressos... Going to the movies was fun too. We went to the REX.

Palais de Tokyo stays open really late, maybe till 10pm each night and is fantastic.

The street Suzy mentioned in the 13th arrondissement with all the hep art galleries is called Rue Louise Weiss. Definately worth a visit on a Saturday. Go on the new metro line between Madeleine and Bibliotheque (get off at Bibliotheque, head north.)

The Batofar has cool concerts. Made in Boat, the team who used to curate it, also do cool stuff. Check their sites here.

One of the best places is Mains d'Oeuvre, in St Ouen (which also has a good Sunday market). Mains D'Oeuvre is a huge culture warehouse. My friend o.blaat is playing there on the 15th May. DO NOT MISS!

If you get there in time, the Buro events listed below will be supercool, especially the Bernard Parmegiani:

Kill yr Idols |
____ 7 - 8 mai 2003, Paris
_

featuring : LUC FERRARI * WIRE *RUSSELL HASWELL * OVAL/SO
* MIKE PARADINAS / MU-ZIQ * SLUTA LETA * CHICKS ON SPEED *
DJ ASSAULT * PETER REHBERG * DMX KREW * BERNARD PARMEGIANI *

means :
****************************************************

MERCREDI 7 MAI 2003 : 20h00 / 13 euros

WIRE
+ SLUTA LETA

@ TRABENDO : 211 Av Jean Jaurs 75019 Paris
Metro : Porte de Pantin
****************************************************
****************************************************

JEUDI 8 MAI 2003 : 15hOO (PRCISES!) / 10 euros

LUC FERRARI
+ OVAL / SO (M. Popp + Mrs Eriko)
+ PETER REHBERG plays BERNARD PARMEGIANI

@ THEATRE DEJAZET : 41 Bld du Temple 75003 PARIS
Metro : Republique
***************************************************
***************************************************

JEUDI 8 MAI 2003 : 22h3O / 8 euros

RUSSELL HASWELL (hdj)
+ MIKE PARADINAS / MU-ZIQ (live)
+ CHICKS ON SPEED (dj/vj)
+ DJ ASSAULT (dj)
+ DMX KREW (live)

@ GLOBO : 8 bld de Strasbourg 7501O Paris
Metro : Strasbourg St-Denis
****************************************************

bro a le plaisir de vous convier fter ses 5 ans
autour d 'une joyeuse programmation, au-del des modes,
des coles, et des phmres affres de la tendance.
D 'abord en convoquant quelques pres fondateurs,
ensuite quelques unes des figures les plus essentielles
et les plus singulires de la musique
lectronique contemporaine.
Au programme de ce triple plateau en forme
de parcours initiatique, on dcouvrira ou redcouvrira
les langages essentiels des lectrons libres
de la musique concrte LUC FERRARI et BERNARD PARMEGIANI,
du toujours central et minent OVAL (pour la premire
fois en duo), ou des toujours rageurs WIRE.
On plongera aussi pour la premire fois la dcouverte
de SLUTA LETA pour leur premier live,
on s 'immergera dans les grooves salvateurs du prcurseur
de l 'electro DMX KREW, des very arty grrrls
trs-copies-jamais-gales CHICKS ON SPEED
ou du dieu de la booty bass, DJ ASSAULT (unknown pleasures,
baby). On finira par se faire matraquer par la drum & bass
dfonce de MU-ZIQ, on retrouvera aussi des habitus,
des vidences, PITA, RUSSELL HASWELL..., sans qui la fte
n 'aurait pas t vraiment la mme...

bref que des CLASSICS !
be there or be square

Prventes :
BIMBO TOWER : 5 passage Saint Antoine 75011 PARIS (M BASTILLE)
WAVE : 36 rue Keller 75011 PARIS (M BASTILLE)

Pour les personnes de province ou tranger,
un principe de rservations est mis en place ici :
resa@b-u-r-o.com
(Prciser quelle(s) soire(s), les places seront
alors retirer l 'entre du concert)

toutes les infos ici :
http://www.b-u-r-o.com
buro@noos.fr
______________________

French on strike.
French rode bikes
cause Metro was down,
frowny frown frown,
for we walked.
Yeah, walked.

My legs hurt now, plus it nixed London day-trip plans. Stupid pension-reform scheme.

Pompidou:
yeah, c'est cool!
Contemporary art.
Dinner in Montmartre
with well-known historian.
Yeah, historian.

Corner by our place
a battle, a race:
Le Pen posters each night
defaced by first light.
Like special Spy vs. Spy teams were running around the city, one slapping them up and the other immediately taping "NASI" over them.
Sometimes in the space of, like, an hour and a half.
Yeah.
Also I bought books
at Shakespeare & Company
because the UK Penguin Classic editions are so nice-looking
and a Francoise Hardy set
at Joseph Gibert
so now I have no money.
Please send some, honey.

But didn't Metro strike please you? Isn't it Situationalist? Are you not entertained?

HIX NIX GALLIX SITUATIONIX

Which Hardy set? Is that Messages personnels?

I'm told where I might be working is not too close to the Metro, but someone I know has left their bike in Paris, potentially for my use. So I might avoid the leg pains Nabisco mentions.

Where were you staying?

Also, Amateurist, in Paris "not so close to the Metro" probably means four blocks.

Le Beau Cancer
de Brigitte Fontaine

O ma folie mon beau bateau
O my folly my beautiful boat
Mène-moi à Valparaiso
Take me to Valparaiso
J'en ai assez du parc Monceau (8e arrondissement)
I've had enough of the Park Monceau
De ses bassins de ses jets d'eau
Of its ponds of its jets of water
De ses enfants exaspérés
Of its exasperating children
Trainés dans la suie de l'été
Streaked with the soot of summer
Et se noyer pour se noyer
And to drown to drown
La mer serait moins étriquée.
The sea would be less cramped.

O ma folie mon beau flacon
O my folly my beautiful bottle
Donne-moi d'étranges poisons
Give me strange poisons
J'en ai assez du Postillon
I've had enough of the Postillon
Et des litrons et des graillons
And __________ and __________
Et des serveuses de café
And its barmaids
Qui attendent d'être mangées
Who wait to be eaten.
Et s'assommer pour s'assommer
And _________________________
Il vaut mieux être foudroyée.
It would be better to be ___________.

O ma folie ma belle fièvre
O my folly my beautiful fever
Mène-moi sur d'affreuses grèves
Lead me to horrible shores
J'en ai assez des rues de Sèvres
I've had enough of the streets of Sèvres
Où les vieillards
Where the elderly
Doucement crèvent ('Crever' is used to describe a punctured tire!)
Softly die
Dans l'indifférence et l'ennui
In indifference and boredom
Comm' si ça n'était pas leur vie
As if it were not their own life
Et se flinguer pour se flinguer
And __________________________
J'aime mieux les pestiférés.
I prefer ______________________.

O ma folie mon beau cancer
O my folly my beautiful cancer
Recouvre moi de fleurs de fer
Cover me with flowers of iron
De l'atelier de Lucifer
From the studio of Lucifer
J'en ai assez des infirmières
I've had enough of nurses
De cette fondation Curie
From this Foundation Curie
Qui est le monde d'aujourd'hui
Which is the world of today
Et être cuit pour être cuit
And to be burned to be burned
Il vaut mieux que ce soit joli.
It would be better if it were pretty.

for a lot going on Belleville is pretty wild, at least during the day. lot of foot-traffic, market action. the waiters act totally different than they would in the Marais; they're even more surly and distracted if that's possible. there's a roughness to them, and to the neighborhood. jews and muslims and chinese people all live jumbled together over there. the Parc, as hopkin stim can testify, affords a wide view of the city which while not the jaw-dropper of Montmartre, isn't swarming with fairground hordes and drippy ice cream cones. it also doesn't have a stunning chapel at the top. it's got a suspicious-looking empty museum and some drug dealers.

there's a Canal everyone brings baguettes and cheese and melons and wine to, and you find a spare spot along the bank for a picnic. i can't remeber the name of the Canal. Canal St. Martin possibly.

the peniches (houseboats) along the Seine are pretty cool too, starting about where the Mitterand Library is (is that right). you can just walk along; some of them are bars, some of them aren't.

And __________ and __________
Et des serveuses de café
And its barmaids
Qui attendent d'être mangées
Who wait to be eaten.
Et s'assommer pour s'assommer
(
Principal Translations:
assommer (KO) v knock out
assommer (ennuyer) v bore

Additional Translations:
assommer (moralement) v crush
assommer (physiquement) v stun
assommer (sac de sable) v sandbag

Compound Forms
s'assommer (frapper, abrutir) v stun
They list s’assommer as only meaning to stun onself, but it could also mean to knock onself out
And _________________________
Il vaut mieux être foudroyée.
It would be better to be struck by lightening___________.
O ma folie ma belle fièvre
O my folly my beautiful fever
Mène-moi sur d'affreuses grèves
Lead me to horrible shores
J'en ai assez des rues de Sèvres
I've had enough of the streets of Sèvres
(this could also mean the plural of Rue de Sèvres, a street in the 6th)
Où les vieillards
Where the elderly
Doucement crèvent ('Crever' is used to describe a punctured tire!)
Softly (gently or slowly) die
Dans l'indifférence et l'ennui
In indifference and boredom
Comm' si ça n'était pas leur vie
As if it were not their own life
Et se flinguer pour se flinguer
And to Shoot oneself to shoot onself__________________________
J'aime mieux les pestiférés.
I prefer (pestiféré,e
(adjectif et nom commun)
Atteint de la peste. Plague victims or plague carriers)______________________.
O ma folie mon beau cancer
O my folly my beautiful cancer
Recouvre moi de fleurs de fer
Cover me with flowers of iron
De l'atelier de Lucifer
From the studio of Lucifer
J'en ai assez des infirmières
I've had enough of nurses
De cette fondation Curie
From this Foundation Curie
Qui est le monde d'aujourd'hui
Which is the world of today
Et être cuit pour être cuit
And to be burned to be burned (cooked, surely)
Il vaut mieux que ce soit joli.
It would be better if it were pretty.

LITRON, subst. masc.
A. MÉTROL. Ancienne mesure de capacité égale au seizième du boisseau (0,813 litre). P. méton., vx. Contenu de cette mesure. Litron de châtaignes, de farine, de pois, de sel (Ac.). Tu vendras au marché ces six litrons de fèves choisies à la grande mesure (NODIER, Trésor Fèves, 1833, p. 36).
B. Pop. Litre. En partic. Litre de vin.
1. Bouteille contenant un litre. Litron de rouge. La lueur d'une chandelle plantée dans le goulot d'un litron vide (CENDRARS, Lotiss. ciel, 1949, p. 216). La maîtresse de céans va quérir deux verres, une carafe de flotte et un litron de grenadine (QUENEAU, Zazie, 1959, p. 187).
2. P. méton. Contenu d'un litre. Absol. Litre de vin. Alors papa, ça l'avait rendu triste et il s'était mis à picoler. Qu'est-ce qu'il descendait comme litrons (QUENEAU, Zazie, 1959p. 69).

Surely the poem refers to the liter bottles of wine.

You can wander around for days at Marché aux Puces .. flea market and antique stalls. Watch your wallet.

This is the first website I found with info - I'm sure there's a better one:
http://www.reidsguides.com/eff_paris_mk.html

Saint-Ouen is fun too.

The very tenuous connection to Batignolles is that the Parc Monceau is in the 8e arrondissement, which is just below the 17e.

http://www.ucad.fr/musee_camondo/graphics/cour-facade.jpg

The back of this place looks out over the Parc Monceau.

Verlaine and Rimbaud. Their names are indissolubly linked: the great Bohemian double-act, the existentialist Laurel and Hardy. Their story, says Wallace Fowlie, 'is one of the literal epics of our age, in which the myth of the modern artist is related'. The 'epic' is a saga of obsession and destruction, of nervous breakdown and alcoholic burn-out, but it begins as a kind of black comedy of manners. Verlaine goes to meet Rimbaud at the Gare de Strasbourg; goes to the wrong platform and misses him; comes back to the well-appointed house in Montmartre where he is living with his in-laws; and there finds him, in the pompous little drawing-room with its Louis-Philippe furniture, very ill-at-ease, under the increasingly tight-lipped scrutiny of Verlaine's young wife, Mathilde, and his mother-in-law, the snobbish and affected Madame Mauté de Fleurville. [...]

It's the Angry Young Man scenario: the boy genius from 'up North' bursting into the appalled suburban drawing-room. He is red-faced from the sun, the road, and from embarrassment. His hands -- people always noticed his hands -- are big, and have dirt under the nails.

Dinner is served: the tinkling of cutlery, the polite questions, the supercilious gaze of Madame Mauté. The musician Charles de Sivry is there, Verlaine's brother-in-law. Also Charles Cros, who will later preserve from oblivion the unique copy of the Album Zutique. One imagines the sardonic glances among the friends, the sophisticates. What has poor Paul let himself in for this time?

Rimbaud scoffs his food, pushes his plate aside, rests his elbows on the table and lights a pipe. The thick blue smoke of the cheap tobacco called 'scaferlati' eddies impolitely among the diners. The only thing he said that Verlaine could afterwards remember was -- eyeing Madame's little lap-dog, Gatineau, busy at their feet picking up scraps -- 'Les chiens, ce sont des libéraux'. Dogs are liberals. (Meaning no one is quite sure what. That dogs are free to do what they please? That in this impeccably bourgeois household even the dog votes Liberal?)

And Verlaine is enchanted [...]

« Le drapeau va au paysage immonde, et notre patois étouffe le tambour.
« Aux centres nous alimenterons la plus cynique prostitution. Nous massacrerons les révoltes logiques.
« Aux pays poivrés et détrempés ! - au service des plus monstrueuses exploitations industrielles ou militaires.
« Au revoir ici, n'importe où. Conscrits du bon vouloir, nous aurons la philosophie féroce ; ignorants pour la science, roués pour le confort ; la crevaison pour le monde qui va. C'est la vraie marche. En avant, route ! »

merci!

Otherwise.. uh, picking a cool neighborhood and wandering around is always fun. 10e Canal St-Martin.. parts of the 13e.. or the 18e.. I haven't been there in a couple years so am not super au courant.

Collective guilt?

Heading to Paris on Monday for four days with my girlfriend.

She's under the impression that she wants to stay in St Germain, which she thinks is in either arrondissements 4, 5 or 6, but I've seen it down as being in 7. No hotel booked yet, but I've seen a couple of good ones.

As for touristy stuff, any ideas? Obviously one day is going to be Eiffel / Louvre / Pompidou (need one of these - http://www.parismuseumpass.com/en/pass_tarif.php ) Probably also a
wander around Batignolles and the west side of Montmartre - not in the same day as Eiffel etc, probably. I'm planning a trip to place de Madeleine to visit Hediard and Fauchon. I've been told good things about rue Cler for foody markety things. And place des Vosges (the oldest square in Paris, apparently) I've been told is romantic, blergh. Myself, I'm going to the catacombs, which I've heard are somewhere around Mont
Parnasse metro station.

The Batofar mentioned upthread is the club on the boat, right? Anyone know if they have anything on during the week as their website only lists Saturdays...

Also, the phrase "Est-il permis de fumer?" is going to be my friend.

St Germain

I assume you mean Saint Germin des Prés, the heart of which is in the 6th.

The day you're near La Madeleine would be a good one to go up to Montmartre. I used to live on Rue Damrémont near the Rue Ordener but I would suggest a stroll around Abbesses/Lepic. You could take the metro, direction Porte de la Chapelle and get off at Abbesses or if you walked over to the Avenue de l'Opéra, you could take the 95 bus up.

boulevard saint-germain runs through the 5th/6th/7th, around from the eastern point of ile-saint-louis to place de la concorde, but, yeah, saint-germain, as an area, is probably saint-germain-des-pres

catacombs near denfert-rocherau metro (also montparnasse cemetery)

hope you get some good weather

the saint-germain-des-pres is a church, btw, off of boulevard saint-germain, opposite les deux magots and other cafes where everyone hung out

nice area w/ odeon/jardin du luxembourg/pantheon and stuff but the metro should get you anywhere you like quickly and easily

"Est-il permis de fumer?"

I can't imagine where this phrase would be necessary in Paris, except maybe a hospital or a warehouse full of unsealed oxygen tanks.

(This revival is nice, by the way -- I'd forgotten how enjoyable parts of this trip were. I really did go on a mission to eat as many cute animals as I could -- after a couple days of ducks, rabbits, and lamb, I was on the verge of walking into restaurants and saying "give me the most fluffy, adorable little thing you've killed." I think all I really managed beyond that was a pigeon, though.)

I can't imagine where this phrase would be necessary in Paris, except maybe a hospital or a warehouse full of unsealed oxygen tanks.

"Est-il permis de fumer?" has become necessary as it is now forbidden to smoke in most public places. In 2008 it will be forbidden to smoke in cafés, clubs, restaurants ... just about everywhere.

I flat out like the sound of my own voice most of the time, but sometimes listening back to shit where my guard's down, like interview tapes and that, I get a bit creeped out by how ineffectual I sound.

It's not so bad though.

I tell you what, carry on talking about Paris and I'll cut and paste this.

Just booked this hotel - http://www.villa-saintgermain.com - the place I wanted was booked out (damn you, French Open) and I really didn't fancy the £30 a night place on rue Poulet.

£408 for the three nights. That's £100 per star.

Thanks for the advice, people. I get in on the Eurostar at around 4pm and it should take about 25 minutes on the Metro to get to the hotel, I reckon.

I went to Paris last september. Awesomest: Musee d'Orsay (so awesome), catacombs, centre pompidou. worst (easily): montmartre (fucking shithole full of dodgy cunts)

The primary reason we went was for our friend's wedding in Marseille. I'd never been before and I really loved it a lot. We had a lot of fun, there were a lot of things to do and the people are "apparently" more friendly to tourists these days. Also Aix is a short train trip.

Timhotel Montmartre is always good, and has rooms with a view onto lovely cobbled square.

I got back from Paris 2 weeks ago after 10 days. Pompidou Center was by FAR the best, and I had a ton of fun going to a show at the Rex Club at 5 Boulevard Poissonnière (Metro stop Bonne-Nouvelle on 8/9).

I just realized that tomorrow I'm going to Paris (for the first time) for a week. I also realized I have planned/researched absolutely nothing (except that I know that I'm just barely missing pretty much every good museum show).

So in a last minute attempt to not be lost all week, let me ask about:

Record Stores? (incl. electronic ones)
English language bookstores?
Medium-Smaller scale modern/contemporary art galleries?
Interesting neighbourhoods?
And anything else, really?

(I really don't know why I don't get excited for trips anymore*, given that this is my first time in COntinental Europe, but that's a topic for another thread).

*It's probably the meds talking.

I don't know that much, but the Marais is an interesting neighborhood, and I like Belleville too, which isn't far away.

The most famous English-language bookstore is probably Shakespeare & Co. which is just a few steps away from Notre Dame.

Bookstores

Village Voice on Rue Princesse is quite good.

WHSmith also good, possibly cheaper since it's English. Not far from the Louvre if you're doing that.

no trip to paris is complete without a visit to WHSmith

Interesting neighborhoods:

Depends on what you find interesting. Unless you're looking for the gratin, I'd tend to avoid the 8th, 14th, and 16th; they're expensive yet often dull.

It's become somehwat of a cliché since Amélie but I'm a big fan of Abbesses especially if you want a downhill walking tour. If you want to start out really touristy, do a quick tour of Montmartre then take the Rue Lepic down to the rue des Abbesses and wander that for awhile. South and beneath you is the louche yet touristy Pigalle and if you keep heading south, you're on your way to the Grandes Surfaces, the famous old giant shopping palaces like Printemps, which is kind of fun for ppl watching.

Place d'Italie in the 13th is kind of fun, too - there are some good Vietnamese and Chinese places. (I haven't been in ages, but the Chinese places I remember up in Belleville didn't impress me back in the day - maybe they've improved.)

I highly recommend a visit to the Marché d'Aligré in the 12th, a covered old market w/lovely, cheap produce and foodstuffs not far from the Bastille. Of course there are markets (not really farmers' markets but outdoors) all over Paris, each one on its day from 'hood to 'hood but this is an excellent one w/o being too high-falutin'.

I have been in love w/Paris for so long that I can basically wander almost anywhere and find something fun or interesting. It's likely to be awfully cold so that may make walking a little harder, though. Don't necessarily shun tourist Paris, either. The Opera, The Rue de Rivoli, the Place Vendome, Saint-Germain all have amazing sights and stores and walks. I kind of loathe the Champs-Elysées, though and the Latin Quarter is mostly rubbish.

the eastern part of the city is more interesting and vibrant in general. belleville and ménilmontant and the area around the canal st martin feel more like a real city than a museum-of-museums, but I guess if you've never been there there's a pretty long list of touristy stuff to get through. the promenade plantée is a nice walk.

I can't really speak to small galleries, alas.

I'm just barely missing pretty much every good museum show

Man, there are so many museums, it doesn't really matter. Amongst my favorites ('cause they're smaller and less likely to be insane than the Louvre and the Orsay); the Hotel de Biron (the Rodin museum), the Jacquemart-André (it's kind of a Parisian Frick), the Nissim de Camondo (classic 18th cent. French dedicated by a Jewish banker to his son who died in WWI whose sister and her family were later deported to Auschwitz), and the Picasso, of course.

- riding on velibs (the city bikeshare program) is more fun than doing basically anything else in paris and it's pretty cheap

the eastern part of the city is more interesting and vibrant in general

This is a little unfair and also a little true. I think it misrepresents the situation if you only look current renaissance/bo-bo gentrification of the 20th. The peripheries tend to be more working class and more ethnically cosmoplitan than the rich center. I've lived in the 18th, north of Montmartre and it felt almost like a village. I've had friends not only in Belleville and Ménilmontant but also in places like Alésia and the 13th. As I said above I avoid the extreme western parts of the Paris unless I have some specific errand or rendez-vous. The 8th is over-run, the 16th is respectably somnolent and the 14th is mostly dull

Also, if you can avoid the Metro and take a bus, you'll obv see a lot more of Paris. Just avoid the rush hours.

It's pretty fun to go to the Canal St Martin for a pique-nique lunch.

Though possibly not in February...

I think the neighborhood differences are often overstated in gentrified 21st-cent paris. obv they're interesting for historical reasons but if you're really looking at the city today, it's like 'where only white people live' vs. 'the rest of the city'. sorta like manhattan.

Colette (www.colette.fr) has a small music collection, the fnacs used to be quite good for electronic CDs.

I want to find Syncrophone Records next time I'm in Paris (looks like the have a good house selection).

My memory of French record stores is that CDs are ridiculously expensive, like 18 euros apiece.

http://www.syncrophone.fr/

In the 11th

Google street view doesn't seem to indicate that there's any retail there, though.

Not far from Cafe de Industrie, though, one my faves.

Er, Café de l'Industrie, that is

I've been there! Haha it is TOTALLY your kind of place.

It's hard to imagine not being able to smoke there.

It's kind of hard for me to imagine not being able to smoke anywhere in Paris.

going back to Paris myself in a couple of weeks, & then again in a few months

my fav place in the city is the Jardin du Luxembourg, & the area immediately around it too: macarons from Pierre Hermé just around the corner, maybe a stop at Gérard Mulot a bit away, or Sadaharu Aoki the other way a bit; then back to the Jardin to sit & watch & think

wandering between there & the Jardin des Plantes is a dream life, in the footsteps of Descartes & Leibniz (my cultural referents are probably a bit off for most but Paris is many)

I've lived just off Abbesses before too & that's a nice area to spend time (will be there in a few weeks); I can't skip the fougasse at Grenier à Pain.

I'm just talking about food because, well, I would. A stop at the Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, just outside the Panthéon, is on my dream path & is a lovely place to sit & think.

The Senate Gardens are lovely, though perhaps not recently when it was freezing. Au Petit Suisse is my favorite cafe right there when the buvette in the Luco is closed.

I was at Au Petit Suisse in December! I had a lovely salade campagne, or something along those lines.

best parks in paris are buttes chaumont and parc de la villette, none of that bougie stuff

Buttes Chaumont is a good time, up at the gazebo, on the suicide bridge

I love Villette because it's so big that weird things are always going on; plus taking the raft thing across the canal is bizarre. We had passes to the museum which meant we were there all the time when we lived there a couple years ago.

Montmartre's not been mentioned yet iirc? The cobble stones, the great views over the city from the Sacre Coeur. If it's your first time in Paris, you have to see Montmartre imho.

Damn I miss France

I miss the row boats in Bois de Boulogne

Staying in Belleville for 10 days soon. anyone know where to score old film books/ magazines? And what's hoppin' in the 20th as far as bars/ cafes/ eateries on a budget?