Making good use of my French skills :-P

[Rick Munroe]

Derek and I are planning a trip to Paris in the spring. This will be my second time there (the first was with a client; we stayed at the Paris Ritz for 10 days & he treated me very well, but I couldn't appreciate it without Derek there). We know what (and whom :9 ) we want to see but not where we want to stay. Any suggestions? The areas to choose on priceline.com for 4 or 5 star hotels are:

 

[ul][li]Arc de Triomphe - Champs Elysees,

[li]Bastille - Bercy,

[li]Chaillot Quarter - Auteuil,

[li]Eiffel Tower Quarter - Invalides,

[li]Grenelle - Vaugirard,

[li]La Defense,

[li]Montmartre - Republique,

[li]Montparnasse,

[li]Opera Quarter - Tuileries Quarter - Les Halles, and

[li]St Germain - Latin Quarter - Jardin des Plantes.[/ul]

 

Also, last time, my client had a limo taking me wherever I wanted to go; I don't think we'll have that luxury on this trip. ;( Any advice on tours or transportation (aside from the metro)?

 

 

Thanks in advance. I mean merci.

[Godiva]

When you go...please be sure to stop by the tunnel..leave a box of chocolates and say a prayer to "Englands Rose" for me;(

 

Ps.......find out also if we are French Kissing the right way over here:P

[ad rian]

This has come up before. I recommend Isle St. Louis. I am not sure where that fits on your list. Other than that, you want to be in Le Marais. As for hotels, my favorites now are the Plaza Athenee and the Georges V in you can pay the freight. They are both close to the Champs and the Tour Eiffel, and really acesible Metro lines.

 

>[ul][li]Arc de Triomphe - Champs Elysees,

>[li]Bastille - Bercy,

>[li]Chaillot Quarter - Auteuil,

>[li]Eiffel Tower Quarter - Invalides,

>[li]Grenelle - Vaugirard,

>[li]La Defense,

>[li]Montmartre - Republique,

>[li]Montparnasse,

>[li]Opera Quarter - Tuileries Quarter - Les Halles, and

>[li]St Germain - Latin Quarter - Jardin des Plantes.[/ul]

[topcat]

It's a personal choice, but I prefer St Germain.

 

We recently stayed at the Hotel Bel Ami (see their website). It's a smart, modern boutique hotel (designed by Grace Leo-Andrieu who did the Meurice and Montalambert). It has free internet access from 2 computers in the lounge area but, despite the name, no East European bellboys alas.

 

The hotel is in a quiet street and about 60yards from the Deux Magots cafe. It's easy to walk to good restaurants, shops, museums and the Metro has several stations very close by.

[Guest tcd31]

I always stay in the Marais (the Parisian Chelsea, so you'd feel right at home), but there aren't many (if any) 4 star hotels there. Most are small, 2 or 3 stars.

The important thing is to be in the center of things, or close to the center of things. Staying in La Defense, for instance, would be like being in Washington Heights or Inwood.

On the list you have, the Latin Quarter and the Opera area are the best bets.

 

As for transportation, the Metro is quick (you NEVER have to wait more than 5 minutes for a train); it's cleaner and quieter than our subways too. Buses are much more confusing than NYC, since they make all kinds of turns and route maps are hard to find--although you get to see a lot. But keep in mind that central Paris is smaller than Manhattan, so a lot of times you can walk from one place to another.

 

I'm sure you guys will have fun!

[Traveler North]

Have been to Paris four times and stayed at various hotels. The best one by far was off the Champs Elysee on Rue Francis I, Hotel Chateau de Frontenac. Old but elegant, nice rooms, balconies, great service. Short walk to Champs Elysee and can walk up to Arc or down toward the Louvre. Very centrally located. Also the Mercure Hotel chain has several. Best one was at base of Montmartre. Good location. Near subway which is great in Paris, also near restuarants.

 

Are many tours you can usually book through hotel. Make sure you take boat trip on Seine River around L'Isle de la Cite. And of course the sex clubs and the red light area is spectacular. VIVE LA FRANCE

[Casteran]

Salut Rick, je vous souhaite un bon voyage! Some hotels of choice, Novotel Les Halles - close to Pompidou (Beauborge) Centre not far from Marais and Les Halles (both areas with most gay life) or Hotel Lancaster close to Arc De Triomphe, or Hotel du Louvre - not far from Ritz and Opera, or St James et Albany Hotel - Marie Antoinette stayed there once - not far from Louvre.

Any hotel you chose remember that ratings by stars in Europe is very different from U.S. they normally start at 1 and go to 5 or 6 stars for the best, you get what you pay for - so if you want quaint for $75 a night you will get small, compact but normally clean and basic.

Metro is very easy to manage even without French skills, taxis are expensive and buses fight traffic like other cities. Tours - ensure to visit the country side - Mont St Michel is very interesting and an easy day trip you can do on your own. or Giverney to visit the home of Monet.

Encore un bon voyage et j'espere bon temps a Paris et les environs.

[Guest DickHo]

>I always stay in the Marais (the Parisian Chelsea, so you'd

>feel right at home), but there aren't many (if any) 4 star

>hotels there.

 

The Marais is the place to stay and the Pavillon de la Reine [http://www.pavillon-de-la-reine.com/] the hotel--it faces the Place des Voges. It doesn't get much better than this!

[Will]

One reason those hotels are inexpensive is because most of those neighborhoods are practically off the map. Paris is enormous, but it is a city that should be seen by foot as much as possible. I think you'd be happy in either St-Germain (the Left Bank or Latin Quarter) or the Marais. There are tons of hotels along the Boulevard St-German in all sizes, shapes, and price ranges. I myself wouldn't do priceline.com, though. Travelocity might be a better bet. But I'm sure you find your way around the internet better than I can. I'm going to Paris for a week in December and am staying in a hotel near St-Germain that is new to me. However, I can recommend without any reservation two hotels that are directly opposite the Pantheon, and therefore in the neighborhood of the Sorbonne. One is called, oddly enough, the Pantheon. The other -- and this is perfect for a couple of escorts -- is the Hotel des Grands Hommes, which can be translated as "The Hotel of Big Men." Zut alors et bon voyage!

[Rick Munroe]

Thanks, everybody! So, if I do use priceline, would Le Marais fall under "Opera Quarter - Tuileries Quarter - Les Halles"?

 

By the way, Derek is getting excited about this trip. He wants to meet this big ol' bottom Jean-Yves (or at least, see him bent over somewhere):

 

http://www.bigmuscle.com/profile.phtml?uid=2379

[Chuck50]

Hey Babe I was wit a hot French Boy last week in Vegas. Stef. See if he will go with you and you will defitnely have a good time HUGS Chuck

[Will]

Sort of. "Opera-Tuilleries-Les Halles" is an enormous area stretching west to east on the Right Bank. The Georges Pompidou Center stands on the site of what was Les Halles. The Marais begins across the Rue Beaubourg, which runs down the west flank of the Pompidou Center. Somebody's already posted here that there aren't a whole lot of hotels with full service in the Marais. It's a very old district and there just isn't room for large hotels. However, it is a great neighborhood and is the closest thing Paris has to a gay ghetto; it looks and feels sort of like the West Village in the sixties and seventies. So you'd probably be happy in a hotel closer to Les Halles than to the Opera.

 

Wherever you stay, by the way, don't fail to have dinner at LE DOS DE LA BALEINE ("The Whale's Back"), on the Rue des Blancs Manteaux in the Marais. It's a wonderful restaurant, reasonably priced, owned by a gay chef who speaks English, and who also has extremely good taste in waiters. The entire meal will be a feast for all the senses, I promise!

[Rick Munroe]

Chuck has a nice idea but I think we'd have a better time if we went with you, Will. You always know all the good stuff. Be prepared for further interrogations from me by email. Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving. Derek's in the car & I'm posting & he's gonna get mad. Gotta run! :+

[Guest Ant415]

St Germain and Latin Quarter are good areas, close to most things, and lots quick places to eat. Les Halles and Opera are good too. Centrally located, served by metro.

 

To improve your French, some quick lessons

 

encule-moi = fuck me ( want to actually get fucked)

va te faire foudre = fuck you ( as a general expelitive)

a-tu une bite grande? = do you have a big cock?

combien ca coute? = how much

[Rick Munroe]

>a-tu une bite grande? = do you have a big cock?

 

But I ain't no size queen, in any language!

[Guest tcd31]

>Thanks, everybody! So, if I do use priceline, would Le

>Marais fall under "Opera Quarter - Tuileries Quarter - Les

>Halles"?

>

 

Since it's between Les Halles and Bastille, I would try both those areas on priceline. Perhaps those in western half of the Marais (close to the Pompidou Ctr.) are in the Les Halles group and those in the eastern half of the Marais are in the Bastille grouping.

 

Bonne chance!