I'm planning on stopping in Paris for a few days with my OH on our way to the Dordogne. I'm pretty familiar with the city, having beeen there several times and seen all the traditionally popular sites. This time I'd like to stay somewhere different, perhaps more 'villagey' and just stay in that area for three or four days max.
I'm thinking of Montmartre or Marais? Do these two areas fit the bill? My only concerns with Montmartre are it's geography i.e. it's on a hill and I am restricted a little on mobility. And although I am drawn to the views and the quirky cafes/shops I wonder if a lot of the roads and areas around Montmartre are a little seedy? I don't want to be staying in a hotel or apartment down a dingy road just so we can pop up to the Sacre Coeur. We could stay somewhere else completely and just take a taxi or metro up there one night.
I might be completely wrong about this so am interested to hear from you guys?
The other option I thought of is the Marais? I have absolulely no idea what it's like other than what I've heard or read on the internet.
Do each of these areas have lovely areas to walk, markets etc?
I suppose I want the best of both worlds - somewhere colourful and lively to a certain extent but not somewhere where we're kept awake all night with revellers! Tall charge maybe!
How about the 5th near Rue Monge? If you stay here you will be a couple of blocks from a metro station, a couple of blocks from the 3x per week market, a block from Rue Moufftard, and in an area where I never heard anyone speaking english the week we were there in February. I know Moufftard is only one block away, but you would never know it, and its location means that there are any number of affordable resturants nearby. It was completely different from the area around Rue Cler, the Louvre, the 16th and the Ile de la Cite where we have stayed before. I highly recommend it to those who are looking for an affordable place to stay away from the tradiontal tourists locations while still seeming like you are in Paris.
Posts: 306 | Location: Waco, Texas USA | Registered: 31 January 2006
Montmartre does have a few seedy streets, none on the hill. They are concentrated in the downhill flat areas around … the Scacré Coeur!, in fact to the immmediate east and south of it. The hilly parts - by which I mean the Abbesses and Caulaincourt areas - are the most Montmartrois, with great markets, great shops, slapdash artist studios. They are unfortunately not that well suited for those with mobility problems, but they sure are "villagey". Rue Monge is a great idea, and so is the Marais, even though there is nothing villagey about it. Mollie, you may want to get a Paris guide and get more of an idea of what suits you best, since all the 20 arrondissements have "lovely areas to walk" and markets. Bon voyage.
Hi - I do have some guidebooks but there's nothing like insider info, especially when we're talking specifics such as a few streets left, right etc!
Americana - do you know Rue Lepic and round the cemetery in Montmartre? What is that area like? I clicked on the moving map with photos, where you can move along the streets and see all the buildings and it looks less than inspiring, tho' Rue Lepic itself looked kind of lively.
But, the Abbesses and Caulaincourt areas looked beautiful, so if I can find a hotel right up the top in those areas it will save my legs a bit. Walking up to the Sacre Coeur and Pl du Tertre looked tortuous!
Cheers for the info on Rue Monge as well. I'll bear that in mind.
Mollie, Rue Lepic is ace, for atmosphere and for food, but it is on a hill. The rue Lepic-Abbesses conjunction is especially nice and hip and happening. The uphill part of the Caulaincourt area is enchanting, but if you don't "do" climbs… The cemetery. I am very superstitious and don't "do" cemeteries. In addition, the Montmartre cemetery is near place de Clichy, sort of riffraffy. I keep a list of my friends' fave inexpensive Paris hotels. One is right on rue des Abbesses, about equidistant between the metro Abbesses and rue Lepic: Prima Lepic. http://www.hotel-prima-lepic.com/ The whole area was where Amélie was filmed. Avoid Place du Tertre like the plague. It is like SF's Fisherman's Wharf. I mentioned the guidebooks because - please excuse me - you mentioned you had been to Paris several times yet you have not been to the Marais. I therefore deduced that, well, you may need guidebooks on Paris. Bon voyage.
No, I've never been to the Marais, well no more than skirting the edges. I always centred my stay around St Germain and left bank.....or was busy looking at the main sites on the other side of town. And last time I visited (9 years ago now!) we were visiting a friend living in Paris and stayed in his residential neighbourhood. To be honest, when I was younger noone even mentioned the Marais and anyway I was young and travelled on a budget, so stayed wherever my pounds stretched to! I had no idea about areas, just enjoyed drinking and eating in a foreign city.
Yes, Montmartre may well be too hilly. I really want to stay there but it won't be much fun if I end up laid up because of overdoing it. It would be good to stay somewhere where my legs will go further!
I'll check out that hotel - it rings a bell. Otherwise we'll stay somewhere flatter and taxi it up to the SC one evening.
My sister and I stayed in the Marais last year and enjoyed it. Tons of little stores and restaurants; we were less than 2 blocks from rue Rivoli where the St Paul metro and good bus lines were - so it was easy to get around. I had wanted to get to the food market - Marche des Enfant Rouges on rue de Bretagne, but didn't make it there.
The Marais may be the better choice for a visitor just starting to explore neighborhoods outside St. Germain and as you've noted, it's level. But Montmartre does have more of a village feel.
Some other Paris "villages" to consider depending on one's spirit: Batignoles in the 17th arrondissement; the quays of Canal St. Martin northeast of Place de la Republique in the 10th; Saint-Blaise in the 20th; Butte aux Cailles in the 13th, though as the name implies it's uphill.
Thanks everyone. I looked into the Canal St Martin area and thought about that one seriously but read mixed reviews. So, we've decided on the Marais as we can always visit the canal from there. In a way I'm disappointed at not staying in Montmartre as if it's warm it will be lovely to walk at night and admire the views.....but the Marais looks gorgeous too so hardly a consolation prize and we can always go up to Montmartre for one evening anyway.
Great choice. I have never heard the Marais described as a consolation prize. Canal St Martin is a lovely area that has become quite hip. I remember some STs were dismayed to find the homeless living in tents there for a while. Those tents are gone now. Bon séjour.
How about the 20th? Gambetta? I stayed there for two weeks last August in a very inexpensive sublet that I found on craigslist. After staying for a month a few blocks from Bastille, and hanging about the Rue de Rivoli and Marais, i found that area behind Pere LaChaise to be very "working class Paris" and an entirely different tourist experience. I was across from the Place Gambetta, with lots of buses and a Metro station, and with my Carte Orange I could go everywhere.
