Some Shots from Paris

[GoneOffShore]

22. Lovely photos - I wish I was in Paris.

Here's a couple of suggestions:

Check out the Hotel de Ville on the rue de Rivoli near BHV department store in the Marais - They often have free exhibits either in the side facing BHV or in the hall around the side.

There is also the Maison Européenne de La Photographie on the rue de Fourcy - leads down to the Pont Marie in the Marais.

I believe that the Helmut Newton exhibit is still on at the Grand Palais. You can buy tickets online - your hotel can print them out for you.

If you have an American Express card you can make use of the Vélib bicycles - buy a day ticket (good for 24 hours) for each member of your party, and you can use those gray bikes for 30 minutes at a time without paying extra - be careful to check the bike before you take it though, because if it's damaged you have to walk it to the next station (often bikes with the seats turned backwards are broken). Bicycle lanes all over Paris and it's a great way to avoid the Metro and the buses.

The Cartier-Bresson institute is down in Montparnasse and often has great exhibits - And there's a great little pizza restaurant called Pizza Enzo on rue Daguerre - but call for to reserve, even at lunch. Not expensive, but really good pizza and pasta.

If you haven't been to the Jardin du Luxembourg, try to get there. Some wonderful photographic opps and you can watch the Parisians and the tourists at play. There's a boules court over past the children's playground and some urban bee hives.

Place des Vosges is excellent and the Victor Hugo apartment is a free attraction as is the Carnavalet Museum in the Marais - it's the museum of the City of Paris.
Two great places for inexpensive food - Breizh - Breton crepes restaurant in the Marais and L'Estaminet in the Marché Enfant Rouge.

On the Isle St Louis at rue Jean de Bellay and Quai de Bourbon there is a fun bistro - Alsace food, the oldest espresso machine in Paris, and some of the older and more professional waiters. We go there all the time. Lots of Parisians as well and we've met some interesting people. Plus there's usually a jazz band or accordionist or mime performing on the bridge leading over to the Shoah memorial and Notre Dame. The Isle itself is always crowded. Look out for the original Berthillion ice cream shop which is just past the rue des Deux Ponts on the rue Saint-Louis en ile. Great flavors, quirky hours.

Looks like you're having a great time.