Walking to food

[Tom600]

Soon we will take our first trip to Paris. At the end of the journey we will be "put up" for a meeting near the Opera (in a swank hotel) and will be taken to a couple of well known restaurants. We are on our own for the week before the meeting and would like to stay in a neighborhood in easy walking distance from some more casual-friendly bistros and markets. (One of us has some difficulty walking very far.)

What neighborhood or cross streets would you suggest? Names of places (hotels and/or food places) would be great, but even a metro location would get us started. Simple is best.

[Felice]

I'm not so sure there is one neighborhood that will fill your request. If you stay in either the 6th, 5th you will be near lots of restaurants and a few good markets, but I can't say there are a concentration of outstanding ones in either. Some of the best restaurants can be found in out of the way neighborhoods that are far from the tourist hub. If you stay near the Odeon metro in the 6th (my hood, incidentally) you will find many good restaurants and have a small market on rue de Buci, with a butcher, fruit and vegetable stand, cheese shop, and Da Rosa, which has a variety of excellent products. There's also an amazing oil shop on rue Jacob, however that said, it's not really my favorite market and I will often go a bit further to either the Edgar Quinet market or the Marché biologique on Sundays on blvd Raspail. Both are still in the 6th, but a good 20-minute walk away. There are many hotels in this area as well, in all price ranges.

[Carlsbad]

You may want to consider the rue Clerc area in the 7th. I stayed in this area in June, and loved it. The rue Clerc market is very nice and there are quite a few good restaurants in the area. I don't think I would recommend the hotel we stayed in, but there are a number of small hotels around there. This website has several hotels in the area. http://www.parisby.com/accommod/arr_7_paris.htm

[Bux]

Ther more touristy the neighborhood the more densely packed are the restaurants. By the same token, the chances of getting a really bad one by chance rise. I just can't think of any particular neighborhood I'd pick on that particular qualification. A hotel near a metro station is a good idea in terms of sightseeing access, if you can manage stairs, otherwise you may be better off with buses. Bear in mind that some of the Metro exchanges allow free transfer between lines, but may involve blocks or walking and several sets of stairs. Age, lifestyle and budget may lead you to or away from certain arrondissements.

[halland]

I was satisfied with the Marais, there seems to be a lot of activity there with new restaurants opening, and there are some good places easily within a 1/2 mile walk. Of note is Au Camelot on Rue Amelot.

We stayed at Hotel Jeanne D'Arc, but without knowing your tastes I won't recommend it except to say that it was inexpensive and prefectly fine for falling asleep in.

Hal

[fresh_a]

That's "rue Cler" witout the "c" on the end

Edited August 2, 2004 by fresh_a (log)

[jackal10]

We stayed at the Hotel Montalembert in the Rue Montalembert inthe 7th, next door to Atelier Joel Robochen...

[Carlsbad]

Of course it is rue Cler. And I don't think I can edit it to hide how incredibly stupid I really am.