Left Bank/Paris Cafes
Hubby and I are celebrating our 15th year of marital bliss in the most romantic city in the world in October. We'll only be there for two days/one night and so need to make every moment count. We're staying at the Le Meridien Montparnasse and will be doing the walking tour thing to the "must see sights" of the Tour d'Eiffel, Arc d'Triomphe and we're going to the Musee d'Orsay. We would love some suggestions on reasonably priced cafes in the area of our hotel, if possible, which would be great for first time "foodie" visitors on a budget. I realize Paris isn't cheap, but we are on a budget and still want to eat well while we're there.
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4 Comments:
I would recommend "La Coupole" for a drink or a cafe and "La Closerie des Lilas" for a romantic dinner. Both are mythic places in Paris, close to your Hotel (Montparnasse area).
Also, if you have time, go to Montmartre to see the Sacre-Coeur and the Place du Tertre. Montmartre is very special place with a great parisian ambiance. It is also a nice spot to have a large view of Paris.
I also love Notre-Dame ... But 2 days is maybe too short!
Veronique (from Paris)
charlette at 12:50PM on 08/04/09
I stayed in the Montparnasse area on my trip there in 2003. Apart from a light dinner our first night at a little crepe cafe around the corner from the hotel we ate all of our meals elsewhere. I had done advance research and our short list of dinner places had us in five different neighborhoods on five nights. The Metro system is incredibly efficient... reliable... and got us to within several blocks of every place we dined (with no more than one transfer for any of them). Don't let adjacency dictate your dining in Paris unless you have mobility issues that make Metro use difficult. It's the same advise I'd offer to someone visiting NYC and the Paris Metro is much easier to navigate than the MTA.
phaelon56 at 1:05PM on 08/04/09
I went to school in the Montparnasse years ago, and while it's an OK area, it's not really my favorite area of the city.
If I only had two days in Paris, I would have one lunch and dessert at Laduree by the Place de la Concorde or the rue Bonaparte branch, and the second lunch would be at Angelina. At both places, the savory food is just OK, the main reason to be there are the pastries. The specialty of Angelina is the montblanc. Laduree is famous for the macaroons, but I would get those to go and order a less transportable pastry like the puits d'amour or a violet flavored religieuse.
For dinner, I would go to Le Severo for one night, and Chez Rene another night. Both are in the left bank but in different neighborhoods.
Ortolan at 1:23PM on 08/04/09
I would definitely recommend Laduree on Champs Elysee for tea and macaroons. It is a little pricey but just delicious !
socaljane at 8:44PM on 08/04/09