May 2009
I traveled to France with my friend Louisa and her daughter Elizabeth. I was great to share the expense for our hotels/B&Bs, rental car too, as it saved Louisa and me money. The following four places are where we stayed.
Paris Apartment, #18
4 Night Stay, $800 + $75 surcharge (5-night minimum); $29 damage waiver (+$150 refundable key & security deposit)
Louisa booked our 2-bedroom apartment via Vacation In Paris. Located in the Marais on the right bank on rue Saint Antoine and just two doors down from Hotel Sully, the apartment is on the 2nd floor up two narrow staircases. The building is secured with a number keypad outside and an interior locked door, which a key is is needed. The apartment is quite charming in a Parisian way: Two small bedrooms one with a full size bed and the other tightly fit with two twin beds. The closet doors have mirrors on them, which is a nice feature. I found my bed to be quite comfortable. Also in the bedroom was an alarm clock. There were plenty of pillows, sheets, and blankets for each room. The entire apartment is 43 square meters and is perfect for three people, but in my opinion, not more.
The living room faces the interior "courtyard" of the building where you can see windows from the other apartments. Although no view to speak of, we could see the sky and do a weather check each day. The nice thing about staying in this set up is NO street noise.
There’s a small bathroom, with the toilet in a separate room, with a shower stall. Bath linens are provided, as well as a regular style hairdryer. The tiny kitchen is equipped with a refrigerator, microwave, stovetop burners, washer/dryer, and pots/pans/dishes/glasses, etc. Tiny in that no more than one person can be in the kitchen and cook. The living room is a combo living-dining room with a couch, two side chairs, a small dining table with 4 chairs, and a bookcase in the corner next to the bathroom filled with travel books and novels. I imagine previous guests left their books for future renters. If anyone wants to rent this place, you really don’t need to bring any Paris guidebooks.
The apartment has complimentary wifi. Louisa was told by the rental agency we just needed to bring a lan line, which I did. However, there was one already in the apartment. The problem with the setup is that the hookup is next to the tv, so I had to move the t.v stand close to the dining table so I could use the netbook on the table. Louisa and Elizabeth would have to step over the wires to get to their room. Although we had to work around the setup, it was nice to have access to the internet and emails. I would recommend to the agency that the owner get rid the tv stand and replace with a 'bookshelf' or some sort of tall cabinet so that the t.v. can be on an upper shelf and a laptop could sit on a lower shelf for easy access to the wifi cable.
There is a telephone in the room with access to free local calls. The rental agency provided the telephone number, which we gave to our families in case they needed to contact us.
The agency provides a bottle of wine, which was a very nice gesture, although the wine was of a poor quality. I think for the price we paid per night, the owner could 'splurge' and spend a few more euros on the wine.
The location is wonderful, right on rue Saint Antoine in the Marais. Metro St. Paul is just a 5-minute walk from the building in one direction, and Place de Bastille the same distance in the opposite direction. Place des Voges is a couple of blocks north and the Seine a few blocks to the south.There is a pastry shop, wine shop, and Monoprix across the street, and a great kitchen shop just a couple blocks west on the same street. Restaurants close to the apartment that we loved: Chez Janou, Bistro L'Oulette, L'as du Falafel, and Café Hugo.
All in all, it's a great apartment, in a great location in the Marais, if you don't mind schlepping your luggage up two flights of stairs.
Residence Les Sources
9 D Avenue Albin Gilles
13210 Saint Remy de Provence
Phone +33-490-92 32 17
Fax +33-490-92 38 81
3 Night Stay; 105€ per night
I stayed at Residence Les Sources back in 2002 with my cousin Reenie. For this trip, I contacted Avern and booked a two-bedroom apartment. Upon arrival, Avern offered us two single bedroom apartments for the same price as the two bedroom apartment! What a pleasant and sweet surprise. She may have done this because I was a repeat customer and the fact that most of her rooms were still vacant due to the early season. Avern treated me like an old friend and put in the same room as my stay in 2002.
My bedroom, painted in yellows, was quite comfortable with a chair, reading light, and A/C, especially the bed and pillows. The entire residence is very quiet, despite its location - in the middle of an industrial park. The apartment has a small kitchen with table, microwave oven and refrigerator. The room is supplied with a hair dryer, tv, and shelving. The bathroom is small, but there was enough shelving for my cosmetics. Louisa and Elizabeth's room, next to me, was a larger. Their toilet was in a separate room. They also had a loveseat at the entrance of their room. Both apartments have a table and set of chairs on the covered patio with views of the residence and grounds.
It's located on the outskirts of town and just a 10-15 minute walk. Just a couple of blocks away is a grocery store and gas station. It's in a very convenient location for going on day trips with a car - easy to get in and out of town. Walking to town is easy and nice to do after a big meal at dinner.
Avern made us coffee and provided fresh-made croissants for our breakfast, which we supplemented with our yogurt and juice. She also offered us some tips, such as "don't buy anything at the St. Remy market - prices are 20% lower in Les Baux. We took her advise and certainly agree with her.
As with my first stay in 2002, I can highly recommend Residence Les Sources to my travel friends and anyone that is looking for a comfortable, quiet, and pleasant stay in St. Remy. The price for the rooms are very reasonable and service is great!
Les Mas Perreal
Elisabeth & Kevin Widrow
Phone: +33 (0) 4-9075-4631
Fax: +33(0) 4-9004-8808
6 Night Stay, 145€ per night
The B&B, owned by Elisabeth and Kevin, is typical of a French farmhouse converted into a B&B, and set in a beautiful area surrounded by vineyards and even a small hamlet just down the road. The B&B is in a great location: Saint Saturnin les Apt was just a 4-5 minute drive away, but probably a good 30 minute walk to town. Apt was about 10 minutes south. And many of the small towns, villages, and wineries were within a short driving distance. The entrance to the property has a secured gate with keypad for entry for the driveway, but the property is still accessible to anyone that walks in the area..
Louisa booked the "Chambre sur le Toit", which is located on the second floor. There's a small terrace with table and chairs that we sometimes used to have drinks in the late afternoon. Along with the terrace is a wonderful view of Saint Saturnin. There is also a second guest bedroom next to ours.
Our room consisted of a large bedroom with a queen bed, armoire, dresser, and table. There was also small terrace out the backside. The second bed was located in the alcove adjoining the bathroom, so it wasn't really a private second bedroom that we thought we were getting. This room had a full size bed and was decorated in orange and yellows. It also had an end table but was hard to reach since the room was very small. There was also a small window for fresh air. A colorful yellow and red Provençal curtain separated the bed to the bathroom, which didn't give anyone real privacy when using the toilet (also separated by a curtain). I ended up sleeping with earplugs to avoid hearing anyone using the bathroom in the middle of the night.
The bathroom had a huge open shower - no curtain - but large enough for privacy with its long wall. It also had the "rain" type shower head, which was very nice and refreshing. A hair dryer is supplied in the bathroom. We all enjoyed the French body wash supplied in the bathroom that we ended up buying some at a department store in Aix. There was a pedestal sink and small table for our cosmetics.
We had access to their wifi, but only in certain spots due to the thick cement walls. It worked fine on the terrace outside our front door and in the second room.
The main guest area of the house included a living room and a small room with a refrigerator where we could store our food and wine. There were picnic baskets and utensils for our use, glasses for our wine, and of course a bottle opener. Out back were tables and chairs to enjoy the views of the vineyards and hamlet, as well as a large swimming pool. We enjoyed a picnic dinner with wine one night.
Breakfast was from 9am until 10:30am, served either in the kitchen (if it was raining) or out on the terrace. Every meal was delicious! Each morning we were served fresh-squeezed juice, coffee, tea, croissants or other types of pastries, and fresh-baked bread. Kevin would go out each morning to buy everything. The main dish could be pancakes, waffles, omelets, crepes, etc. There was certainly enough food to last through lunch. One morning we were served fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice. I felt bad telling Elisabeth and Kevin that I couldn't drink it due to the medication I take. They were sweet to remember this on a different day - they served me orange juice while the others were served grapefruit juice.
The third host was their friendly German shepherd named Onyx, who always greeted us at breakfast (or when we came home from our day trips). Of course, we figured him out fast - he wanted some breakfast too! I was good and didn't feed him a thing. Once in a while he'd look at me as if to say "Dad's not around, throw me a quick bite!!" No, we didn't feed Onyx anything.
I highly recommend this B&B to my friends, for its beauty, location and the friendliness of the hosts, but just be aware if you book the "Chambre sur le Toit" that it's not a full "2-bedroom" room. It would certainly be great for a family with kids or one couple.
Hotel des Grand Hommes
4 Night Stay, 195€ per night
17, Place du Pantheon
75005 Paris, France
+33 1 46 34 19 60
Hotel des Grands Hommes, which is located right next to the Pantheon, is a very nice hotel. We had negotiated a good rate for a triple room. The original price was much higher than what we wanted to pay, so I had Louisa tell the person at the hotel their price was unaffordable for us but that we really wanted to stay there and would they be willing to accept a lower price of 185€ per night? The hotel countered our price with 195€, which we accepted. It certainly pays to bargain!
Our triple room faced the Pantheon, a great view. The room was set up with two twins pushed together and one single twin on one side for me. The room was small but we managed fine. There was a tv atop a small dresser, one side chair, end tables and one small table for my use. There is no counter space for shelving to speak of in the bathroom. The toilet was in a separate room. There was a room safe and even a mini bar, which we used to chill our white wine and bottled water. We had a full view of the Pantheon and front plaza. There’s always lots of activity there with tourists and students.
Paris, May 9-18, 2007
°11 - 32 rue Vieille du Temple 75004, Paris, France
75 Euros per night
I spent 9 nights in Paris and decided to rent a studio instead of staying in a hotel. My friend Louisa joined me for a week and although the place was small, we had no problems moving around. However, we did move the dresser next to the left side of the bed, near the refrigerator, as it was in the way when the bed was down. There was still room to open the refrigerator.
The location of this apartment is wonderful. The bakery in the building has wonderful pastries and breads. Make sure you open the windows in the morning to smell the fresh baked goods. Nadia, who works in the bakery was wonderful, as she would add in an extra goodie or two to our purchase. There are lots of wonderful cafes and bistros in the area and I felt quite safe at night, especially having three keys to get inside the building and studio. I would definitely stay again, even though I didn't use the kitchen or the washer/dryer. For the price and location, it was well worth it. Both Fabrice and Jean-Pierre were very nice and helpful.
France, May 2002
(We got an exchange rate of 1.08E to the $1)
GRAND HOTEL DES BALCONS
3,rue Casimir-Delvagine 75006 Paris
Phone: 01-46-34-78-50
Fax: 01-46-34-06-27
Email: Resa@balcons.com
Price quoted: 90 Euros per night for a room for two people and all appropriate taxes.
This will be my third stay at Grand Hotel des Balcons. We stayed in room 401. It was a corner room with a twin and full size bed. There was a small balcony, a small closet, tv and full bathroom. The bathroom had a tub (no curtain) as well as a small window out the back.
Room 16 (for our last portion of our trip), was smaller than #401, above. Same amenities, but not window in the bathroom.
Hotel Balcons will always be my home away from home in Paris!
RESIDENCE LES SOURCES
26 Ave Albin Gilles
13210 Saint Remy de Provence
Phone: 33-40-92-32-17
Fax: 33-490-24-94-29.
Email: sourcesStRemy@aol.com
Contact: Philippe Boets
Price quoted: 45 Euros for their room #7 which was renovated in March. See their web site for room details as well as map with location of their B&B and photos of our room #7.
Philippe was a wonderful host, as well has his partner's wife Avern. This is a place I highly recommend for those that are looking for a quiet, simple place, with easy access to get in/out of town for those great Provence day trips. The B&B is located about a 10-minute walk from the center of town, which I liked better than being in town because of the traffic noise. Philippe has a boules court, which a group of us played one evening (see journal for details). In addition, there is a grocery store nearby. Our room had a small kitchen, so one evening we cooked our own dinner! We even had breakfast items on hand, which was great.
Thanks Philippe for your hospitality!!
HOTEL GARLANDE
20, rue Galante
84000 Avignon.
Phone: 33-490-800-885
Fax: 33-490-271-658.
Email: hotel-garlande@avignon-et-provence.com
Contact Ms. Michele Michelotte. Price quoted: 71.20 Euros per night for a room with twin beds.
Our room, #7, was located on the second floor. The only thing negative about this place is there is no eleator and we had to lug our heavy suitcases up 2 flights of stairs (but one time up and one time down certainly can't beat the great location and price). Our room was a corner room with twin beds, a tv, table, armoir, and a bathroom with tub, curtain, and a small window. The room faced the pedestrian street, which was fairly quiet at night. The hotel is in a good location with restaurants and shopping nearby; and the train station is only a 10 minute walk away.
France, October 2000
GRAND HOTEL DES BALCONS
3,rue Casimir-Delvagine 75006 Paris
Phone: 01-46-34-78-50
Fax: 01-46-34-06-27.
Email: hotel-balcons@gofornet.com.
620FF per night for the first two nights (room #601) and 525FF per night for the remaining 6 nights (room 305), plus taxes. Like last year, I enjoyed this hotel very much. Room 601 is a corner, top floor room, with a tiny balcony and great view of the Eiffel Tower! Although it's a distance away, we did enjoy the view, especially at night. The room has a twin bed and a full sized bed. The room was small and because it was a corner room, the base of the beds were close together. Room 305 was a little more roomy with twin beds and a larger balcony. Our total bill for 8 nights was $570.54.
France, May 1999.
GRAND HOTEL DES BALCONS
3,rue Casimir-Delvagine 75006
Phone: 01-46-34-78-50
Fax: 01-46-34-06-27
Email: hotel-balcons@gofornet.com
505FF ($83 per night) for a double room with private bathroom. This hotel was in a very good location, just a few minutes walk to the Odeon Metro, the Luxembourg gardens, and the Buci market. There are many restaurants and cafes in this area which we enjoyed. Our room, #102 was very nice. It faced the street, but don't let that bother you. It was fairly quiet at night. The hotel is located on a small street, so there is not a lot of traffic in the evenings. We stayed at this hotel on our last night in Paris, room #30 on the ground floor. This was a good sized room and also comforatable. The hotel provides wash clothes and had a t.v.
GRAND HOTEL LEVEQUE
29 rue Cler
75007 Paris France
Phone: 01-47-05-49-15
Fax: 01-47-50-49-36
400FF ($67 per night)for a twin bedroom with private bathroom. We stayed in room #59, an inside room. The room had a t.v., hair dryer, and a safe. This hotel is also in a great location. The 7th arr. is a residential area and is quiet in the evenings compared to the more lively areas of the 5th/6th arr. Rue Cler is a wonderful pedestrian street filled with various food shops: cheese and wine shops, meat market, vegetable markets, cafes, a bread shop on one corner which serves breakfast as well. The Eiffel Tower is about a 10 minute walk away and the nearest metro is 2 blocks away.
HOTEL D'ARGOUGES
21 rue Saint-Patrice
14400, Bayeux, Normandy.
Phone 33-2-31-92-88-86
450FF per night, included all taxes. We stayed in the main house overlooking the garden. There is another building around the corner. The room was quite big with both a twin and queen bed. The bathroom was very large and included a tub, no shower curtain, with a hand-held shower spray. A t.v. and mini bar was in the room. Parking is free, though limited space (about 8-10 cars). Very good location, about a 7-10 minute walk to the tourist office, the Tapestry museum and other main sights. Across the street in the plaza there is a great market held on Saturdays.
FRANCE, October 1997.
My Mom and I were supposed to travel to Italy (October 1997), but as stand-by passengers, we couldn't get on board as the flight was overbooked. We found out that the flights to Italy were overbooked for the next several days. We decided that since there were two flights a day to Paris, we would go there. My husband and his father dropped us off at one of the hotels at the airports(this was in Philadelphia) I pulled out all my Italy information from my suitcase since I obviously didn't need them for France (maps, books, hotel confirmation letters, etc). I asked my father-in-law, who is Italian, to call the hotels in Italy to cancel our reservations. The next day, Mom and I headed into town to buy new books: a French phrase book and travel guide book (Frommer's 1997 guidebook on France). We easily got on board the first flight to Paris and we were off! Talk about a spontaneous trip! As I normally take several months to plan my trip making hotel reservations, train reservations, etc., it was a little scary at first not knowing what we were going to do or where we were going to visit. Upon arrival in Paris, I called one hotel listed in the travel book, Hotel Le Home Latin, listed below. We went through 2 hotels before settling into our "Paris home." This turned out to be a wonderful trip in France. I just had to stop every few days to plan for the next few days. Making last minute reservations at hotels was pretty easy. The French people were great and helpful (with the exception of the rude woman at Hotel Diana). Here are the hotels we stayed while in France, 1997.
HOTEL LE HOME LATIN:
15 et 17, rue du Sommerard
75005, Paris
Phone: 33-1-43-26-25-21
Fax: 3-1-43-29-87-04.
440FF double bed and private bathroom ($75 per night). MC. My Mom and I stayed here just one night as the hotel was fully booked the following nights. This room was on the ground floor and was small. I understand that rooms on the upper levels are larger and more comfortable. The hotel is near two metros: St. Michel and Maubert-Mutualite, about a 5 minute walk away. This hotel is in the heart of the Latin Quarter.
HOTEL DIANA:
73, rue Saint-Jacques
75005, Paris
Phone: 33-1-43-54-92-55
450FF for twin beds and private bathroom ($77 per night). MC, V. We stayed here just one night. The room was fairly nice with the exception of the beds! Lumpy, lop-sided, uncomfortable. On our way out for the day, after a bad night sleep, I asked the woman at the desk (must have been the grandmother) if we could have another room. I explained to her the beds were very uncomfortable. She spat at me and said in a nasty tone, "Go to another hotel!" I was so startled. We like the hotel, location, and price, but not the beds. She didn't care to hear anything else I had to say. The younger woman came into the room and explained that new beds were to be delivered in a week (I didn't believe that) and stated if we didn't like the place we should find another hotel. So, we walked out and spent 1/2 hour looking for another hotel. We found one, came back to pack our bags, and checked out of the hotel. We headed to Hotel Studia.
HOTEL STUDIA:
51 Blvd. St. Germain
75005, Paris
P365FF with 2 full sized beds, shower and sink (toilet across the hall) ($63 per night). V. We didn't care for the toilet being across the hallway (shower and sink in the room), but the other rooms with private bathrooms were booked. The hotel is next to the Maubert-Mutulaite metro stop, which was very convenient. Also next to the metro was an outdoor roving market. The beds were comfortable and the room included a small balcony facing Blvd. St. Germain. We would pull our two chairs onto the balcony and write in our journals or write our postcards while watching people walk by. It was noisy at night if the windows were left open. We also stayed at this hotel for the last 6 nights in Paris. The second room was much nicer as it had a complete private bathroom, but a smaller balcony. We couldn't put our chairs on the balcony. 384FF ($65 per night).
HOTEL LE CENTRAL
21 rue Berthelot
37000, Tours.France
Phone: 02-47-05-46-44
Fax: 47-66-10-26
350FF with twin beds and a very nice private bathroom ($62 per night). MC. I selected this hotel from the Frommer's book as it had a nice description about the hotel. At first we were disappointed when we walked to the hotel from the train station (10 minutes) to find that it's actually a 3*** Best Western. We NEVER stay in American hotels in Europe! However, this was not a typical American hotel. It was very nice and well priced. Our room was on the top floor (4th) and we had a wonderful view of the rooftops of Tours. The view from the bathroom was of the Cathedral, which was lit up at night. The hotel is in a good location, just a 5 minute from the old town area and around the corner from a pedestrian street with several restaurants. The owner was friendly and everyday we were greeted in the lobby by her 2 french poodles.
