Paris- what's the best district to stay in to see the sights and shop
Oct 1st, 2017, 09:24 AM
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Paris- what's the best district to stay in to see the sights and shop
Hi I'm coming to Paris in April with my 18 year old daughter who is studying fashion.
We will do some tourist stuff because we are tourist! But would love to know if there are any good fashion tours? And where is the best part of Paris to stay, I've found a couple in district 8, but was put of by some sights saying it's not the real Paris it's quite and posh. I don't mind quite I don't mind posh but where is the real Paris. When I looked at hotels on the left bank, there where a few posts saying sex shops and prostitutes, but really? London has Soho with similar things and its a great part of London real fun.
Advice please only staying 3 or 4 nights
Thanks Elaine
We will do some tourist stuff because we are tourist! But would love to know if there are any good fashion tours? And where is the best part of Paris to stay, I've found a couple in district 8, but was put of by some sights saying it's not the real Paris it's quite and posh. I don't mind quite I don't mind posh but where is the real Paris. When I looked at hotels on the left bank, there where a few posts saying sex shops and prostitutes, but really? London has Soho with similar things and its a great part of London real fun.
Advice please only staying 3 or 4 nights
Thanks Elaine
Oct 1st, 2017, 10:07 AM
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About the 8th
"it's not the real Paris"
Huh????? It's as much real Paris as any other part of Paris is. It's real and it's in Paris.
"where is the real Paris"
In Paris . . .the entire city is the real Paris
"it's not the real Paris"
Huh????? It's as much real Paris as any other part of Paris is. It's real and it's in Paris.
"where is the real Paris"
In Paris . . .the entire city is the real Paris
Oct 1st, 2017, 11:12 AM
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I have never seen sex shops and prostitutes on the left bank.....perhaps wasn't paying close enough attention.
Not sure if you are looking for high end haute couture shopping.....probably the 8th best for that. You do not have to stay there, though. All or most of Paris is easily accessible using public transportation and there is no one "district" best for everything.
Not sure if you are looking for high end haute couture shopping.....probably the 8th best for that. You do not have to stay there, though. All or most of Paris is easily accessible using public transportation and there is no one "district" best for everything.
Oct 1st, 2017, 09:43 PM
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I would stay in a hotel in the "Triangle d'Or", if you want luxury shopping opportunities.
Hotel Marceau Champs Elysees, or the Claridge, if you can swing the prices.
This is the only dependable tour I've found. They will get you into the fashion houses and led by an expert in the field.
http://www.contexttravel.com/cities/...story-in-paris
Hotel Marceau Champs Elysees, or the Claridge, if you can swing the prices.
This is the only dependable tour I've found. They will get you into the fashion houses and led by an expert in the field.
http://www.contexttravel.com/cities/...story-in-paris
Oct 1st, 2017, 10:53 PM
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I'm female and have been going to Paris, almost annually, since very young in the 70s and I shop in Paris. I stay mostly in the 6th, to shop, although I've stayed all over Paris. Also for shopping the Marais is very good for small, hip boutiques. Plus, one can easily walk to the 5th and 7th for more shopping.
I also go to Bon Marche Department store, in the 7th, to get an idea of what's out and also to both Printemps and Galeries Lafayette on the Right Bank.
Also the area around metro Etienne Marcel can be good for shopping. And of course there's the really high end boutiques in the 8th and 1st, but I personally prefer to shop on the Left Bank.
When I was in Paris in June/July, I stayed in the 6th for 6 nights and didn't even cross the river until the day before I was to leave as I really needed to go to both Printemps and Galeries Lafayette to look for a hip, gift for my mom and a friend of hers.
Happy Travels!
I also go to Bon Marche Department store, in the 7th, to get an idea of what's out and also to both Printemps and Galeries Lafayette on the Right Bank.
Also the area around metro Etienne Marcel can be good for shopping. And of course there's the really high end boutiques in the 8th and 1st, but I personally prefer to shop on the Left Bank.
When I was in Paris in June/July, I stayed in the 6th for 6 nights and didn't even cross the river until the day before I was to leave as I really needed to go to both Printemps and Galeries Lafayette to look for a hip, gift for my mom and a friend of hers.
Happy Travels!
Oct 1st, 2017, 11:18 PM
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I forgot to add that my favorite time to shop in Paris is in April and I'll be zipping over, for a week in April 2018. Usually spring has sprung and usually both the fresh flowers and the spring collections are fabulous.
My favorite hat boutique, for decades, has been Marie Mercier at 23, rue Saint Suplice in the 6th (75006). It's west of rue de Seine and south of Blvd. St.Germain. Also not far from there is Jamin Puech handbags at 43 rue Madame, in the 6th. It's south of rue St. Suplice. I usually drop by to check out the collection and chat with the sales clerks as they're really great. One can easily walk that whole area. You can get a whole lot of shopping done in that area and then if you're also staying in it, you can easily walk back to your hotel and drop off the shopping bags and then take off again.
Also a great jewelry boutique, where I've shopped for ever, is Fabrice on the rue Bonaparte in the 6th. Rue Bonaparte and rue de Rennes are the same street, but the name changes at Blvd. St.Germain. South of Blvd.St.Germain is rue de Rennes and north of it is rue Bonaparte.
https://www.google.com/maps/uv?hl=en...3d9d03a970d-pi
http://www.jamin-puech.com
https://www.fabrice-paris.fr
Also the area of the 6th that's west of rue de Rennes and going in the direction of the 7th and Bon Marche Department store, there is a whole area of small streets with lots of fashion, rue Cherche di Midi area and other small streets. So, both west and east of rue de Rennes. I usually stay east of rue de Rennes and north of Blvd. St. Germain.
Also for gloves, the glove boutique where I shop, is right on rue de Rennes quite close to Blvd.St.Germain. When I shop, I'm shopping for both clothing and accessories. And across from the glove shop are both the St. James store and Kenzo.
http://jbguanti.com
Hope this has helped a bit. Smiles.
Happy Travels!
My favorite hat boutique, for decades, has been Marie Mercier at 23, rue Saint Suplice in the 6th (75006). It's west of rue de Seine and south of Blvd. St.Germain. Also not far from there is Jamin Puech handbags at 43 rue Madame, in the 6th. It's south of rue St. Suplice. I usually drop by to check out the collection and chat with the sales clerks as they're really great. One can easily walk that whole area. You can get a whole lot of shopping done in that area and then if you're also staying in it, you can easily walk back to your hotel and drop off the shopping bags and then take off again.
Also a great jewelry boutique, where I've shopped for ever, is Fabrice on the rue Bonaparte in the 6th. Rue Bonaparte and rue de Rennes are the same street, but the name changes at Blvd. St.Germain. South of Blvd.St.Germain is rue de Rennes and north of it is rue Bonaparte.
https://www.google.com/maps/uv?hl=en...3d9d03a970d-pi
http://www.jamin-puech.com
https://www.fabrice-paris.fr
Also the area of the 6th that's west of rue de Rennes and going in the direction of the 7th and Bon Marche Department store, there is a whole area of small streets with lots of fashion, rue Cherche di Midi area and other small streets. So, both west and east of rue de Rennes. I usually stay east of rue de Rennes and north of Blvd. St. Germain.
Also for gloves, the glove boutique where I shop, is right on rue de Rennes quite close to Blvd.St.Germain. When I shop, I'm shopping for both clothing and accessories. And across from the glove shop are both the St. James store and Kenzo.
http://jbguanti.com
Hope this has helped a bit. Smiles.
Happy Travels!
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Oct 2nd, 2017, 12:04 PM
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Oops- I did that wrong- thank you all for your answers.
GUENMAI Thank you so much for all the shopping recommendations. We're definitely going to visit some of them.
So it sounds like it's a lot like London as in as long as you have a metro station near by you can get pretty much anywhere in Paris.
Thank you fuzzbucket for the tour guide advice.
I haven't been to Paris for 30 years way too long, last time I went my now husband proposed on the Eiffel Tower- so I have lovely memories and am really looking forward to returning.
Thanks everyone
GUENMAI Thank you so much for all the shopping recommendations. We're definitely going to visit some of them.
So it sounds like it's a lot like London as in as long as you have a metro station near by you can get pretty much anywhere in Paris.
Thank you fuzzbucket for the tour guide advice.
I haven't been to Paris for 30 years way too long, last time I went my now husband proposed on the Eiffel Tower- so I have lovely memories and am really looking forward to returning.
Thanks everyone
Oct 2nd, 2017, 09:07 PM
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If you know London already, what most people think of as Paris is smaller and more concentrated, so unless you're thinking of being able to walk from a top-notch hotel to a Michelin-starred restaurant and on to an exclusive fashion emporium in a couple of hundred yards, you needn't worry too much about where is most convenient to what you need.
Like London, West is still broadly posher than East, but similarly, many of the once scruffy parts of Paris are going through the process of gentrification through alternative/edgy/arty to imaginative small business initiatives to the same bland chains taking over as rents are forced up. Over the last twenty years or so, that's been visible in parts of the Marais, and is becoming very much so in the areas I often stay in east of Bastille.
If you want to minimise time on public transport, stay in the lower-numbered areas.
Yes, there are less pleasant areas, like anywhere, but those are much smaller than the whole of an arrondissement. You might get more of a sense of the place in terms of individual metro stations, but even then, there can be a different feel, depending on which exit you take!
Like London, West is still broadly posher than East, but similarly, many of the once scruffy parts of Paris are going through the process of gentrification through alternative/edgy/arty to imaginative small business initiatives to the same bland chains taking over as rents are forced up. Over the last twenty years or so, that's been visible in parts of the Marais, and is becoming very much so in the areas I often stay in east of Bastille.
If you want to minimise time on public transport, stay in the lower-numbered areas.
Yes, there are less pleasant areas, like anywhere, but those are much smaller than the whole of an arrondissement. You might get more of a sense of the place in terms of individual metro stations, but even then, there can be a different feel, depending on which exit you take!
Oct 2nd, 2017, 09:08 PM
#12
I think the person describing the left bank as full of sex shops and prostitutes was confused, unless the hotel you were looking at is in some very small neighborhood that I have never seen. I would be interested to see which hotels were reviewed this way. The left bank is a very large area, much of which is very popular with tourists and filled with upscale shopping as described above.
Oct 3rd, 2017, 10:30 AM
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I don't know of any shopping tours. If you are looking for high end fashion, then rue du Faubourg-Saint Honore and rue Saint Honore would be my choice. Also, avenue Montaigne. I always want to go to the original Chanel boutique on rue Cambon.
You should also check for any exhibits on fashion that will be in Paris while you are there. The Museum of Decorative Arts often hosts wonderful exhibits (as does the Grand Palais).
Stay in any arrondisement...the Metro and other Paris transportation is excellent. I would look for something that does have a convenient Metro station.
You should also check for any exhibits on fashion that will be in Paris while you are there. The Museum of Decorative Arts often hosts wonderful exhibits (as does the Grand Palais).
Stay in any arrondisement...the Metro and other Paris transportation is excellent. I would look for something that does have a convenient Metro station.
