Must Dos Paris

FR_Paris_La_SainteChapelle_11

Must Dos In Paris


1. Visit

theShakespeare & Co. bookstore

(across from Notre Dame on the left bank), which is a very personal English bookshop opened some 60 years ago by George Whitman, an American.


2. Go to the

Place des Vosges, which is the oldest and most beautiful square in Paris—and where Victor Hugo lived. Have a drink in one of the cafés on the square and then roam around the Marais for the day, or end on the square. It was built by Henry IV in 1605-1612, over 400 years ago.


3. Go to the rue des Rosiers and see the old Jewish section—one deli actually survived the Nazi occupation, Jo Goldenberg’s, but sadly it closed a few years ago. It is best to have lunch here at

Chez Marianne (2, rue des Hospitalières-St.-Gervais, corner of rue des Rosiers, in the 4th), if you like falafel and meze.  



4. Check out the tip of Île de la Cité: the place Dauphine. The first of Paris’s wine bars,Taverne Henri IV (13, Place du Pont Neuf, in the 1st; 01 43 54 27 90), is there, plus some other lovely restaurants. Combine this with a walk through Île St. Louis. Of course, the famous Berthillon ice cream shop started here on the island at (29, rue St.-Louis-en-l’Ile).

 

5. For more great ideas on where to go and what to do in Paris, get the GO-Card – everything you want to know about how to eat, live, play and stay in Paris…


6. In the 5th (the Latin Quarter, near the Sorbonne) another magical out-of-the-way place is the Mosquée de Paris an historic mosque from the 1920s with a bathhouse, or hammam, as they call it. Call first. You will feel like you went to Morocco for the day.


7. Our favorite small museum is the 

Musée Rodin, in the 7th—this couldn’t be more beautiful. There is also a wonderful café outdoors for lunch.


 

8. Even though it’s terribly tripisty, a boat trip on the Seine at night is one of the best ways to see Paris, particularly at night. There is also a water taxi

(Batobus), which runs during the day; it makes periodic stops—and doesn’t have the obnoxiously loud taped trip guide.
vedettesdupontneuf.com , yachtsdeparis.fr (high end, but worth it)


11.Sainte Chapelle is a must-see—it’s near the Conciergerie (where Marie Antoinette was imprisoned), on the Ile de la Cité. Ste.-Chapelle’s stained-glass windows are unreal.


14. Buy chocolate or macarons to take home at Pierre Hermé; Go to

Ladurée for tea. If you enjoy cookware, E. Dehillerin, in the 2nd, is where all the chefs go to buy their copper pots.  


15. Spend a day at the Marché aux Puces St.-Ouen de Clignancourt (the flea market), which is open Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.