STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

esquiress · Marc Jacobs

help making a decision please!!!

bex · Chanel

both of those areas of Paris are good areas. Personally, I would choose the one in St Michel-St Germain- Notre Dame b/c I remember going there a lot of dinner/lunch, shopping, and aimless walking...

ILoveChoo · Hermes

bex wrote:

both of those areas of Paris are good areas. Personally, I would choose the one in St Michel-St Germain- Notre Dame b/c I remember going there a lot of dinner/lunch, shopping, and aimless walking...

ITA. I LOVE that area of Paris! And it was probably a psychological thing, but even though both area are perfectly fine, I felt safer in #1- probably becaue there were more youngish people around.

Pepper · Kenneth Cole

Esquiress - My sister and her husband used to live in Islington (London). I would go all the time and the area is so super cool and funky. I love that area. There are a lot of cool shops, restaurants in the area. I loved it. Just my 2 cents.

esquiress · Marc Jacobs

thank so much you guys, that's exactly the kind of info i was hoping for! but please, keep the opinions coming!

ILoveChoo · Hermes

i was so excited about Paris that I forgot about Lobdon! that area is pretty cool and you should def. feel safe there. The only downside is that its a little far from the main parts. If you plan on being out late clubbing or anything, you'll want to cab back (not metro) which will be expensive.

ico · Dooney & Bourke

hi!

as for the staying, some time ago I found a nice b&B in ROme for a professor I worked with, and he loved it. I found in on yahoo.it. I'll look it up as soon as I have time!

trixie · Kenneth Cole

Esquiress, I was just in Paris last spring and stayed at a studio flat very close to the first place you are looking at!! (We were on Rue de Xavier Privas, basically a block over from Rue de la Huchette).

Anyway, the Pros of that location: the location itself is excellent, very close to two good metro stations and literally a stone's throw from Notre Dame. Also you're in decent walking distance of the Louvre, the Orsay and the Jardin du Luxembourg (beautiful, beautiful place!). The neighborhood is called the Latin Quarter and it's a pretty popular (sort of touristy) area so you have a lot of access to restaurants, internet cafes, cafes, laundry, some groceries. And there are a few tabacs in the area, which are where you can get phone cards. And because it's a bit touristy, we always felt safe coming home late at night b/c the neighborhood was still hoppin'.

The only con that I can really think of is the touristy aspect of the area (more touristy than any other area we explored), but the pros really outweight the cons. We found our studio at this website: www.paristudios.com.

As for the other location you're looking at, from what I can remember, the 8th arrondissement does put you close to the Champs Elysees and some good shopping

. Rue de Rivoli and Avenue des Champs Elysees are lined with some good shops.

Hope this helps! Have fun!!

-- Edited by trixie at 21:51, 2006-06-07

scarlett · Marc Jacobs

The links won't work for me, but from what I remember about Paris those are both good neighborhoods to stay in! I'm not familiar with London so I can't comment on that.

One street to check out in Paris, for the window shopping extravaganza of it all, is Avenue Montaigne. It's where a lot of the couturiers have their stores and it's fun to just look and also see the fashionable people. If you're a fan of Sex and the City, the Plaza Athenee is on that street too -- that's the hotel where Carrie stayed with The Russian when they went to Paris.

And about taking cabs in Paris -- they will sometimes pull over when you hail them, but they also have taxi stands where you're supposed to wait for one. If you want a cab, restaurants will call one for you too.

eta: The links work for me now -- I vote for apartment #2 in Paris. :)

-- Edited by scarlett at 01:12, 2006-06-08