Printable View
if so, what do you think of Hidalgo?
I am more than likely going to be offered a job there in the next year or so and not sure if I want to make the move. Awful lot of people seem unhappy with some of the changes there but when I was there a few weeks ago in a quite delightful bistro in Montmartre it was buzzing.
Any recommendation on where to live? 16th is close to the office in La Defense and B de B will help with the dog.
Cheers
She's done a lot of good. Places like Nation was basically a huge roundabout, but by pedestrianising parts of it, it's now much nicer. I don't like the look of the concrete barriers that divide roads into cycle lane parts, but I guess that's the future. But I don't drive and the metro/RER is amazing. You're never more than 5 mins from a station, 10 at the very most. So for me, it's ideal.Quote:
Originally Posted by WES
And all the nice areas are the same or better. The big "places" de whatever. You'll find delightful bistros everywhere.
16e in posh and pricey. If you can afford that, then fine. But I've always preferred the centre - right bank 4e or left bank 5e - though that's just me. Just like I'd always prefer Hackney to Ladbrooke Grove, for example.
But if I were you, I'd remember how good the metro is and how small the city compared to London. If you're working at La Defence, then anywhere on Line 1 would take you there directly. And that just runs along the right bank through Louvre, HdeV, Bastille etc.
It's roughly 1.5 mins per metro stop. So even Bastille - 16 stops away - is only 23 mins or so.
If you can get a better flat for the money in the centre compared to the 16e, I'd do it. If you have mates in the 16e, it's still easy to visit them, or they you.
And in the middle, you can get everywhere quickly. It's great being able to walk over the islands to all the cheap restaurants on the left bank around St Michel. There's a lovely little restaurant on Ile St Louis which does lots of duck things. 3 people, starter and main, lots of foie gras, cheap carafes of red, €100 for all of us. Confits de canard, magret with foie gras, and for five euros extra, you can have the famous fillet steak and foie gras.
But you'll find all these sorts of places everywhere.
I obviously don't know you as a person, WES. I'm sure you'd be absolutely happy in the 16e. Me, I'd rather save the money, but more than that, I like being central. Cos then you can get everywhere quickly.
You have all the bars and night-life in the centre. All the RERs go through Chatelet-Les-Halles. Close to Gare du Nord. If you want to go to your Montmartre, you're not far away. If you wanted to go to Nation in the NE for a restaurant I know that did 2 dozen oysters and a glass of wine at lunchtime for €20 - I think now €23 - you could of a Saturday lunchtime and then go back and watch the game.
Just to be clear, the centre isn't an area full of crusties, like Hackney, it's still chic. If you want Hackney, go to Belleville.
But the centre has everything and is close to everything else. I stay with my mate at St Paul - between Hotel de Ville {HdeV} and Bastille. In a council flat on the right bank with views of Ile St Louis. So you can find cheaper stuff and even though Rue Royale and Rue Rivoli themselves would be pricey, the streets just off them are a lot cheaper, I'd imagine.
The other thing about the centre is the river. I'm not normally much of a walker, but I just love walking along the river, through the Louvre etc. For example, on the river near me, there's a little bar with tables outside that's open when it's not freezing. And because the river is lower than the main roads that run along the banks, you can sit down there without the traffic noise and pollution.
With these e-scooters that are just left everywhere, if the weather's nice you rent one of those and scoot along the river bank to get to where you want.
One mate did live in the 16e 'till she moved south and it's fine. Chic food shops but normal, decent supermarkets. Comfortable, bourgeois, quiet. And another mate, an Indian diplomat, took me for a lovely Italian there.
But before you decide, see what you can get in the centre, especially places with a good metro connection to work. That will make all the difference. Your near the culture, you have the nightlife, you have cheap bistros and posher places, you have the Frog and Rosbif and hidden sports bars for the games etc, and you have the river - the heart and soul of the city.
Cheers mate, much appreciated.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ganpati's Goonerz--AFC's Aboriginal Fertility Cult
I like the sound of central as well, if I'm going to live in Paris I'd rather be in the middle of it all. I will need a park nearby for the dog.
So sounds like something central, near the river and close to a Line 1 metro station :thumbup:
The Montmartre bistro was Le Bon Bock BTW. Had a few demis at a dodgy local bar (PSG Marseilles was on) which I loved and then dinner. Food was good, not great, but the ambiance was 10/10. It felt like 1920s Paris with a chap on the piano. Half expected Hemingway to walk around the corner. Highly recommended.
ooh I like Paris. I always feel like it had an edgyness to it, that feels like it could kick off at any moment.Quote:
Originally Posted by WES
Ah, you didn't mention a park for the dog. Paris doesn't have parks like London does. It has squares for people to and drink at.Quote:
Originally Posted by WES
My mate's dog does his biz in this tiny bit of greenery with a few benches. But most would just walk down by the river. That seems the norm.
If it really is vital and you can afford it, the Bois de Bolougne might be better. But as I say, those pavements down by the river are very wide and everyone's dogs just run around sniffing each other.
On of my mates has a good mate whose daughter is a dog walker. So occasionally all of us take to dogs to Bois de Vincennes {Like Bolougne but in the east not west} and give them a 2 hr walk there. It's gorgeous - woodland with streams.
I'm not a dog person, WES. And I know even less about how your Fido expects you to treat him.
But Kurt, matey's dog, is really happy going there every few weeks and having walks down the seine or two the shops. Local supermarket chain has hook for lead and bowl of water outside.
Btw, when you say central, near the river and close to Ligne 1, that's where I am when I stay.
We could meet for a quick drink one evening, a munch one weekend, or I could show you the heavy metal bar hidden near by that shows sport. Go in the day before and say "Can I watch the Arsenal game tomorrow", they check the time and say "Ok, no Fr teams are playing at that time, so we'll keep a screen for you to watch that." Sir C told me about it.
He's a bit of **** to be fair, if that helps. Mostly harmless thoughQuote:
Originally Posted by Ganpati's Goonerz--AFC's Aboriginal Fertility Cult
Cheers, LA. If he tells his agence immoblier "je suis un p'tit connard", I'm sure that will help him get the ideal gaff.Quote:
Originally Posted by Luis Anaconda
Ignore him GG, he's a wannabe Nazi. And a drunk. And he's slow to the bar as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ganpati's Goonerz--AFC's Aboriginal Fertility Cult
Slow to the bar? That's worse than being a cünt. It's up there with being a nazi.Quote:
Originally Posted by WES
Btw, in terms of the dog issue, do you think you'd be fine living central, walking him along the river and taking him to one of the Bois for a long walk every now and then, as my mates do?
Btw, if you did, I could introduce you to my mate's mate, Duell, the young dog-walker. I'm no hound expert but when we went with her taking my mate's dog, Kurt, and the 2 or 3 she was walking, they all loved her and were really happy.
And she looks after them if you're away - when I took matey to India for the first time a few years back, she looked after Kurt.
Oh, and that small restau on Ile St Louis that did the duck stuff - here's a link. The chef's the owner and his missus waits the tables if it's a busy night. And it's about the only restau I've found in that central touristy area that has the menu hand written on a blackboard and only in French, not English as well.
If you can't understand a French menu or can't read his French handwriting, then you don't deserve to eat his magrets, confits and foie gras.
Very good reviews on these websites, too. {Book for weekend evenings.}
https://www.google.co.uk/search?clie...ux+ponts+75004