Where does one stay in Paris? This sprawling city is riddled with neighborhoods, nay, districts or arrondisements each with their own distinct flavor that researching for the best place for a first-time visitor to stay in was daunting. I later concluded that you can't go wrong staying in the districts closest to the city center from the 1st to 9th arrondisement. The train rides will be quicker going to the main attractions (Eiffel Tower, Champs Elysees, The Louvre, Notre Dame Cathedral), however, accommodation prices may be a bit steep.
So, when it came time to book our hotel, I just went ahead and looked for an adequate studio accommodation in a price range I could swallow and ended up in the Latin Quarter.
This tiny building is just off Boulevard Saint Germain and was a great home base for pretending to be Parisiennes for a few days. It was in the middle of everything and was a few blocks to the Saint-Michel Metro which we needed to take to go to the sites. The Cluny-La Sorbonne station is just steps away on Blvd Saint Germain but we never used this station as it never served our destinations. It was also walking distance to the Luxembourg Gardens walking south and to the Notre Dame walking north.
I found the area very safe, possibly because there were a lot of tourists, but we've been out walking till about 11pm and it never felt unsafe. There is an ATM on the corners of Blvd Saint Germain and Saint Michel, close to a Monoprix (if you feel like grocery shopping) otherwise, there's a cheaper more mom-and-pop grocery store close to the McDonald's that also sells good French wine for under €10. Being a touristy area, there are of course, a ton of restaurants, most of them offering affordable prix fixe menu. No Michelin-starred dining here, but all the meals we've had were pretty good.
I've heard great things about the Marais and St. Germain de Pres neighborhoods, as well. Where did or will you stay in your Paris trip?
Xoxo, Karrisa and Ketie
*Some parts of this post had been previoiusly shared on Trip Advisor under my TA account.
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