France Hotels

Paris, May 9-18, 2007

RentParis
°11 - 32 rue Vieille du Temple 75004, Paris, France
75 Euros per night

I spent 9 nights in Paris and decided to rent a studio instead of staying in a hotel. My friend Louisa joined me for a week and although the place was small, we had no problems moving around. However, we did move the dresser next to the left side of the bed, near the refrigerator, as it was in the way when the bed was down. There was still room to open the refrigerator.

The location of this apartment is wonderful. The bakery in the building has wonderful pastries and breads. Make sure you open the windows in the morning to smell the fresh baked goods. Nadia, who works in the bakery was wonderful, as she would add in an extra goodie or two to our purchase. There are lots of wonderful cafes and bistros in the area and I felt quite safe at night, especially having three keys to get inside the building and studio. I would definitely stay again, even though I didn't use the kitchen or the washer/dryer. For the price and location, it was well worth it. Both Fabrice and Jean-Pierre were very nice and helpful.

France, May 2002

(Exchange rate of 1.08E to the $1)

GRAND HOTEL DES BALCONS
3,rue Casimir-Delvagine 75006 Paris
Phone: 01-46-34-78-50
Fax: 01-46-34-06-27
Email: Resa@balcons.com
http://www.balcons.com
Price quoted: 90 Euros per night for a room for two people and all appropriate taxes.
This will be my third stay at Grand Hotel des Balcons. We stayed in room 401. It was a corner room with a twin and full size bed. There was a small balcony, a small closet, tv and full bathroom. The bathroom had a tub (no curtain) as well as a small window out the back. Room 16 (for our last portion of our trip), was smaller than #401, above. Same amenities, but not window in the bathroom.

RESIDENCE LES SOURCES
26 Ave Albin Gilles
13210 Saint Remy de Provence
Phone: 33-40-92-32-17
Fax: 33-490-24-94-29.
Email: sourcesStRemy@aol.com
http://www.sources-saint-remy.com.
Contact: Philippe Boets
Price quoted: 45 Euros for their room #7 which was renovated in March. See their web site for room details as well as map with location of their B&B and photos of our room #7. Philippe was a wonderful host, as well has his partner's wife Avern. This is a place I highly recommend for those that are looking for a quiet, simple place, with easy access to get in/out of town for those great Provence day trips. The B&B is located about a 10-minute walk from the center of town, which I liked better than being in town because of the traffic noise. Philippe has a boules court, which a group of us played one evening (see journal for details). In addition, there is a grocery store nearby. Our room had a small kitchen, so one evening we cooked our own dinner! We even had breakfast items on hand, which was great.

Thanks Philippe for your hospitality!!

HOTEL GARLANDE
20, rue Galante
84000 Avignon.
Phone: 33-490-800-885
Fax: 33-490-271-658.
Email: hotel-garlande@avignon-et-provence.com
http://www.avignon-et-provence.com/hotel-garlande/
Contact Ms. Michele Michelotte. Price quoted: 71.20 Euros per night for a room with twin beds.
Our room, #7, was located on the second floor. The only thing negative about this place is there is no eleator and we had to lug our heavy suitcases up 2 flights of stairs (but one time up and one time down certainly can't beat the great location and price). Our room was a corner room with twin beds, a tv, table, armoir, and a bathroom with tub, curtain, and a small window. The room faced the pedestrian street, which was fairly quiet at night. The hotel is in a good location with restaurants and shopping nearby; and the train station is only a 10 minute walk away.

France, October 2000

GRAND HOTEL DES BALCONS
3,rue Casimir-Delvagine 75006 Paris
Phone: 01-46-34-78-50
Fax: 01-46-34-06-27.
Email: hotel-balcons@gofornet.com.
620FF per night for the first two nights (room #601) and 525FF per night for the remaining 6 nights (room 305), plus taxes. Like last year, I enjoyed this hotel very much. Room 601 is a corner, top floor room, with a tiny balcony and great view of the Eiffel Tower! Although it's a distance away, we did enjoy the view, especially at night. The room has a twin bed and a full sized bed. The room was small and because it was a corner room, the base of the beds were close together. Room 305 was a little more roomy with twin beds and a larger balcony. Our total bill for 8 nights was $570.54.

France, May 1999.

GRAND HOTEL DES BALCONS
3,rue Casimir-Delvagine 75006
Phone: 01-46-34-78-50
Fax: 01-46-34-06-27
Email: hotel-balcons@gofornet.com
505FF ($83 per night) for a double room with private bathroom. This hotel was in a very good location, just a few minutes walk to the Odeon Metro, the Luxembourg gardens, and the Buci market. There are many restaurants and cafes in this area which we enjoyed. Our room, #102 was very nice. It faced the street, but don't let that bother you. It was fairly quiet at night. The hotel is located on a small street, so there is not a lot of traffic in the evenings. We stayed at this hotel on our last night in Paris, room #30 on the ground floor. This was a good sized room and also comforatable. The hotel provides wash clothes and had a t.v.

GRAND HOTEL LEVEQUE
29 rue Cler
75007 Paris France
Phone: 01-47-05-49-15
Fax: 01-47-50-49-36
400FF ($67 per night)for a twin bedroom with private bathroom. We stayed in room #59, an inside room. The room had a t.v., hair dryer, and a safe. This hotel is also in a great location. The 7th arr. is a residential area and is quiet in the evenings compared to the more lively areas of the 5th/6th arr. Rue Cler is a wonderful pedestrian street filled with various food shops: cheese and wine shops, meat market, vegetable markets, cafes, a bread shop on one corner which serves breakfast as well. The Eiffel Tower is about a 10 minute walk away and the nearest metro is 2 blocks away.

HOTEL D'ARGOUGES
21 rue Saint-Patrice
14400, Bayeux, Normandy.
Phone 33-2-31-92-88-86
450FF per night, included all taxes. We stayed in the main house overlooking the garden. There is another building around the corner. The room was quite big with both a twin and queen bed. The bathroom was very large and included a tub, no shower curtain, with a hand-held shower spray. A t.v. and mini bar was in the room. Parking is free, though limited space (about 8-10 cars). Very good location, about a 7-10 minute walk to the tourist office, the Tapestry museum and other main sights. Across the street in the plaza there is a great market held on Saturdays.

FRANCE, October 1997.

My Mom and I were supposed to travel to Italy (October 1997), but as stand-by passengers, we couldn't get on board as the flight was overbooked. We found out that the flights to Italy were overbooked for the next several days. We decided that since there were two flights a day to Paris, we would go there. My husband and his father dropped us off at one of the hotels at the airports(this was in Philadelphia) I pulled out all my Italy information from my suitcase since I obviously didn't need them for France (maps, books, hotel confirmation letters, etc). I asked my father-in-law, who is Italian, to call the hotels in Italy to cancel our reservations. The next day, Mom and I headed into town to buy new books: a French phrase book and travel guide book (Frommer's 1997 guidebook on France). We easily got on board the first flight to Paris and we were off! Talk about a spontaneous trip! As I normally take several months to plan my trip making hotel reservations, train reservations, etc., it was a little scary at first not knowing what we were going to do or where we were going to visit. Upon arrival in Paris, I called one hotel listed in the travel book, Hotel Le Home Latin, listed below. We went through 2 hotels before settling into our "Paris home." This turned out to be a wonderful trip in France. I just had to stop every few days to plan for the next few days. Making last minute reservations at hotels was pretty easy. The French people were great and helpful (with the exception of the rude woman at Hotel Diana). Here are the hotels we stayed while in France, 1997.

HOTEL LE HOME LATIN:
15 et 17, rue du Sommerard
75005, Paris
Phone: 33-1-43-26-25-21
Fax: 3-1-43-29-87-04.
440FF double bed and private bathroom ($75 per night). MC. My Mom and I stayed here just one night as the hotel was fully booked the following nights. This room was on the ground floor and was small. I understand that rooms on the upper levels are larger and more comfortable. The hotel is near two metros: St. Michel and Maubert-Mutualite, about a 5 minute walk away. This hotel is in the heart of the Latin Quarter.

HOTEL DIANA:
73, rue Saint-Jacques
75005, Paris
Phone: 33-1-43-54-92-55
450FF for twin beds and private bathroom ($77 per night). MC, V. We stayed here just one night. The room was fairly nice with the exception of the beds! Lumpy, lop-sided, uncomfortable. On our way out for the day, after a bad night sleep, I asked the woman at the desk (must have been the grandmother) if we could have another room. I explained to her the beds were very uncomfortable. She spat at me and said in a nasty tone, "Go to another hotel!" I was so startled. We like the hotel, location, and price, but not the beds. She didn't care to hear anything else I had to say. The younger woman came into the room and explained that new beds were to be delivered in a week (I didn't believe that) and stated if we didn't like the place we should find another hotel. So, we walked out and spent 1/2 hour looking for another hotel. We found one, came back to pack our bags, and checked out of the hotel. We headed to Hotel Studia.

HOTEL STUDIA:
51 Blvd. St. Germain
75005, Paris
P365FF with 2 full sized beds, shower and sink (toilet across the hall) ($63 per night). V. We didn't care for the toilet being across the hallway (shower and sink in the room), but the other rooms with private bathrooms were booked. The hotel is next to the Maubert-Mutulaite metro stop, which was very convenient. Also next to the metro was an outdoor roving market. The beds were comfortable and the room included a small balcony facing Blvd. St. Germain. We would pull our two chairs onto the balcony and write in our journals or write our postcards while watching people walk by. It was noisy at night if the windows were left open. We also stayed at this hotel for the last 6 nights in Paris. The second room was much nicer as it had a complete private bathroom, but a smaller balcony. We couldn't put our chairs on the balcony. 384FF ($65 per night).

HOTEL LE CENTRAL
21 rue Berthelot
37000, Tours, France
Phone: 02-47-05-46-44
Fax: 47-66-10-26
350FF with twin beds and a very nice private bathroom ($62 per night). MC. I selected this hotel from the Frommer's book as it had a nice description about the hotel. At first we were disappointed when we walked to the hotel from the train station (10 minutes) to find that it's actually a 3*** Best Western. We NEVER stay in American hotels in Europe! However, this was not a typical American hotel. It was very nice and well priced. Our room was on the top floor (4th) and we had a wonderful view of the rooftops of Tours. The view from the bathroom was of the Cathedral, which was lit up at night. The hotel is in a good location, just a 5 minute from the old town area and around the corner from a pedestrian street with several restaurants. The owner was friendly and everyday we were greeted in the lobby by her 2 french poodles.