Paris shopping, eating, drinking and living

[mike lowrey]

someone local can chime in with better info, but I recall it being hard to find a prepaid one with data.

[phanto]

Prepaid data cards are sold at most of the major mobile accessories retailers, you can top them up at supermarkets and convenience stores. You will be able to have coverage in belgium and Holland, but you will pay much higher prices while roaming in those countries (assuming you purchased your SIM in Paris)

I had 20 euroes in Netherlands in my SIM, when I left for paris the next day with roaming on, it guzzled down to 0.15 euroes within 3 hours.

What I can suggest is that you purchase a SIM in Paris and top it up with about 20 Euros. But turn off data roaming when you reach Belgium, Holland.

*just returned from paris, bought a 3g data sim card for my iphone from netherlands, before travelling to paris.dublin and finland.

Need some help on SIM cards.

I have an unlocked smart phone and need a SIM card with a data plan for approximately a week.

I will be spending four days in Paris, one day in Belgium, and one day in Holland.

Ideally, I want a card that has coverage for the three countries and would like to purchase one in the US before leaving i.e. online.

My first destination is Paris. Where should I get a SIM card if I were to get one there.

Any help is appreciated.

[herpsky]

Prepaid data cards are sold at most of the major mobile accessories retailers, you can top them up at supermarkets and convenience stores. You will be able to have coverage in belgium and Holland, but you will pay much higher prices while roaming in those countries (assuming you purchased your SIM in Paris)

I had 20 euroes in Netherlands in my SIM, when I left for paris the next day with roaming on, it guzzled down to 0.15 euroes within 3 hours.

What I can suggest is that you purchase a SIM in Paris and top it up with about 20 Euros. But turn off data roaming when you reach Belgium, Holland.

*just returned from paris, bought a 3g data sim card for my iphone from netherlands, before travelling to paris.dublin and finland.

thanks for the advice. i bought a SIM from orange. had like 15 euros on it. burned through it in a couple of hours.

i forgot to turn off background data syncing. stupid me.

[ericdw]

planning a surprise trip to paris for my wife on short notice, aug. 17-23. any restaurant recommendations for places that are actually open in august? thanks!

[captain5640]

Just moved to Paris (again). I'm fucking happy to be here (again). It might sound stupid, but I forgot how awesome some places are. I stopped by Uniqlo and French Trotters yesterday. Uniqlo still has a decent stock of +J and FT pretty much blew my mind. I was gonna cop a few things, but I'm living out of a suitcase right now. Appartment hunting is a bitch, at least there's couchsurfing...

[herpsky]

french trotters had some cumworthy nigel cabourn jackets

the store is dope

[captain5640]

Yeah, they had the Cameraman jacket and I pretty much raped it.

This isn't exactly Cabourn style, but was also super nice imo...

FT Teddy

[zeroquatre]

this site is useful ; http://www.tendaysinparis.com/

[Fuuma]

I've actually never set foot in french trotters, should I go?

[captain5640]

If you're around the Marais/live in Paris, it's worth a stop. After that go to Café Le Progrès, which is right down the street and stare at all the hip/rich Parisians who frequent that place.

[mathaboun]

For the people who don't have opportunities to discover Paris you can go to

http://www.videdressing.com/le-vide-dressing-de-math-420358/parrainage/95264

[champagne_bubblebath]

In Paris now (staying around Canal St Martin) wife dead asleep at 10pm. What's good?

[jeansnkicks]

Anyone gonna be in Paris NYE or know of anything good happening? Booked a last minute trip.

[Fuuma]

If you're around the Marais/live in Paris, it's worth a stop. After that go to Café Le Progrès, which is right down the street and stare at all the hip/rich Parisians who frequent that place.

I frequent that place, bitch!

[captain5640]

I frequent that place, bitch!

Me too. Maybe we'll randomly stare at each other.

edit: I didn't know you live in Paris, so I retract my statement about french trotters. After stopping in there again when the sales started I'm not as enthusiastic about it if you haven't already felt the need to stop in there.

Edited February 6, 2012 by captain5640

[Fuuma]

Le déplacement de la mouvance Baronneur/hype de La Perle vers Le Progrès est plutôt marrant, prochaine étape Les Souffleurs. Nah.

Best kept shoe secret in Paris=Massaro (men's line) made by Edward Green, the zip boots are so killer and they're better made than reg Edward Green which are already top notch. I think they come down to €1000 w. shoe trees, not bad.

[captain5640]

À mon côté, je ne connais pas du tout l'histoire de la mouvance de la perle vers le progrès. Ma vie À Paris, c'est plus ou moins nouvelle donc je n'ai aucune référence. Tu parles de quoi, ces souffleurs?

€1000 w/trees isn't in my budget at this point, but I'd be interested in stopping by there to look around and to see some well made shoes in person.

[Fuuma]

À mon côté, je ne connais pas du tout l'histoire de la mouvance de la perle vers le progrès. Ma vie À Paris, c'est plus ou moins nouvelle donc je n'ai aucune référence. Tu parles de quoi, ces souffleurs?

€1000 w/trees isn't in my budget at this point, but I'd be interested in stopping by there to look around and to see some well made shoes in person.

Haha, basically La Perle used to be the pre-gaming place for the hype but now it is Progrès. Les souffleurs is also in the marais but it's a super gay place, it was just joking.

If you want to see nice shoes go to Pierre Corthay, Massaro (Massato does the bespoke shoes for Chanel haute couture, their menswear ready to wear is still cool but it is not their main business), Berluti and Weston. You can get some nice but cheaper shoes at Carmina (€350), Markowski (€245 and their more upmarket brand septième largeur is even nicer for €295) or even the quite reliable Loding (€150).

[Landy]

going to paris next month with the gf. any recos on some live music spots to check out some french indie and electro pop bands? merci!

[captain5640]

going to paris next month with the gf. any recos on some live music spots to check out some french indie and electro pop bands? merci!

La Flèche d'Or and Point ÉphÉmère always seem to have some sort of indie stuff going on. You can also check out a few websites such as: www.parisbouge.com, www.timeout.fr, www.parisnightlife.fr, and www.digitick.com (for a list of most upcoming shows).

My question: Anyone (maybe Fuuma??) know a good place to get a haircut? I've gone to a place called The Bubble Factory twice, as it was recommended by a friend, but I am not at all impressed. I could have done what they did by myself. Any help would be appreciated.

[Fuuma]

I like Lucia Iraci, YMMV.

[yupsterism]

fellas, i just realized i havent been on sufu in the longest time!

im in paris now for some business matters, staying in 2eme now, and moving to lyon middle this year. but anyway, some questions

1. anybody can provide advise/links to advise on the french tax system?

2. do you guys do meet-ups? cuz perhaps we can get drinks and what not

[DaBestSpoona]

Bump!

Shopping seems more expensive than in NYC, was expecting slightly cheaper prices for european labels. My wife has trouble finding small sizes(thought French women were smaller), she is regulated to browsing in the high end children's section in dept stores. Alot of trouble finding EU 32 size for her, she usually orders from Rakuten or Canadian sites.

Restaurants

Akrame - Best meal we had so far, some really creative dishes, thought we ordered a more extensive course because of a language barrier issue, but yeah excellent value.

Verjus - very american friendly, place was filled with Americans, but food is uninspiring, safe, boring, bland, but light

Le Comptoir du Relais- Excellent, nice Japanese cooks, could eat here every week if I lived in Paris, but this is my lunch experience

Le Chateaubriand - Best wine pairings of the trip, some interesting courses, only one really bad dish, it was katsuo, had better frozen store brought katsuo from Japan, surprised how easy it was to get a reservation, and yeah we did go to the right one.

After 5 days of eating brasserie faire and tasting menus, stomach was craving rice and miso soup, Japanese food here is pretty sad for a city filled with Japanese line cooks and sous chefs.

[jlow]

anyone got any recommendations for a good hostel close to nightlife/sights/shopping?

Going to be in Paris for a week in June.

[DaBestSpoona]

I stayed at a nice apartment in the 1st via airbnb.com

[Njalle]

so the missus and I are planning a romantic getaway to Paris in october. any recommendations for a nice hotel that is central and not too expensive, but still romantic? (max 150 eur per room per night)

[igotwmds]

Bump!

Shopping seems more expensive than in NYC, was expecting slightly cheaper prices for european labels. My wife has trouble finding small sizes(thought French women were smaller), she is regulated to browsing in the high end children's section in dept stores. Alot of trouble finding EU 32 size for her, she usually orders from Rakuten or Canadian sites.

Restaurants

Akrame - Best meal we had so far, some really creative dishes, thought we ordered a more extensive course because of a language barrier issue, but yeah excellent value.

Verjus - very american friendly, place was filled with Americans, but food is uninspiring, safe, boring, bland, but light

Le Comptoir du Relais- Excellent, nice Japanese cooks, could eat here every week if I lived in Paris, but this is my lunch experience

Le Chateaubriand - Best wine pairings of the trip, some interesting courses, only one really bad dish, it was katsuo, had better frozen store brought katsuo from Japan, surprised how easy it was to get a reservation, and yeah we did go to the right one.

After 5 days of eating brasserie faire and tasting menus, stomach was craving rice and miso soup, Japanese food here is pretty sad for a city filled with Japanese line cooks and sous chefs.

true, had lunch there perfect menu (except one of the desserts being meh). i recommend it

Edited August 31, 2012 by igotwmds

[yupsterism]

After 5 days of eating brasserie faire and tasting menus, stomach was craving rice and miso soup, Japanese food here is pretty sad for a city filled with Japanese line cooks and sous chefs.

huh, you didnt like anything on rue sainte anne? i love chez miki

[DaBestSpoona]

Nope. I walked by and looked at the menus, most of them serve rolls and yakitori, no japanese spoken. Didnt want to goto Guilo Guilo, why should I drop money on Kaiseki in Paris. Just wanted some hokke, sanma or toro aji, tsukemono, natto, akamiso soup or a decent katsudon.

[Gabriel]

Don't know any of those but if you want a cheap place where Japanese is definitely spoken, Naniwa-ya is good value.