Best Cheap Hotel in the Marais
Grand Hotel Jeanne d'Arc - 3 rue Jarente
5 minutes walk to the Place de Vosges
Loved my room, though it was QUITE small but charming with beamed ceiling, French windows, blue/green oriental carpet, coral bedspread/wallpaper, little desk, quaint light fixtures, & 6th floor ROOFTOP view!
At night I'd meander home along the northern street of Notre Dame, cross the bridge to the Ile St-Louis, then halfway down the rue St-Louis-en-l'Ile to cross the Pont Marie and eventually reach my little hotel in the Marais. I passed many couples & young groups of people along the way. The wonderful thing about this area is that I felt completely safe & comfortable as a single woman walking through it late at night. What immense freedom.
Another great thing is that it is 5 minutes from the Metro station St. Paul on the #1 line, so it's very convenient to everything. From that station, I easily found my way back to the hotel by walking along rue St-Antoine to the huge St. Louis-St. Paul church, just past it on the left is rue Caron which would take me right through the middle of the Place du Marche Ste-Catherine (a beautiful little square with restaurants lining it and tons of people hanging out - prime location for people watching) then around the corner to the Grand Hotel Jeanne d'Arc.
The Place du Marche St-Catherine, incidentally, was one of the locations used for the film The Bourne Identity. It flashes very briefly on the screen but I recognized it. The safehouse for Treadstone is above one of the restaurants on the east side of the square.
Jeanne d'Arc e-mail: information@hoteljeannedarc.com
Deal directly w/ Stefan
Photos: Feb 2006 & April 2003
Unique Quality: Stefan will make your lunch/dinner reservations & give you advice on French food specialties. To get into the good graces of the staff bear in mind they LOVE peanut butter eggs. :)
BOULANGERIES/PATISSIERS
Miss Manon - Patissier/Boulanger/Traiteur for breakfast-open 7am-10pm except Monday.
Boulangerie Paul - next to Miss Manon on r. Saint-Antoine 3 mins. from hotel (Directions: thru Pl. du Marche Ste- Catherine & r. Caron & across the street @ #87).
CAFE
Cafe Tabac Jean Bart - for cigarettes, stamps, phone card, late-night cafe or frites & cidre!!
FOOD MARKET
Just west of the patisseries is a Supermarche at #115, rue St-Antoine where you can buy your bottled water or drinkable yogurt.
PLACE DU MARCHE STE-CATHERINE
At night I'd grab my CD player, sit on a bench in the square, smoke cigs, listen to Coldplay & people-watch ~ sheer heaven!
VILLAGE ST-PAUL
If you walk down the rue Caron, cross rue St-Antoine & continue down rue St-Paul within a few minutes you'll reach the Village St-Paul, a quaint area set up as an antiques market.