Trip to Paris

[MacBrown]

Hi Guys,

I don\'t get much chance to keep as up to date with the hobby as I would like anymore (new job, more kids, bigger mortgage etc) but I have a trip to Paris coming up soon and was wondering if there is anything I should especially look out for whilst I am there. I remember the awesome Ilyad figures a short time back and was wondering if there is anything like this that we find hard to get our hands on over here (UK).
Cheers, any help appreciated.

 

[Ritual]

You should visit the Starplayer shop (http://www.starplayer.fr). Ilyad is gone, though, since a few years back.

 

[frenchkid]

Quite Franckly I don\'t think there\'s much that you can find in France that you wont be able to find/buy elswhere miniwise. Starplayer is a good stop for all things mini. But other than that, I\'d say enjoy Paris for what\'s unique in Paris

 

[MacBrown]

Thanks guys.

I was aware Ilyad disappeared. I remember Alan C\'s minotaur figure being very impressive and was disappointed they went under before I could get one. If I remember rightly, they were pretty hard to get hold of outside of France. So I had been wondering if there was an equivalent around today.

Don\'t worry, I will enjoy Paris for what it is more renowned for. Any insiders tips?

 

[Ritual]

Allan works for Kraken Edition and does some freelance sculpting. Jacques-Alexandre Gillois and Tomas David, who also worked for Ilyad, has been working with Helldorado since then, although that game is getting cancelled.

One thing I enjoyed very much (although \"enjoy\" might not be the right word...) when I visited Paris two years ago was the catacombs. A very strange place... nothing for the squeamish, though.

 

[freakinacage]

if you only have time for one museum, don\'t bother with the louvre, go to the musee d\'orsay. try and fit both in though. also the museum at l\'hotel des invelides had loads of weapons and armour (handy reference material)

 

[Dragonsreach]

If you get the chance.. Per Lachaise is reputed to be a superb place to visit.
Different to walk around a Cemetary.

 

[Amazon warrior]

Originally posted by Ritual
One thing I enjoyed very much (although \"enjoy\" might not be the right word...) when I visited Paris two years ago was the catacombs. A very strange place... nothing for the squeamish, though.

Absolutely agree. It\'s a striking place, and very fascinating.

 

[MacBrown]

All duly noted. Thanks. I was going to try and get to the Picasso museum, but I\'ve heard it is shutting for a refurb (not to mention someone has nicked about $11m worth of drawings from it).

 

[Ritual]

Despite being one of those typical \"touristy\" things, I\'d recommend visiting Notre Dame. No matter what your thoughts about religion are, it\'s a damn impressive and, above all, beautiful building. And it\'s free!

 

[Dragon Forge Design]

Originally posted by Ritual
Despite being one of those typical \"touristy\" things, I\'d recommend visiting Notre Dame. No matter what your thoughts about religion are, it\'s a damn impressive and, above all, beautiful building. And it\'s free!

And Starplayer is about a 5 min walk away around the corner

But yes Notre dame is one of my favorite places in Paris.. out front its quite a place to people watch on a nice day . Around back is a nice quiet park. Nice place for lunch and a quiet sit.

 

[Arma]

x3 on StarPlayer + Notre Dame. Some of the minis in the window at SP are awesome. I bought a whole lot of Ravage while I was there too

 

[Arma]

ugh double post, sorry.

 

[alextheartist]

Notre dame is pretty cool, when i went it wasnt even that busy...

 

[green stuff]

Message original : freakinacage
don\'t bother with the louvre

It\'s actually worth visiting if you know where and when to go (i.e. prefer the Lion\'s gate to the Pyramid entry, and if you can, go to the nocturnal visits). Also avoid the elements featured in the \"Da Vinci Code\", there\'s plenty of other sections to visit with less crowds .

The Guimet museum of asian art is also a wonder to visit.

 

[frenchkid]

Well I havent had a chance to go, but there\'s an expo on Andy warhole at the Grand palais which is supposedly really nice. There\'s also a nice expo on tags in there.
If you like Jazz music, there\'s a nice exebition at the quai branly on Jazz.
Other than that my two favourit museum are the quai d\'orsay and the centre george pompidou.

Other fun things to do:
- walk in montmartre (espcially la place des tertre.
- Walk in the Marais.
- Go see a TV Show ( something I find entertaining in all \'BIG\' cities). I\'d suggest \'the grand Journal\'
- Go to the theater (there\'s a whole lot of them and most of them are very nice).
- do some shopping on boulveard haussemann and Boulevard st-Germain.
- If you go to the Louvre make sure you go see the appartements of Napoleon.

And one importante thing:
Paris isn\'t that big so don\'t hesitate to walk a lot, if you have a map you probably won\'t get lost and find some nice things. Velibs are also very nice to go around the city and about as fast as the metro !!

 

[green stuff]

About the Velibs (public bikes) : be very careful about car trafic; there have been quite a few accidents in Paris . Other than that, it\'s a great way to move around the city.

 

[MacBrown]

OK Frenchkid, I\'ll try walking. I wasn\'t too sure on the distances. Hard to gauge when you are just looking at a map.

As for the Velibs....................... are you serious? Velibs are just for the insane or those with a deathwish (they often have very similar traits). \'\'

 

[NGArtStudios]

Seems like this has turned into \"places you should visit\" from the hobby shop question so might as well put my two cents in.

I will second Frenchkid on visiting Montmartre. I spent a week in Paris a couple of years back and Montmartre was definitely one of my favorites.

I would also recommend taking one of the evening dinner river cruises. It can be a bit expensive but the food is usually very good and a nice way to spend an evening.

The Palace of Versailles is only a short distance outside of Paris and is easily accessible by train. It\'s worth a day trip. Great artwork/architecture. The gardens are great if the weather permits and there is a quaint little town right by the palace to have lunch/dinner in one of its many restaurants or cafes.

The Louvre is worth seeing if your into that kind of stuff. If not then the 3 plus hour wait in line is not worth it.

I\'ll also second Ritual on checking out the catacombs. The ones in Paris aren\'t as visually stunning as those in Rome but still definitely worth seeing.

 

[freakinacage]

Originally posted by frenchkid


Other fun things to do:
- walk in montmartre (espcially la place des tertre.
- If you go to the Louvre make sure you go see the appartements of Napoleon.

And one importante thing:
Paris isn\'t that big so don\'t hesitate to walk a lot, if you have a map you probably won\'t get lost and find some nice things.

agreed. montmartre is an awesome place the bit with the adult cinemas etc is a little embarrassing if your folks are there too. nothing worse than your old man being offered a ride and when he declines, she asks you!

not walked a lot of paris, every time i need to go somewhere, its usually the other side of town so i use the metro (which is fab). next time, i am going to take my time and stroll more