France
It's a simple but quite nice budget hotel in a very lively Parisian area - the Oberkampf quarter. Very cheap with Parisian standards and the area is really great. It's a youthful hotel in a youthful quarter, with friendly and helpful staff.
15, rue de Malte
75010 Paris
www.marys-paris-hotel.com/
It is a nice budget hotel in a prestigious neighborhood in the center of Paris, between Bd Haussmann (the Printemps etc) the Madeleine and the Opera. It's a 2-star hotel so don't expect anything extra, but our room was comfortable and spacious, and it actually had a quite charming character with the exposed timber beams. Staff, same as the hotel, were nice in general but nothing to rave about. The reason to choose this place is for its location and the good price.
5, rue de Castellane 75008 Paris
paris-hotel-royalopera.com/
The great thing about the Republique area is that prices tend to be cheaper than in the touristy districts - hotels, restaurants, bars etc - while it's still a very central location. And it's a trendy quarter, very lively, popular with locals. The Meslay Hotel is a romantic cutie in the district, it's affordable and stylish. We loved it!
English bookshop in the heart of the latin quarter, Shakespeare & Co. is an "icontournable" for English speakers. Having lived in Paris for over a year, I spent many hours in the bookshop, reviving my love for English and American novels. Like a small cave with walls built with unending stacks of books, it has a spirit of its own. Photographs of great writers, and literary classics surround a well in the centre of the shop's ground floor. If you miss speaking English, S. & Co. customers are mainly English and American tourists, most of them too amazed by the beauty and wealth of the place to buy anything. You can find almost any book you've dreamt to read, and even write a few lines about the place, on the typewriter on the first floor, also surrounded by books of all sorts. Guarded by a black cat, the place also has a children's book section, as well as German, Russian, and some French literature, stuffed under the staircase. Many photographs recall the visit of some famous writers; Lawrence Ferlinghetti, among others. It is a passionate trip through time and literature. I've spent many rainy Sunday afternoons, just reading through this goldmine of knowledge and great minds. It's not too expensive, so you can come back from Paris with more English books than mini Eiffel Towers!
Another amusing fact, in the time I was there: one of the employees looked somewhat strangely like the great William himself!
37, rue de la Bûcherie, 5th district. Metro stations: St Michel, or Cluny-Sorbonne. Phone: +33 (0) 143 254 093.
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