Paris
 

Heading to Paris for a week. Would like to hear your recommendations on all good things.

Watch where you step.

The Arc De Triomph, The Eiffel Tower, The Louvre, Champs Elysee, The Seine, Cathedral de Notre Dame. The Ballet. All of the outdoor cafe's. The spicy garlic laden mayonnaise served on green beans, the croissants, the cheeses, Ooooolalalalala.

And the well behaved children and dogs.

The Rodin Museum. Spent three solid days there. Could have spent a lifetime or two and seen something different in each statue every time.

If you go in January, check out the designer sales. Some pretty awesome discounts.

Forget the name of the store, but their department store is really fun.

Just wander. You'll find something beautiful around every corner and some great little shops in the alleys.

Take the Metro. Get off at every station. The decor in each is amazing, as are the street musicians.

Learn some French before you go. It makes Paris a lot friendlier.

While the metro is really neat and easy to use, if you can figure out the schedule, take a few buses too. Since you only have a week, taking buses allows you to see more of the neighborhoods. The metro is almost all underground and affords few views, although some of the stations have some interesting decor The Most Beautiful Metro Stations in Paris | WhyGo Paris

If it's warm, a fun thing to do is get on one of the tour boats for a narrated ride on the Seine. Don't do a dinner cruise--too expensive, mediocre food, and you miss a lot of the sights because you're eating! If you go around sunset, they try to reach the view of the Eiffel Tower on the hour, when it twinkles for five or ten minutes.

Another thing you might consider is taking the red hop-on/hop-off bus. It will give you an overview of the city's high points, and you can decide which ones you want to go back to and spend more time.

For museums, I like the Musée d'Orsay. It's smaller and less overwhelming than the Louvre, and there is a nice restaurant in the museum. The restaurant takes reservations.

Go online and search walking tours of Paris. You can either figure them out yourself or go with a guide. We've done a couple of walking tours there and particularly liked the one of the Marais, straddling the 3rd & 4th arrondissements., one of the few neighborhoods of Paris that Haussmann left alone when he remade Paris for Napolean III.

I could go on and on. Have fun!

Watch out for the pick pockets.

Another thing... you can get online and reserve a time to go up the Eiffel Tower. Otherwise you'll stand in line for a long time. Google "Eiffel Tower Tickets." My internet is slow as molasses tonight.

Think about going to Montmartre. I love it up there. There is a walk you can do from one metro station (the one with the murals--I think it's Abbesses) that goes up a street past the two remaining windmills, through a park with a statue of a saint holding his own (be)head (forget his name) and approaches Sacre Coeur from a different angle rather than pushing through all the crowds up the main approach. If you're interested, PM me and I'll look it up online when I have better internet. I might even still have it in a word doc.

There is a little map booklet called Paris Pratique available at almost any news stand. My husband swears by it.

Even if you are not a foodie or are staying in a hotel rather than an apartment with a kitchen, you might like to explore one or more of the outdoor street markets of Paris. Our favorite is the Marché Bastille, which starts at the Place de la Bastille and continues for a couple of city blocks down Bld. Richard Lenoir. The big day is Sunday, in the morning till around noonish. There is a jaw-dropping array of food and other items. There are other markets as well. Food markets in Paris. The first market listed on this site, Rungis, is the main drop for all food coming into Paris. I think you have to have a guide to get in, and they go around 4:30 a.m., so we've never been.

Batobus

These are boats that do a loop of all the major attractions. You can get day passes and jump on and off whenever, wherever you want. Its also nice to just stay on the boat when you need a break. The boats hold a lot of people so not a problem getting a seat.

paris personal tour - seine river boat tours - seine river cruise price - paris night tours

A useful book for restaurants was written by an American student - Miles Turner, whose parents lived in Paris. This gives the restaurants off the tourist trail and therefore less expensive. It was a few years ago when we used this and I don't know if it is still available. Book title Pauper's Paris. We spent a very entertaining lunch in the Rue St Denis " the red light district" and the Rue Madeleine where the bored housewives go!

Go to the Palace of Versailles. Beautiful. The dinner cruise on the Seine River was awesome. Delicious meal, wine and music. So much fun. It's also fun to get a ticket for the open tour bus. We got a 2 day ticket. You can hop on and off in all parts of the city. There are 4 routes but they all connect. Go to Champs Elysees. Have lunch or dinner at an outdoor cafe and people watch. :) Moulin Rouge was a good time.

http://www.bateauxparisiens.com/dinn...e-8-30-pm.html

Moulan Rouge - probably spelled wrong - a must one time, expensive, but worth it.

We said we would go once, but when we went back to Paris we went again.

Nothing like it - even in Las Vegas

Batoboat... That's the one I was talking about. Much less expensive than the dinner cruise and not as time consuming. Plus I have to disagree with Bonny about the quality of the food served vis-a-vis the price. But Bonny's and my tastes differ on restaurants and food, so you might enjoy it more than we did.

Versailles is reachable by train, about 1/2 hr or so outside of Paris. Awesome, but it will be crowded.

Père Lachaise Cemetery. It's an oasis of quiet and beauty in the city. There are many different above-ground crypts and tombs, and fascinating architecture and sculpture. And empty tombs because descendants refused to pay for their upkeep, so the remains were removed. The landscaping is beautiful. Lots of famous people are buried there, in particular Jim Morrison, Moliere, Chopin, Colette. Go here for some pictures of ten of the graves. Top 10 Fascinating Graves in Père Lachaise - Listverse
It's free, and you can either download a map or get one from the cemetery office.

(Our dog got kicked out of there once... escorted to the door by a ghostkeeper. He may be the only golden to visit Jim Morrison. No sign at the entrance we used.)

Some Thoughts
 

First I would go to Barnes and Nobel and buy a map of Paris that shows some of the major sites. I would take the map and check off the Tourist Sites which you want to see and circle them. Look at distances between sites and study which you can walk between and those you must take public transportation. This will point to the Underground system which is easy to figure out. Do not use taxi's they are both expensive and the price goes up in the evening. I am not sure they still run but look to see if American Express has a half day tour. If so, take it, sit in the front of the bus and with your Paris map mark the locations you want to go back to. This is cheap way of getting to know the city. At one time I worked in Paris and we were always amazed at the tourists who were standing on the corner trying to figure out where they wanted to go next. If they added up all of the costs to make the trip they would understand what it was costing to stand there and now decide what to do!! This may sound like overkill but also buy a second map of Paris and tape it to your hotel wall. When you come into the room you are always looking at what you would do next. There are some good recommendations in other notes in this grouping. Montmarte is a good place to visit and it is even better if you are there when the artist's are in the square. Fuscon's by the Opera for sweets cannot be beat. Coffee at Cafe de Lape (Spelliing) is famous and a great place to see the people. The Effile Tower is worth it. Take it to the very top (second lift) and if that doesn't make you nervous nothing will.
When picking up a map(s) at Barnes and Nobel make sure the one has a map of the Underground, if not get one of the Underground. Make sure you have some Euro's for tips when you first land. Pick pockets can be a pain in the neck and should be careful. Very seldom is there a violent crime. For rememberence of the trip rather than buying some cheap thing, pick up
a pebble at the Arch or the Tower, etc and bring it back and put it in a little glass bubble for a necklace, etc. Also be sure to protect your Passport. In some cases that is more important than currency. Leave a copy at home in case yours is stolen you can call home and have the copy expedited to you in Paris. I have gone on too long. I could add more but this is a good
start. (If you want to go to a "naughty" show you could consider The Crazy Horse in Pigale. Probably not worth it?) :wave:

You can also go to Google Earth and enter various locations in Paris, then zoom in and out to get your bearings.

Here ia a link for L'Open Tour Bus. When you go to the page, click on interactive map. It'll show you the 4 different routes and some of the popular attractions. It'll give you a feel of the city.

http://http://www.paris.opentour.com/en/

Penn's map idea is a good one. Paris is a pretty compact city, and we found many times we could walk from Point A to Point B much easier/faster than taking the Metro. For instance, from Rue Mouffetarde (good outdoor market on Saturday, plenty of inexpensive cafes, for instance La Vieille Tour) to La Bastille, an easy, interesting walk as opposed to taking two metro lines. Very close to Rue Mouffetarde is the Luxembourg garden.

La Vieille Tour Restaurant --good food and interesting decor, pictures here La Vieille Tour Restaurant they speak English

Eye Witness is the absolute best for a city.

http://www.dk.com/us/9781465410528-d...XDxBoC157w_wcB

Attachment 48907

I bet you have enough to be overwhelmed by now! Have a great trip.

The Palais Garnier which is the opera house where The Phantom of the Opera is set. See the grand staircase and Chagall ceiling. Sainte-Chapelle with the spectacular stained glass. Church of Saint-Sulpice with its amazing organ and the Rose Line (daVinci Code). Les Invalides where you can see Napoleon's tomb. The Conciergerie where Marie Antoinette was imprisoned. So much to see!

Consider
 

You may want to consider going back through these TOTV notes and write down some of the places the writers suggested you visit. I may have missed it but I don't recall seeing Notre Dame in the notes? Once you have written them down, go back to Barnes & Nobel and buy a good tourist book on Paris and read up on each of the suggestions and decide which you think are priority. One of the fun things to do when going to a city you have not visited before is planning for the trip. Why wait until you are there and spend your time and trip investments deciding where you will go and how you will go (eg walk, underground, etc) when you are there. You have a great trip ahead and should really enjoy the experience.:wave:

Google must see in Paris. That will give you a lot of the places that every one wants to see. Go from there. Jot things down. If you like museums, shopping, churches, historic places, overall sight seeing or good restaurants. Do what you find interesting and have a wonderful time. Just don't leave there and say, oh I wish we would have...... Do your research. ;)

All good advise
Do learn some French, like Redwitch said.
Je voudrais
S'il vous plaît, bonjour monsieur, madame
Merci, etc
Will go a loooooong way
The French are proud of thir language and culture....

Get your tickets for the Louve before you go. The line gets long.
We liked the Museum de'orssay.. wonderful Monets, impressionists!
We also loved the hop on off bus. 3 different loops and it takes you to all areas of the city.
I think that Viator.com has a trip to Versailes Palace. It is outside the city, so you need some sort of transportation
Take a river boat tour.
It is pricey and some people say it is not worth it, but we had a wonderful experience at the Molan Rouge.. danced , had dinner and a great Los Vegas type show.

It is a fanatastic city Someday, we will go back! b

Had a wonderful time. Made it to the Louvre, d'Orsay, Eiffel tower, Klimt exhibit, The Arch, Notre Dame, The Seine for a riverboat dinner cruise in the evening. Used the hop-on-off bus. Many other places and dining establishments. Several scanners with fake rings and petitions.

Super! Sounds like you hit a lot of good spots.

A guy tried to pull the "lost" ring thing on us too. My husband said, "Let's take the "lost" ring it to a gendarme," and the guy disappeared pronto!

Just returned a week ago from Paris. Yes, pick pockets are rampant. Metro announces it even in English. Don't do back pack. Keep everything in front. Metro is best way to travel around. Buy a carnet(ticket of 10) at a discount for Metro use.

Have never been to Orangerie Museum near Louvre. A small museum but wonderful collection of French artists including Monet.

Try dinner at Relais des Entrecôte on the same street as famous Cafe de Flore. Only rib eye w/o bone and French fries offered. Order medium which is med. rare. No reservation. Arrive before 7 to get seated. Try Restaurant Polidor near Rue Luxemburg. Over 100 years old. Very traditional Julia Child French. If you want candlelight quiet don't go there. Only cash accepted. No reservation so arrive before 7.