Sloane_428

I am planning a trip to London and Paris for myself and my mother in early July. I am starting to give myself a headache from reading guide books, and was hoping for some advice based on the itinerary I have so far.

Wednesday - arrive at Gare du Nord at 17:17, drop things off at apartment in Marais, dinner near Pont Neuf, Vedettes du Pont Neuf evening cruise

Thursday - Explore St. Germain des Pres area, Le Bon Marche, Luxembourg Gardens

Friday - Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, walk along Champs-Elysees, Jardin de Tuileries, Angelina, Louvre around 6pm

Saturday - Versailles

Sunday - Montmarte, Sacre Coeur

Monday - Musee de l'Orangerie, Place de la Concorde, a stop at Laduree, Opera Garnier for 2:30pm tour, Galeries Lafayette

Tuesday - Musee d'Orsay, walk along Seine to Notre Dame, explore Ile Saint-Louis (with a stop at Berthillon). Possibly Sainte-Chappelle, perhaps dependent on the wait.

Wednesday - nothing planned so far

Thursday - leave in the AM

I am planning on buying the Musee d'Orsay/l'Orangerie passport so those 2 stops have to happen within 4 days of each other. I'd like to be at Versailles on Saturday or Sunday to see the fountain shows, and I can get in for free at the Louvre if we go Friday night. Everything else is very flexible.

I don't want to over plan, as I want to make sure we have time to explore and discover our own Paris rather than the Paris from my guidebooks! I have at least 2 whole days empty (I think, unless I am underestimating my time) so I feel like I must be doing something wrong. Are my planned days too crowded? Would you recommend that any of those days be broken up? Anything that I am missing?

Thank you!

StCirq

National museums are closed Tuesdays. Municipal ones are closed Mondays.

jent103

For the most part I think that looks very doable and leaves you a good amount of time to relax (it won't take you all day to see Montmartre, for example). Your Friday is probably your busiest day, but I see why you've grouped it the way you did and one busy day surely won't kill you! I did Paris Walks' Montmartre tour and really enjoyed it; I think they regularly do it on Wednesdays, so if that sounds interesting, you might swap your Saturday and Wednesday. Depending on how much time you spend in St. Germain, you could do Notre Dame and Saint-Chapelle that day, but you can decide how you feel about that when you get there.

You might be a bit rushed on your first evening, depending on which cruise you plan to take and how long it takes to get to your hotel and eat.

Saint-Chapelle was one of my favorite stops on my recent trips. It's really incredible. I had to wait about 20 minutes and it was absolutely worth it - I would have waited longer. As far as other things, I actually enjoyed the Centre Pompidou much more than I thought I would. I took three walking tours, one with Oui Paris and two with Paris Walks, and really enjoyed all of them.

Sloane_428

StCirq, did I mix up the closing dates of Orsay and l'Orangerie? I believe I took the info straight from their websites.

jent103, thanks for sharing. I think we'll take a 9pm or 9:30pm cruise that first night so we can see the city in daylight and then when the sun sets. We can always nix the dinner idea and just pick something up along the way. Does anyone know if it is a good idea to buy the cruise tickets ahead of time? I saw the internet discount they have, so I was hoping to buy them there. Obviously I do not want to wait if I am running the risk of them being out of tickets. How early do I need to get there?

I'll look into Paris walks. I've done a bunch of walking tours in NY, and even as a native NYer, always found them to be super interesting and the best way to get all of the history.

I read a few comment online that people felt Sainte-Chappelle wasn't worth the price, too small, etc., but I think deep down I really want to see it. I think I'll add it in since I will be right there anyway.

bretonick

You seem to like walking, so check out the Paris walks website on http://www.paris-walks.com. And if you like something out of the ordinary, the Paris catacombs are worth a visit - as long as you don't mind going up and down a lot of steps. http://www.catacombes-de-paris.fr/english.htm . And you'll find some other ideas for spending a week in Paris on http://about-france.com/week-in-paris.htm.

jent103

I was at the Musee d'Orsay Tuesday, March 27, so I know that one is right!

I was surprised that it cost €8.50 to get into Sainte-Chapelle, but it's really stunning and once I was in there I didn't mind. Try to go on a sunny day if you can - the stained glass is so beautiful. I can see how some would think it wouldn't be worth it, but it was a highlight of my trip. We also attended a classical music concert there, which I really enjoyed - it was at night, so you couldn't see the glass, but such a cool venue.

By the way, I believe Paris Walks is connected to London Walks. I highly recommend both - I did three walks with London Walks on my last trip and really enjoyed them.

Sloane_428

I just looked at the Paris walks website and they actually offer the Montmartre tour 3 times a week and one is offered Sunday mornings, when I was planning on being there. Would you mind telling me a bit more about what the tour covered? The website is a bit vague and doesn't list the actual sites. If going on my own, I was planning on heading to the Montmartre Cemetery, the Moulin Rouge, and taking the funicular to the Sacre Coeur. Those were my initial places to hit, though I would obviously walk around (and am sure with more research I would have more places to go).

Uma

Ste-Chapelle is definitely "worth the price." Go on a sunny day; the stained glass windows are spectacular. Have already purchased discounted tickets online for the Vedettes du Pont Neuf cruise, and our trip isn't for several more months. Check out Place des Vosges. Many people love the Rodin Museum and gardens. When you are wandering around St. Germain des Pres, stop at Gerard Mulot for wonderful macarons and goodies.

jent103

Sloane: The tour didn't actually stop at anything you listed (I was surprised that we didn't go to the Moulin Rouge, but Montmartre is bigger than I originally thought, and that was relatively far from the rest of our stops). It meets at the Abbesses metro, goes down the Rue des Abbesses, and makes its way uphill to Place du Tertre and Sacre Coeur. Along the way you stop at various places; we saw St Pierre's and St. John's, Place Dalida, and several other things (I'll remember more when I flip through my photos, but I haven't uploaded them yet and they're at home). We did see two of the windmills, just not at the Moulin Rouge.

In short, the tour hit mostly places I never would have known to go in Montmartre, which I really liked. If I'd gone to Montmartre on my own I would have hit exactly what you listed, and would have missed a lot of the neighborhood. The tour guide would be happy to direct you anywhere once the tour is over, so you could certainly spend the afternoon in the cemetery, or seeing Moulin Rouge or the Dali museum. My impression is that the funicular is just a way to get out of climbing the steps to Sacre Coeur, but you can take the tour or otherwise meander through the neighborhood and gradually make your way uphill that way.

Sloane_428

I think I can swap things around so that my Thursday and Tuesday change a bit:

Thursday - St. Germain des Pres, Le Bon Marche, Luxembourg Gardens, Notre Dame, Sainte-Chapelle, Ile Saint-Louis

Tuesday - Musee d'Orsay, Invalides area, Musee Rodin, Rue Cler, Pont Alexander

Do those work?

And I'll add in the Montmartre Paris walk on Sunday morning.

This still leaves me with my second Wednesday open, but this is the day before I leave. I could maybe use it as a wandering day to just walk around, go back anywhere that I want to explore more, or fit in anything that I didn't have time for but was on the itinerary.

StCirq

Ack! Sorry about that - The Musée Rodin and the Musée d'Orsay are the exceptions to the Tuesday rule:

http://www.francetourism.com/practicalinfo/museums.htm

Sloane_428

jent103, thanks for the info. I think I'll take the tour, and I can always revisit the places I wanted to go after a bite to eat post-tour. It will still be very early. Thanks again!

jent103

That would work for me, though if you're museum-ed out after the Orsay you could always bump the Rodin museum to the next day. I like keeping Wednesday free to give you more flexibility. What I did was to make note of things that *had* to happen (like using the Passporte ticket at the Orsay/Orangerie, or being at Versailles on the weekend), and then fit everything else in depending on my mood and the weather. My plan got rearranged a few times!

If you haven't, check the Musee Rodin web site. They were closed for renovations when I was there (disappointing!), and I don't remember when it was supposed to reopen - perhaps this month? Hopefully by July!

Side note: I went to the Invalides area specifically to get hot chocolate from Le Boulanger des Invalides, based on this blog post (her blog is very fun, by the way). It was totally worth it.

http://ohhappyday.com/2011/05/le-bou...lides-jocteur/

sherrillmills

st.chapelle is lovely....catch one of the evening musical events...vivaldi's four seasons was very nice. it's stillvery light at night so the windows were lovely even at night.

versailles...hope you're going to catch one of the night fountain shows....i think usually on saturday nights....be sure to check . l eau nocturnes musicalles....or something to that effect. probably my favorite thing in paris.

one evening at 10 pm make your way to pont alexandre III....it's the lovely bridge at clemenceau metro stop. *i think that's the right stop....by le grand palais and petit palais.... go a few minutes before ten so as to catch the view of the eiffel tower as it sparkles....stand out on the bridge and take it all in. THIS is paris to me!
if there's time visit the cathedrals st. denis and st. eustache....also marmottan musuem is nice.
enjoy your trip.
you may want to order the little box of city walks for paris.... City Walks, Paris...50 adventures on foot.