rajshiv

I have had a crazy couple of weeks at work and have only just worked out our Paris itinerary..

I have already picked your brains about which apartment to choose. We have decided to go to with

http://www.vrbo.com/143981

We are really happy with our interactions till now with the owner. She has been extremely accommodating to our needs and seems like a really nice woman.

We are a group of four adults (my parents, my husband G and I). It is a once in a lifetime experience of my parents and we would just hope that my parents would love Paris as much as we do. My parents cannot walk too much or take too many stairs. What they lack in energy they make up with their spirit. We are going to be in Paris from 9th November to 12th November.

We would really appreciate help with the itinerary and restaurants.

Day 1

Reach Gare du Nord at 9:00 on the Eurostar from London. We have to check in by 10:45. We plan to spend some time getting some breakfast in a neighborhood café or if the weather permits take a packed breakfast and drinks to Jardin Du Luxembourg

Take the 2:00 pm guided tour of Louvre. This is the highlight tour and we plan to spend an extra hour to visit the Napoleon’s apartments that we missed last time.

We then would like to take a couple of hours break in some café close by.

Then we would like to go to the Musee De Orangerie and make use of the late opening hours.

We would probably eat a simple dinner at home tonight and would like to make an early night.

Questions:

- Any good boulangerie/ patisseries close to where we are?
- Any good café close to Louvre…where we can relax and spend a couple of hours?
- Where we can get the Paris Museum pass? Last time we got it from a tobacco shop opposite St Chappelle. I would prefer to get the pass while my parents rest in the apartment. I am planning to get the four day Paris Pass for the three of us as G would join us later tonight.

Any comments on our first day?

Day 2

Get an early start and take the train to Versailles. We plan to take the train at about 9:00. We would ideally like to spend about three hours there and be back for the afternoon. We did think about skipping Versailles…however my dad is a big on visiting castles. He loves to compare them to the castles that he has visited in India. Moreover last time we had missed visiting Marie Antionette's hamlet last time as we had run out of time.

We would have liked to go on Eiffel tower tonight…however we checked and the tickets are all sold out…and we thought this is the low season!!
Anyhow…we have now booked the Veddetes Paris seine cruise for 4:30pm. Last time we had booked the Veddetes Ponte Neuf…however by the time the Eiffel tower started twinkling the boat has already turned. So we thought it would be much better if the cruise came back towards Eiffel tower.

Questions:

- Which is the closest station from which we can take the train to Versailles?
- Will our carnet of tickets work on this or would we have to take a different ticket?
- What would be a good time to get at the cruise stop to give enough time for us to collect the tickets and get good view seats?
Day 3

We plan to take the two day La Open Tour as it might be easier on my parents.

Paris walk – Montmartre (10:30am)

We had planned to go for lunch at LA Blancoire (which gets amazing reviews on trip advisor)…however they don’t have any seats available on Sunday. )

Tonight we plan to go to the Eiffel Tower and try and get tickets to the top. I know a lot of people on the board feel it is not worth it…however I think it is one of those things where you have to earn a right to say it was not worth it. Also I am not sure if they will get another chance to go to Paris…and I think it makes sense for them to get a chance.

Questions:

- What is the closest stop for the La open bus from which we can get the tickets and get the bus to Montmartre?
- If tickets are sold out …is there a chance that we would be able to get the tickets in the line at Eiffel tower?
- Are there any other vegetarian friendly (NOT vegetarian restaurants) in the area where we might get a booking now?
Day 4

St Chappelle, Notre Dame, Place des Voges and a walk around Ille St Louis and Marais.

In the evening if we have the time and energy we would like to go to Arc de Triomphe for sunset views of the city.

Any comments about the itinerary? Any tips on how to use the hop on hop off…as some people seemed to have great experience with the bus and others often were left stranded?

I would really appreciate feedback…I will be accessing internet all through our visit…

annhig

hi rajshiv,

looks like a well-planned and exciting trip, raj - i hope that Paris lives up to all your expectations.

i can't help with all of them, but here's my answer to a few of your questions:

<<Which is the closest station from which we can take the train to Versailles?
- Will our carnet of tickets work on this or would we have to take a different ticket?..

you need a different ticket for versaiiles - but you can easily buy them when you get to the station either from the machines or from the ticket counter. you need the RER C to Versailles Rive Guache and the nearest one to your apartment is the Notre dame st michel station. but be careful - this is a big station and you need to make sure that you follow the signs to the right platform. you can book tickets for Versailles on the internet, and as you know which day you want to go, that might be a good idea.

Here's the official website where you can buy your tickets:

http://en.chateauversailles.fr/homepage

rajshiv

Thanks a lot annhig...really appreciate your help. Would you know if there is a direct bus from our apartment to Notre Dame St Michel? We will make sure that we leave well in advance. We will buy the museum pass...so that should work for Versailles...that is what my understanding was if things have not changed.

Annhig we went to Paris couple of years back and loved it...hopefully my parents would feel the same way about it...though we went in summers...so lets see.

StCirq

rajshiv, you really need to familiarize yourself with métro and bus and RER systems. It's all right here: www.ratp.fr

And you'll need a detailed map of the city.

rajshiv

StCirq thanks a lot for the link...it is extremely useful. I do have a map of paris...and this website is very easy to navigate. Really appreciate it.

Would someone be able to help with the other questions please?

DebitNM

My 2 cents

- Any good boulangerie/ patisseries close to where we are? There are always close to where you are, no matter where you are, really.

I wonder if the Museum Pass is financially worth the money considering you won't be taking advantage of many of the musesums? Have you done the math? Lines shouldn't be an issue, they weren't 2 weeks ago.
Buy it here:
http://en.parismuseumpass.com/rub-th...le-3.htm?cat=1

- What would be a good time to get at the cruise stop to give enough time for us to collect the tickets and get good view seats? We were there less than 10 minutes before departure for a night cruise on Oct 24 at night. 4:30 may not be dark enough for the lights, not sure with daylight saving time. You may not see the twinkle because that happens for 5 minutes on the hour. You will be closest to the tower about 20 mins before the end of the ride.

The walking tours of Montmartre involve a LOT of walking and going uphill.

StCirq

Good advice from DebitNW. NO visitor to Paris has to plan out in advance where to get a sandwich or a crèpe or breakfast or anything else to eat. You use your commonsense, look around the neighborhood, check out prices, and go somewhere. There is some strange compulsion here on Fodors to seek out a specific place for something to eat. It makes no sense. Paris is FULL of food. You can't swing a cat without finding something delicious. SO just wipe that "find a good café near this or that" off your agenda. Even if you tried to plan ahead for specific places, you'll likely not even follow that advice. Dump this idea and get into the mindset of looking around, looking at signs, checking out menus. MUCH more realistic approach.

Just get to the boat about 15 minutes before departure.

I probably wouldn't even GO to Montmartre on such a short trip to Paris, but yes, be prepared to do a lot of climbing.

justineparis

Wow, lots of questions, but I also wonder why you are getting a four day museum pass? I don't think it will be worth it at all. Enter Louvre from the Caroseul mall entrance, you will basically walk in, i have used it for years, as recently as twice this summer, and lines just aren't an issue there, and now in "off season" lines probaly still won't be too bad even at the dreaded Pyramid entrance.

Of course you can get in line for the ET without a ticket, the tickets sold online in advance are only an convenience, they only sell so many in advance so it means nothing that they are "sold out" , just go and get in line, weather and stamina permitting. It may not be that bad, it won't be as bad as it is in the summer anyways!

justineparis

PS I hope your dad understands that Versailles is actually a palace not really a castle, but if you go DOWNSTAIRS in the Louvre he can see the original excavated remains of the Louvre when it was a fortified castle, not the palace it also evolved into,, really, take him down to see that, its pretty interesting!

StCirq

Plus, there are castles to visit right in Paris.

rajshiv

Thanks a lot for all your responses...

About the Museum pass...yes I did do my maths... The ticket to Vesailles itself is 18 euros and then add about 8.5 euros for louvre, orangerie, d'orsay, Notre dame and st chapelle and it does add up. For G we will only take the two day pass.

5:17 is the sun set...so hopefully we will see the lights on...and when we get off we will see the Eiffel Tower twinkling.

My parents can walk....if it gets too much for them then we would just have leave the tour. Actually after visiting the orsay we were really fascinated by the Montmartre area. that is why we wanted to take a tour this time around.

As for restaurant recommendations...in Paris it becomes slightly more tricky for us as we are vegetarians...and so I do need to figure out in advance where we can eat. I have tried doing my own list...however thought will ask on this forum as well.

Thanks again for all your help.

rajshiv

Justine Paris thanks a lot about your ip for going downstairs at he Louvre...we will definitely try to do it if my parents have enough energy after the tour.

It's reassuring to know the sold out at Eiffel Tower or sent mean sold out...hopefully we can plan either Saturday or Sunday depending on the weather.

Christina

I thought you probably wanted the museum pass because of Versailles. I've been in the Louvre when the line was longer downstairs than at the pyramid so don't assume that will be true (it could be shorter there, but I've been there when it was quite long, and have never just walked in, but I"m sure it will be easier in November). At least you are indoors if the weather is bad, so might as well use it.

I really don't understand your time frame or how you can go to both the Louvre and l'Orangerie on the first day, starting at 2pm, and then plan to have an early dinner, when that includes horus of sitting in a cafe, also. Maybe I don't understand that, you said you'd be in the Louvre from 2-4 pm min, maybe longer, then spend a couple hours in a cafe, then go to l'orangerie and after that you will have an early dinner. So maybe your idea of early is 8 or 9 pm, not sure, I guess it could be to Spaniards.

But my question is when you plan to buy the museum pass with your parents in the apt? It sounds like you mean after doing all that but that wouldn't make sense as you would want it for the Louvre. Okay, if you want to buy it in the morning around the apt or Luxembourg gardens, I'd suggest you get it in the Pantheon if you are near the Luxembourg gardens. Or you could get it in the Cluny museum near there, the lines there shouldn't be long (or the Pantheon, not in November).

It isn't clear to me where that apt is exactly, but if it is near Censier metro, as it claims, there isn't really any museum right near there (Pantheon would be closest) that would sell it. There isn't any FNAC store near there, either, so I think the Cluny or Pantheon are your best bets.

I don't think you know anything about the area where your apt is if you are asking whether there are any boulangeries or food shops near it. It is right near rue Mouffetard which is full of food shops and is a market street, and there are more around the corner of rues Monge and Mirbel, and yet more across from the St Medard church (rue de Bazeilles).

justineparis

Christina you have been to the Louvre ONCE when the line was longer at mall level then the Pyramid, and you didn't walk to front of line to find out why, I have been to Louvre minimally 12-15 times in last 6 years and have never experienced what happened to you once, and always in summer. Including this summer, twice.
I don't think you should go by a one off experience when advising people.

denisea

I do agree...enter the Louvre through the Carousel mall entrance. Your odds of the line being shorter are better there.

You will always be able to find a good patisserie and boulangerie in any paris neighborhood. Don't worry about that.

I do love the museum pass for sheer convenience, i usually buy it at a small, less popular museum (no line or short line). You can get it at the tourism office at Gare du Nord or at Tabacs...nothing ti worry about. You won't have a problem finding a spot to buy the pass at.

StCirq

And don't worry about vegetarian meals, either, although I didn't understand this: "Are there any other vegetarian friendly (NOT vegetarian restaurants)" - Do you want totally vegetarian restaurants or not? Anyway, you can always find a place that will serve salads or soups or meals with no meat. If you're vegan it might get more dicey.

You can google for whatever brand of vegetarian restaurants you're looking for in your neighborhood. Or are you talking about finding a vegetarian (vegetarian-friendly) place near the Eiffel Tower after you do that on Day 4. We love Punjab just off the Place Ecole Militaire, and they'll have Indian veggie options.

rajshiv

Hi...thanks everyone...we are in Paris and loving every moment of it. My parents are in bed and I am writing this while I wait for G to arrive.

The apartment is great...we love it. Christina you are right I dont know much about the area we are in. This is my second trip to Paris and we were in Marais last time. Unfortunately we didn't get to explore this part of the city much. You are right we are couple of minute from rue Mouffetard. Monge is really close by too...I went in the morning for a walk and to get metro tickets (which we eventually didn't use).

Changed our plans a bit...went to D'orsay and Louvre today. Though in all honesty we spent about four hours at the Orsay and only a couple at louvre. We did get an earlier start than we thought...so got a good couple of hours in between.

annhig

glad you're having a good time, rajshiv - perhaps those metro tickets will come in useful later in the trip.

rajshiv

We went for he late night opening at Louvre and it was unbelievable...we went through the main entrance and it was a breeze.

StCriq I meant that we would want vegetarian friendly restaurants...not restaurants that cater only to vegetarians/ vegans. We have found that veg restaurants more often than not can be quite bland. Thanks a lot for suggesting an Indian place...however we prefer not to eat at Indian restaurants when not in India...they are never as good...and we would rather have French or even Italian food in Paris.

We would like a recommendation for a French Restaurant in Montmartre if possible...so that we can call and check in advance.

Denisea we have an Eric Kayser quite close to us...and it is fabulous!

Annhig we did use four tickets today...and hopefully would use some on the last day...my parents are really enjoying themselves...hopefully I would be able to write a trip report this time...

stokebailey

Sounds fun, rajshiv.