Photobear

Just thought I would post our tentative plans for Paris this early November. We are traveling through Alsace, Normandie and The Loire for 2 weeks prior and the coming to Paris for 10 nights. Thought I would get your opinions. We know the weather will be cooler but we are Canadian so no problem there. I know I put Eiffel tower in more than once....We are not sure yet what day it will be but it will be once.

Day 1- Arrive in Paris and check into our apartment in the 7th, get some groceries and wander the neighbourhood maybe see the Eiffel lit up at night.

Day 2 - Day one of our Hop on Hop off tour of Paris. with planned stops at Trocadéro and Place de la Bastille...We plan on stopping anywhere we please that is not scheduled for later.... .Maybe go up the Eiffel at night or a Seine Cruise

Day 2 of the Hop on/off Do the loops that we did not do yesterday. Stops where we please and finish the day in the St Germain area by mid-afternoon.....See St Sulpice Church and Luxembourg gardens. Explore and eat dinner in the St Germain area.

Day 3 to 9 are not in any order....will be dictated by weather and mood.

Day 3 Head to Père Lachaise to stroll around and see some famous dead people. I have wanted to visit here since I was a teen (many moons ago). In the afternoon and evening head to Montmartre and visit Sacré Coeur and the area around. Have dinner in this area as well.....

Day 4 (day one of 6 day museum pass.....for convenience and to skip lines) Musee D'Orsay in the morning. By late afternoon or early evening stroll along Les Champs Elysées and to top things off. go to the top of l'arche de Triomphe.

Day 5 Notre Dame, Ile Saint Louis, Sainte Chapelle and area. Ice Cream at Berthillon.....explore near the seine. Maybe a Seine Cruise that evening? Maybe climb the Eiffel....?

Day 6 Leave early and head to Versailles visit as much as we feel comfortable doing and see some of the village as well. (eat there? come back to Paris for Dinner? How late does the RER operate? Tour Monparnasse that evening?)

Day 7 Early Morning at the Louvre....I can't wait for this one.....See all of our must sees but realize that we won't see even a 1/10 of it all.....Stroll the Jardins Tuilleries. and Place de la Concorde.

Day 8 (Hubby's favorite plan so far) Ecole Militaire, Les Invalides, See Napoleon's tomb....See the Musée Rodin (I am so looking forward to that) and stay in the area. Maybe Eiffel tower to the top tonight??

Day 9 If we feel up to it the Catacombs in the morning. We may not do it at all. Les Halles, Le Centre Georges Pompidou in the afternoon. Hang out in the Marais for our last night. Eat one last good meal and pick up any last minute souvenirs we might need.

Day 10, fly home to Canada.....Sniff Sniff.....


What do you all think.??? I want to have lots of time to discover thing, see unexpected things etc....Did I pack too much in any of these days? In Paris it will be me and my husband who are in our mid-40's and my 70 year old mom who keeps up with us just fine. (Sometimes I think we are keeping up with her...LOL) We will have a navigo Decouverte card for transportation after our hop on/ hope off tour. Taking a taxi back to CDG I think so far.

Honest opinions welcomed. Oh and BTW, Mom picked the apartment in the 7th.....So that is that.....LOL

I can't wait.

PalenQ

Well RER runs till past midnight daily - RER C which should be walkable from your hotel goes to within a few blocks of the palace itself - but pop into the Versailles Tourist Office across the street and down a bit from the RER station and pick up a town map - especially their printed walking tour of the old area where government offices and ambassadors stayed when the French kings moved their court and government out here to get away from the rabble in Paris itself. Benjamin Franklin stayed in one of the imposing buildings in that area (to the south of the palace) - the lively town center is to the north and east of the palace - about a 10-minute walk - nice market some days and lots of places to eat and drink.

From there you cna take from the Versailles Rive Droit train station a commuter train back via La Defense to the Gare Saint-Lazare and the Galeries Lafayette/Au Printemps flagshi department stores - not sure when their elaborate Christmas windowns go on display but could be then and it is a hugely popular sight for locals who flock there.

If hubby or you are into old mechanical and scientific instruments use your pass to see the Arts-et-Metier museum in an old church complex - Faucault's original pendulum is one of the star attractions (a copy swings in the Pantheon, another very important site covered by the museum pass - pendulum down for a spell for refurbishing of the place) - in any case try to add the Pantheon to your list - graves of many immortals as the French call their luminaries.

Kathie

Personally, I wouldn't do the Hop on Hop off bus, just an expensive way yo be stuck in Paris traffic. It sounds like the idea of Hop on Hop off appeals to you - we used the batobus that way. A two day ticket is just a couple of Euros more then a one day ticket.

On the day you visit D'Orsay, walk across the bridge afterwards and visit L'Orangerie. When you go to the Louvre, outline what you want to see, otherwise it can feel overwhelming.

kerouac

Why an apartment in the 7th? It really isn't a very convenient area except for the Eiffel Tower (and yes, the Invalides), and the majority of visitors find the streets of the 7th depressingly dead at night since it is all just ministries and embassies with police standing around.

PalenQ

Yup the Eiffel Tower area is rather lifeless IME too - part of the thrill of Paris to me is local neighborhoods with markets and lots of cafes and folks milling around at night - like in the Latin Quarter/Sorbonne/Luxembourg Gardens area.

Photobear

Sorry but we like quiet at night and since my Mom picked.....I can't go against that. Mom will always win. She found an apartment she liked and that was that.

How about suggestions on what I wrote? Improvements? Did I add too much? Too little? If you would add the Pantheon on what day?

WHat else?

Do we have too many days in Paris? Just right.....?

Nikki

When you take the hop on and off bus you plan to get off at the Bastille, but do you know what you want to see here? The Place de la Bastille is just a busy traffic intersection with a monument in the middle. But it is near some interesting areas. From there it is easy to walk to the Place des Vosges and explore the Marais, which I don't see elsewhere on your list.

The Pantheon is in the Latin Quarter, which I don't see on your list and could fit in on Day 5. I don't know what loops the hop on and off buses take, but they it seems likely one of your planned routes would go near here, and you should look and see. If it does, you could do it on the day you take that route.

Is it on my imagination, or do you have two Day 2s?

burta

Great itinerary. Like that you have that much time in Paris to see things in at a leisurely pace. I personally like the idea of the Hop on, Hop off bus. I'm a great advocate, use it in many cities I visit, and think it is a very efficient way to get an overview of any city. (We have done it in Barcelona, Montreal, Quebec, Lisbon, Shanghai, Dublin, and Glasgow -- some have been better than others, but still good. In my opinion, good value for money.)

Since you have the time you might like to do some additional things: walk the Pomenade Plantee, take a boat trip up the Canal St. Martin, visit St. Denis (where the kings and queens of France are buried), taking a walking tour (Paris Walks has a good one of the Marais).

One last comment: I stayed in the Montparnasse area two months ago. Even then, early in the season, lines were literally around the block all day long for the Catacombs. If you want to go, you'll need to start lining up very early.

janisj

>>with planned stops at Trocadéro and Place de la Bastille<<

There is no Bastille at Place de la Bastille (long gone)

>>How about suggestions on what I wrote? Improvements? <<

Yes -- as already suggested -- ditch the H-o-H-o bus. Why spend the best part of two days sitting on buses in traffic? Spend that time traveling around on your own (ob foot, by metro, by bus, by batobus)

And by eliminating the H-o-H-o you will have more time to see/do and arrange things better geographically.

burta

One more comment: Kerouac, who commented on your post earlier, has some of the most wonderful photographic journals of interesting places in Paris. They are so enticing that I have followed some of them in my visits to Paris. Click on Kerouac's name to see some of his wonderful posts. He gives some great advice too!

Photobear

Nikki, we do have the marais on our last night....but will likely do a walk around on that hop on hop off day as well.....Will add the Latin Quarter as a stop but I was running out of room....LOL

I see that I have 2 day #2.....I keep forgetting that the day we arrive and check in to our apartment and get groceries does count.....I forgot to adjust it here. I will try to edit the post. We are staying 10 nights. So that is where I messed up the numbers.

Thanks for the reply. I really want to get the most out of our trip. What day would you recommend I add the latin quarter?

Photobear

sorry Nikki....I just see you said day 5....Will do....seems like a good fit.

Photobear

Burta....thanks for the info. I will certainly line up very early.....If we work up the nerve to go.....It creeps me out but hubby wants to do it....My Mom not so much LOL

Photobear

Burta....I have seen some of his photo essays.....Breathtaking.

denisea

I also woul skip the HOHO bus and take the Paris buses. Very easy to use and you will see the city

Love the suggestion for St Denis. If you want to visit the Pantheon, you could include it when you are in Ste Germain or after Isle St Louis...those are the two areas you mentioned that are closest.

The Louvre is huge...do your homework before you go to get the most out of your visit.

Two recs if anyone in your group appreciates Impressionists- L'Orangerie and Musee Marmottan are both wonderful...smaller and less crowded.

Photobear

I really like Hop on/off tours to get aquainted with a new city....We also we see it as a way to see areas we were not going to go to on our own but this way can stop if we see something we like.

Keep it coming.....this is awesome advice.

Photobear

denisea.....thanks....will look into it.

burta

Photobear: Regarding the Catacombs, we Chinese have an aversion to cemeteries and the like. On my first visit to Paris with my husband (who is Japanese American and has no such aversion), he took me to Pere Lachaise. Because I didn't have access to laundry facilities, I just threw the clothes I wore to the cemetery away! So no catacombs for me, but I admit that it looks fascinating.

Photobear

Burta....that is funny......Just for the photos, I want to go but the 180 or so steps down a spiral staircase to then figure out I don't want to be there would SUCK. Still unsure......but tempting. My brother in law went and I was intrigued.....MAYBE....MAYBE NOT.....

manouche

I absolutely recommend the HOHO bus, but only for one nice, long day. You won't want to get off and investigate everything, but it's a good way to see lots of stuff in a painless manner.

I do not recommend the city bus as a means of getting around and seeing the sights, because they are sloooooooow, most often crowded (especially in bad weather) and you really cannot see much while standing in the aisles, which you end up doing most of the time, since seating is limited. There are people who love the bus, but they must live in some parallel universe, because I take it every day and do not have the same delightful experiences they claim to have.

I would opt for the Metro, and study the transportation system before you arrive, so you can consolidate your time.

A nighttime cruise on the Seine is an excellent thing to do - make sure to go after the sun has set, so everything will be illuminated.

I might have missed the mention of a Museum Pass, which would be an excellent idea. No need to buy ahead of time, you can buy it at the first place you visit.