annhig

mes petits amis fodorites,

it's years since i went to Paris, and I'm sure that things have changed a lot, not necessarily for the better. this birthday trip for DH has been planned at breakneck speed [I'm a of a forward planner, which is my word for it, anal may be someone else's] and now I need some help with the details.

This is what I've got so far:

Friday 19/3 - 11.30 flight Exeter to Paris CDG arrives 14.00.

Take RER to Luxembourg, book into hotel jardins du luxembourg. [new area to stay in for us, which was partly the reason for picking the hotel, that and proximity to RER station]

Spend afternoon/evening on the left bank - musee rodin [never been], musee d'orsay [last went 15? years ago] ? Turner exhibition at the grands palais. [open til 9pm on a friday] - a must for DH who is a big Turner fan.

Saturday - pantheon? st. chappelle ? la concierge ? then onto the Marais. OR - marais all day? or..Versailles?..... back to hotel for early evening supper then RER to Stade de France for France v England rugby match starting at 20.45. [hence wanting to be near an RER station].

Sunday - jardins du luxembourg, montparnasse, les invalides??? [never done any of these before - am i missing something?]. LUNCH. [somewhere good for a long late lunch?]
mid pm - back to hotel to collect bags then head for CDG for 19.00 flight home. [we need to checki a hour ahead so i reckon on getting the RER at about 16.30 or so].

Questions - what's the best bet for transport? we need to get from RER to Luxembourg and back which I understand is €8.50 each, each way, plus Luxembourg to Stade de France [zone 3] and back, again on the RER, plus whatever journeys we do within Zone 1. Is there a pass that will cover all this, or should we get a carnet, and pay for the RER separately?

What other sights are there in the area we're staying in that I have missed? any good restaurants in that area that anyone can recommend?

any other tips you might have?

thanks in advance for any help,

regards, ann

adrienne

Saturday - The Marais is very dull on Saturday (Sunday is a much better day) so I won't choose this option. Since you're seeing the Rugby match that evening I would also rule out Versailles which is a very full day and may leave you tired out. How about Ste-Chappelle, Notre Dame (free wonderful tour at 2:30 - double check the time at the church), conciergerie (not a big wow), see the Deportation Memorial behind Notre Dame (behind ND is a park, then a small street; cross the street and enter the iron gate, go down the steps).

Cluny Museum perhaps? One of my favorites - Medieval stuff, unicorn tapestries, stained glass. It's in the Notre Dame area.

Check out Paris Walks walking tours. On Sunday they have a walk of the Medieval Quarter - your area.

Sunday - one of my favorite things is the Rue Mouffetard market. Around noon there are accordion players and people singing and dancing at the bottom of the street. Also in the area is the Mosque and a tea garden behind the mosque (exit the mosque and walk around the corner to the left). Lovely garden with trees; nice to sip mint tea. Also walk through the Luxembourg Gardens from north to south - they are lovely gardens. You might catch some folks playing boules at the southern end.

If you're near the Pantheon see St-Etienne-du-Mont church with it's beautiful marble rood screen.

tuscanlifeedit

Good suggestions? Have you been to Versailles before? If so, maybe strike it from your trip. The trip is a fast one, and Versailles is exhausting. To me it feels like a bunch of long hauls just to get to and in the palace, and more long hauls to see something, and more long hauls to get back to Paris.

adrienne

Deportation Memorial hours - 9:00 - 12:00 & 2:00 - 7:00.

I like to contrast the Rodin Museum with the Maillol Museum - these sculptors have very different styles.

susanna

I"ve always been pretty underwhelmed by the Pantheon in Paris, nothing like the one in Rome

I agree with the above about not the Marais on Sat and Rue Mouffetard on Sunday.

Love the Trocadero and the view of the Eifel Tower, a good place to be on Sat.

Leave time for a nice glass of champagne and watching the world go by at a little cafe/bar.

Have a great trip.

Apres_Londee

On Saturday, you could visit the Basilica St Denis and maybe explore St Denis a bit before heading over to the Stade. You won't find any fine dining for dinner, but there are a couple of brasseries and cafes near the Basilica and tons of kebob places.

http://saint-denis.monuments-nationa...d/page/visites

There will be an exhibition at the Musee d'Orsay, Crime and Punishment from Goya to Picasso.

I agree with tuscan about Versailles.

StCirq

Instead of Versailles, consider an RER ride out to Chatou, walk the Ile des Impressionistes, and have a lovely lunch at La Maison Fournaise overlooking the river.

http://www.restaurant-fournaise.fr/

Michel_Paris

You are not going to have a lot of time on Friday. It will probably be nearer 17:00 by the time you are checked in to hotel. You've then got 3 museums to see.

Rodin closes at 17:45
Orsay closes at 18H
Grand Palais - Turner closes at 22H

So it looks a Right Bank visit. Go to the Turner, afterwards, dinner and walk around Tuileries, Place de la Concorde, Arc...

Michel_Paris

Saturday...Pantheon...not tops on my list...maybe St Sulpice instead..then the Islands and St Chapelle, Notre Dame, Deportation, Ile St Louis, along Seine, Left Bank area. Cluny is good, Mouffetard. St Denis sounds like a good plan too as you head to game.

There are two Paris Walks tours of Marais, one on Saturday, one on Sunday. Perhaps arrange schedule to match up with one of those. I'd put in Place des Vosges with one of these tours. The morning one finishes there..so lunch...or lunch then the afternoon one. A vist to the Marais to me includes PdV.

A nightime Seine cruise...perhpas on Friday?

annhig

wow - or should I say sacre bleu. you have jointly surpassed yourselves. many thanks to one and all - I'll have a look at what you've all suggested and come back with a plan. [or un plan!]

merci bien!

Michel_Paris

I live vicariously through other's visits

mamcalice

Wonderful suggestions here. Just one more - with your limited time, I'd skip Montparnasse.

annhig

Michel - thanks for your most helpful suggestions. it looks as if you are right about the timings on Friday. I think we should concentrate on the Turner as we would both be very sad to miss it.

Friday - arrive late afternoon. settle in. Metro to grands palais and see Turner exhibition [and what ever else they've got that is interesting]. then a night-time cruise on the seine, [only done this in the day-time] followed by supper somewhere on the left-bank. [suggestions, anyone?]

Saturday - thank for your great ideas, Adrienne. Rodin, cluny, the deportation museum in the morning, lunch, then notre Dame for the free tour at 2.30, st. Chapelle, and if nice, jardins des plantes. then back to hotel, RER to st. Denis, see the basilica, [thanks, apree for that idea and for the tip about the goya exhibition] have supper, go to match.

Sunday - either the marais, place des Vosges, picasso museum and lunch, the Musee D'orsay for Goya - Picasso followed by LUNCH and a leisurely stroll through the jardins du luxembourg back to hotel.

St. Cirq - i love the look of the restaurant at Chatou. I'm not sure how we could fit it in, but I'll definitely consider it. and as we've been to Versailles before [twice actually, once in April 30 or so years ago when it was freezing cold, and again 10 years ago with our kids when it was shut due to a strike and p...ing down with rain when we tried to walk down the gardens.], I'm striking Versailles from the list. ditto montparnasse.

I'm still hoping for some help with what sort of transport ticket/pass to buy, and any restaurant recommendations. and another question - is it worth buying a museum pass, given that it won't get us in to the turner or the goya-picasso exhibitions, according to what I've read, as the passes only give entry to the permanent exhibitons. and we would need a three day one, even though we really only have 48 hours.

and what happens if I buy tickets for the Turner on-line, in order to by-pass the queues, and we don't amke it at the appointed time? anyone know what view the Grand Palais takes of late-comers?

Michel_Paris

No to museum pass...your are not going to maximize its value with what you have here.

Ile St Louis has some good restaurants...Tastevin, Brasserie de l'Isle...and of course Berthillon ice cream. A walk down the small amin street will offer you many restaurants.

The Left bank, along the Seine, near Notre Dame, has quite a few restaurants. Les Bouquinistes if you want a bit upscale...further east, Rotisserie du Beaujolais is one I've liked. 'In-land' on the Left bank, Le Petit Zinc had good seafood, La Jacobine was a nice small restaurant that had good duck, and Chez Clement was a place I enjoyed for traditional french food.

Bit east, still Left Bank there is L'Atlas if you like Moroccan, Chez Rene... Au Moulin a Vent Chez Henri ...Moissonier are traditional french bistrots that I got out of the Michelin guide and enjoyed.

I wanted to try Brasserie Balzar when I was there but it was busy so I went to another place.

In front of St Germain des Pres, on the square, there is Le Bonaparte where I had a nice lunch (Croque Monsieur) on their patio, Place where french intellectuals of the day used to go...along with nearby Cafe de Flore. I also ate lunch at a restaurant in the market area on Rue Buci, but the name..

mayi

Have I missed something or has the Picasso Museum reopened? Thought that it was closed for renovations until 2012.

adrienne

Ann - the Picasso Museum is definitely closed.

You might want to wander through the Carnavalet (free) with a lovely little garden in front.

Or the Cognacq-Jay (also free). I think this is more interesting than the Carnavalet.

Agree with the Place des Vosges - Victor Hugo's house is here (also free - free is my middle name - LOL). You might find some buskers at the PdV in the afternoon.

There are so many choices!

adrienne

Skip the Jardin des Plantes and go straight to St-Denis; you won't have time for the garden. The ND tour is almost 2 hours and you would want an hour at St-Denis Basilica(at least).

Apres_Londee

The Basilica St Denis closes at 5pm with last admission at 4:30pm, so going inside might not work with your schedule but it still might be worth it to take a look from the outside since it's on your way.

If you can swing it though, and it interests you, the inside of the Basilica is amazing. French Monarchs rom Clovis to Louis XVI were buried there, and there are life-sized statues of them all grouped with their families, including little statues of those who died as children.

stokebailey

Hi, Ann,

I'd get the museum pass, myself. Being able to waltz to the front of those lines, saving your precious Paris time, is by itself almost worth the 32 euros for a two day pass, let alone the entrance fees that could add up that much easily:
Musee d'Orsay and Ste.-Chappelle are 8 euros each, and Cluny, Rodin museums are also included with the pass.

If you time Ste.-Chappelle for later in the afternoon, you might get sunlight through rose and other windows. Next time I go I'll bring binoculars, I think.

Sounds so fun.

annhig

ok, every time i come back i start to post, and then get sidetracked.

so mayi you're right about the picasso museum, it is closed til 2012, I googled it.

adrienne - you were right too - i like the idea of free. we went to Victor hugo's house many years ago when DH was working in Paris for a few months, and I loved it - it was just as if he'd stepped out for a few minutes and might pop back in.

I looked at the Basilica de Saint-Denis and I agree it looks fascinating, but as apres_Londee says, it closes at 5pm, and even we can't soend all the time between then and the start of the match in a restaurant. I'm more inclined to Stoke's idea, get the museums pass, and spend Sat hitting as many as possible.

Stoke - I hadn't realised about the light in Ste. Chappelle and will try to time it so that we get there in the late afternoon. thanks for the tip. if we do the Notre dame tour at 2.30 and it takes 2 hours, that should put us at the right time and place for st. Chappelle I think.

it's beginning to look look a plan.

thank you all so much.