14 nights in Paris...Do these days sound ok.
 

I am trying to make a rough Itinerary for our 14 nights in Paris (we will be in France for 26 nights in October-November) We are Hubby 42 and me 39. We love travel, photography.

Here is a loose grouping of places to see in any given day.

I am asking if these sound plausible or not easily done.

Now, we plan also to visit the surrounding areas of each of these places if time permits.

Here we go.


Our first 2 days in Paris will be spent doing L'Open tour hop on / hop off tours. We thought it would be a good way to get the feel for the city. We plan to stop places we find interesting that we have not planned to see later in our daily tours. Also, it will give us ideas for what to do on our 2 open days that we have not planned yet. (so this counts as 2 days)

- The Louvre, Les Jardins des Tuilleries, Champs Elysees and Arche de Triomphe at night (Too long of a day? Do-able? I see doing the Louvre most of the day then stroll towards the Arche until night)

- Pere Lachaise Cemetary and area (Any place you can recommend to add to this day?)

-Notre Dame, Ste Chapelle and the Islands. (Maybe a Seine Cruise at night with no supper)

-Trocadero, Invalides, Ecole Militaire, Rodin Museum and end the Day at the Eiffel Tower and les Champs de Mars.

-Sacre Coeur and Montmartre region (Pigalle area with Moulin Rouge at night (God I hope I can talk my hubby out of going to see the show....)

-Jardin du Luxembourg, the Catacombs (hubby's choice) and a visit to the Latin Quarter

-Orsay Museum, St. Germain and St. Sulpice

-Versailles (I know....it's a day trip but we will come back to Paris to sleep)

-Centre Georges Pompidou and the Marais.


we have a day set aside to just arrive in Paris from St Malo, check in to our apartment, get groceries, check out our arrondissement a little and relax.


Am I missing anything super important? Are these days Do-able? I have 2 extra days that we can split these ones up or 2 extra days to do something not on my list....

I am just starting to plan and I just want to know if I am over-reaching. We want to stay 2 weeks in Paris to make sure we do it right so I don't want to screw it up by not planning it right.

Am I even in the right ballpark? LOL


Thanks for any and all suggestions.


Samantha

I think it looks good in terms of grouping things together to conserve time from running around. It seems do-able to me.

As for the day with Pere Lachaise, that isn't going to take that long, of course. It's hard to say what to recommend as I don't know what you might want to do. You could just walk up to Menilmontant and then walk back along rue Oberkapmf to see that area. There's a big church along that route, Notre Dame de la Croix, which is one of the largest in Paris and has a good organ. You don't have anything in that part of town you are seeing. You could even go up to Parc de Belleville, actually, there is a good view of Paris if you go up to the Maison de l'Air, at least there is a terrace around it, you don't have to go in it.

IMO, you're on the right track. Grouping things in areas like you have is the most efficient use of time. With 14 days, you will have plenty of lingering time. Pere Lachaise for us was very interesting, but I wouldn't expect it to take more than a half day, unless you really go crazy with photos. My oldest son took 90 pictures while we were there in 3.5 hours.

I'd recommend a guidebook and looking at the various areas you've planned. There might be a small museum or shop in the area you're close to that might pique your personal interest.

I'd recommend checking out Palais Royal just north of the Louvre and I believe galerie Vivienne is right in the area as well, near Place Victoires.

I'd check to see what the HOHO tour covers, you seem to be going to all of the major sites anyways.

As always, build into each day time to do nothing, sit at a cafe or park.

Louvre day is manageable, depending on how you manage the visit. Get a good guidebook and plan what you owuld like to se. The Louvre is HUGE, so planning is important. I'd add Palais Royal and Place Vendome to that day.

Moulin Rouge? Well, if you must. Skip the meal, be prepared to meet many other tourists :)

Your Orsay day will overlap with your Luxembourg day, so that's fine.

Versaiiles...sleep? Not sure of link there. It's not very far from Paris. Could take train first thing in morning, be at front of line for Chateau and spend rest of day exploring gardens, train back, dinner in Paris.

Marais...Place des Vosges of course. You might consider a Paris Walks to break up touring on your own. Maybe one of their morning Marais tours that finishes at Place Des Vosges. Lunch there, then off to explore.

Perhaps a jazz club one night. If classical is your thing, lot of concerts at night in local churches. Even St Chapelle has a night concert.

Seine cruise, no dinner, check.

Like Monet? There are tow HUGE shows going on while you are there. If you click on my nam, the post will come up.

More to come...

Galleries aka Passages...there is a web of covered Passages dating from 19th century that are quite interesting. Shops and restaurants, first version of upscale indoor mall :)

They are located north of Louvre. A site or two...

www.parisbestlodge.com/passages.html
http://en.cityzeum.com/tourism/passage

Thank you all for your advice. I will look at the links right away.
I was so overwhelmed and I just wanted to make sure I was on the right track.
We were supposed to take this trip 3 years ago but my Mom got colon cancer (she's ok now), my dad died of melanoma and my husband's father has been really sick. We really need this trip. We are either going on a cruise this fall and France in October 2011 or the other way around. It feels good to plan and make decisions that we can control cause for the last 3 years, we had no control what so ever.

Thank you all for being so helpful.

Photobear,
It sounds like this trip is good for your soul. Enjoy the planning stage. It is good to have that sense of control, and I honestly think I enjoy the planning almost as much as the trip itself sometimes. You asked specifically about something else to do along with Pere Lachaise. You might consider taking the Metro (line 2 north, transfer to 7 bis at Juares) to Parc Butte Chaumont. It's a beautiful park, relaxing, and a great place to photograph. By the way, I've spent almost a whole day taking photos in Pere Lachaise, but I love cemeteries and funereal art.

I second Park Butte Chaumont. We started out for Pere Lachaise one Sunday, but decided to stop briefly at the Parc. We never left. The whole of Paris was out in the open air, families on blankets having picnics, folks strolling --- simply lovely. (life) We'll go to the cemetery next time. (death)

Day one will work depending on how long you spend at the Louvre. I loved it and spent the entire day there - 9am - 6pm and I could barely put one foot in front of the other by the end of the day. Lots of people just spend an hour or two there though.

I think the rest sounds ok, the train trip to Versaille isn't that long. You could do what Michel_Paris has suggested or do it in reverse and explore the gardens first and then the chateau at about 3pm after the tour groups have gone for the day.

Seeing as you have 14 days you should search here on Fodor's for some of Kerouac's photo essays and perhaps explore some of the lesser known areas he has recommended.

How wonderful to have 14 days for Paris! Try to include the Orangerie for Monet's water lily murals in one of your days. It can be done in ah hour and logically fits with the Louvre/Tuilleries day. Perhaps you could break that day into two as it is already quite full.

This is a great post, thanks.

There is the Chartres Cathedral and the palace at Fontainebleu which would be good day trips.

If you enjoy photography, you should enjoy looking through this site, where you can find good info on photo exhibits, photography tips/ideas, etc-

http://www.betterparisphotos.com/

Her tours are terrific and she is an excellent teacher.

Grouping things is good, and if you get the DK Eyewitness Guide, it is really helpful in doing this and choosing things. With that many days, you could probably go to Giverny (I haven't read all the posts--forgive if suggested).
I would suggest you think about hiring Michael Osman for a day or two. He would really enhance your visits to the Louvre and Orsay, let alone touring the city. He is very reasonable, very affable, and very knowledgeable. You'll enjoy the time.
You will really have time to just sit and people watch too and not feel as if every minute has to be "used".

If you are in Paris in Oct be sure to visit Versailles on Sat or Sun to see the fountains and music. It is incredible. Great photo ops.
http://en.chateauversailles.fr/prepa...ndes-eaux-1-en

I don't think you need two days on the HOHO bus. One should be enough. Grouping things is good. With 14 days I would also consider daytrips to Ile de Impressionistes and Auvers-sur-Oise. I'd also wander around the Belleville market and neighborhood on a Saturday. And forget the Moulin Rouge and go to Au Lapin Agile instead or a jazz club.

Great suggestions people....Love the web links. I really am just starting the planning stages and it feels like it's going ok.

I have so muc more to read and learn. I want to make this trip one my husband will never forget. He leaves most of the planning to me as he is a goes with the flow kind of guy. I love planning.


I really appreciate you all taking the time to help me out.