dfourh

I would recommend, if you haven't done it yet, a tour of the Bastille. The walls aren't as thick as they used to be, but if you stroll where the ramparts once were, you can imagine where the guards looked down onto the great unwashed. The dungeon has been supplanted by run-of-the-mill sewers, but are still an eyeful if you you can get one of the city manhole covers open. Once back up on ground level, you can stand in the spot where the cafeteria was where Marie Antoinette let them eat cake.

goddesstogo

"...I got a great discount on the Chunnel train to Paris I could not pass up! 189 pounds, all told!"

Is it 'all told' or 'all tolled'? I've always wondered.

Sassafrass

Have a helicopter waiting to take you on a quick circle in the air. You could "spot see" everything important. Roof tops are pretty spectacular and you could actually say, "I saw Paris."

Really, this is an ideal 15 minute plan.

easytraveler

PQ: Don't listen to the naysayers. It CAN be done.

I've worked out a detailed itinerary for you:

Minute #1: Eiffel Tower - be sure to include lunch/dinner at Le Jules Verne restaurant - be sure to make reservations at this restaurant at least five minutes before arrival

Minute #2 - Les Invalides and Napoleon's Tomb

Minute #3 - Walk down the Champs Elysees and climb to the top of the Arc de Triomphe

Minute #4 - Run over to the Place de la Concorde and have your photo taken in front of the obelisk

Minute #5 - run around the Tuileries

Minute #6 - Visit the Musee d'Orsay, just muscle your way in and tell them you don't have time to buy a ticket. The French are very accommodating.

Minute #7 - Visit the Louvre. Ditto for how to get into the Louvre quickly.

Minute #8 - Hop over to Notre Dame Cathedral and climb all those 400 stairs, pace yourself and allow yourself a half minute to get to the top.

Minute #9 - skateboard down the BoulMich for a quick look at the Sorbonne and the Latin Quarter

Minute #10 Luxembourg Gardens. This is your rest stop. Just park yourself on a bench for 3/4 of a minute and tell yourself how lucky you are not to be like the other tourists all rushing about.

Minute #11 - Time to move over to the Centre George Pompidou

Minute #12 - Take a boat ride on the Seine River

Minute #13 - Absolutely go and tour the Bastille

Minute #14 - This is the saddest part of your tour, the Pere Lachaise Cemetery

Minute #15 - and this is the happiest part of your tour, Montmartre

Unfortunately, no time for rue Cler.

Have a great trip! And as they say in France: Gute Reise!

PalenQ

No time for the Rue Cler? Then why go to Paris at all - I hear it is the numero uno site/sight in gay Paree?

kerouac

I did make a silly report once called "40 minutes to see Compiègne" but at least I actually saw a few things in those 40 minutes: http://tinyurl.com/6ndvzzt

uhoh_busted

Just take the metro to Chatelet...no need to leave the underground at all, in fact your fifteen minutes will fly past and you wander this fascinating and very busy station. As a matter of fact, you may never make it back to catch your train to Amsterdam...

dfourh

<<<<<<<No time for the Rue Cler? Then why go to Paris at all - I hear it is the numero uno site/sight in gay Paree?

I hear you can have those tattoos of the entire Rick Steves guidebook removed from your body with an acid bath.

PalenQ

Oops - just read on another post from flanner.uk that trains close their doors 10 minutes before departure! That means I have at most 5 minutes to see Paris! I may not even have enough time to be pickpocketed?

uhoh_busted

Just make a beeline for the woman holding a wrapped up baby on a blanket and you'll be fine.

Sassafrass

Oh dear, so sorry PalenQ. All that planning, and your stop over has to be cut. Maybe someone can pickpocket you on the train, so you can have at least that expeience.

Apres_Londee

If you don't have time to get your pockets picked, you could always jump dump your wallet on the platform before boarding the train. It's not as authentic an experience, but it gets you the same results.

dfourh

Just wear a moneybelt, with all your valuables underneath your clothing. Then, when the woman with the baby starts sobbing, you can hand it to her all of it at once.

HistoricMarker

Pretend you are the director, Claude Lelouch and rent a Ferrari and reenact his 8 minute 40 second high speed drive through the streets of Paris. Or, you can always see the movie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeNc4AHEZso