magrb

Appreciate input for 3 days in Paris in March. 1st time was 2003 and stayed in 6th. Walked everywhere and did expected: Notre Dame, St. Chappel, Louvre, Eiffel, Arc, Champs Ellysee, Boat Ride, lots of cafes. 2nd time for all of us: family of 4 with 2 teenage girls now 14 & 18. This time staying in apartment on Ille St. Louis. Of course will repeat some of above. Uncertain about going to Versaille. We did not go to last time & we only have 3 days this tri. Thinking about Fat Tire or Segway tour - Segway much more $, is it that much more fun? We mostly eat in cafes and have apt. so can carry in food - recommendations welcome!

Dejais

I've done the Segway and the bike tours. With teenage girls, I would highly recommend the Segway tour. Considering the time you have, this would be the perfect thing to do on your first day. It will give you an overall view of Paris and let the girls see a lot of stuff without having to run from place to place.

My husband and I did the tour our first time in Paris. We were only there for two days and after the tour we took the Hop On/Hop Off bus. Both allowed us to see a lot in a short amount of time. It also gave me the desire to return as soon as possible to see more. Which I have done several times now.

Also, regarding Versailles. My mother and I had planned to go there on our last trip and never made it. It is one of the reasons we are returning in April. Since you are short on time, I would save it for another time. There is so much to see and do in Paris that there is no need to go out of the city if you are only there for 3 days. Just my opinion.

janichol

Note about Versaille if you are looking to keep from waiting in line ... When you get off the metro to start your trek over to the palace, you'll be bombarded with a variety of vendors trying to sell you tours for a cheaper price than what it cost at the palace door. My wife and I stood in line for 45 minutes last March, before she had enough and walked off leaving with 50 euro in search of a solution. Well, as it turns out the local Versaille tourist office and the major tourist company in the area, both offered legimate entrace tickets, group tours, and vouchers for English headsets (I would highly recommend this to understand what you're looking at unless your French is superb). My wife purchased the tickets for the tour going thru the palace, Marie A.'s house, and got the voucher for the headsets. The gentleman who sold her the tickets, winked and told her that no one would miss her on the tour if she and I entered at the time the tickets were for and never joined the group. She came back with tickets in hand, we had a great time, and no one said a word to us about not being part of one of the group tours. The reality is once you are inside the palace there is a constant flow of groups and individual tourists moving thru the hallways. In the end, Versaille is an interesting place and is worth spending a morning poking around to experience something so completely different to American concepts of government.

magrb

Re: Versailles- Would buy "Le Passeport" in Paris which understand per Rick Steves includes train ticket & entrance without the lines. Has anyone used?

magrb

janichol - Did you arrive at Versailles 1st thing when it opened and still have the crowds?

vayio

Versailles is a very interesting place, but if you have only 3 days and find yourself stucked for a couple of hours in the waiting lines, you may regret doing it. If you can start early in the morning, let's say be there at 08:30, then you could easily leave at about 13:00, having seen both palace and the gardens (which are not yet bloomed in March). So as not to spend your whole day there.
A wonderfull museum (a must I'd say), is the Musée d’Orsay, with the artifacts of Renoir, Van Gogh, Monet and others. Of cource you can visit again the Arc or tour Aiffel (I'd not recomment visiting Louvre for second time, unless you you bypassed something interesting for you during your first visit - to be honest I liked Orsay better). Of course spend your time making walks in Marais, Monmarte, Champs Elysees and Saint Germain.
P.S. Have you thought visiting the Pantheon or the Military museum (includes tomp of Napoleon)? Too much for your time eh? Just some ideas. Make your precise schedule...

Travelnut

The girls might enjoy the Musee Jacquemart-Andre - a beautifully decorated mansion presented as if the owners still lived there... pretty cafe near the entrance as well.
www.musee-jacquemart-andre.com/en/jacquemart/

Will they like going to the flagship Sephora located on the Champs Elysees?

Michel_Paris

I've not head of Le Passeport, but there are Forfait Loisirs, purchased at RER stations:

http://www.transilien.com/web/site/a...ailles/lang/en

Christina

I think the Passport is the same thing as what SNCF sells, minus the transportation tickets. It's just the name for the all day Versailles pass -- you can buy the pass alone from some stores like FNAC. You can read about that on the Versaills website itself. If someone had a transportation pass already (for a week or whatever), they wouldn't want to buy the package from SNCF that included the RER tickets (Forfait Loisirs). I think you can maybe buy the Passport alone from a SNCF desk, though (at least that's what the Versailles website claims).

There is no guarantee of avoiding lines. There are just separate lines for those without tickets in advance, and those who have them (regardless of which one they have, or the museum pass). It's still a line, it just may move a little faster. When I was there last July, the line for those with tickets/forfait loisirs, etc was actually longer than the line for those without tickets. It wasn't too long a wait -- maybe half hour total, and that was in a peak tourist period.

ParisAmsterdam

Do the Segway tour! Bikes are so
old... Segways are immense fun...
worth every penny!

Rob

magrb

Thanks for thoughtful replies. Believe DH has heart set on Versailles and I will use idea of getting there before it opens. Girls way too familiar w Sephora but may want to go to the "Mothership". I have my heart set on mussels - can anyone recommend good value and compare quality & price wise with the chain Leon de Bruxelles? We are crepes in the street, sandwich shop and cafe diners for the most part. We enjoyed Rotisserie d'en Face last trip but for us that was a splurge.