3 Days in Paris.. what are the "must sees"?
 

Taking a London/Paris/Barcelona trip with my husband this month.. We'll be in each city for 3 days. I've just wrapped up my itinerary for London (thanks to this forum :) ) And I'm finalizing things for Paris... I'm not too familiar with the city other than the Eiffel Tower, Musee d'Orsay, Arc De Triomphe and Champs Elysees.. I know, I know... I'm starting to sound like a tourist...

Here's what we have on our list (more or less):

Notre Dame
Musee d'Orsay
A River Cruise on the Seine
Walk along the river (what area is best?)
Eiffel Tower (with some crepes and croissants)
Visit to Rue Cler for some fresh food followed by a picnic in Parc Monceau
Arc De Triomphe/Walk through Champs (stop into Laduree for some macaroons)
Louvre? (Is it worth it?)
Saint-Ouen Flea Market
Shopping/Walk through Rue St. Honore
Tuileries Garden

So far, that's all I think we'll be able to fit into 3 days.. We'll be going to Paris after London (where our schedule is slam-packed!) so I don't want to be too busy, but I still would like to see the beauty of Paris. Any input is appreciated!! :) Ooh and restaurant suggestions would be lovely! (1-2 big meals, and 2-3 smaller/budget friendly meals.. Thanks!

Saint-Ouen is a bit far out from the rest of your itinerary to be honest - you will find flea markets all over Paris that are more convenient to your location.

Be careful too about the Eiffel Tower - one of its lifts is currently out of service due to renovation work so it is taking much longer to queue to go up it (I have heard 3 hours+). Personally I would give it a miss and choose something else: the terrace of the Galeries Lafayette, the Centre Pompidou, the Tour Montparnasse and the Espace Culturel Louis Vuitton all offer great views (and the latter is extremely convenient to your wander down the Champs Elysees).

I also wouldn't buy food anywhere near the area unless your wallet enjoys being raped.

The Louvre is enormous and you can spend days in there - so unless you have a specific idea of which section(s) or work(s) you specifically want to see then I would choose a smaller museum instead. You are onto a good thing with the Musée d'Orsay; other good choices of smaller museums include the Orangerie museum.

Other than that I'd say your plans sound fun and realistic.
As for restaurant recommendations, I'd recommend Da Attilio (21 rue de Cronstadt, 75015) and Le Coin des Gourmets (rue Mont Thabor, 75008). Enjoy your trip :)

No, my wallet indeed does not enjoy being raped. My father booked us into a hotel near the eiffel tower as a gift, and I later found that we would need to move away from there to get food.. Many of the restaurant websites (if they have one) don't include prices... I'm hoping their menus do and we'll be able to find things within our budget.

I was told Saint-Ouen is one of the best flea markets in Paris.. Not worth it? It is definitely something we'd enjoy doing. Are their similar ones near us?

Thanks so much for your help!

Hey again!

ok i wrote this a while back in another blog but this would be my perfect walking tour of Paris. I think the best part of paris is walking around and actually feeling Paris and seeing the lovely streets etc etc, so here was my walk,( it takes you through Marais, Illes, Left /bank)

Start Hotel de Ville Metro Stop:

Admire the Hotel de Ville buidling itself. Spend the morning then walking around the area north east of the stop, finishing at Place de Vosges where you can have lunch.

Cross over to the ille St louis via pont Marie or Pont Louis Phillipe:

Which has lots of boutique shops and cafes and narrow streets...a couple of lovely chocolate shops and a great fromagerie. stop for coffee/hot chocolate and maybe a nice cake on ille st louis,

Cross the tiny bridge to Ille de la cite:

Stroll through the little park Square Jean, pop in to Notre Dame if the crowds are not mad or admire from the outside, be sure to walk all the way to place Dauphine at the western tip, a nice little quiet square with a couple of cafes

Go to Latin Quarter:

To do this cross over the pont neuf going south and walk back along the river parallel to the island (so seems like going back on yourself) along to the left bank. When you get to Pont st michael turn right on to boulevard St Michael and stroll arounf the area the west of this-latin quarter for more strolling- this is a big university area and then stroll into St germain de pres area to the west. Ending up in the area around Rue de Buci/Rue Gregoire de tours. Lots of little shops/bars restaurants.

But thats just my idea of a nice walking day...i'm 29 so a bit older but i love this walk. Its a long day but fun.

End: Mabillon Metro

Also you could go to this reasonable cute place on Rue Jacob (there is also a nice bar on corner of street to have a pre dinner drink)

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaur...de_France.html

http://www.tablethotels.com/Travel-G...rue-Jacob/1138

at the end, which is in the same little area,

Well hello again! :) It's like you crawled into my brain and you know what I'd like to do in London and Paris.. I've really enjoyed reading all of your suggestions, they are helping me tremendously and seems like just the things we were looking for... THANK YOU!! I am going to see if I can add that walking route to our list, sounds lovely! :)

Hey there :) Legally the restaurants have to display their menus outside, usually (but not always!) with prices...again I'd suggest going off the beaten track for food (for instance, the Eiffel Tower area is well connected via line 6 (Passy or Bir Hakeim stop; 5 minutes ride tops) to the 15th arrondissement, which is not very touristy and where you will be able to eat more like a local.

Maybe I just don't *get* the flea market thing but I don't really understand why anyone would want to visit one (to buy back what they lost in the metro maybe?! :p ). All arrondissements have their own markets (some bigger than others) and I'm sure there will be one near you (although I'm not an expert on the area where you're staying so couldn't give specific recommendations).

Given the elevator problems and long delays at the Eiffel Tower I would settle for looking at it - and no tspend half a day ascending. (In any case - only ascend on a day with good weather.)

While you are visiting Notre Dame you might want to consider seeing Saint Chapelle - which is gorgeous - and exploring part of the Ile St Louis.

Also - for another great small museum go the the Cluny )fantastic unicron tapestries and many other arts from the middel ages. Our DDs liked this so much they visited at least once on every trip to Paris,

Just a couple of observations. Try to visit Ste. Chapelle. It is one of the jewels of Paris. Visit on a sunny day if possible to see the stained glass to best advantage.

The Eiffel Tower is in the 7th. There are lots of good restaurants there. Avoid the Rue Cler for restaurants and picnic food but otherwise there are many good places to eat.

-if you want to experience the Eiffel Tower but don't want to bother with the enormous queues, just take the metro and get off at Trocadero. It will drop you off right in front of it

-we had 4 days in Paris and ended up skipping the Louvre. Part of this was because we saw the enormous British Museum only a few days before. if you go, please don't underestimate how large this place is. it's MASSIVE. If you do end up seeing the British Museum in London, i would say take a pass on the Louvre. With only 3 days there are so many other things you'll be able to see. Or you can choose to visit the Louvre when you have more time to devote. it's up to you!

I think we'll be very content with seeing the Eiffel tower from the outside.. especially if it takes a half a day to get to the top. Not worth it to me.

We'll be visiting the British Museum for sure, so I think we'll skip the Louvre. We really love modern art and I think Orsay will take care of that for us :)

@mamcalice - Any other markets for picnic food? I was planning on going to Rue Cler for that..

Thank you for all the suggestions!

Also, we're throwing around the idea of a cooking class... Anyone know of anything under 60 euros per person? Thought it might be something fun to add into the mix..

If you like modern art don't miss the Tate modern in London...

Agree to skip the Louvre especially since you are going to D'Orsay. I would also skip the flea market but agree with the rest. I would agree with the previous post to see Ste Chapelle. Go early to avoid long lines. It is beautiful and you can go to Notre Dame afterwards. I love Ile St Louis!

Yes, I don't think we'll have time for that though :( But I think I'll be satisfied with the British Museum and the Musee d'Orsay for this trip.. It's so difficult because I want to do everything!! Just not enough time..

@denisea - Thanks, that helps ease my mind about the Louvre. I will definitely look into adding Île Saint-Louis into the mix.. My husband and I don't drink at all, so Set Chapelle might not be very interesting to us?

We had three days but had an apartment so never ate out but for lunch in Paris. We shopped in the Montorgueil markets and shops and so loved the fruits and veggies, cheese, wine and bread that we looked forward to trying all those wonderful items each day. Stoher's had the best bread, flan and pastrys. Great if you want a picnic.
I went to L'Orangerie, it was perfect and no lines. We just looked at the Eiffel Tower in the pouring down rain. We walked down the Champs Elysees and window shopped. We went to Harry's New York Bar and had a 13 euro Bloody Mary. You get a bowl of really good nuts with that. I loved walking the bridges on our one sunny day. Only place we encountered the paper wavers. One man had to get physical to protect his family. They are abonoxious. Pere Lachaise was amazing. I found a lot of the people I was looking for. The gum tree at Morrison's grave? Take time to relax and soak in Paris. We loved people watching from the cafes drinking coffee or having a drink. Notre Dame did not have long lines but was raining so might have been the reason.

St-Chapelle is a beautiful chapel with magnificent stained glass windows. Visit when tne sun is shining.
I don't get the connection with drinking.It's a church.
Small easy to see museums, L'Orangerie and Rodin with it's sculpture garden.

You should consider visiting this website: http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/desti.../parisitin.htm

>>>We really love modern art and I think Orsay will take care of that for us<<<

The Orsay's collection focuses on 19th century art. If you want to see modern art you'll want to go to the Pompidou (20th century) or the Palais de Tokyo (20th century- contemporary).

The Orangerie has a mix of impressionist and 20th century paintings.