4 days in France
 

Planning a trip to France for 4 days, don't think I can go outside the main city. Just need some recs on other places to visit while there. I don't want to stay very long so I've initially picked 4 days, since I think travel will take some time. Also, would a car be needed to get around? if so, will change transportation budget.

Budget: $6000

Flight: $2000 RT from LAX - economy
Hotel: $200 per night
Food: $100 per night
transportation: $50 per day

Things I would like to do, see art museum, eiffel tower, len bon marche, westfield forum des halles, monet house and gardens.
Want to check out as many pastry shops as I can also some cheese tasting as well.
Thanks for the help.

On your other thread you say you live in the PNW -- there are flights out of Seattle and Portland and Vancouver.

For this I am specifically going out of LAX, despite living in PNW. I don't think I should have to disclose the reasons for this. Thank you.

My initial thoughts:

• since you mentioned art: louvre and d'orsay are quite close to each other; takes at least 3 hours each
• re: eiffel tower: pressed for time, I recommend seeing it at 8 PM, when its lights go on; if you've ever been in a high rise and looked out the window, cities look pretty much the same from 500 feet up, but the eiffel is impressive from the ground when lit
• bon marche is interesting for half an hour
• have a tour of the opera house
• $50/day for transport is more than enough, unless you MUST include the 50 mile trip to the Monet house at Giverny
• $100/day for food will NOT get you good Parisian food; if this is your first/only trip to Paris, live it up and EXPERIENCE the best of Paris
• westfield forum des halles? why?

What time of year are you planning to go? Monet’s Gardens at Giverny are open 1 April - 1 November this year. It takes about an 1 hour to get to Vernon by train and then you take a shuttle bus or taxi from the station. Otherwise you need to book a tour from Paris. I came across this site which gives information on the options. https://www.parisdiscoveryguide.com/...o-giverny.html

Whilst in Paris, you might want to take a boat trip along the Seine if the weather is ok. I did this with some colleagues from the States and India 5 years ago when we were in Paris for a meeting and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. One of the nice things to do is wander around some of the areas like Le Marais, Luxembourg Gardens,etc.

On the matter of food budget, you can still eat well for $100 a day, but try to get breakfast included in your room rate. There are lots of small restaurants where you can eat tasty meals. However if you are looking at the higher end, that’ is another matter.

So need to plan for $200 or 300 per day?

no, well actually I cannot think in dollars especially as I don't know which dollars you are working in. E100 is fine for most things (and certainly after a flight from LA), if you want to eat the best E300 is not enough but that is a whole different game

Westfield Forum Les Halles is rather awful. If you for some reason find yourself in that area, go to the Carnavalet/ Museum of the History of Paris, where you'll need hour or hour and half at most. There are lots of tours to take you to Giverny, you will only need the Metro in Paris.

1.10 USD is 1 Euro.
So

500 Euro is 550 usd roughly. Can probably split up the days use more budget 1 day rather than the other.
Can probably do this:
Day 1: 250 euro
Day 2: 600 euro
Day 3: 400 euro
Day 4: 250 euro

1500 Euro = 1650 USD

Is day one your arrival day and day 4 your departure day? Is that why you have less for both those days? So you really only have two full days in Paris.
You have to ask if the jetlag you will experience makes it worth it.

it's more like this

Day 1 arrival - flew most of day / sleep / go out at night if anything is open
Day 2 / Day 3 / Day 4 in paris
Day 5 depart

Also, I don't think it would change much since I would be at 1500 euros for food. Not sure if it makes sense to spend 700+ euro per day for food as I'm assuming most of the places where I would spend that at would need reservations.
jetlag is jetlag...

The easiest food advice for Paris these days (not reviews or articles) can be found on the Hungry Onion site, which has knowledgeable posters from Paris.

No food costs advice, but you will save money if you take lunch at the more expensive places. And yes, I hope breakfast is included Louvre has late hours on Friday so you can pair Louvre with another venue. Take a taxi to Giverny and go to the bridge first to beat the crowd. I split the cost with another couple.

Here's my trip report for ideas:
https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...deaux-1096742/

Please let everyone know how your visit went!

I'd expect to eat happily for E40 a day, but then I don't drink booze or international pop and veggie is a big part of my diet

To give you some specifics, I visited friends and ex-colleagues in Paris in March for 2 nights leaving late on the third day. Stayed as usual in the Hotel 25 Paris Terminal Nord opposite Gare du Nord. Paid about £150 per night for room with breakfast. Meals out with friends cost around 40-50 euros for lunch/dinner per head. Ate in hotel first night - lovely Middle Eastern/ Israeli style menu for about €55 included 2 courses, wine and water.

On such a short trip, I would not waste my time going to Giverny; it's a small site and will take you a lot more time simply going back and forth.

I also think going up the Eiffel Tower is a waste, I didn't do that until my 8th trip to Paris and even then I wondered what all the fuss is about. Instead, the best views of Paris have the Eiffel Tower in the view, so go climb the stairs to the rooftop of Sacre Coeur in Montmartre. Montmartre itself is something to see.

Bon Marche is nothing to see. If you want to go to a department store, the see the Art Nouveau dome inside Galleries Lafayette. That is exceptional.

The best thing to do in Paris is simply walk around. Many great neighborhoods, look up self-guided walking tours on the internet or join a paid walking tour. I would choose the Marias for a first time visit.


Your budget for food is too low.

I don't know what your talking about.
like can do a higher budget on another day but not everyday. I'm not expecting 5-course spreads every meal.

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I suppose it all depends.... very few places do 'five-course spreads.' It's not like in the US where tasting menus abound...... But I also learned the hard way that a lot of inexpensive neighborhood bistrots nowadays have food that is outright more expensive and inferior to what we normally expect in the US. Many Parisians go to these places for the social aspect with friends and have a glass of wine and a salade composée.

There are good strategies to pursue, and as you get closer to determining your dates, I can make suggestions.

For food, $100 a day is possible, but you'll have to keep it tight. I'd suggest a croissant/cafe at the local bakery for breakfast, biggest meal at lunch (lunch menus are often cheaper than dinner menus) and then something simple like crepes or (my favorite) falafel in the Marais for dinner. Or get a cheese plate at a bistro for dinner - it's a little unconventional just to eat cheese for dinner, but I've done it and it's amazing.

I'd also skip Giverny if you're going to have so few days in Paris. If possible, I'd add another 2-3 days - jet lag from the west coast to France is real (I'm from Cali). If you are super into Monet, check out Musee de L'Orangerie (which is right next to the Tuileries garden, another great destination to check out.) They have some of Monet's biggest water lily paintings there, and it's a really manageable museum.

Louvre and D'Orsay are amazing, but they take time and I tend to prefer NOT to do both on the same day due to museum fatigue. I do think you could do D'Orsay and L'Orangerie on the same day though, since they're both smaller.

All the patisseries are great, so you won't have any trouble finding great pastry! But Stohrers is one of the oldest and most famous ones, so you could check that out.

I agree with everything you said except about 'all the patisseries' being great. I encourage the OP to get specific recommendations, not only which place to go, but which ones to order. For example, KL Patisserie is known for their St Honore named after the patron saint of baking. It is a 'greaterst hits' of pastry-making all in one pastry, as it takes several difficult techniques to create. Another example is the lemon basil tart at Jacques Genin, though I do believe he no longer makes his full array of pastries after his entire staff quit because he was too demanding. However, simply going into his shop near Republique Metro is an astonishing experience. And it's also a tea salon, so you can eat there.