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-   -   5 Favorite things to do in Paris - Besides the Usual !! (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/5-favorite-things-to-do-in-paris-besides-the-usual-943016/)

Areala Jul 16th, 2012 03:56 AM

5 Favorite things to do in Paris - Besides the Usual !!
 
OK, This one I think will be a pretty tough Challenge....

I am going to have extra time in Paris....Yes I have all the travel books and there are tons of things to see and do besides the usual. But I can't make up my mind.

So here it is...Besides the usual list below, You find that you have an extra day in Paris, so what would YOU do with that day ?

,Please don't mention anything on the list below...It's a long list so I think it will be hard to find something new. We have done all of these things many times and some we will be doing again but we are looking for new stuff !!

Louvre
Eiffel
Champs-Élysées
Arc de Triomphe
Hop on Hoff off Buss
Dinner on the Seine
Dinner in Eiffel
Sacré-Cœur
Montmartre
Musée d'Orsay
Saint-Sulpice
Panthéon, Paris
Notre Dame de Paris
Latin Quarter
Sainte Chapelle
Pont Neuf
Tuileries Garden
Day trip to Versailles
Day trip to Fontainebleu
Orangerie and Rodin Museum
Napoleon's Tumb
Catacombs of Paris
Shopping of course

Going thru some of my prior trip notes I can deterimine we have done all of the above and some of them more than once, depending on who we were with.

So now, we all LOVE Paris but I would like to find some new things to do and explore. Of course we will always shop in the different areas we are in. I especially like the textile district in Montmarte.

Good Luck...I think this one is going to be a tough challenge...

Thanks
Pat

tarquin Jul 16th, 2012 04:02 AM

First off, the Musee Carnavalet in the Marais after you've seen the Place des Vosges.

moolyn Jul 16th, 2012 04:03 AM

Victor Hugo's Apartment in Place Vendome

Micheline Jul 16th, 2012 04:03 AM

Giverny. Go early and have lunch there after visiting the house and gardens.

moolyn Jul 16th, 2012 04:06 AM

Sorry, I meant Place des Voges. Then picnic in the park or have a galette at Breitz Cafe nearby.

AGM_Cape_Cod Jul 16th, 2012 04:06 AM

Musee Marmottan for another dose of Monets

the food markets- some of my favorites are the Sunday Blvd Raspail (for the galettes!! Yum), Wednesday Woodrow Wilson and Sunday Bastille

opaldog Jul 16th, 2012 04:10 AM

Canal St. Martin, either walking or boat; Promenade Plantee over by the New Opera, a nice "rail trail"; Duc des Lombard midnight jam session on Fri. or Sat.; Vietnamese food in various parts of the city; small exhibits at Hotel de Ville; horse racing at various Paris tracks; any points to view paris from on high, Tour Montparnasse for one or Galeries Lafayette rooftop café; I second Musee Carnavalet and Victor Hugo's apartment in Place des Vosges (marais). There are so many wonderful things to do in Paris, just getting out and walking about and ending up wherever, taking photos and taking in the sights and sounds of the city is great.

Ralstonlan Jul 16th, 2012 04:11 AM

Cafe Marly at the Louvre, outside, under the portico.

tdk320n Jul 16th, 2012 04:17 AM

Walk the Promenade Plantee
Pack a lunch, go to the Luxembourg Park and just enjoy the beauty of the park

Areala Jul 16th, 2012 04:18 AM

WOW

Thanks a bunch...some great ideas...I am going to make a list of these ideas...do some research on them and present them to the friends I am traveling with.

I will post as to which ones we choose.

Micheline...Giverny is a great idea..been there twice and yes after Paris we are picking up our rental car and we will be going there as well because these particular friends have not yet been there because we are going to the Normandy Beaches and Bayeux....we will also go to Chartes Cathedral.....

I am loving this..what great ideas...and most I haven't been to or even heard of...

Keep them coming.

kwren Jul 16th, 2012 04:20 AM

We enjoyed the the Picasso Museum!

mamcalice Jul 16th, 2012 04:32 AM

The Picasso Museum, unfortunately, is still closed. But there is a concert in a church - our faavorite is Ste Chapelle - a stroll along the Blvd St. Germaine to look in the Sonya Reikel (sp.) windows at Blvd SG and Rue des Saints Peres, window shopping on the Ile Saint-Louis, the Cluny, etc.

FoFoBT Jul 16th, 2012 04:34 AM

Unless I've missed something, you don't have the Cluny Museum on your list http://www.musee-moyenage.fr/homes/h...20754_u1l2.htm

I'm surprised you haven't been to that one. I would also add the Nissim de Camondo museum. http://www.lesartsdecoratifs.fr/fran...26/bandeau-652
/francais/nissim-de-camondo/l-hotel-et-les-collections/

Or the Guimet Asian arts museum. Fab collection. Or how about a mosque instead of a church? http://www.la-mosquee.com/htmluk/entreeuk.htm

If you want an alternative to museums and churches (or mosques), find someone in Paris who has the same hobby you do and get together. There are few special interests or professions that don't have their own Paris aficionados. I know a dog groomer from the midwest who chatted over the Internet on a forum for dog breeders and she ended up spending the day with her Parisian counterpart. They had a great time together.

When I was a reporter covering the medical imaging industry, I spent a few days in the basement of the Louvre with the museum's radiologist, watching her x-ray and investigate some priceless works of art. It was a fascinating experience.

There are a million things to do...what are your special interests? What would you like to do that you didn't get a chance to on your last visit?

adrienne Jul 16th, 2012 04:36 AM

You underestimate the number of things Paris offers. It's so easy to find interesting things to do that are not on your list.

Maillol Museum
Bourdan Museum
Post Museum
Lock and Key Museum
Sewers
Cemeteries (Montparnasse, Pere Lachaise, Montmartre)
Museum of Romantic Life
Opera Garnier
Jacquemart-Andre Museum
Nissim de Camando Museum
Cluny Museum
St-Etienne-du-Mont church
St-Denis Basilica
Val-de-Grace Church

latedaytraveler Jul 16th, 2012 04:40 AM

Areala,

I really enjoyed HEMINGWAY PARIS WALKS of the Mouffetard area in the 5th. It leaves from Cardinal Lemoine Metro on Friday mornings at 10:30. Quite a large group when I went – excellent guide. Very popular since MIDNIGHT IN PARIS. The tour includes the steps on which Gil was sitting when he was swept back into the 1920s in the film.

One thing that I regret not doing was taking a tour of the OPERA GARNIER.

Strongly support above suggestions about Musee Victor Hugo at Place des Vosges and Musee Marottan-Monet in the 16th - the latter in very toney area that is fun to walk around.

Areala Jul 16th, 2012 04:42 AM

FoFoBt

Yes I have been to the Cluny Museum...I now see that in my notes when I mentioned it to my husband he said yes we had all the Picasso Museum but I am told that is closed at this time...

I love your idea on getting together perhaps with someone of like mind...I belong to sewing, quilting and embroidery groups here in Florida and would love to meet up with someone who thinks like I do...hence the reason I said I loved the textile district in Montmarte,..,,

However, I will be with my young nephew and his wife, my husband will be staying home and even if he went he would not like to do anything like that...heck..he doesn't even like the shopping part...so I normally do that stuff when I go alone,.

But because there are others involved.

Now one thing for sure that you make me think of is, my nephew first got a Cullinary Arts degree before he became a CPA so he loves cooking obviously....

I wonder if I could find a cooking class of some kind ? Hmmm...

Well, you people have me thinking.....That's a GOOD thing...

Avalon2 Jul 16th, 2012 05:27 AM

The Richars Lenoir on Sundays and Thus,Porte De Venves flea market onSaturdays AND THE Shoha Memorial are not to be missed

ira Jul 16th, 2012 05:37 AM

Musee Branly www.quaibranly.fr/en/

CarrieAnn40 Jul 16th, 2012 05:46 AM

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-day-trips.cfm

Maybe there are some good food tours you could investigate. We recently did one in Rome which and it was interesting to get out of the heart of the city into the quieter areas.

Southam Jul 16th, 2012 07:46 AM

The Quai Branly museum, a vast modern sprawl near the Eiffel Tower (37, quai Branly) is a love it/hate it place devoted to ethnic arts and artifacts from around the world. Put another way, it displays the loot from France's imperial past. Even a walk-by is worth it since the building is as radical as the Pompidou when that art museum was new.


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