I would like to get some advice on a few little details I've run into while planning my trip to Paris.

#1-For the following items, should I get them ahead of time or wait until I get to Paris:

-Museum Pass
-Metro Pass (and which metro pass is better for two people in paris for 8 days?)
-Reservations for a day trip

#2-Should I buy an international calling card (to call the US), or would it just be easier to use email? How accessible are computers around Paris and is it expensive to use them? If I need a calling card, does anyone have suggestions on which one to get? I basically just want to be able to let the family know that we arrived safely and maybe chat a couple of times while there.

#3-I need to pick a restaurant and make reservations for New Years Eve. Our hotel is in the latin quarter (Residence Monge) and I would love to have a nice dinner in that area. So, if anyone has any suggestions, that would be great!

Thanks everyone!

I would not prebuy a phone card. In fact, you might ask what your hotel charges for international calls. You are likely to find out it is less than you will pay for a phone card. Many small hotels have special rates for international calling and pass on their actual costs to the customer -- at least that has happened to me many times. If you think their rates are high, just buy a card at a newstand.
But you will proably want to use a public phone to call. If your hotel charges high rates to make calls, they will probably also charge you for using the card from your room.

There is a wonderful, cheap internet place on St. Andre des Arts between Place Michel and Rue Buci. They even have standard "American" keyboards available.

The first museum we went to in Paris was the Rodin. We went to the ticket sales office right there and purchased our 5 day Carte Musee, which couldn't have worked out better. Then we entered the museum...I will defer to others on the other questions.

1) You shouldn't get anything before you get to Paris that are passes. Making reservations for trips or restaurants is the exception to things you need to do ahead.

I don't want to get into the whole metro pass thing as so many posts have been written on it and people get really into hashing out merits of various options for small differences in prices, but I don't think it matters that much. Any way you do it, public transportation is a bargain in Paris. No one can really answer your question because it depends on days of the week you'll be there and how much you'll use various options.

2) don't know, I don't call people much. Internet cafes cost about 8-10 euro per hour, I guess. There aren't any near hotel Monge. There are a couple popular ones more around bds St-Germain and St-Michel. My favorite one is up on Montparnasse on rue du Montparnasse, called e... something (it's a short street). Orbital is near Luxembourg Gardens on rue de Medicis.

All internet cafes I've been in have some QWERTY keyboards, that's not unusual. That place Patrick named is convenient if you're over that way and pretty cheap, but I found it too loud and a lot of Americans in there are really rude IMO (mostly talking really loudly, camping out in your personal space looking over your shoulder, taking over computer stations when they aren't using them to sit with their friends, etc). I think that one only has about 4-6 QWERTY in the whole place so they aren't always free in my experience. But if you're over there, it's a good choice.

3) I don't know about special NY eve places. I like Chez Lena et Mimile right over near your hotel, and it would be a suitable ambience if they are open that evening. It's a homey restaurant in an older townhouse-like place. It's kind of like eating in someone's personal home. The food is very good but moderately priced (I spent about 40 euro for dinner with wine per person).

The internet place that Patrick mentioned might be the one we used, Cyber Cube..Students run it and they all speak English~

I would by a phone card but buy it there-we just bought a 5 euro card for a 12 day trip for calls home and it was more than enough and cheaper than a cyber cafe. We did find that some hotels offered internet access free at a computer in the common area so check with your hotel on that.

The museum card is a must but you can buy it there. Don't forget that it lets you jump the line everywhere it's good, including Versaille and the Louvre.

A very useful site is cybercafe.com/

Also, though it is only Oct. I wouldn't drag my feet about restaurant reservations for New Year's Eve, even at a modest neighborhood place.

I agree with the other respondents; the museum pass and metro passes (should you choose to use them} are easy to buy and easy to use...don't sweat it 'til you get there. Be safe and have a terrific time!

To answer your questions:

1)Museum Pass and Metro Pass should both be bought when you are there. The museum pass is called the "Musee Carte" and is available at the entrance of the Louvre, Musee D'Orsay, or any of the other museums. I did not buy a Metro pass, but rather point to point tickets. You may end up taking the train somewhere (i.e. Versailles or Chartres) so don't want to be stuck with a Metro pass that you have paid for and don't use all of it. Day trip excursions can also be reserved when there - unless you are going with a company that has sold-out tours all the time. IMO, I booked my tours here in the States so they were set up when we got there, but Paris is a big city with many tour options so you should be fine.

2) Contrary to the others, I believe a calling card is useful prior to arrival. I bought one at my local Costco that was very cheap ($25) and I was able to use it immediately upon arrival (to herald my safe arrival to family back in the States) and used it all over Europe. If/when I ran out of minutes, I bought a new local phone card from a tobacco/newspaper shop. However, if you would rather wait, then you can purchase there.

3) Make your New Year's dinner reservations when you get there.

Maybe there is some confusion. The internet place I mentioned is called Access Academy and it must have at least 50 to 75 Querty (American) keyboards. I never saw any group invading space, but perhaps that does happen. I did a week's pass and was in and out quite a bit -- working on a real estate closing at home as well as other matters -- and never had a problem getting a keyboard or access.

Huitres, you must call home a lot. I could have called back to the US a total of 6 or more hours before hitting that $25 cost. I called from several different hotels -- sometimes as little as 1 euro for a half hour.

We just returned from Paris two days ago. We stayed in the Latin Quarter at the Hotel des Grandes Ecoles. There is no need to buy a museum pass or metro pass in advance.

As for which metro pass to purchase (and for what zones) depends entirely on what day of the week you arrive and where you will go. If you plan to get a Carte Orange, take a passport size (or smaller) photo; it can be from a family snapshot.

You need not stress about finding internet access. Cybercafes are plentiful and inexpensive in the Latin Quarter. We walked past many of them on our way to the metro and local restaurants. Rates were as low as 1.50 euro for one half hour.

New Years Eve is a very popular holiday in Paris. I suggest making a dinner reservation as early as possible.

Museum passes can be bought at Metro stations at which time you can decide if you want a Metro pass. If you arrive by Wednesday you can buy the Carte Orange for unlimited use until the next Sunday midnight. It is good for buses also which is a great way to see Paris.
Get a telephone card from Costco or Sam's and use the international access code for France. It is printed on the packaging card. For international calling it is about 3 units of call time--not one, as in US--but still cheap.