Kathie

Chris, Paris has an embarrassment of riches in terms of art. if you decide to skip the Pompidou, there is still plenty to see. It sounds like the d'Orsay and l'Orangerie will be at the top of your list!

Enjoy!

chris45ny

Kathie-

I have so many museums on my list so that's why I decided on 2 weeks instead of the 1 week I was originally planning.

Louvre-making a list of the exhibits/paintings I want to see and where they're located. Will spend most of a day here with a late lunch/early dinner break as you can re-enter. Plan to go on a Wed. or Fri. as open later.
Orangerie Museum
Orsay Museum
Rodin Museum
Marmottan Museum
Pompidou Center if I have the time

Any museums I'm missing? My main focus is Monet and I love the old masters like Raphael, Da Vinci, Michangelo.

PalenQ

Be sure to get the Paris Museum Pass as with five major museums (not sure Marmottan is covered) it will be a good deal - for Old Masters of course the Louvre also is a must. With the museum pass you may go to places like the Pantheon or Ecole Militaire (see Napoleon's stuffed dog!) that you would never pay to go in perhaps. Buy it at any participating museum - priority entrance at some is another plus.

Mimar

Positano is built on a hillside and is full of stairs, so not a good base for you. Sorrento is mostly flat. We had a hotel in the middle of town but on the edge of the cliff overlooking the Gulf of Naples. The hotel was the Bellevue Syrene and it had an elevator down to a series of swimming piers. I believe other hotels have the same.

progol

Though they may not fit your criteria perfectly, the following museums are excellent and worth some time:

The Cluny - small museum focused on Medieval work, including the Unicorn cycle. Loved the museum and is not too big to overwhelm!

Musee Carnavalet - a museum dedicated to the history of Paris

Musee Jacquemart Andre -- LOVE this musuem! It was a private home of 19th C. collectors and is just a remarkable house and collection. We didn't eat there, but others have said that it's a great place for lunch, too.

Musee Guimet - for your withdrawal from Asia! A beautiful collection of Asian Art (though it ain't SE Asia, it's beautiful art!).

Enjoy! I think it's great to have so much time to spend in Paris, one of my favorite places in the whole wide world.

PalenQ

If in Paris and into old feats of engineering and antique scientific instruments auch as one Focault's pendulums check out Arts-et-Metiers - in an old church and one of the world's premier history of science and technology in the world - very interesting if into that type of thing.

chris45ny

You guys are killing me with all these great suggestions! The hard part will be the picking and choosing as I can't go beyond 2 weeks for Paris. My husband will kill me! Although he just left to go golfing with his buddies. When he returns if he's had a good day=low score=maybe I could add more days??

PalenQ-The Panthenon is on my list already but the other ones weren't on my radar. I'll look into them. Maybe I could pick one of them.

progol-You've given me 4 great choices. Do you think I could fit a bit of time in all of them on the same day? I'll have to see where they're located as to the other places I have on my list. Maybe I could squeeze them in somehow. I like the idea of the Musee JA being a place for a nice lunch too.

Mimar-Sad to hear that about Positano. I'll have to really look at some pictures to see if it's doable for me. Like I said going up is fine it's going down that's harder. I can manage it but it just takes me longer. So maybe we will end up in Sorrento or Salerno.

I now have lots more pages of notes/info so THANKS so much to everyone!!

ekc

You can minimize the stairs in Positano by choosing a hotel/apartment location that is not too high up in the village and near Via Pasitea. Via Pasitea is the street that runs through town to the start of the pedestrian-only part of the village.

Positano is a laid-back beach town - everything moves slowly! ;-)