Again, thanks everyone for the great advice. We'll be skipping Champs Elysses for shopping.

Re: Versailles, if we were to skip the Versailles day, can anyone suggest a day-trip that would be reasonably accessible without getting a rental car?

Also, for all those wondering, the Picasso museum is closed until 2013!

A wonderful day trip - very easy by train - is to Chartres. And at this time of year, Monet's house and garden, Giverny, is simply exquisite. It is also easy to get to by train to Vernon and then bus or bike the short distance to Giverny.

Daytrips:

Ile des Impressionistes (for lunch at La Maison Fournaise) - really a half-day trip at most

Auvers-sur-Oise (one of my favorites), where Vincent and Theo Van Gogh are buried. The whole town is a tribute to his work, and some of the things you've seen many times in his paintings are there. There's also a fabulous château that houses a museum featuring the history of the Impressionist movement - some really fascinating stuff.

Chantilly (for the château) and Senlis (close by and a gorgeous medieval village).

All these and more are easy to get to on public transportation.

Unless you are capable of getting a full-night's sleep on the plane (and there are prople out there who can do that, but I'm not one of them), Day 1 is very unlikely.

SS

For off the beaten track, I highly recommend the Basilique St-Denis -- burial place of nearly all the early French monarchs, and, IMHO, a more mystical and spiritual cathedral than either Notre Dame or Saint-Chapelle - which tend to be crowded with tourists (but are that way because they are obviously not to be missed...I'm not trying to dis them).

It's near the northern end of Metro 13, ten stops from St-Lazare in the 9th, so an easy ride for you.

SS