Itinerary for France - Paris

Old Sep 10th, 2013, 06:31 AM
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Itinerary for France - Paris

Hello everyone,

Iam travelling to France with my girlfriend from Dec 20th to Dec 30th. Fisrt I go to Bordeaux where I have purchased a plan for 2 nights 3 days to visit some Chateaux, wine tour, wine tasting, city tour, etc.
Then I will go to Marseilles for 2whole days, and then I arrived at Paris on Dec 24th. I have planned a first draft itinerary, and I was wondering if you guys an help me please. I have search a little bit and make it according to a map, so I do not have to walk from one side of the city to the other.

Day 1
Arco del Triunfo
Jardines de Trocadero - ver la Torre Eiffel desde aca
Palacio de Chaillot
Torre Eiffel y paseo por el rio Siena
Visitar la Residencia de Charles Floquet
Pasear por el Campo de Marte
Llegar al mercadito de Rue Cler
Musée de l'Ordre de la Libération
The National Residence of the Invalids
Rodin Museum Paris

Day 2
Palacio Elysee
Avenida de Champs-Elysees
Avenida Montaigne
Gran Palacio de Paris
Palacio Pequeño
Teatro Mandeleine
Iglesia Mandeleine
Plaza Concorde
Jardines Tuileries
Museo Orangerie (horario: 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.)
Museo Orsay (Tue, Wed, Fri - Sun: 9:30 a.m. - 6 p.m., Thu 9.45 pm)

Day 3
Place Vendome
Olympia music hall
Opera Garnier Palace Paris
Museo del Perfume
Printemps
Galerías Lafayette
Colette Boutique

Day 4
Museo de Louvre
Decorative Art Museum Paris
Royal Palace Paris
Royal Palace Garden
Iglesia Saint Eustache
Theatre de la Ville
Torre Saint Jacques
Stravinsky Fountain
City Hall
Rue de Rivoli
Le Marais
Museo de Picasso
Museo Carnavalet

Day 5
Plaza de la Bastille
Opera Bastille
Notre Dame Paris
Holy Chapel
Pont Neuf (Puente)
Luxemburg gardens
Panteón
Saint etienne du Mont Iglesia
Jardin des Plantes garden
National Museum of Natural History Paris

Day 6
1 night at versilles (already bought the stay at a hotel), the firt day I stay in Versailles but the second day I want to go to Reims to:
CHAMPAGNE POMMERY Tel. 0033 0 03 26 88 53 86
CHAMPAGNE G.H. MARTEL & CIE Tel. 0033 03 26 82 70 67
CHAMPAGNE G.H. MUMM Tel. 0033 03 26 49 59 70
CHAMPAGNE LANSON Tel. 0033 03 26 78 50 17

Day 7
Loire Valley (to see the Chateaux

Can you please help me to see if one day is really not doable.
Thanks a lot. Best,
Josephvelit is offline  
Old Sep 10th, 2013, 08:05 AM
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VERY ambitious. You'll be moving from site to site, with little time for any actual sightseeing.

I'd pare it down substantially on each day. You have 4 museums on day 4, including the Louvre. Unless you're just interested in seeing the exterior facades for architectural purposes, you can't get done what you have on your list.

With 5 days in Paris, pick 5 major sites. Plan your day around visiting that major site, and then give yourself options that are close by to that major site to reduce travel time between sites, or plan a walking plan between sites that allows you to see the outdoor parks, statutes, etc.
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Old Sep 10th, 2013, 08:44 AM
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Sorry, but this is impossible. Even if you were on motor scooters just flying by all these places, it would be a stretch. You MIGHT be able to get to 1/3 to 1/2 of these places. One good-size museum a day is plenty, or two small ones. Four in a single day will make your head spin, if you can even get to that many.

I'd start over or delete at least half of your destinations and prioritize the remaining half by must see and would like to see.
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Old Sep 10th, 2013, 08:50 AM
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Isn't Day 1, Christmas Eve? Don't things shut down early?
Then of course, the 25th, I understood things open a tad later in the day, say noon? Those ideas take quite a bite out of your plan. And where is the cafe sitting?
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Old Sep 10th, 2013, 09:34 AM
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You have a couple of problems.

First - many things are closed on 12/25 and also will close early on 12/24 - so you won;t be able to see a lot of things on your list.

Second - you have listed way more places than you can possibly see in most days. You need to look at ours of opening (may be shorter in the winter) and allow for time to actually see anything and get from one place to another and in winter I would plan on using the Metro - since walking everywhere may get very cold - esp if you get ice or snow.

If you get the Michelin green guide to Paris it will tell you how long it actually takes to see major sights - for instance - you can;t see Notre Dame in 20 minutes - it will take more like 2 hours.

You really need to get a lot more info and then pick out your must sees from that giant list.

As for the Loire - I'm not sure which castles will be open then - or for what days or hours - you need to check - but definitely you will not be seeing things at their best - since all the outdoors will be brown and crunchy - not flowers or trees in leaf etc. Trying to see gardens will be useless.
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Old Sep 10th, 2013, 10:17 AM
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Also - not sure of the Versailles, Reims moving around.

Versailles is in the outskirts of Paris - only 30 minutes away and there is no reason to move to a hotel there.

Reims is far on the other side of Paris - so going from Versailles makes no sense. Again - you can see Reims as a day trip by TGV trains - so moving hotels again a waste of time.

And not sure how you wold have time to get to 4 different houses - and do you have reservations or checked hours they ar open that time of year?

Really you need to do a lot more research about distances, open hours and how long things actually take.
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Old Sep 11th, 2013, 08:24 AM
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I'll just echo the other people's comments - you can't do half the things on your "wish list" We've spent 2 of the last 3 Christmas periods in Paris - and we pretty much had a "do nothing" itinerary - but we really enjoyed our 11 night stays both times.

Ten days that include Bordeaux, Marseille, Paris, Versailles, Champagne, & Loire is not doable - especially in December around Christmas. Isn't most stuff closed on Christmas???

Rue de Rivoli????? I try to avoid that street if I can.

I don't see anything on your list about seeing the Christmas decorations.

One day seeing chateaux on the Loire is worthless in December when the days are short. You're going to Versailles - why eat up one or more of your too-few days to visit 1 or 2 more Chateaux.

Day 6 seems like two days - not one.

You won't believe how fast 7 days will go. I'll bet you won't want to leave Paris on day 5.

I strongly recommend that you skip all the stuff after Paris. Hotel reservations can be cancelled - which is what you should do immediately for Versailles (visit it as a day-trip from Paris the last day you're there - but I bet you'll won't want to do it when the time comes)

In '08 we stayed in Paris for 3 weeks and I had an extensive list of things I wanted to do as day-trips from Paris - about 10 day's worth. I didn't do any of them - too much stuff to see in Paris, and Paris is the best place I know to "take it slow".

Once while we were in Paris for Christmas, there was a big snow - and all the buses stopped running so that thwarted our plans. Here is a link to someting on Fodors about our Christmas trip there.
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-was-paris.cfm

Stu Dudley
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Old Sep 11th, 2013, 08:51 AM
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Sorry - I don;t see any harsh responses here. Just very practical ones from people that have traveled a lot to a newbie.

Naturally your response will be different - since you are trying to sell the OP something - which isn;t allowed.
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Old Sep 11th, 2013, 09:37 AM
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>>>jean_moss_583 on Sep 10, 13 at 10:16pm
I feel badly that all the responses seem so harsh -- I'm sorry!
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Old Sep 11th, 2013, 10:26 AM
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I have been reporting her all day and nothing seems to be done about it!
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Old Sep 25th, 2013, 02:39 AM
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I remember feeling the same way and had the same ambition. My day list was half of yours and we didn't even come close.

On Mother's Day, Sunday my DH went out and got some delicious breakfast pastries and we ordered coffee from the hotel. The day before he surprised me with 2 dozen roses so the room had lots of atmosphere!

Then he paid for a taxi from the 7th which took us to Notre Dame for a late morning mass. After mass we walked to the Pl. de la Bastille and had a lovely brunch off the Place. Then we walked through the flea market and slowly made our way to the Carnavalet Museum. Afterwards, we walked to Pl. des Vosges and sat out on a bench in the sun and admired all the grandeur there.
On my list still were Jewish sights and the Picasso Museum. Instead we walked across the Seine by Pont Sully which was a different direction for us and spent the remains of the day along the Quai wandering on and off. Somewhere along the way we stopped for a glass of wine. The day ended with a nice dinner in the St.Germain area. It was one of our favorite times there.

As others have shared, plan a major site and then allow yourself time to just enjoy Paris. You'll miss Paris and you rush from one place to another.
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Old Sep 25th, 2013, 04:49 PM
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Wow !!

I would be happy to take a WEEK to do your Day 5.
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