thank you so much for the michael osmun tip. i remembered reading about him from some other forums but just could not find it. i will definitely try to get a hold of him.
the siene boat trip sounds great. i was looking into the dinner cruises but they are so pricey!! we'll just stick with the day trip.

There are many Seine night cruises that do not include dinner. Each of the companies has hourly schedules so you can dine (less expensively) elsewhere and then take a cruise. EJ

If she likes theme-parks and/or Disney; a trip to Disneyland Paris could be a nice day away from the city. There are two parks you can visit; the Disneyland-park (a magic-kingdom style park) and Walt Disney Studios (like Disney-MGM-studios, but smaller).

For one day I would recommend the Disneyland park. But it is also possible to buy a Hopper-pass for both the parks.

There is a direct connection by RER-train (line A) form the city. This takes about 30-40 minutes.

Especially when you are in Paris for 10 days, a few days out of the city can be nice.

tommieg: thanks for the disney option. we used to do an annual birthday trip to disneyland until she was 13. she wants more adult entertainment (?) now. we are planning a visit to giverny. she has been mad about monet since she was 7 so this will be quite a treat and a day or so out of the city.

elsiejune,
thanks for the tip on the boat rides without dinner.do you know of any? i checked into some of the dinner rides and they were just too exorbitant.

There are many Seine boat rides offered without meals. I have been on the one just below the bridge at the Eiffel Tower many times and enjoyed it.

A tip on this forum was for a different company that offered a discount on line: http://www.vedettesdupontneuf.com/billet_en.php

this looks perfect. thank you.

How lucky to have the opportunity to share Paris with your daughter!

I suggest the Hotel Muguet, not only do they have clean, convenient rooms, they also offer an apartment. www.hotelmuguet.com It's in the 7th, very safe, quiet and walking distance to the Eiffel Tower and Metros.

Here's my list of things I love to do. I have shared this with several friends who took their teenaged daughters. They followed it to the tee and had a blast! The * denotes "don't miss" items.


Notre Dame, St. Chappell [a church with incredible stained glass, only the royal family was allowed to attend], Conciergerie [where Marie Antoinette was held before she was beheaded], Berthillion [for the best ice cream in the world]

*Laduree for tea and macaroons, lunch or afternoon tea

*Angelina’s for hot chocolate and people watching

Evening Concert St. Chappell

*Walk to the Eiffel Tower, enjoy the park at Champs de Mar, the carousel.
Napoleon’s Tomb [that’s where I buy my museum pass]
*Rue Cler—shopping street, browsing, café at Café de Marche, Crepes, olive oil sampling, cheese shop, and patisserie

D’Orsay museum for Impressionists

Museum l’Orangerie for Monet’s water lily murals [especially after going to Monet’s home and seeing the real water lilies]

Alma bridge where Diana died, then walk up George V for the fancy stores, to Champs d’Elysee.

Street market Sunday morning at blvd. Raspail in the 6e for food, soap, scarves

Street market Sunday evening behind church at St. Germain and dinner at one of the many bistros

Montmartre and Sacre Couer, cemetery, vineyard

Marais on Sunday, pastries from old Jewish bakery, Place des Vosges at sunset.

*Monet’s home Giverney in Normandy—take the train to Vernon, **ride bikes next to the Seine four miles to Giverney, lunch at Hotel Baudy, American museum.

Museum Jacquemart-Andre, lunch in café, gifts from gift shop

Rodin’s museum {the Thinker}

Drinks at old cafe in St. Germain–Le Palette
Coffee at Deux Magots

Museum Marmottan—Original Impressionistic painting--find it on the map, half the fun is getting there

Shopping at Galleries Lafayette and Printemps behind the Opera, take her to Zara and buy soem fun clothes

Boat ride down the Seine

Dinner on rue Exposition and then watch the sunset on top of the Eiffel Tower

Walk around Place Vendome, window shop all over the 1e, Catherine’s, buying perfume at Annick Goutal and Guerlain.

Walk through the Tuilleries Gardens between St. Germain and rue Rivoli.

Start at the Arc de Triumph and walk down Champs, or go other way and walk to Ternes, exploring the neighborhood

Walk down rue Rivoli, rue Honore, Fabourg-Honore for shops, stop at old *Laduree for afternoon tea.

Behind the Louvre antique and art market, shops-good place to go if raining

**Big Fat Tire Bike Tours—daytime and evening--Both the day and evening tours are hilarious and gobs of fun.

**Full day with tour guide Michael Osman--absolutely wonderful!

Paris Walks walking tours*--go on website and just pick those that interest you

Segue tours-fun way to get around!

Have a trip of a lifetime!

anneeby,
hotel muguet sounds just perfect. are the rooms really as fab as they look in the pictures?
thank you for your suggested itinerary. i have yet to get to that part of the planning but your suggestions especially the ones with * sound wonderful.
as i get closer to planning, i know i will have a zillion more questions, some of them redundant for which i apologize in advance.
i sent an e-mail to michael osmun last week but haven't heard back. i know i just have to be a little patient. not my best quality!

It sounds as though Giverny and a few of the museums featuring Monet's works (the Musée d'Orsay, the Musée de l'Orangerie and/or the Musée Marmottan) are musts for your daughter given her love of Monet. According to the garden web site there should be some beautiful flowers in bloom in April
Certainly a lot more than we'd see here in Vermont!

Since you have 10 days you might also consider a day trip to Versailles

I think your daughter would probably enjoy spending time at the plaza next to the Pompidou center

Our family likes renting houses or apartments on vacation for the extra space and ability to fix snacks, drinks, some meals. I doubt you would find one in your price range with daily maid service. Personally I enjoy not having maid service which I find intrusive in hotels

I would definitely rent an apartment. I rented one this past spring and in the heart of things. If you're interested, you can pull up my report by either typing my screen name in the ,"Search" box or by typing in ,"Guenmai's Paris Apartment Rental Experience." Happy Travels!

vttraveler,
versailles is definitely on my list of places to visit.
thanks

guenmai,
your apartment sounds just perfect. thanks

Abranz...It would be perfect for the two of you. Also apartment #209 at vacationinparis.com sounds quite good and the location is great,too. #209, doesn't have an elevator though and it's 4 floors up...really the 5th floor if you think in the American system.

I really want to try #209,too. It's just that I have a knee problem, so if I'm not in pain at the time of arrival, I'll be fine.

#209, is near the Cafe Flore which I love. I always go in for a kir royale...cassis with champagne. It's been a tradition that I've had for decades now.

It's so good to find a rental agency that is hassle/stress free and doesn't require a huge deposit. I only had to pay $300. to hold my apartment and pay the balance 2 months before the scheduled arrival date. And it was all done in U.S. dollars so no worry of fluctuation. I just mailed the rental agency a personal check to cover everything.

Also, by them mailing the keys out a couple of weeks before departure, I didn't have to worry about having to meet an agent to get the keys.

As for April, I love April in Paris. That's when I usually go and already have my plane ticket for this coming April. It could rain, a bit, but at least it's usually a bit warmer than March which is the other month that I go. Happy Travels!

I forgot to answer your other questions...as for a guide..not necessary. Just get a good guide book and use it. Also, the cards called, " City Walks Paris by Christina Henry de Tessan" are very good. I picked up a box of them, a few years ago, at Homegoods (T.J.Maxx's company) for $9.99. They came out in 2004.
They are 6-inch by 4-inch cards that have the name of the walking route and history on one side and then the map on the other. So, you can pick and choose which walks you want to take and don't have to take the whole box out each time you go out for a walk. Just toss some cards into your purse.

There are 50 cards....50 different walks. You can also combine the double-decker bus that goes around the city with the cards and be your own guide. Explore!

While there, you should also try to use the bus system. I sometimes use the city bus as my "tour" bus as it passes lots of great places in the city. I highly recommend a thin, blue, paperback book called, Le Bus-Repertoire des 80 lignes...L'indispensable. It has the bus lines of which each line is given a separate page. It's an excellent book and I only paid 6 euros for it back in 2003.

They also do one called, Paris Pratique Par Arrondissement - L'indispensable. This one breaks up Paris into its 20 districts and does a map of each district. The advantage of this series is that the print is bigger than some other map sources. My old Paris map book, from back in the early 80s, has incredibly small print and my eyes have changed since the 80s. Smiles.

I probably bought those books at the Bon Marche department store which is right at the Sevres Babylone metro station...in the 7th. It's one stop from the Mabillon metro station, in the 6th and on Line 10. The paper department is in the basement. You can easily walk to the department store, if you end up staying in the 6th.
There's also a small, family-owned bookstore on rue Gregoire des Tours at the corner of rue Buci, but they can be more expensive than the department stores depending on what you're buying.

Since you have a 16 year old, she might like to buy her school supplies in the paper department. European stores have very interesting school/office supplies. I always load up. Many times the paper departments are in the basement of the department stores. Plus, Bon Marche is an absolutely beautiful department store..definitely my first choice. They also have a gourmet grocery store, next door, where they sell great, vinyl shopping bags with the name of the grocery store and Paris on them. They come in two colors. I always pick them up for friends as they are also good for carrying books in. So, just some ideas as they come across my mind.

As for Giverny, that is definitely a day trip. Two hours there will be enough time. I went in the car the first time with a Parisien friend of mine. It was in the beginning of April, but it was cold that April and the flowers weren't in bloom.

You can either go part of the way there, by train, and then take a taxi..which I haven't done or take the Cityrama tour bus from Paris which I had to do year before last as I took my then 78-year old mom to Paris with me.

The Cityrama tour office is on rue Rivoli. You can look up the prices on their website. They aren't cheap, but it's an easy way to get to Giverny...and in my situation with my mom, the only way I could have done it.

If you have any other questions, feel free to either post here or page me on the Asia forum where I'm a regular. I don't always check the European forum. Happy planning! Happy Travels!

ttt. Happy Travels!

ttt.Happy Travels!

abranz--last summer I spent 10 days in Paris with my 16 yr old DD (and my mother). Do a search for my trip report and that might help you decide on things. Anyway, we split our time between two hotels so that we could enjoy two different areas. One of the places we stayed was the Muguet, which was mentioned already. We had two rooms. One had a king bed and a twin bed and had a stunning view of the Eiffel Tower! Except for the very bottom of each of the 4 legs, we could see the entire thing! The other room (my moms) had two twin beds and had a great view of Invalides. The hotel was spotless and extremely well kept. Our room was spacious enough, even with a 16 yr old DD;) The other hotel we stayed at is over your budget, but if you are curious, it is the Hotel Britannique in the 1st. Loved it as well.

We are headed back this coming June and will do an apt this time. Here is the link for it, as it fits your budget and and the location is good for getting around. http://www.vacationinparis.com/apts/id_125.htm

The suggestion of the Vedettes river cruise is great. We went at dusk, but bought our tickets online before we left home. Doing that saves 4 euro and you bypass the ticket line. The tickets are not for a specific date or time, so you are totally flexible with that.

mms,
thank your for your suggested apartment and the hotel muguet. they both sound wonderful.
i now need to start making inquiries and decide between a hotel or an apartment.
like you, i had originally wanted to splurge for 2-3 days at the george v or the ritz.
after all, we are celebrating my daughter's 16th and hopefully by then also celebrating her acceptance into the college of her choice. but, she just wants to stay put in one place ....o well....i guess i don't get to enjoy the luxury either!
being in paris in itself is a luxury.