Chartres, Loire Valley or Versailles
 

I have to go to Paris for business and want to take my 13 year old with me. She has never been to Paris, but has been to other European countries. We have 4 days when I'm not working. What would be the best use of our time? We want to do the Louvre, Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower, but for the other days should we go to Chartres, Versailles or take a two day tour to the Loire Valley. We will be going over the Thanksgiving break?<BR><BR>Also, while I'm working, I wanted to find someone that could give her a private tour. Does anyone know an agency that would do that?<BR><BR>Thanks.

Personally, I would stay in Paris and take things slowly. There is so much more than you mentioned. My daughter and I had planned to go to Chartres during our week, but we had so much to see and do in Paris itself, we never made it. We enjoyed a gospel group that performed at night at the American Church. I plan to take a granddaughter next year, and we hope to do the catecombs. Others have recommended (and I have copied another post) &quot;Michael Osman ...He posts here occasionally. His address is [email protected] . He is an art student and apparently very engaging and very reasonable.&quot; as a guide. I tried searching to find his website; have it at home; will try to forward later. Maybe you will get other responses.<BR>

If the sights of Paris don't consume all 4 days, I would say go to Versailles. It's the easiest trip from Paris (less than an hour by frequent trains), and it's truly spectacular. The palace and the grounds are both worth spending a couple of hours (or more).<BR><BR>The cathedral at Chartres is spectacular, but it's a long trip for a single-faceted attraction.<BR><BR>The Loire Valley deserves at least two days--and you won't want to try to cram that in with Paris

www.geocities.com/parisfinder/<BR>This is the site for the guide I mentioned above. I have not used him, but if you plug in his name, there are some good reports on him - I assume they are legit.

If you search here, there are lots of messages on Osman.