Trying to decide about when to make reservations.....Someone suggested to wait a few days after you've been there to see all of the places you've been...That sounds like a good idea. And then who votes for day and who votes for night!!!!!

Also, If we rent a car at the Gare de Lyon is it hard to get out of the city to head to Bayeux. Would we have any crazy roundabouts or anything to tackle? We are staying in the 1st arrondisement so I'm trying to figure out the best place to rent a car.

Go during the day. It's hard to make things out at night.

You will definitely want to position yourself to see it from the ground at night when all the blinking lights are turned on--amazing. It is only done at certain times during the evening so you'll need to find out when that is. I don't remember.

The joy of fodors . . . differing opinions!

Go in the night, when it's sparkly! If you want to see Paris from above, hike the Arch d'Triomphe. You get exercise, it's cheaper, and the view is better (because it includes the Eiffel Tower).

So far, Day 1 vs. Night 1.

Good luck!

We went at night and ate at L'Homme directly facing the Eiffel Tower. It was very pretty all lit up.

My vote goes to night.

Do both! Go just before sunset. Our tickets were for 9:00 (we got in line at 8:45) and sunset was at 9:40. Priceless! Lights started twinkling at 10:00 while we were still on the tower. (Twinkle is hourly until 1:00)

IMHO, best ticket time would be 1 hour or 1 1/4 hours before sunset. We didn't have to wait in line for the second elevator, but that can happen.

You could take the train to Caen and rent a car there. Of course, then you have the problem of getting out of Caen. We found a GPS very useful when threading our way in and out of cities and bigger towns.

To actually go up in it? I vote for day.

To see from afar? Definitely night. Or day.

Oh wait....

Thanks so much for all of the input....I'm leaning towards the night ride!!!!!!!! Do you think we should rent the car in Paris though!

We went at the end of the day - it was daylight going up, stayed up there for a couple of hours and saw an amazing sunset, came down when it was dark with the amazing lights.

There are some fantastic 360 degree panoramic views from the Eiffel Tower available, might help you make up your mind (or make the rest of us want to go (back) up - I've never bothered with it, actually):

Night - http://www.360cities.net/image/view-...el-tower-paris

Day - http://www.360cities.net/image/view-...l-paris-france

Hopefully those links actually are working and looking good, I'm on a bad connection right now so can't actually open them properly, but I've been wowed by those or similar ones from the same site in the past!

I much prefer the view from the Arc which includes the Tower. The tower platforms can be so crowded you can't get near the fence.

Just had a friend drive out of Paris from one of the Gares, she said it was a nightmare. No traffic lanes marked , no signals or very few and it was hard to figure out where she was going. I'd RER to the airport , either one or train somewhere near to where you want to go.

The answer to your question "Day or Night"? is YES!

Visiting the Tower - for viewing the panorama,I would vote for the hour before sunset. For a splurge meal - the Jules Verne on the second level!

Renting a car in Paris - very brave of you! I went to the Gare de Lyon to buy my train ticket to Rouen a day before departure. No way would I want to start my drive from there! Perhaps renting from an office near the end of a metro line, leaving the city would be an easier route. I trained to Rouen, rented the car from the station, then visited Rouen, Honfleur, and Deauville before arriving in Bayeux for the night. Nice drive - kind of hit or miss trying to get from the station to the historical center city, then to the main expressway (A13?). Finally decided to hook up the new GPS I brought with me and learned to trust it in the cities/towns! Some smaller roads were not really in the system, so trusted the reliable road signage. Be aware of the surcharge for car rentals from train stations - I should have read the small print on my contract. You might want to find a rental office away from the train station for pick up. Returning a car to a train station (or airport) - no fee. Have a great time on your trip!

We picked up a rental car from Gare de Nord - when we got to the car, which was in a carpark, my husband had a quick lesson getting used to everything being on the other side (as we are used to driving on the 'wrong' side). It was morning rush hour traffic. Car had no GPS - we decided to stay on the road we found ourselves driving on from exiting the carpark and just kept heading north, which is the direction we wanted anyway. It was a bit of a nightmare, and rather tense and it was impossible to read the street signs, but somehow we made it, after much yelling at each other if I can recall. We got lost at one stage up near Charles de Gaulle, and had to stop at a petrol station for directions, made difficult as the woman there didn't speak English (or pretended not to anyway). Husband sat in the car and made me go in. We got there in the end though - think it would have been a piece of cake with a GPS.

For the Eiffel Tower I'm with those who said to time your visit just before sundown. You can pick out the main sights and then enjoy the lights coming on across the city. I like taking a Seine cruise just before sundown as well. Perhaps take the cruise your first night and ET on your last.

As far as traveling to Bayeux I suggest taking the train to Caen and picking up a car from one of many rental agencies across from the station. It's a relatively easy drive to Bayeux after a visit to the Memorial Peace Museum in Caen. We enjoyed our stays at the hotel Churchill in Bayeux.

I drove out if the Gare de L'est & I too, am used to driving on the 'wrong' side. I'd suggest you definitely make sure you have a GPS. Before I left Australia I went to the viamichelin website & printed off the route from Paris to Tours just to get a general idea of the trip out of Paris - I went over the map a bit & really whilst we did have some problems overall we did fine. Depends on your confidence I guess. Would not dream of doing it without a gps.

You definitely have to go up the tower day & night!

You should try and reach up at least half an hour before sunset. That way you get to see, and recognise all the places below ..... it's beautiful. Then watch the sunset and wait for the lights to come on. Its magical..... Enjoy it

We got to the tower at 7:30 on Thursday, waited in line for tickets for 30-40 minutes, and did the second level. If you have a camera with a big lens and want to take detailed aerial shotes of Paris, I guess you might want to go more in the middle of the day, but for just seeing Paris from that vantage point, and getting more typical tourist photos, the hours just before sunset are great. We didn't opt to stay on the tower for the light show, and instead, walked a few blocks from our hotel to watch it from in front of Ecole Militaire at 11 p.m. Think I'd much rather see the light from afar than be in the middle of it, if I had to choose (you could do both, if time permits).

If you want a panoramic view of Paris from a high place, don't include the Eiffel Tower as the vantage point. Go instead to the Tour Montparnasse. There are two advantages: The wait is short compared to the ET and the ET is in the view. Also, there is a glassed in viewing floor for those chilly nights.

Sunset is a great viewing time. If you do use the TM, check the closing time so you are not hustled out just before the ET sparkles.