Thank you for all the replies, but can we get back on topic, I am still a little confused. Will I need to go to London after visiting Paris?

"you can have both of course - bracing coastal walks or sightseeing in the morning, long lunches in the sun looking out to sea, a lazy afternoon round the pool and shopping followed by supper in the evening. "

For a minute there I thought I got my first glimpse of heaven.

"<i>Will I need to go to London after visiting Paris?</i>"

What are you asking? If once you've see Paris would you 'need' to go to London? They are totally 100% different places and going to one is not a substitute for the other.

Please leave this thread janisj, you are not contributing to it at all and bringing nothing but negativity.

Which city on the French Riviera would you recommend staying? Cannes, Monte-Carlo, Saint-Tropez, etc.?

You don't 'need' to go anywhere - if London interests you then definitely visit but you have a finite amount of time - I may have missed it but how much time do you have total? You may need to decide between some of your many options...and that will be determined by what you are interested in.

I have 16 days total

Let's do this methodically.

First, you're going to Paris, that's set. Are your transatlantic tickets (assumption, you're American or Canadian) both to and from Paris or can you set up an "open jaw" ticketing such that you fly TO Paris from ___ and fly home from another city? Assumption #2 is that you have round trip Paris tickets in hand.

Second, sightseeing and shopping are very general concepts so to help everyone else help you, can you say (1) why you chose Paris, (2) why you're thinking of London, Milan, Rome, the French Riviera, etc.?; (3) what sights are of a type that you like seeing? If you don't like art museums or architecture, that's an opinion worth knowing for the purposes of this evaluation. If you're into castles and palaces, you'll get different suggestions than if you're into communing with nature or quaint towns.

Do you even like beaches or tony beach towns? If not, the French Riviera is not for you. If you like the beach to go surfing and wave riding, no Mediterranean resort will thrill you. In general, Caribbean beaches are far better for swimming, sand, water views, etc. than the vast majority of Mediterranean beaches.

Ultimately, the fact is you can shop and shop well in London, Rome, Milan, Paris and any other major European city. So define the type of sights you want to see and you'll have better answers on how to structure your trip and where to go.

I have a one way ticket to Paris, but nothing coming home to the west coast. I want to go to Paris based on their great culture, food, museums, and shopping. I definitely want to go the Eiffel Tower no matter how much of a tourist trap it is, and I would also like to see the Louvre. I was thinking London and Milan because you need to visit the city to experience the culture first, and those are both large cities of their respective countries. I like seeing the main attraction, but not all the little ones. I'm somewhat impatient and don't like long lines. I enjoy the little towns and wouldn't mind commuting to them to see castles and palaces. Like I said before I want to see Versailles and it's palace. I like developed beach towns with good restaurants and shopping, while having a 4 or 5 star resort that I can relax at near the end of the day by the pool.

You have 14 days as you can pretty well write off the first day due to jet lag and the last because it's get to the airport day.

Drop London and Italy as Paris is a given and you wish to then spend time on beaches and around pools. Hopefully the weather will co-operate.

Here's my suggestion. Spend a week in Paris. Take the TGV (book
soon on TGV-Europe.com (see http://www.seat61.com for how tos) Spend a week in Nice taking day trips to places like Cannes and Monaco. Fly home from there.

janisj wasn't being negative - she was pointing out that London and Paris are completely separate animals. They have different histories, different attractions and different "personalities," so going to one is nowhere near a substitute for going to the other. I love London and go back as often as I can, but probably won't go back to Paris for quite awhile. Others feel exactly the opposite.

If you want to go to Milan because of the fashion emphasis or some other reason, of course you should, but if you think you have to go there to experience the Italian culture, I'd disagree. It's totally different from, say, Rome (just as Seattle is different from LA and New York). In my limited time there, I found Milan to be more "business-y", for lack of a better word, whereas Rome was sort of controlled chaos in the midst of vast amounts of history. So if you head to Italy, pick the place which really most interests you. I'd do a week or so in Paris, maybe head to the Nice area next and either stay there the whole second week or pick one place in Italy. (If fashion interests you, you can get all of that in Paris for sure.)

By the way, if you hate lines, you may be frustrated in Paris. I was just there (so, not at all high tourist season) and had to wait at the Louvre, Musee d'Orsay, Versailles, all the main tourist attractions. The lines at the Eiffel Tower on a Friday night were quite a ways. The museum pass will help some, but a lot of those are for security so you can't skip them. Just a heads up.

well, if you don't want jj you can't have me either, and I'm taking my glimpse of heaven [thanks for that hanabilly] with me.

have a great trip!