First Trip to Paris-Hotel Eduoard
 

My wife and I (around 30) are taking our first trip to Paris for 5 days in mid-June. Any recommendations on things to see, avoid, restaurants, side trips, etc? We are staying at the Hotel Edouard in District 2 on the Right Bank. Any comments?

Bruce, I will be in Paris for five days in June. After much studying, and internet surfing my rough itinerary is as follows: <BR> <BR>Day 1 - morning: Paris Vision Discovery City Bus Tour (www.parisvision.com, 150F, 9:30AM-11:30AM) <BR> afternoon: walking tour from Arc de Triomphe, Champs de Elysees, Place de Concorde, <BR> Tuileries Garden, Arc de Carousel, Musee du Louvre (outside only), <BR> La Samarataine (view city from roof of the store) <BR>Day 2 - morning: walking tour from Ile de St Louis, Notre Dame Cathedral, St Chapelle, <BR> Concierge, Pont Neuf <BR> afternoon: Musee du Rodin, Les Invalides (Napoleon's Tomb), Champ de Mars, Eiffel Tower, <BR> Trocadero, <BR> night: Illuminations, Cruise, Eiffel Tower Tour (www.parisvision.com, 290F,7:30PM-11:30PM) <BR>Day 3 - all day: Versailles & Chartres Cathedral (both day trips outside the city) <BR>Day 4 - all day: Musee du Louvre (Venus de Milo, Victory of Samothrace, The Dying Slave, Da Vinci's: <BR> "Mona Lisa" and "The Virgin, Child, and St Anne", Raphael's "La Belle Jardiniere", <BR> Vermeer "The Lacemaker") <BR>Day 5 - morning: Musee du Orsay (Manet's "Olympia", "Whistler's Mother", Degas "The Dance Class", <BR> Monet's: "La Gare St Lazare", "Rouen Cathedral", "Garden at Giverny", <BR> Cezanne: "The Card Players", Van Gogh's: "Self Portraits", "Room at Arles", <BR> "The Church at Auvers-sur-Oise", Seurat's "The Circus". <BR> afternoon: Sacre Coeur, Montemartre <BR> <BR>I'd recommend against the Paris Visite pass and suggest you get a museum pass, and buy carnets of metro <BR>tickets as you go, this is much more economical. The museum pass allows you to bypass long museum entry <BR>lines, and let you in and out as often as you'd like. We plan on getting a 3 consecutive day pass (160F) <BR>and use it for days 3-5. The carnet of metro tickets (10 tickets) can be and used on the metro and bus <BR>lines. As for hotels, I've never heard of your hotel. But in previous Paris trips, I've stayed in the <BR>popular 5th arr (Latin Quarter), and I found it too touristy, busy, and noisy. I would personally <BR>rather stay in the 7th arr (Ecole Militaire) because it is more residential, and quiet. On this upcoming <BR>trip I will be staying at the highly recommended HOTEL MUGUET. Other hotels in this area with good <BR>reputations are: GRAND HOTEL LEVEQUE, HOTEL Du CENTRE, HOTEL CHAMP DE MARS, HOTEL La BOURDONNAIS, <BR>HOTEL DUQUESNE EIFFEL, and HOTEL LE TOURVILLE. <BR> <BR>Bon Voyage, have a great time. Let me know if I can be of any further help. <BR>

Pfiouf ! Well, Bill, that's a heavy schedule ! You must have been surfing a lot. I'm just concerned : is all this feasible ? <BR>I would recommend to spread the museum visits on the entire week, for they are a bit long. Also don't imagine to be able to see Chartres and Versailles decently the same day. You could spend three days just in Versailles, and Chartres is one hour by train from Paris with TGV, but the thing is you have to get to the train station both in Paris and in Chartres, and this can be quite long. <BR>Someone else suggested to "get lost" in the center of Paris -good tip. You'll have an entire life to cover everything there. Most important is to enjoy it. After all, it's not an exam. <BR>My suggestion would be to pick up one or two "targets" a day, and take all the time you need to get there. Bill's list is a good starting point. I gave a whole bunch of off the beaten path things in an other mail, which an other french guy completed very well. Search for both "off the beaten path", gregoire, or vincent, you should get it. And if you need some more...

Dear Bruce, I was doing a little research as we are planning our second trip to Paris in the next few months. My husband (he is also called Bruce) and I stayed at the Hotel Eduoard last August. We found it quite delightful - staff friendly and helpful, room very pretty, quiet and very comfortable. Our travel agent wanted it to be romantic as we were celebrating our 25th Wedding Anniversary. Breakfast was included and most enjoyable. The time of year you have chosen is more favourable as it was very hot when we were there. Our stay was at the end of a 14 day tour of Eastern Europe and the temp. stayed around 38.5 so we did not do all the things we planned however got a good overview plus side trips to Versailles and Monet's Garden at Giverny. Walking is definitely the best way to see Paris and a boat trip on the Seine gives a lovely contrast to seeing the city on foot. We are planning to stay on the Left Bank this time near the Musee D'Orsay I believe. We did not cover this side of Paris so it will be new to us. Have a wonderful time. I hope we do too. Pamela Menzel

Thanks Gregoire. You make two good points about my itinerary. I'll go to Chartres and Versailles on different days. Get a 5-day museum pass so that I can go in and out of museums at my leisure during the entire week. However, I'll plan to go to the Louvre on Wednsday and the Orsay on Thursday since they stay open late on those days.

For you museum-goers, allow me to suggest one that's a little more off the beaten path and often overlooked, but WONDERFUL: the Picasso Museum. In terms of location, all I remember is that it's on the Right Bank, I think in the Marais district. It's a lovely little building with a lot of character and a terrific collection. I loved the Musee d'Orsay and the Louvre but the Picasso museum was much more intimate and relaxing, less crowded, and easy to see thoroughly in a few hours. This place oozes ambience. Plus the neighborhood around it is fascinating with a wonderful history, excellent restaurants, and good shopping -- very fun to meander through before or after visiting the museum. <BR>A small restaurant I particularly loved when I was in Paris a few years ago was Amanguier -- so nice I ate lunch there twice! It was on the Left Bank (although a friend who recently went and enjoyed it told me they also have a location on the Right Bank) but you'll have to look up the address. It seems like it was about a 15-20 minute walk from the Eiffel Tower, on a quietish, semiresidential street that seemed to have more locals than tourists. They had a great reasonably-priced prix-fixe lunch menu that ran about 112-120 francs if I remember correctly (for soup/salad/appetizer, main course, wine, and dessert). I didn't have dinner there but I'm sure it's good as well. Just thinking about their pesto ravioli makes my mouth water. Have a great time.

<BR>Bruce, <BR>We are planning a trip to Paris for our honeymoon in June. We are staying in <BR>Le Belmont in the 16th arrondissement. <BR>Have you heard of this hotel? Any comments? Thanks <BR>

Bruce: You didn't mention getting out to Giverny. It's an easy train ride, and if you like Monet... Anyway, another wonderful museum is the Marmottan, in the 16th. It's a private collection and is displayed in the most beautiful rooms. I found the setting, across from a small, elegant park with carousel, to be as enchanting as the art. It left me with a quite different feeling from the bustle of the "center" of Paris.

I agree with Gregoire, pick a target and just enjoy. We spent a really nice day walking up the Canal St. Martin, then took the metro to Monmartre, got off at Abbess(sp?) the stop with the winding stairway that seems to last forever but is covered with extraordinary painting and neon. Did a walking tour of Monmartre, past the windmills and to Sacre Couer (I guess this was the "back" way). Picked up a sandwich at a shop and had lunch in the park below Sacre Couer. Wandered down to take a bus to the area where we shopped Galleries Lafayette, bought some pastries at a bakery as a snack, and found the bus back up toward our hotel between Republique and Bastille. It was a delightful day. There were several stops at cafes for a (slow) drink and some drink in the scene time.