Four days in Paris - will this work?
 

This June, we'll be in the Dordogne for 10 days then in Paris 4 days before heading home. We haven't been to Paris for a while, and there are things I want to do that we missed the first time around. Can we do this in 4 days?

We arrive on a Saturday and depart on a Wednesday (I know I have to be careful of when museums are open). I'd like to visit Giverny, Père Lachaise Cemetery, the newly redone Musée d'Orsay, and Montmartre.

We'll be staying in the 10th, along Canal St Martin. I'd also like recommendations on nice areas to just walk around. How can we make the most of our four days?

Thanks for your help,
Alice

You ought to be able to do the things on your list in 4 days. Have you been to the Orangerie since it reopened? You should plan a full day for Giverny. Otherwise, a half day will be fine for your other destinations. Have a great time!

you are actually staying in a nice area - you will find plenty to look at there.

make sure that you schedule the right day for the musee d'orsay - it closes mondays [unlike the Louvre which is closed Tuesdays]. you can get a combined ticket with the Orangerie, which would fit well with your interest in Monet and Giverny, and would help you to bypass the queues.

Here's the website for Giverny:

http://www.fondation-monet.fr/uk/con...mission-prices

it opens every day, so you could go there on the Monday, and see the Musee D'Orsay on the sunday. Montmartre would be better on Tuesday when shops will be open. not sure about the cemetery - depends how high it is upon your list!

We have NOT been to the Orangerie, so if there's a combined ticket with the Musée d'Orsay, that's perfect. I want to be a little flexible with Giverny in case of bad weather. Tuesday for Montmartre sounds perfect. And the cemetery is not the top of the list, but has always been an interest.

annhig, I'm so glad to hear good things about the area we're staying, it's new to me, but I had read some promising things.

Thanks VERY much,
Alice

Alice - we didn't stop there, so much as pass by - on the canal itself, so I'm no expert.

however, if you are down by the bastille, you might like to drop into a little cafe/restaurant that we had lunch in while we were waiting for the canal trip to start - "la cavetiere" along boulevard bouland, overlooking the canal basin.

nothing very special, except that it struck us as being exactly what a neighbourhood cafe should be like - the bar presided over by "Madame" [whose birthday it was, i think, so the customers were buying her glasses of wine, and one even bought her a present, wrapped up,] and "Monsieur" in the kitchen turning out pot au feu, terrines, and potage du jour. we just had "jambon beurre" bagettes as we knew that the GTG was happening later that day, but otherwise, I'm pretty certain we'd have eaten there and eaten well.

have a great trip!

L'Orangerie would also be great right after Giverny to see it in person and then see the huge canvases! I love D'Orsay and L'Orangerie.

Good idea to play it by ear for Giverny. You can buy your tickets in advance online or at a FNAC store. Get your train tickets the day before also... as your credit card will not work in a ticket machine you'll need to line up at the staffed ticket office. We had to run to make it to our train. You can buy the tickets at any SNCF station, not just Gare St Lazare. If you pass an SNCF boutique and notice no line pop in and get your train tickets there.

The idea of visiting the Orangerie after coming back from Giverny is a good one. On the other hand, when we got back to St Lazare in mid afternoon (get to Giverny as early as you can!) we found it the perfect time to walk the few blocks to the Jacquemart-Andre Museum. Not only is the museum lovely but afternoon tea and cake in their cafe is great.

ParisAmsterdam,thanks for the very useful information! And I've never heard of the Jacquemart-Andre Museum, will be looking it up immediately.

All these positive comments are really priming me for the trip!

Alice