Is this a bad thing? I have a list going of what is closed on which day (mostly the museums) and which day the markets are open in which neighborhoods. This will be our third visit so I don't feel a lot of pressure to see everything. Maybe each morning we will start walking in a different direction. Can this work?

Yes, of course it can work mthat is how we like to travel, too.

Absolutely it can work. I think that takes the pressure off to go-go-go and see everything, which is impossible anyway. I did something similar to yours this last trip in October by listing the top things I wanted to see in order. I had researched restaurants in the neighborhoods of each and wine stops, too. In the morning we would pick which we wanted to do for the day and went that way. It worked great for us.

I like no schedules as you can wander and let the city take you places not on a tourist's guide.
Enjoy!!

Sounds great, allison, and a good plan.

I've been doing it for years. Why not?

I think a lack of plan sounds like a great plan. Adventurous!!

My last trip was like this, except we didn't have the list of what's open when and markets. So you're way ahead of me already.

I actually do this often, but this last time I did notice we wasted a good bit of time being indecisive, particularly about where and when to eat. So in retrospect I wish I had made more of a dining plan because we only had a week.

We did exactly that last spring with the exception of making some dining reservations, our fifth trip to Paris and it was wonderful, relaxing.

wE DO IT THAT WAY ALL THE TIME AND LIKE IT BEST. I know when things are open and any special events we want to attend but the rest of the time we are free to wander aand wonder at the sights. I do know what restaurants we want to try or revisit

I wouldn't do it any other way.

I'm honestly sorry you felt the need to actually ask this question but obviously you are slowly improving. Enjoy your trip and no you do not "have" to write a trip report, take any photos, eat in any particular place, avoid KFC, or pretend you are "fitting in."

Thank you, I am feeling better, since we are going Friday!

Enjoy your trip. It is absolutely not necessary to have a 'plan' that has each and every day scheduled, morning, noon and night. Just make sure you know the 'closed' days of things you want to see.

As long as I have my list of what is open when, I'm good to go.

If there are special exhibits that require booking, I might do it ahead, or I might do it when I get there.

Dinner is a different story. I'm not going anywhere without at least a partial dining plan. Seen too many people turned away from places that were divine. Also have had bad meals when dining without a plan.

That's the way to do it. If you have some starred restaurant dining plans you will need to make those in advance, of course.

Enjoy!

a bientot...

Joan

Paris without a plan is, IMHO, a perfect plan.

Been there, done that, loved it.

no concrete plan? Less taxing, more fun, embrace the freedom ...and prepare for unexpected rewards. For example, Not being a foodie per se, I have always found that NOT having a dining plan has taken us to seek out the "mom and pops" for some delicious dining experiences, catered to by loving people. Took wife a little getting used to..then she was even more willing to go the "no plan" route.

Allison...enjoy! (Are you the Allsion from West L.A.? If so, hadn't seen you post n a very long time..have a grat trip.
stu

Half the time we abandon our plan anyway. I like to know my options but it is fun to just go with how we are feeling!

Maybe I'm the only one who had a bad experience of going to Paris with no plan. We had a fantastic time in London for 5 days and then took the chunnel to Paris in 2010 because we managed to snatch a last minute prepaid hotel room at a popular boutique hotel at the Place de Vosges but unfortunately, one day before our arrival, we received a regret email stating that they made a mistake and refunded my prepayment in full. We went anyway since we already booked our transatlantic flight out of Paris.

The concierge at the major hotel where we ended up staying at could not get a table at any great restaurant for lunch or dinner for that entire weekend due to some major meeting going on. I called around a few restaurants myself while shopping and amazingly got a last minute cancellation table at the classic le Grand Verfour (which I've never been to) but the manager apologized for the big mistake when we arrived as they actually had no table. We ended up eating at the Virgin Megastore Cafe, Leon de Bruxelles, Georges at the Pompidou and some random local cafés (I didn't research/bring notes on new cafes to try), it's hard to believe that we didn't get to eat anything great for 3 days in Paris.The only fancy dinner our concierge managed to get was at Ledoyen which had an impressive interior and service but disappointing food (overcooked fish, reheated dried up appetizer), no wonder every table was occupied by foreign tourists.

The only museum we wanted to see was Picasso, we walked all the way there only to find out that it was closed for renovation. We wandered around the left bank without any purpose and had no real desire of seeing/doing anything. We realized that we did not plan,dream or long to get excited about anything in Paris so we just hanged around rather bored inside the Luxembourg park and shopped by default. It was a huge regret after an exciting stay in London. We realized that part of it was because we could not get into the mood for Paris. I think we need to plan if we ever decide to go to Paris again.