To LL- i agree off the beaten track is great. The Paris sewers and catacombs hardly qualify as such. Both are popular tourist attractions esp with kids.

Thanks - glad I could help. I'm compiling an itinerary for my next trip where I repeat my favorite things and do some new off-beat things as well. I don't know when the trip will be (hopefully next year) but it will have a theme - sundials.

Does Cheryl lug around a tripod to get those excellent photos?

Adrienne, Cheryl did bring her tripod, but did not use it and did not lug it around. It lived in our hotel room the whole time.

It's great fun to do a trip with a theme, and Paris would lend itself well to many themes.

@yestravel<<<To LL- i agree off the beaten track is great. The Paris sewers and catacombs hardly qualify as such. Both are popular tourist attractions esp with kids.>>>

We're all kids, irrespective of our individual interests.

There's nothing wrong about learning a bit about the beginnings of Paris, especially for visitors.

Without those early days and people like Poubelle...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eug%C3%A8ne_Poubelle

and Haussemann...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haussma...ation_of_Paris

you wouldn't have the Paris that exists today.

Fascinating stuff, imho!

What a fun read that was! My sisters and I are planning a trip for spring, 2015, so will probably encounter the same rain. Being from a very dry So Cal, it will be a nice change. :)

Thank you for the report and photos.

LL, we read How Paris Became Paris before we went. Fascinating. Take a look at it if you haven't read it.

Have a great time, LCBoniti. The rain was an advantage in some ways - it forced us to go to lots of museums and cathedrals rather than just wandering around and eating!

You have eaten at Le Coup Chou in Tokyo and now in Paris within a few months time lol.
Great report as usual Kathie makes us want to make a return to Europe. Cheryl's pictures are stellar as usual. Hi Cheryl!!
We just saw you two in Kauai a couple of months ago. Now Paris and Macu Pichu in Nov.....the good life lol
Linda sends her love.

Aloha!

Loved your report. Thanks for sharing!

Hi HT, we laughed about Le Coup Chou and wondered if there was any relationship between the two restaurants!

Yes, we are doing pretty well at the traveling. And I'm not even retired yet! But soon - end of August I'm closing my practice. Our love to Linda.

Kathie, still enjoying your Paris thread. Really interested in your plans for Machu Pichu. Glad to see Hawaiiantravel here. Hi HT! You were so helpful in our planning for Japan. . .in our initial Fodorite days. Thanks to you both for your generous sharing of ideas.

tomarkot, HT helped us plan our Japan trip as well. It's great to be able to share our travel knowledge with each other.

I had a planning thread over on the South America board about our upcoming trip. It's my retirement trip, so we are splurging on the Hiram Bingham train and staying at the ruins a couple of nights. I will - of course - write a report upon our return in mid-Nov.

I found LancasterLad's statement a bit odd to say
<<I'm a bit disappointed Kathie. The history of great cities like Paris is in their origins, and the people.

Must see places to appreciate all this are...>>

"Must see" places are different for everyone. I have been to Paris over a dozen times and have not visited, nor do I have any desire at all to visit, the sewers or the catacombs. I have also never visited the Père Lachaise Cemetery. It has never 'called' to me. I may visit it someday, who knows?

It's just that noone can tell another person what their 'must sees' should be.

Off to look at the photos now!!

Great Report...My wife and I just returned from 8 days in Paris yesterday.

[Trip Report to follow in a few days.]

We, too, used La Fourchette...a great resource...used a 50% discount twice -- an upgrade from our usual cheaper places without a major increase in cost.

...and your pix are fantastic.

SS

Kathie, we'll follow your planning on the S.A. forum. Lately, we've not been checking there. The extent of our S.A. travels has been Buenos Aires, Rio, and Iguazu Falls. We're interested in Peru, esp. for Feb.-March when we're having winter weather at home. An early "Congrats" on your upcoming retirement!

Thanks, everyone.

ssander, I see you've started your report - I'll enjoy following your adventures!

Just came across your report and loved reading it. The pictures are fantastic! I returned from Paris about a week ago, so the pictures are a lovely reminder for me. I did a lot of the same things as you and Cheryl, as I love the museums and gardens. I also spent a morning at Chateau de Vincennes- so interesting. No way was I going to the sewers or catacombs! But I DO like Pere Lachaise Cemetery, and have spent time there on other trips.

Hi Sue, glad you enjoyed our report. Pere Lachiase has been on my list of must-visit places for years, so was delighted that we could spend a half a day there. I hope you got a bit more sunny weather than we did, but the rain meant we visited lots of museums.

Hi Kathie,

We were in Paris almost the exact dates you were. We arrived Friday May 16, left Saturday May 23. I have been meaning to write a trip report, but when I don't do it immediately, it often doesn't get done. I think I wrote somewhere on my Bhutan/Nepal thread that you guys have all been so helpful that I think it's now time for me to do it..at least the highlights.

Which for us included the Rodin museum (went twice, we were staying 5 minutes from the Luxumbourg Garden, and about a 20 minute walk from everything else), the Canal St Martin, the Musee Jacque St Andre`, going to the Luxembourg Gardens at different times each day. The top three though: the most expensive lunch I have ever had at La Cascade in the Bois de Bologne--really really fun in a Belle Epoque dining room where there were little stools for your purse, Wednesday night at the Louvre. It was raining hard, we got there at about 7 pm and there was NO ONE. IT WAS EMPTY. I felt like dancing. So knowing this will never happen again, we stuck to the most famous parts...it was like we were in the movie about being locked in the Natural History Museum overnight. Did you get the black t-shirt with a slice of Mona Lisa down the left side (only t-shirt they sold)? Our last night Friday night, we saw 2 rainbows while walking to Spring restaurant for dinner (perhaps the best meal I've had anywhere ever though service was only OK). On our way back we strolled across the Seine on the bridge with the locks on it and felt sad to go on to Genoa (where my husband is from). We, too, are lunch people. That was the only dinner we had out in Paris. Otherwise many yoghurts with fruit from Monoprix...I really enjoyed reading your trip report :) And thanks again for your help with the Bhutan/Nepal trip.

We sleep better on trips to Europe if we fly nonstop over the Atlantic (or if there aren't any from Seattle, go through SFO or LAX). We eat dinner, I take ambien and play (this is true) lullaby playlist on iPhone, put on noise reducing earphones and go immediately generally sleep for 5+ hours. For us, going through Washington or Chicago breaks it up too much to get decent sleep. If we had been flying business and couldn't get nonstop, we would have flown to Frankfort or Munich then to Paris. It may be you didn't have those options and between Business class and a stop in U.S. and nonstop economy plus to Paris, I'm not sure which I'd choose.

The Louvre when it is empty! Wow! What a wonderful experience!

I'll have to make a note of your two restaurant recommendations: Spring and La Cascade.

I appreciate your thoughts about flights... I'm not a great sleeper on planes. I refrain from Ambien (I know too much about it), but I know many people find it helpful. The idea of flying to SFO to take a non-stop to Paris rather than the stop in DC or ORD is a good one. I'm a United Million-Miler, so try to keep my flights to that alliance, which adds in one more variable.

I look forward to a full report on your Paris trip. We are already talking about another trip to Paris and we are both collecting ideas of things to do and see and places to eat.

Million miler? Wow! That means your days of flying economy are forever over:):) We are United people also (mostly because Lufthansa has so many flights into Italian cities, also because SF is a hub. But going to New York I treat myself to Jet Blue--I am not fond of United's domestic experience and we save miles to fly business when we can to Europe.

Would you consider Valium?

"That means your days of flying economy are forever over" Don't I wish!! Actually on domestic flights we get upgraded for free about half of the time and we use miles or buy Biz class for international flights.

I once had a bad reaction to valium, so no thanks.

We are thinking about returning to Paris next year.

Good plan on miles. We had thought of doing one free business and one purchased one for Bangkok, but then I found out business costs $6000 when I was hoping for 3 to 4...

We had excellent United economy plus experience flying nonstop to Paris, with exit row seats for just the two of us.

I had a paradoxical reaction to Ativan once that sent me to the ER and terrified my husband, so I get it.

Am planning to write Paris trip report over the next few days. Just now dashed off trip report on last weekend's 4 day trip to Yosemite Valley and the art of avoiding mobs.