Last Paris itinerary..... I promise

Old Jun 22nd, 2013, 09:13 AM
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Last Paris itinerary..... I promise

After all the great advice I’ve received from all you experienced travelers and all my reading and research, here is what I’ve come up with for our Paris itinerary. I would love to get your impressions and opinions. I realize if it rains, there will have to be adjustments. Hoping it won’t. Any big gliches that you can see? Thanks so much for taking the time.

Wed. Arrive 9:45
Catch a cab (preferably one that takes credit cards)
Staying at Hotel Bosquet in the 7th
Get euros, carnet of tickets
Pick up lunch at Rue Cler
Picnic at Champs de Mars Park
Walk over to Musee Rodin (open late on Wed)
Buy 2-day museum pass but won’t use it until Thurs and Fri
Dinner near hotel
Early to bed

Thurs.
Early to Sacre Coeur to avoid lines
Possibly do Rick Steves Historic Paris Walk, taking in all the sites in the area (Notre Dame, etc)
Evening - D’Orsay. Open late -- hoping to have dinner there.

Fri.
Use second day of Museum Pass at Versailles

Sat.
11:30 Opera Garnier tour
Galleries Lafayette department store
Angelina’s Tearoom
Musee de L’Orangerie
Dinner at Le Souffle

Sun
Morning: Pere Lachaise Cemetery
2:30 Paris Walks Marais
L’ As du Falafel
Evening: Luxembourg Gardens??

Mon.
Train to Bayeux

Tues
D-Day Tour
Return to Paris in the evening

Wed.
Giverny - take early train (already have tickets to Monet’s home and garden)
Evening: Montmartre
Vedettes du Pont Neuf river cruise (already have tickets)

Thurs.
Train to Avignon
I will be back with this portion of the itinerary.
blackmons is offline  
Old Jun 22nd, 2013, 10:20 AM
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Your itinerary, while ambitious, leaves enough time to walk slowly and look around, stopping where the impulse takes you. That's a welcome contrast to those "must-see" lists on this forum.
One thought: The wonderful d'Orsay has a special history as a building beyond its treasures. Timing your visit to coincide with a tour in English can enhance the experience. http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/visit/i...or-adults.html
As your prep, take a look at Martin Scorses' film Hugo, animated and fictitious and worthy of enshrining in the museum since it's set in the place when it was a rail station. Great fun, and pretty good art.
Southam is offline  
Old Jun 22nd, 2013, 11:05 AM
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Just a couple of observations and questions.

Why are you going to Sacre Coure on Thursday and to Montmartre the following Wednesday? This should be combined into one trip.

You really aren't doing enough to take advantage of the 2-day museum pass. Not sure it is worth it for you. You could try to fit the Musee Rodin and the Orangerie into one of the two days. I don't see Ste. Chapelle on your itinerary. IMO, it is a must see in Paris.

Your ininerary leaves time to see Paris at a very nice pace. With a few tweaks, you will have a very nice plan.
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Old Jun 22nd, 2013, 11:11 AM
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Sorry. That was a misprint. I meant do Sainte Chapelle on Thursday morning and do that whole area. I know I'm not making good use of the museum pass, but I figure it will get me ahead of the lines for Ste Chapelle and Versailles
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Old Jun 22nd, 2013, 03:47 PM
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Wednesday

An option is to have lunch in the Rodin garden. There's a cafe there with light offerings. It's so much nicer than the Champs de Mars.

Thursday

>

It won't get you ahead of the security line at Ste-Chapelle. You have to wait your turn. I've never seen a line at the chapel.

This is one of the days for the excellent free Notre Dame tour.

Saturday

Get to the Opera early for the tour. The guided tours were sold out last time I tried to get one.

There's a combo ticket for the Orsay and Orangerie. Did you check the pricing against the museum pass prices?

Sunday

You need to leave the Luxembourg Gardens 15 minutes before sunset.

I would move the Vedettes cruise to this day as you may be tired after your trip to Giverny and after Montmartre. Did you buy the discounted ticket or the dated ticket?

I answered the Pere Lachaise question on your other thread.
adrienne is offline  
Old Jun 22nd, 2013, 05:20 PM
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"I figure it will get me ahead of the lines for Ste Chapelle."

No it probably won't as adrienne noted. The main line at Sainte-Chapelle is the security line for entering the Palais de Justice complex. A museum pass doesn't give you priority in that line.

Once said security is cleared, there is hardly every a line to buy tickets for the chapel.
MrNuke is offline  
Old Jun 23rd, 2013, 04:21 AM
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Agree with moving Montmartre to the same day as Sacre Coeur. I love the Grand Marnier Souffle at Le Souffle!
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Old Jun 23rd, 2013, 07:31 AM
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Thanks so much for the feedback. Sounds like I need to rethink the museum pass if it's not going to save me time at Ste Chapelle. I'll just buy tickets to D'Orsay/Orangerie and Versailles separately. I did get the coupon ticket for the Verdettes cruise after reading about it on this forum. I also got tickets ahead of time for the Opera tour, which I also read to do here. The advice here is really priceless for planning a trip and I promise a trip report when I get back. Thanks for the advice on moving the cruise to Sunday. That does make more sense. I'll just go to Pere Lachaise for as long as I have time for and then head to Marais. I will also check into the Notre Dame tour. A friend advised me to buy a metro pass rather than the carnet of tickets so I'm going to look into that. Time to start packing.
Merci,
Laurie
blackmons is offline  
Old Jun 23rd, 2013, 08:33 AM
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Metro passes c an be great fore someone who plans to get around a lot like you by subways and bus. But there are a lot of restrictions that may make it not worthwhile, depending on when you arrive.
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Old Jun 23rd, 2013, 08:48 AM
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I wouldn't walk from rue Cler to the Champs de Mars for a picnic (boring park, apart from the fact that the Tour Eiffel is there), and then past the nice Invalides park to the Rodin Museum, where there's another very nice park. It's 10 minutes in one direction just to sit and have a picnic, then 15-20 in the opposite direction retracing your steps when you don't need to.

And no, the Museum Pass won't make it much shorter to get into Sainte-Chapelle - its the security lines there that will hold you up. I don't see much of any advantage for you in buying the Museum Pass.
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