Mizzou, all the way.

But don't hold that against me!

Lol, Cath! I was very sad and disappointed to see Mizzou leave the Big 12. We had a long, healthy rivalry with Mizzou. While I now live in the deep south, I am not a fan of the SEC. But I did get a small amount of satisfaction to see Mizzou get their butts handed to them. Oh and Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

The basketball season might be interesting.

Good point! Ha ha!

We stayed in the Hotel Des Grandes Ecoles 3 years ago in October. We loved sitting in the ourdoor courtyard having a glass of wine every afternoon. I love the location near Rue Mouffetard. Lots of good shopping and eatin. g places. I thought the staff was really nice. The only thing that I could complain about is that the rooms are thin walled and so if you are a light sleeper and have noisy neighbors that could be a problem. For this reason the rooms do not have TVs in them. The hotel allowed us to use their refrigerator for our beer and wine and supplied us with wine glasses and a corkscrew. We did not have the breakfast there because there were so many eating places just outside the door.

We stayed at the Novotel 15 years ago. It is a 60's modern chain hotel. No charm there, and come to think of it, the rooms were noisy there too. Not a fan of the location. I think thye had an indoor swimming pool. Room was a decent size.

You might enjoy the Museum Arts and Metiers if the weather is bad and you want to do somethin indoors.

I love to stay at the Grandes Ecoles also.The location is super almost at the corner of Rue Mouffettard and walking distance from Notre Dame.
At night the hotel is very quite perhaps because is surrounded by tall walls which minimizes the usual urban city noises.

Thank you suzanne and kismet for your input regarding the Des Grandes Ecoles. Overall, I think it's a good choice for us.

Can any recommend their favorite cafes, boulangeries, or other shops in that area?

I haven't read all the replies, and I'm sure they are helpful. I would try to hire Michael Osman for at LEAST one day. he will not only maximize your time, and what you see, but you will learn so much. And your son will really enjoy him. He will do whatever you want--see what you want, or suggest things for your day. He is an artist, and is wonderful doing tours of the Louvre and orsay--or any other museums. He is quite a natural "teacher" but in an engaging manner.

I am really bad at remembering names but I liked a place called Delman's on the square (Contrescape). We eat Breakfast there quite often. We liked a place a little further down on Mouffetard. Can't recall the name but they had some cows in the window. There is a good sized grocery store on Mouffetard. There is a tiny place that serves Quiche for a very reasonable price. There is an Italian Deli at the bottom of the street for good take away food. You can get American Food nearby on Rue Des Ecoles called Breakfast in America. There is a great Chocolate shop and a couple of great Pastry shops.

I used to take my kids yearly to Paris, starting when the youngest was 12 or so. The youngest ended up spending her junior year in college there, so I'd say they had a lifelong love.

If you go with Des Grandes Ecoles, I'm going to recommend you use either a guidebook's "Hemingway's Paris" tour (there are a zillion of those, and my youngest loves to be the official narrator--and she's over 21 now!) or do the Paris Walks version. Read "A Moveable Feast" and "The Paris Wife" and you are good to go.

Don't worry about needing the best boulangerie or restaurant in the immediate hotel area. You can just walk down the hill and you are close to a zillion "Paris Bests of...". You also can just trot across a bridge onto Ile de St. Louis, explore there and then enjoy the Marais at will.

It IS a good location.

Museums: Ok, it's part of my 12-Step program...I HATE the Rodin. Bored me to tears. Ditto Les Invalides. But I love so many other museums in Paris it's hard for me not to tell you to go here, go there, etc. So let's get to basics. I frequently tell people if they have to choose between the Louvre and the d'Orsay, the Louvre has the art works you feel you must see (but don't really want to) and the d'Orsay has the works you WANT to see (the Impressionists).

With the renovation, the d'Orsay has put a sort of "mini" tour of the Impressionist Era on the top floor. Makes everything easy.

If you love Monet, L'Orangerie is worth your time. As you walk along the Seine (which should be your daily priority), l'Orangerie is always on the way...no special trippie poos needed. And you get to experience Giverny's water lilies in the round.

FYI--My secret faves are the Jaquemart Andre and the Picaso museums, but I'm not going to recommend you go there.

Another thing I advise if time is short: getting a great view OF the Eiffel Tower is actually more rewarding than going up it. I'm not kidding at all. So if time is short, I really think heading over the Sacre Coeur or seeing Paris from the Pompidou Center, etc--places that have views of the tower and of all of Paris--are always a better use of time. I actually think waiting in line for the Notre Dame towers is a great bang for your time as far as "sensing" Paris; there's nothing like one-on-one encounters with all those gargoyles to set one in a hunchback kind of mood :) Of course my favorite Eiffel-watching time is at night, when it sparkles on the hour. My kids got to see it sparkle just as it turned night because they dragged me up the towers of Sacre Couer in a thunderstorm, but that story is for another day...

Just being at Trocadero across the river is enchanting. The Pantheon is also a sort of neat place to see the distant sparkle.

Versailles lines are not unmanageable and the trip there and back is easy; the ever-present tour groups of foreign visitors tend to be my bugaboo. I feel as though I'm dodging herds there, even in the off season. But for my girls' first time to Paris in January 1999, we did Versailles the day we landed. We dropped our luggage off at the hotel (rooms aren't usually ready at 7 a.m. anyway), hopped the RER, toured
the inside, headed home, and dropped our heads on our pillow.

My transport tip: Buy ONE carnet at a time. If you need more, easy to get more. You might use all the billets in the carnet in one day; you might end up walking everywhere.

Have so much fun. I'm envious you get to "live" age 14.

I appreciate AlessandraZoe's humorous and candid take on the museums of Paris (I too hate Rodin and Les Invalides) and I gather you are already set on d'Orsay with your family and I stick by my recommendation that this is the right choice, HOWEVER, as a lifelong museum addict who will never check into re-hab I am I am here to say that the Louvre is overflowing with intoxicating artworks I can never get enough of, and it remains the pure heroin of all encyclopedic museums of the world, leaving even its greatest rivals in the dust. For art lovers, seeing all those magnificent works, plus knowing that you are seeing the same paintings that inspired the artists whose works now hang in the d'Orsay is a deep education in art.

So while it is true that for Americans in particular one of the biggest draws of Paris is the romance of "gaslight" Paris, the post-Hausmann years, the Impressionist years and the Hemingway years. there are still a great many people who travel to Paris to see the treasures of the Louvre, not because they feel they "ought" to, but because they passionately want what no place else but the Louvre has got.

On a more minor note, I hope AZ doesn't mind my correcting her typo: Musée Jacquemart-André

I love the Rodin, and hate Jacquemart-Andre, and don't consider the Invalides a museum. To each his own. But to go back to Michael Osman, he gave us a 2 hour tour of the Louvre (at our request because I prefer others) that was eye opening--the tour and explanation of how the chateau was built!! And then the "biggies", plus the DaVinci and the then current Napoleon. And yes, there is MUCH in the Louvre. The Michelin Green Guide is a good source for the various wings--but if you choose one, have a backup--not all are open every day. The Orsay is much more than the Impressionist tour also.

I love the Rodin, especially the garden in the spring and summer, and also love the Jacquemart Andre....and the Picasso and the Arts Decoratif and the Orangerie and.... There are so many amazing Paris museums.

I agree with Gretchen that touring any of them with Michael Osman really enhances the museum experience. We've had 20+ trips to Paris and still learn something with Michael (or Scott) each trip.

Very interesting points AZ and golden, and believe me, I am taking everything into consideration when planning this very short trip. When I mentioned to my hubby that we might skip the Louvre and go to the d'Orsay, he was dismayed. Even my son was a little disappointed. He's reading a series of books which is about Egyptology and the first book started at the Louvre. It does seem a little sacrilegious to visit Paris and not go to the Louvre. I will rethink that. I guess I should some research as to best cover what interests us most there, as opposed to trying to see it all. Okay, crossing off Rodin. But I'm afraid Les Invalides is still negotiable. Hubby is a former Marine and that stuff fascinates him.

I really have no desire to go up the Eiffel Tower. Seeing it in the day and the night will be thrilling enough.

Have put holds on the recommended books at the library.

I think if they are disappointed, you should go to the Louvre. It probably really isn't about the art, but the Orsay is specialized and mainly has Impressionist art (mostly paintings). As far as the book starting at the Louvre, the Louvre has a major Egyptian section.

I don't hate the Rodin, it's Rodin, but it's small and that is, of course, the main reason for going there (his sculptures). I love Invalides, it is outstanding. YOu have to be interested in military history, of course, that is what it is. If you aren't, you would hate it. They just redid the WWII section a few years ago and it is really great, but all of it is IMO. Invalides most certainly is a museum, I don't know how one could say it isn't, even if you don't like it. It's not an art gallery, sure, but that isn't what a museum is. http://www.musee-armee.fr/accueil.html

I wouldn't go to the catacombs, especially in February. It is an ossuary, not a theme park, and should be held in respect, if the idea is to go there because it will be like some spooky attraction in Disneyland.

I believe if you are going to make the trip the Michelin Green Guide to Paris would be a worthwhile buy.
The Rodin is more than The Thinker, I hope you know. And it is small, accessible. just a thought.
Glad for another Michael fan. One of the real benefits of their being with you is that they know the location of everything and can take you "there", and then relate the art and history to the time, etc. Your son will be REALLY engaged by him--or Scott. The reasonable cost will be your best money spent.

I'm not a big Musée Rodin fan, either, though I do love the gardens (not in February, though). I absolutely love the Musée de l'Armée and am always surprised at all the wonderful exhibits in the lower level of it. I can only do the Louvre in small pieces, but can linger in the Musée d'Orsay for hours. I almost always pay a visit to the Jacquemart-André as well, and in recent years have been spellbound by some of the exhibits in the Centre Pompidou, which I had previously written off as just being a gimicky modern art treasury. The Musée de Cluny is another wonderful venue. Not a fan of the Musée Picasso. But really, Paris is so full of great museums, it's easy to plan for ones that will fit your interests.

I do think, with limited time, you may well want to spend at least one day with a guide who can make sure you make the best use of what time you do have.

Hit submit too soon.. Wanted to add that is can be very helpful having someone who is helping facilitate your agenda rather than all of ours who post here....and who have very valid likes and dislikes.

I wouldn't go to the catacombs, especially in February. It is an ossuary, not a theme park, and should be held in respect, if the idea is to go there because it will be like some spooky attraction in Disneyland.>>

i think that's a little harsh, Christine - I get no impression that the OP is thinking of the catacombs as a Disney -like attraction.

and Les Invalides might well be a good choice given her husband's military background.

GAjayhawks - if your DH and DS are enthused by the Louvre, especially if DS is interested in a particular exhibit, then of course you should go. We saw quite a lot of the egyptian area on our last visit, but sadly not on purpose - we couldn't find our way out, and went past the mummies several times on our hunt for the exit!