Louvre - Eiffel Tower
 

Hi, <BR>What is the best time of day to see both these places? We will arrive at 6:30am at Gare du Nord? We will go sraight to which ever one is best to see first thing in the morning? Should we take the Bus or metro to get there? thanks

You won't actually be able to go into the Louvre for a few hours but you should probably start out around there, take an early morning walk along the Seine and stop in a cafe. The Eiffel Tower is best late in the day or at night when the city is lit up.

If you are referring to what it will look like, the sun sets across the river from the tower, so late day is very nice for viewing the tower from the Palais de Chaillot terrace. As someone else said, you should also try to see it after dark. Another suggestion for early morning is to walk along the banks of the Seine and pay a visit to Notre Dame (the outside only at that time of day); the rear should look particularly nice in the rays of early morning sunlight. If this is your first visit, consider this schedule: Seine and Notre Dame (I can't recall ND's hours offhand, but I think it opens fairly early); then Louvre; then Eiffel Tower. Make sure to see Ste. Chapelle on the way from Notre Dame to the Louvre.

I don't know what day of the week you will be in Paris, but I according to what I found on the web, the museum is also open until 9:45 pm on Mondays and Wednesdays. Monday is the Richelieu Wing only.

Just a warning re the previous post: don't bank on which wing of the Louvre will be open Monday evenings. I had read that the Richelieu wing was open Monday evenings, so on our Monday visit a few weeks ago, we saved that part of the museum for the evening. Lo and behold, at 5:45 it was closed up tight, and we were told that different parts of the Louvre are open Monday evenings on a rotating basis. So no French painting for us. If you go on a Monday, I'd ask at the information desk upon arrival what will be open in the evening, and plan accordingly.

Thanks for the info, Caitlin. I had always seen that just the Richelieu was open then.