Michel Paris - can you please respond to my message.
 

I have been watching emails from Mike (Michel Paris) and was wondering if you could respond to my message. We are arriving in Paris on a Wednesday and I thought we would do a bus tour the first day and possibly a cruise down the Seine River. Do you agree? It's myself, my husband and our granddaughter (10). Also, we are staying at the InterContinental Hotel. Do you have any comments? Thanks, Mike I appreciate your help.

I am not Mike, but...

I once did the bus tour on the day I arrived in Paris from the US. When the bus got stuck in traffic I fell asleep!!!

If Wed is the day you arrive from the US, I would delay the boat cruise. It's best a night and darkness comes LATE in Paris.

I agree with CarolA, both events on an arrival day would put most folks to sleep or be a real drag given your dulled senses. Walk and walk and ....

I thought I would repost this because I haven't heard from Michael yet.

Darkness comes late in summer, but early in winter. Right now, the sun sets a bit before 6:30 PM, local time.

There are many, MANY folks on here who know a LOT about Paris. Do you only want to hear from michael? Seems so since you said &quot;. . <i>I haven't heard from Michael yet.</i>&quot;

If that's the case, you'll miss out on a lot of help/info . . .

Don't wait for me...I am but a humble student at the knees of the masters (or is that ma&icirc;tres?) :)

Intercontinental is prime location for a lot of the sites you will want to see, and right beside pick up point for one of the city tour buses.

As others have said, decide when you land if you feel up to a bus tour, since you may find that it is zzzz inducing, even if you are in Paris. If you land early enough and get a few snores in, it could work out well for a 2 PM tour. I like doing a bus tour when I arrive in a new city just to get the lay of the land, see all of the main sites (that way you don't feel you have to go see Arc de Triomphe, for example..since you did!), and get a feel of where things are located (Notre Dame is not short walking distance from Eiffel,etc...)
I like the Seine river cruises, but would only do a nighttime one. Night because all of the major buildings, bridges, Eiffel tower are lit up, and it is magical. There are several companies who offer these (aka bateaux mouches), in different sizes of boats. At Place D'Alma are some of the larger ones. I liked the Vedettes du Pont Neuf because they had a smaller boat, and a convenient location near Notre Dame. As others have stated, you could combine a bus/river cruise. There are also river dinner cruises, decide if extra $$$ are worth it...food OK nice views..
I will look for article on mother with child in Paris. There were some nice ideas.

Hope this helps
Mike

English site seems to be down...

http://www.bateaux-mouches.fr/

http://www.discoverfrance.net/France...-Mouches.shtml

I'm guessing here that you will be arriving in Paris after an overnight flight from the US?

I've seen no mention of the length of your stay, or when you're going?

In the nice weather, a trip around Paris on L'Opentour would be wonderful, just for the scenery all about and to get your bearings.

If you're truly lost and haven't a clue as to how to spend your time during your visit, highly recommend getting in touch with [email protected].

djkbooks
Thanks everyone for your replies. djkbooks what is L'Opentour? Is it a tour company?
I didn't mean to hurt anyone feelings but I noticed quite a few messages that Mike responded to and I like his ideas that is why I requested Mike. But I am very open to all suggestions.

We will be in Paris - 4 nights, 5 days.

L'Opentour is a hop on/hop off bus company. You can purchase one or two-day passes.

When the weather is pleasant, riding around Paris in seats on the open air upper deck is a fantastic way to enjoy the scenery and get your bearings.

L'Opentour is also a gerrific way to get around to all the major sights and attractions. The stops are more conveniently located than most of the regular bus stops, and a LOT closer than most of the metro stops.

For example, there is a L'Opentour stop RIGHT at the bottom of the finicular at Sacre Coeur, a spot that's a bit complicated to get to via bus or metro.

Keep in mind that L'Opentour goes only one direction, so you'd want to plan to hop off all the places you plan to visit in their order along the route. You don't have to, but it saves a lot of time.

Here's the website

http://www.paris-opentour.com/en/open.htm