Judy

I saw the thread regarding the must sees versus nice but skipable in the UK and was wondering if anyone had the same sort of lists for Paris?

JIll

Pairs has more great places than anywhere I've ever been. Pere LaChaise cemetery is not be missed IMHO. I didn't ride to the top of the Eiffel Tower so I guess that can be missed. The museums are wonderful but skip some and skip some churches just to have time to enjoy other things.

sandi

Judy, that's such a subjective question. I love going into the churches, so they'd be on my "must-see" list. On the other hand, we chose between some of the big museums, only because we didn't have time to see everything. On my must-see list also was the Rodin museum because I love sculpture. So, the comments will vary greatly.

elaine

Judy<BR>I agree with sandi, it depends on your own interests, how long your trip is, whether it's your first trip there or your fourth, etc.<BR>For anyone who says, for example, skip the Catacombs, there will be someone else who says it's the most interesting thing they saw there.<BR><BR>In any good guidebook, even in the Paris section elsewhere on this Fodor's website, you will find lists of the &quot;greatest hits.&quot;<BR><BR>These are some of my favorites, in no particular order<BR><BR>Ste Chapelle<BR>Louvre<BR>Notre Dame<BR>Musee d'Orsay<BR>Musee Marmottan<BR>Musee Rodin<BR>Church of St Etienne<BR>Church of St Julien-le-Pauvre<BR>Church of St Germain<BR>lunch or just coffee and pastry at Laduree<BR>Hot chocolate and another pastry at Angelina's<BR><BR>Browsing through the Marais, with a few minutes lingering on Place des Voges<BR><BR>A walk through the Tuileries<BR><BR>Dinner at Chez Julien, and/or Balzar, and/or le Violin d'Ingres<BR><BR>Skippable for me:<BR>Catacombs<BR>Sewers<BR>Boat ride<BR>top of the Eiffel Tower<BR><BR>

dcw

Heresy I know, but I would skip Notre Dame. I found it dark, and so noisy with tourists that any feeling of spirituality or mystery was completely lost I much, much preferred la Sainte Chapelle on a bright sunny morning

Bob Brown

I put the Picasso Museum at the top of my skipable list.<BR>At the top of my dont't even think of skipping it list is Musee d'Orsay, the Rodin Museum and Ste. Chapelle.<BR>The Jacquemart Andre Museum is pretty close to &quot;unskipable&quot;.<BR>I found it this trip and concluded I had been missing something.<BR><BR>

lizbeth

Agree with poster above about Notre Dame, the interior at least. Now, the facade of Notre Dame I found endlessly fascinating and loved to walk by at all times of day just to see it in different types of light. I thought the interior of Sacre-Coeur was much more moving and spiritual. <BR>My first trip to Paris was during late spring, so many of the &quot;must-sees&quot; were unbearably crowded. I'd make an attempt, and if the lines were too long or the crowds too unpleasant, I'd just move on to the next sight on my list, saving the experience for later. It sure makes a good excuse to keep going back to Paris!

elvira

No matter how many times I go to Paris, I must see:<BR><BR>Notre Dame - I block out the tourists shuffling along, and imagine what it must have been like for the poor and uneducated people of Paris, hundreds of years ago, to walk in and behold the glory of God (and stand up for all-day masses).<BR><BR>The Deportation Memorial - it keeps me in line. Just one flittering across my brain of any sort of &quot;those people&quot; (name an ethnic group) and that memorial reminds me how awful that is.<BR><BR>The Seine - as long as I can see it, I'm home.<BR><BR>Any cemetery - whether Pere Lachaise or St Vincent or Montmartre, it's as if I'm visiting a small city from the past. Names on the headstones, like the living have on their mailboxes. Expressions of love and rememberance and loss and grief, and we are all the same when death comes to us.<BR><BR>Flea markets - one man's junk is another man's treasure. I've bought old books and found little notes and postcards tucked in the pages, written by someone I'll never meet but wish I could.<BR><BR>Supermarkets - yeah yeah I enjoy the street markets and buy food there, but in the supermarkets you find the stuff of everyday life like paper towels and laundry detergent and it's familiar and exotic at the same time.<BR><BR>Parks - the big ones like the Tuilleries and Bois de Boulogne, but the little ones that are tucked in small corners of neighborhoods. Children play, mothers commiserate, and old men tell stories to each other.<BR><BR>Department stores - not the rdc where the expensive watches and handbags are sold, but upstairs where dishtowels and ladles are bought by housewives and grumbling husbands (yup, French husbands hate shopping, too).<BR><BR>The Louvre and the d'Orsay - I always find something new to see, and then visit my old friends (like the guys made out of produce and the jeune fille sitting on the beach).<BR><BR>Mimes - no matter how lousy my job might seem, at least I'm not painted gold and standing on a bridge.<BR>

Grasshopper

Elvira, You have amazing perspective. You make me want to be places I hardly noticed before.

MaryC

I found the interior of Notre Dame to be a bit much, too, the last time I went which was in April. I felt enclosed all around and people were being so rude during the Sunday Mass by talking loudly &amp; taking flash photos (like being at a concert). But when I went the previous year in March there were much fewer tourists and I could enjoy the peace more (it really was much quieter). And I don't like that you can barely see the &quot;Mays&quot; as they aren't lit very well and you can't step into the &quot;cubicle&quot; spaces to gain a better perspective.<BR><BR>I prefer the towers and seeing the gargoyles, but I think you have to see the inside of Notre Dame at least once. And it's such a short stop anyway (unless you plan to stay for a concert). : )<BR><BR>GH, dontcha just love Elvira??<BR><BR>Elvira, good to see ya!!

lafrancaise

I would skip trying to see the Bastille site as there is nothing there but a tall obelisk marking the spot. So many people think they are going to see remnants of the infamous prison and they are sorely disappointed.

BillyT

What on earth is/are the Mays? Not a term I've ever heard to describe a feature of Notre Dame (or any other cathedral, for that matter).

Alana Groshong

&quot;From 1449, the goldsmiths of Paris had traditionally made a gift to the Virgin Mary in Notre Dame cathedral on the 1st May. In 1630, they ask if their gift could be a huge religious painting to hang in the nave...Artists vied for the prestige of being chosen to paint the &quot;May&quot;. Rules were strict, as laid down at the Council of Trent in 1545: they had to portray scenes of the apostles and saints in classical dress, painted in clear bold colours with no distracting background detail.The paintings had to be at least 11 feet high...The whole growing collection was displayed in the nave to encourage faithful Catholics to pray to saints for help with their problems. Protestants in contrast would only pray direct to God. The &quot;Mays&quot; became an enormous manifesto of the Catholic faith, a sort of religious education. But by 1707 the pillars of the nave were full. The custom had to be stopped because there was no room for any more paintings...After the Revolution, the 76 Mays were dispersed. Later 45 were traced, and 14 of them were found in Arras. Seven have now been restored and are displayed in the Mus&eacute;e d'Arras's biggest gallery, the &quot;Salle des Mays&quot;.&quot; - http://www.theotherside.co.uk/tm-heritage/background/art-mays-1630-1707.htm<BR><BR>If anyone has managed to have a good view of these while visiting Notre Dame de Paris, could you please share how and when you managed to do so?

Charlotte

It's really subjective as Sandi said. You need to find what interests you. Even something as simple as walking along the quais and taking in the views of this beautiful city is great.