Need advice on trip to Paris
 

My husband and I are going to Paris on 7/28 for a week. We're celebrating my 40th! Please give me advice on the must dos. Any day trips you would suggest besides Giverny, Versailles? Could we go to London or Brussels for the day? Or any other great area in France we could do in a day? Thanks!

Tell us why you choses Paris. What do you want to see? My "must do" may not be something YOU are interested in. So let us know what YOUR "musts" are and then others can give you suggestions for other places to see that you may not be so familiar with that might interest you. MY personal musts on one of my trips were really quite the obvious ones: The Eiffle Tower, Versailles, and Monmartre. On another trip the Louvre and Giverney were on my list. Eating and shopping are right up there at the top also. It sounds like this is your first trip? If you only have a week, personally I would not do London, there is so much in and around Paris, but London is certainly doable so if that is a "must" then it can be worked in. Take the first Eurostar over in the morning and the last one back to Paris that night. Us the hop-on, hop-off bus tour to get you to the sites in London and get off at the ones you want to look at. I'm sure you will get many great suggestions from people who know a lot more about Paris than I do. Hope your trip is all you want it to be.

I would suggest buying Rick Steves Paris 2005 book. It's great for first timers, and will have a detailed list of "must see's" for Paris. And even has info on daytrips to London. You can get it on amazon.com easily, and I'd rush order it if you don't already have a guide book. You need to get cracking with planning! ;)

With only a week, I would probably skip a day trip to London, only because you lose 3 hours going each direction for travel, plus London deserves 5 days on its own, easily. If you really feel like you need to see it just because you're over there (BTDT), I'd suggest making it an overnight trip only because London is so neat, and if you take the first train there, you may find there just isn't nearly enough time to see two or three things before you're trying to get back to the train.

If you decide to stay in the Paris area, another option would be to go to Chartres as a day trip...it would give you a feel for French country living.

Paris is a lovely city, we're going back in September for a week with a couple of extra days tacked on for London. There's the Louvre (Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo), The Orsay Museum, Ste. Chappelle (DON'T MISS)...which is near Notre Dame. The whole Ile de la Cite area is incredible. Of course Champ du Mars Park and the Eiffel Tower, Rue Cler (a market next to the Eiffel Tower in the 7th), Arc de Triomph and Champs Elysees, Montmartre/Sacre Coeur Basilica, The Jewish Quarter, the Latin Quarter (Marais)...there is MUCH to see.

Practice your "Bonjour" and "Merci" and whatever other polite words you can pick up before you go. The French thrive on a little formality, and it will go a long way -- they will switch to English when they hear your accent, but are quite gracious when you greet and say "Please" and "thank you" in theirs.

Sorry in advance for any misspellings, it is, after all 4 a.m., and in the middle of a small insomnia bout. :)

Happy travels,

Jules

well, you have got one week, and there is so much to see and to do. imagine, there live people who have spant there all their lives an still not seen all of it.

so, check out, what you, together with your husband, want to do and to see there. some hints:

As you will be there end of July, beginnig of August, be aware that parisians will go for vacation in August. So there is much more space for visitors, but some business and theaters just are shut in August.

Le Louvre consists of many exhibitions, which are open to the public to a schedule. you can check out this schedule at the louvre homepage before you go.

Musee d´Orsay, the other highlight, might be crowded.

well, you have got one week, and there is so much to see and to do. imagine, there live people who have spent all their lives at Paris and still have not seen all of it. better to see your stay just as an appetizer (hors d´oeuvre) for the following visits.

So, check out, what you, together with your husband, want to do and to see there. some hints for the "must dos"

First of all, it is your stay, and there are no musts at all. it is all about the things you want to do.

As you will be there end of July, beginnig of August, be aware that parisians will go for vacation in August. So there is much more space for visitors, but some offices, shops and theaters are closed in August.

Le Louvre consists of many exhibitions, which are open to the public to a schedule. you can check out this schedule at the louvre homepage before you go, and pick the exhibitions you want to see at the day they are accessible.

Musee d´Orsay, the other highlight, might be crowded. Check out, when you are there.

Same with Centre Pompidou. The main spectacle there is outside, where street artists show their arts.

Carte musee is a bargain, if there are long queues, as you can cut these. Do not visit more then one of the big three museums a day, this can be exhausting. For Le Louvre, you can also buy advance tickets at FNAC stores, one of them at Champs Elysees. The ticket shop, la biletterie, is in the basement.

The best prospect on Tour Eiffel you have from Trocadero Palace, going down from Trocadero to Tour Eiffel.

Other prospects, views:
The panorama from butte Montmartre.
The panorama from La Grande Arche.
The panarama from Tour Montparnasse.

Freebies:
panoramas from top of the big department stores (Galeries Lafayette, Au Printemps, La Samaritaine, BHV)

Shopping:
Visit at least Galeries Lafayette. Magnificent architecture, see the cupole. Lots of things to see, which you do not really need. Look at their perfume and cosmetics department. Also impressive: their delicatessen department (Lafayette Gourmet), besides Galeries Lafayette. For the carnivores: they have a butcher´s department with a grill bar, where you can see the steak you ordered to be prepared.

Pharmacies, indicated by a green cross, do not only provide aspirin, band aid (sparadrap) and prescription medicine, but also quality cosmetics. such as eau de toilette and fragrance soap made by R&G, Roger and Gallet.

Les passages couverts
are covered passageways from one road to another, lined with shops. you can do some research on this using google. My personal favorites: Passage des Panoramas, Passage Jouffroy and Passage Verdeau. But there are much more of them.

Les bouquinistes, book stalls at the embakment of river Seine. if you like to look through old books, prints, postcards, you are at the right place.

The flea markets (les puces)
largest of them is located at Porte Clignancourt (end station of metro line # 4)in direction outside the town, opened saturday and sunday. there are more of these, do your own research.

There is a lot to see, and you see it by walking around. as an example: from Opera Garnier via the boulevards and rue Montmartre to St. Eustache and the park formerly known as Les Halles. Or: From La Madeleine on the boulevards to Place de la Republque.

Paris has an excellent subway system, you should make use of it. so it is up to yours to decide wether you want to use "un carnet" (10 tickets) a daily card "mobilis" or a weekly card "carte orange". the Paris transit authority, RATP, also has a website.

Oh, the day trips.
From Gare du Nord you can go by train to London (French: Londres) with an eurostar train, very impressive, or to Brussels (french: Bruxelles) with a Thalys train, also impressive. but you donn´t have to go elswhere as you are already at paris.

Gare du Nord is said to be the most frequented european train station with 500.000 passengers a day. Big train stations also are good to find there international press shops and bookstores. for american newspapers, the "International Herald Tribune" is edited and printed in Paris and available at every newsstand, and there are lots of them. the newsstands also provide "Parisscope" a magazine listing all cultural events (theatres, movies, music) for the week.

when you feel exhausted by all that walking around just for the beautiful sights you see: there are street cafes offering refreshments. yes, if you sit down at the tables next to the road (la terrasse) it is expensive. but you can sit there as long you want to and you can watch the people passing by. once, on an afternoon at maybe 4 p.m. (16:00 h) at Chatelet, i sat at an cafe there outside, just watching the policemen regulating the traffic for hours. very impressive to see "les flics" waving their arms and whistling just to keep the traffic flowing.

oh, and read some books whose story takes place in Paris. just for the feeling.

I have a long file on Paris; if you'd like to see it, email me at [email protected]

Giverny in July will be wonderful!

I'd suggest getting a copy of the Michelin Green Guide to Paris, which is loaded with information and walking itineraries to save backtracking. Besides Giverny and Versailles, you might want to take the short train ride out to Chartres and see the magnificent cathedral and medieval precincts. The stained glass alone is worth the trip.

Have a great time!

Allow me to add my 2¢ worth: the first Eurostar gets you to London at 8:41. The last one returns to Paris at 19:34. You can see a lot of London in 11 hours.

Pick up a bus pass at Waterloo Tube station (£3), print out this tourist bus map:

<b>http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/pdfdocs/cen_bus.pdf
</b>

...and you can jump on and off to your heart's delight. The RV1 will get you down the south bank and over Tower Bridge to the Tower of London. Then the 15 back to Trafalgar Square, where you have myriad choices. There are all sorts of detailed maps at

<b>http://www.tfl.gov.uk/buses/buses_map.shtml</b>

Happy landings!

Here's a link to my notes on taking the Thalys to Brussels, which is an easy day trip:

http://www.igougo.com/planning/journ...p?EntryID=8740

The notes are several years old, but not much has changed.

We made up our own daily walking tours of Paris simply using an all-city street map, picking a couple major sights to go to, took Metro to the furthest one, then began a slow walk back across the city, stopping for lunch, drinks, shopping, whatever caught our eye. This worked great and took no more than a little planning over breakfast.

Thank you so much for all the input - a lot to decide! I'm reading Frommer's Paris 2005 guide right now and a couple of other Fodor's guides, but I'll check out the other books recommended. We are staying at Hotel Cayre on the 7th, reviews stated it's nice and good location...anyone know it? Should we buy the multi-day metro pass? It is our first time in Paris, my husband has been to a couple of other countries before - my french is rusty but I'm trying to freshen up to at least be polite as recommended. I'd love any other suggestions... I'm so excited...thanks!

Hi 2g,

You might find this thread helpful:

Paris Superthread
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34519236

((I))

Here's an article on Paris transport:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34630342