I am going to France very soon, will stay in Provence and Cote d'Azur for some days, then heading to Paris to stay for 4.5 days before getting on flight.

Would like to plan the following itinery for the last 4.5 days in France, can someone help me to take a look and advice?

I do not drive so need to rely on trains and bus. And I am travelling alone during the out-of-paris excursions. I m an Asian in my early 20s with no knowledge on French...

1/7 (Thu):
whole day - Mont St Michel
(can I go there by taking TGV myself? should I follow a local tour by Paris Vision?)

2/7 (Fri):
morning - Giverny Monet's house
afternoon - Orsay
night - Moulin Rouge (worth it? or a Seine boat trip?)

3/7 (Sat):
morning - Rodin
afternoon - sacre cour, flea market
night - Arc de Triomphe

4/7 (Sun):
morning - Louvre
afternoon - still Louvre
night - Eiffel Tour

5/7 (Mon):
morning - printemps, la fayettes
noon - take Roissy bus to the airport, and get on the plane at 3:30pm.

Should I sacrify the Mont St Michel for going to Versailles AND Fontainbleau? In fact I am going to Europes again in either October or next January, I will use Eurail pass to visit 3-4 bordering countries including Italy, so I will be able to spend 3-4 days again in France. Should I save Mont St Michel for next round? Or should I save Versailles/Fontainbleau? And have I missed any important things worth seeing?

YOu can't take a TGV to Mont St Michel. In fact, there is no train station there at all. You can take the TGV to Rennes and then a bus from there to the Mont. This is possible in one day on your own (and the return), but is not that easy and doesn't really leave you much time there due to the schedules. I think Parisvision would be easier and more relaxing, if you really want a day trip.

I wouldn't do that myself, it's too far and inconvenient from Paris and it sounds like you haven't been there before. If you really want to leave the city, there are other, closer places that would be better, I think.

I think your last day is a bit much -- shopping in two major dept stores before taking a bus to the airport. If you are energetic, you can do all that as well as the packing and checking out of hotel, but I think you are not leaving enough time for the trip to the airport and you should get there earlier than you now plan (which I guess is about 1 pm for a 3:30 flight). I'd suggest you leave 30-45 minutes before you were planning.

With only 4-1/2 days, personally I would only stay within Paris. There is so much to see and do! And there you can easily do all your siteseeing by walking, taking Metro, or maybe try one of the narrated bus tours when you first arrive, to get an overview of the City.

You may enjoy a bike tour with Fat Tire Bikes--either the day tour of Paris, the night tour of Paris, or they also do tours of Giverny and Versailles (I highly recommend the latter). The tours are very social and good for folks travelling alone.

Their web address is:

http://www.fattirebiketoursparis.com/

Have a great trip!

topping vivian's first post

Friday: skip the Moulin Rouge in favor of a Seine cruise. Visiting Giverny will take a half day by train and will be a nice outing.

The Mont St-Michel trip would take a long day, most of which would be spent on a bus. Save it for another trip and see Versailles instead, preferably on the Sunday so that you can see the fountains when they're turned on.

Thanks so much for the responses!

Though it's a bit rush and not economical (in terms of the time spent on long ride), I have finally decided to go Mont St Michel following a tour by Cityrama. I am going to Europe again with my mother, who haven't been to europe. It's not very convenient to go such excursion with my mom or leave her alone in Paris for one whole day neither.. Hence, I'd better go this round...