Leaving for Paris on Thursday for 7 days wa 3 day stop off in London on the way home. We (my wife and I) will be traveling wa friend of ours (I anticiapte this going well due to extensive discussions about itinerary etc). We are not planning on spending huge amount of time in the museums. Anyway here is the Paris portion of our Itinerary. <BR> <BR>Day 1 <BR>Arrive <BR>Dehillerin - the shop where Julia Childs buys (or used to buy) her cook ware <BR>Galeries Lafayette <BR>Just take it easy <BR> <BR>Day 2 <BR>Cordon Bleu Cooking class <BR>Pompadu <BR> <BR>Day 3 <BR>Mass Notre Dame <BR>Paris of Impressionists Walking Tour -Paris Walks <BR>Opera Garnier <BR> <BR>Day 4 <BR>Charte <BR> <BR>Day 5 <BR>Musee de Orsay <BR>Rodin <BR>Invalides <BR> <BR>Day 6 <BR>The Village of Montmartre Walking Tour - Paris Walks <BR>Louvre <BR> <BR>Day 7 <BR>Hemmingway Walking Tour - Paris Walks <BR>Saint Chapel <BR>Pantheon <BR> <BR>If I get chance I'll post the London Itinerary before we leave. <BR> <BR>Comments and suggestions are welcome. <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>

When in Paris,a must is to sit at the terrace of the deux Magots or the Flore next door, look the Parisiens, and after cross the boulevard St Germain to eat at the Brasserie Lipp (downstairs de preference)again to look the Parisiens. <BR>A breed on their own.

Mark: I take it that you have been to Paris before and you have visited the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre' and the palace of Versailles. Call me "old fashioned", but they are some of my favorites. <BR> <BR>Just curious.

Your itinerary looks great - you've found some things to do that are a little off-the-beaten path (and Paris is best appreciated 'off the path'). <BR> <BR>One caveat: check the hours that Dehillerin is open; they close for a long lunch, are open half days sometimes (sorry, I don't remember the particulars) so be sure your trip isn't wasted (there's not much else nearby to do). <BR> <BR>One question (actually, two): why the Beaubourg? Is it because you've been to most of the other museums? I found it pretty boring (and I like modern art) except for the view. <BR> <BR>One comment: you don't need a whole day in Chartres (if you've already figured that out and plan to use the rest of the day for 'whatever' - cool)

Make sure you leave yourself some time to just walk around and soak up the atmosphere. Also, how about a concert at St. Chapelle or a ride on the Bateaux Mouche. Make sure you spend time just sitting in a cafe and watching the world go by. Interested in hearing about the Paris walks when you return.

Looks like a great trip. We just got back from Paris and enjoyed a meal on the first deck of the Eiffel Tower. It was a little pricey for us but it was a treat and the Jules Verne is a one star Michelin restaurant. Why do your shopping on the first day? I'd want to wait until the end before buying stuff I need to lug around.

You may want to head for A. Simon, which is more suitable, I think, for the home kitchen. Dehillerin is more geared to the professional chefs (20 gallon stockpots, 15 inch saute pans...) and can be a bit daunting and intimidating. As one who's taken many French cooking classes, I would recommend shopping for cookware AFTER your class. Invariably, I've discovered pans, utensils, gadgets, during a cooking class that I just had to have. Note also that A. Simon is in the Beaubourg neighborhood.

Overall, I think that you have a number of good things on your list. I strongly recommend the walking tours, which you have on your list, though it does appear that you could be a bit top heavy with cathedrels, which can become somewhat repetitive. <BR> <BR>Rather than Chatre, I might suggest taking the train to Rouen, which is about one hour away by train and it offers a very different look and feel. There's plenty to see and do there and the cathedrel that Monet painted is very nice. <BR> <BR>A classic walk that I always like to suggest is starting at the Arch of Triumphe (go to the top for views if you like) and walk down the Champs into the Tuleries gardens, then to the Louvre. It's all down hill and you can stop off for a cafe somewhere along the way. The ferris wheel is at Concorde at the moment, so you can even go up and have nice views there as well. <BR> <BR>A nice stop at the end of the walk can be Angelina's, which is along Rue de Rivoli near Tuleries Metro.

Have been to Paris twice and both times have visited Monet's home at Giverny. It's about an hour's drive northwest of Paris. He did much of his work there, using the gardens as a model (waterlilys, etc.) They have been restored to his original designs and the color palette changes with the seasons. Sounds like you're into cooking, so I would check it out in the book/cookbook called "Monet's Kitchen". Gorgeous pictures of the house and gardens.