lanejohann

Oh you good thing Rosemaryoz... I will note your suggestion !
Do you happen to know the train / bus details ?
What do you think of Geneva being hailed as the most boring place on this planet?

FrenchMystiqueTours

Look at this link for info about visiting the Château de Malmaison.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...de_France.html

There's also info about it in the day trip list I gave you.

The Château de Fontainebleau has Napoléon related collections as well.

http://www.musee-chateau-fontaineble...Empire?lang=en

lanejohann

Thanks FMT
All valuable tips for us ...I had just put that on my list to do and you chimed in...great timing!

Has anyone been to the little zoo in one of the gardens? I think it's in the Jardin des plantes....is that open/ worth a visit? Or is it more like a petting zoo for little kids?

Gretchen

You will want to visit the basement of the Louvre and see how it was constructed (as a chateau, of course). And there are the Napoleon rooms in the Louvre.

TDudette

Some years ago, DH and I strolled to that zoo from the Montparnasse area and I think it took us 1/2 hour but we weren't hurrying. You might take a cab to the zoo and then walk back along the Seine or through the St. Germain des Pres area. According to google directions it's about an hour walk from Eiffel Tower to Jardin des Plantes. We were used to the bigger National Zoo in Washington, D.C. but the children there seemed delighted. I don't remember it being huge--a manageable walk for us and we were in our late 50s at the time. I hate to hear people say something isn't worth it, but it's one I might put lower on my list of "must sees". Anyone else?

Louvre had a Napoleon arpartment exhibit when we were there. But it isn't necessarily open all the time--you might check ahead. Don't know how crowded you'll find things in Feb. but having a pass ( http://en.parismuseumpass.com/ ) avoids long ticket lines to Louvre and Versailles.

Enjoy!

StCirq

The Musée de l'Armée has a fair number of Napoleonic offerings (and at the basement level there are often wonderful special exhibits). And of course Napoleon himself is right next door at Les Invalides.

texasbookworm

My husband is not "into" art at all, either, but he really enjoyed the Musee D'Orsay much more than the Louvre, it turned out--the building itself is lovely (well, so is the Louvre but in a more intimidating way!). But don't miss the Louvre, just for the experience of being overwhelmed and seeing at least a couple things, if nothing else!! And we loved Sainte Chapelle. I'd suggest getting the MuseePass (check out on-line which option will be best for you, but just purchase it there). It will save you on about the 3rd entrance, I think, plus you skip some lines (not at Sainte Chapelle, though). If you just "do" one museum a day, or two if it makes better geographic sense, you will still have time for non-museum stuff.

lanejohann

Thanks for the museum pass tip... I know so little of how things work in France lol and have been contrasting on the uk leg up til now really
-all these suggestions give me confidence and I'm writing it all down as well as bookmarking

Now we have just come back from a walk round the neighbourhood here and my daughter and I were laughing at how lost we are preparing to be ..both of us always rely on OH and even my son who won't be with us so we are devising ways we are going to memorise routes

Lol
Short of doing a hansel and Gretel , how easy is it to get around Parisienne streets
I found London for instance quite hard to navigate on foot..always felt like streets were merging and converging and blending and then disappearing all together haha

How does everyone else keep ther
If bearings

You might laugh but I'm taking a compass!

FrenchMystiqueTours

To learn how to get around Paris by métro/bus/RER use www.ratp.fr. Here is a link to a route planner:

http://www.ratp.fr/itineraires/en/ra...herche-avancee

Here is an interactive map of the system:

http://www.ratp.fr/plan-interactif/carteidf.php?lang=uk

Since parts of this website are only in French you can also use www.transilien.com or www.vianavigo.com. Via Navigo probably has the most complete English website. A good website to learn how to use public transport in Paris is www.parisbytrain.com.

Buy a good detailed map of Paris of around the scale 1:12,000 and it will show all streets and street names, museums, monuments, gardens, parks, sites, attractions and the location of all RER and métro stops. A handy booklet to buy is called ''Plan de Paris par Arrondissement, L'Indispensable''. It is available in the Relay bookstores you'll find in the main line train stations and RER stations. It can be bought in many other places as well, such as bookstores, news stands, larger supermarkets, many tabac stores and most touristy souvenir shops among other places.

Supermum

The Musee d'Orsay is a must do, better than the Louve...love the restaurant with it's ceiling covered in sparkling chandeliers....make time for lunch there...book and print out your tickets online to Versailles to skip the line up queue, easy to navigate there by train.

Gretchen

how easy is it to get around Parisienne streets

You need a map!! Even if you use the map the Galeries Lafayette gives away. Every guide book has maps.
The map mentioned above "l'indispensable" is excellent.
A compass is not a bad/funny idea, particularly when coming out of the Metro and getting oriented.

TDudette

The great thing about Paris is that we (in the U.S. anyhow) grew up seeing its iconic buildings/structures.

Here's a great hint (not mine): write down the name and address of your hotel so you can give it to the taxi driver if you get too tired to walk anymore!

lanejohann

lol
nothing like coming to fodors to check for replies!! lol i feel like such a hopeless harry sometimes lol

a map! lol
sounds so simple but boy oh boy i have become lost using maps too and so has my intrepid OH !

so my question re parisienne streets was more in relation to whether or not they were built to some logical plan or whether it was based on some whim
i did read that it was napoleon 3rd who instigated the widening of the boulevardes but i was wondering if tourists on the whole found paris an easy place to get their bearings or not
i havent been to new york but i heard it was built on a grid so quite easy to find your way round
i didnt find moscow or st petersburg easy to get around because the metro exits were confusing and you had to backtrack for ages if you missed one

so ..yes maps will help me and so will some locals no doubt but generally speaking, is paris well laid out for a tourist who has very little sense of direction or not>? lol
thanks for the links FMT and to all of you who have made suggestions..supermum i wasnt particularly interested in d'orsay but your enthusiasm is contagious!

Gretchen

I REALLY suggest you get a copy of the DK Eyewitness Guide to Paris. The thing it does is give you pictures of these iconic things of Paris, and you can see what is one "area" as they organize the book. It isn't the definitive guide book but totally adequate.
Surely you can navigate by a map--at least to get you to a "place" you can figure it out from there. And no,the streets of Paris are not laid out on a grid--and some follow the winding Seine.
The Orsay is a magnificent museum for its collections but even moreso, in a way, for the incredible building and how it has been adapted--and saved from destruction-- to being a museum space with its multitudes of galleries. there is furniture, sculpture, and of course the Impressionists. Look through the huge clock face and see the mount of Montmartre.
You NEED a map of the city and the metro and bus lines--honest.
Also, in regard to museums, don't forget their wonderful gift shops for small gifts to take home.

TDudette

Husband and I tended to get turned around upon exiting undergrounds so your compass idea is a sound one. Now that Gretchen mentions it, I copied the areas from the DK book and we divided our trip into each section. With your compass, you could figure the direction of your hotel in relationship to the area you visit. Or, just take a cab back (remember to write your hotel name/address on a piece of paper)!

waterdog

Like the comments above, get a map of Paris. The little map books are great. Most newspaper stands sell them. We have been to Paris many times, but I never venture without the map book in my pocket. Also at many metro stops there will be a local map of the area around the stop. Learn to ride the surface streets on a bus. Figure out what stop you need and look at the display in the bus that tells what the next stop is. RATP is your source for bus and metro routes and can be downloaded to a smartphone. The Grand Boulevards are easy to navigate but many of the side streets date back to the founding of the city and may change names as you move along them. Relax and have fun.