I am sorry I hit the submit button before I could finish my post...

Easytraveler please don't make things even more difficult for me...I am going without dinner to make everything work and now you say schedule more than a couple of hour at d'Orsay!! :).

We would probably just have to come back...as I said earlier we will definitely include Sainte Chapelle and we would have a bright and sunny day.

Sils I am really torn...if only we could get infinet number of days off from work. You say we could walk up the Eiffel tower...however from what I saw on their website...I think you can only walk up to level two...isn't it? Going up on the Arc seems unlikely as of now...because from what I have read to go up to the Eiffel tower we would need at least 2-3 hours...I think I will get tickets booked for 8:00pm on 30th July and hope to see the lights come on in time.

Yestravel thanks a lot for your suggestion...just booked the tickets for the cruise...we will get there early. Can't wait...I am getting even more excited now...if that were possible!!

Maudie I am not really worried about our time in Montmartre...just want to make sure that it is a safe area. In London it can be quite mixed...right next to a fairly upmarket area there would be an area where it would be best not to walk in the night...we were out and about in Rome till fairly late in the night and never felt unsafe...just don't want to be stupid about it.

I will definitely try all possible pastries...and particularly the almond pastry...can't wait for Thursday!!

re: Versailles

Good luck trying to fit it all in . . . we pooped out before making it to the far sites (Triamon/Marie Antionette). I'd still recommend the Gardens so you can judge for yourself. One key bit is to make sure you get on 9ish train (if not the one before). We just missed it and did not get there until slightly after 10 and the lines had grown quite a bit.

re: Notre Dame

Also, be prepared for some heat waiting for the Notre Dame climb. The line gets the brunt of the morning sun. No line jumping for the MP unfortunately. I'd still do that first and then go to Ste Chapelle though (which you can bypass the line -- go to the left entrance). If there's no line when you walk by, you can step in to Conciergerie to cool off and also take a quick glimpse of the basement architecture (free with your Museum Pass). We did it while we were waiting for Ste Chapelle to open back up (from a mysterious closure).

Have fun. You are certainly doing your homework.

Hi, raj,

For Monet, IMHO, the Marmottan is for someone who has more time than you seem to have. To really get a flavor of the d'Orsay, you do need more than two hours, ("If it's Tuesday, this must be the d'Orsay") so as not to leave not having absorbed much of what you have seen.

As for the Louvre, it is so huge that any tour would do. Did you budget two hours for the Louvre as well? You'll probably need a racing car to speed you through the rooms, then.

Have fun! Planning is half the fun!

<<<does it become less crowded in the afternoons...maybe we could go for Triamon Palaces and Marie Antoinette's Estate and the gardens first and then visit the palace in the afternoon. Do you feel that would work better?>>>

That worked better for me. I was at Versailles last month on a Thursday and the line for the palace was crazy long (the entry line, not the ticket line so it could not be avoided by any pass).

We visited the gardens first, and toured the Grand Trianon, the Petite Trianon, and Marie Antoinette's Hameau (my favorite part of the whole day, it's well worth visiting), and then late in the afternoon, got in line for the palace, and it was much shorter, only about a 10-min wait at that point. The palace was still insanely crowded inside but that is apparently true all the time and can't be avoided.

If you have a museum pass, iirc you only have to pay extra for the gardens on Tue (for the musical gardens), and Sat and Sun (for the fountain show) and the occasional holiday when the fountain show is on.

PS -- my point about the palace being insanely crowded probably can be avoided if you get there an hour or two before it opens and are among the first in line, but that takes some very early rising which we are rarely able to accomplish on vacation. ;)

Hi everyone...we came back from paris on sunday night. We had a great trip...we LOVED Paris...it's beautiful...it's breathtaking...it's PARIS!!I will try and do a trip report...but we are off to India and Thailand in a couple of weeks and it seems unlikely that I can write a trip report before that. Maybe I will try and do soem notes and come back and do a trip report...

But thank you all...this forum was immensely helpful...and we are definitely going back soon!!