Paris - for the 6th time - need new ideas!
 

I'll be in Paris for about 4 days on my own before meeting up with my parents (their first time there). It's my sixth time in paris and have already seen all the touristy stuff (plus will see them again with my parents!). Please - I need some ideas on what to do on my free days on my own. I love experiencing the local culture, eating great food, blending in with the local folks going about their daily business, people watching. i like museums but I'm not the type to be able to spend the whole day in museums.

I'll be stayin gin the 11th arrondisement close to the Nation metro station (never stayed in the 11th before but found a fabulous hotel with high ranking from Tripadvisor).

So far, my plan is to take a 6 hr cooking course at Cordon Bleu and to see the Musee l'orangerie. Other than that, I'm open to suggestions. I have thought about doing a day trip to Giverny or Chatres but would be more inclined to stay in Paris. So please tell me your favorite haunts, neighborhoods, food-related ideas for Paris. Thank you in advance!

Village St Paul?

Any of the photography museums?

Cemeteries?

Opera?

Ballet?

Street markets?

Cimetière PicPus? To visit Lafayette
Canal St-Martin?
Ile des Impressionistes?
Belleville?
The covered galleries?

Seriously, I've made more than 108 trips to Paris and never been wanting for things to do or see. Get out to the outlying arrondissements - get on a bus and take it until it stops and get out and look around. Go to the suburbs: St-Denis, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Boulogne-Billancourt, wherever. There's a whole world out there waiting to be explored.

Living part time in Paris, I have to admit it is easy to overlook all the amazing tourist things to do and just spend time trying new restaurants, cafes etc. But one thing that has stayed with me over the years and I still think back about. One is going to a concert at Sainte Chapelle. I am not a particular classical music fan-so saw something light like Vivaldi. The concert setting at night with the windows is amazing: http://www.classictic.com/en/Special...ainte-Chapelle

Also the bateaux mouches are worth taking, especially in the evening I think.

I also have enjoyed the Paris Walks that I gone on with friends, the Montmartre one particularly. And I am seriously considering a segway tour with fat tire tours, but I may be too cheap :)

I actually think that trip advisor's list is very good of activites for Paris if you want to do some organized things.

excellent ideas!! thank you all. Please keep the ideas coming!

Jpie - love the classical concerts at la chapelle idea! I'm a huge classical fan, having played the piano since the age of 5. Will definitely go to one of the concerts.

How about a boat tour of the Canal St. Martin? It starts at the Seine, not far from where you will be. Also, I loved the Cluny museum, and just walking around, soaking up the sights (people and buildings).

This website gives you the dates/places of many concerts:
http://www.archetspf.asso.fr/

If you search this forum, especially for trip reports, you will find many unusual things to do. My husband and i have been to Paris about thirty or more times over many years. We spent two weeks in an apartment in the Marais two years while visiting our granddaughter who was studying in Paris for the year. I asked many questions on this forum and got so much information that it would take two years, not two weeks, to do it all. Take a look at the answers that people posted under my name on this post regarding Paris. There's an ethnic tour that one poster has on the forum and the link was given to me when I asked the question.

We missed the fashion shows because they started in April and we were there in March. One of the department stores has them and they're free. But there was also one that was mentioned that involves afternoon tea and did cost money. you might check into that.

I applaud your choice of l"Orangerie.

The answers people gave on this post are excellent. You'll have lots to do.

I went back to my past posts and you'll get TONS of information in the post "Neighborhoods to explore for repeat visitors to Paris" with links to many places.

1. Go to Le train Bleu for dinner. Its at the Gare de Lyon, a beautifully decorated Art Nouveau place. They have a website so you can check out the decor, menu, booking etc before you go.
2. Walk along Promenade Plante. It is an old railway viaduct that has been turned into a garden. I think its about 4km long.
3. Jardin du Bagatelle. Its part of the Bois de Boulogne and its a rose garden originally set up by Marie Antoinette. If you like gardens this one is spectacular.
4. Also stress Canal du St Martin cruise is well worthwhile, especially if you have seen the movie "Amelie".
5. The food hall at Galeries Lafayette. Have lunch there after you look around and don't forget to go up to their roof area to take in the view for free.

You could take a photo tour, if you are interested in photography. Not only do you learn about techniques etc, but also about how to find those interesting compositions. Sightseeing in a different way.
http://manstouch.com/travel/paris-photo-tours.html

Bercy Village; restaurants, shops and a cinema (with movies in the original languages) in converted wine warehouses. www.bercyvillage.com

La Defense can be worth a visit also.

Val d'Europe; large shopping mall (including a huge Auchan hypermarce) and outlet mall.

Disneyland Paris.

I agree about never seeing everything. You might really enjoy engaging Michael Osman for a day while your parents are there. You may feel you can "do" it justice, but I did it when we took our adult children. I didn't want to be in charge of "herding them". He showed ME things I had never seen, in addition to telling the great background of the major sites.
You might enjoy shopping the consignment shops. If you haven't seen the galeries/passages that someone else suggested. Have you been to teh Carnavalet? The Cluny? the concerts are WONderful. The bus idea is terrific. Be sure to use the buses while you are with your parents. Been to the Marmottan? That area is also fun to poke around in. Are there brocantes while you are there?

Take a Segway tour! You won't see anything you haven't seen before but you'll have a great time!

Try the Jaquemart-Andre Museum. Have tea on their
terrasse if the weather is fine. My wife and I were there last visit (my 6th too!) and loved it.
It's close to Gare St Lazare and small enough to combine with Giverny too...

Try a Paris Charms and Secrets Electric bike tour.
My daughter and I did one a few years ago. I thought I was pretty knowledgeable about Paris but our guide took us to places I might never otherwise have found. There were only 3 in our group so it was almost like a private tour. And the electric bikes are great!

What about the tethered hot air balloon at Parc Andre Citroen?

Rent a bike and try following one of French Mystique's itineraries?

Pere LaChaise?

I still haven't worked up the courage to see les Egouts but one of these days...

Take a "Behind the Scenes Tour" of the Eiffel Tower. You'll see things others never get to see and learn some interesting things. My wife isn't keen on heights but even she enjoyed the tour.

It is always such a pleasure to read about someone staying in an area like the 11th. I've walked a great deal of it over the years; you'll find that it feels very unlike the more touristy areas near the Seine. And it will feel very different from the upscale residential areas of the 7th, for example.

There are lots of good restos in that area. I recall reading a few years ago that lower rents have made it an attractive area for newer and younger chefs looking to open their first restaurant. Try, for example, Au Vieux Chêne, 7 rue du Dahomey in the 11th (www.vieuxchene.fr). It's within walking distance of Nation.

You will be within striking distance of a couple of markets. There is the very popular Thursday and Sunday market on Richard Lenoir, running north from Place de la Bastille; a bit closer is the market on rue d'Aligre. There's also the Charonne market at the Alexandre Dumas metro station. It's open on Wednesdays and Saturdays; you could easily combine it with a walk through Cimetière du Père Lachaise, which is nearby. Belleville, always an interesting stroll, is just a few stops north of Nation on the number 2 line of the Metro.

Another vote for Cluny (the Musée national du Moyen Âge). It is a very manageable size — you can be in and out in 90 minutes, although you may find yourself transfixed by the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries. (We had a lot of trouble prying my sister-in-law out of that room last month when we were there.)

I love your plan for the cooking course.

I think last year was our 4th trip. Each time we re-enjoy the popular sites. One new visit for us was Chateau de Vincennes, complete with drawbridge and moats. Frankly pretty amazing. I think I started a post on this upon our return. Easily accessible by metro. Nice AR display of how part of the castle would have been finished, and an impressive church nearby (though closed at the time, maybe still?).

St Denis
Louvre des Antiquaires (high end anti
Les Passages

Buttes Chaumont
Catacombs Tour
Sewer Tour
Chapelle Expiatoire
Promemade Plante
visit a hammmam
Chocolate Tour

When are you going? There are also many concerts, festivals,etc..

Chartres
Rheims
Versailles (Chateau, gardens, stables, fountain show, concert)
Auvers sur Oise
Giverny

Have you been to the Musee Quai Branly?

Amsel-you are so right about new restaurants in the 11th. A very up and coming place. Hungry for Paris is my new favorite book source for eating. Check out the author's site with on-going reviews of new places as he reviews them. Nice to have a quality critic giving on-going reviews since restaurant guide books can tend to grow kind of stale quickly. The author, Alexander Lobrano, was the food writer for many years in Paris for Gourmet Magazine:

http://hungryforparis.squarespace.com/

Also, for the OP, having a drink at Georges at the top of the Pompidou is fun although I prefer the food across the street at L'Hangar

L'Hangar: http://tinyurl.com/4du9xpr

Georges: http://tinyurl.com/2d7jwol

I went to Paris a dozen times before I "discovered" the Musee Jacquemart-Andre which is now one of my favorite museums in all the world.

There are so many concert options in local churches. The music varies in quality, but the settings are charming and the audiences usually generous-hearted.

Have you been to a performance in one of the grand venues such as the Opera Garnier?

Have you taken any walking tours?

Simply walking, walking, walking with cafe breaks -- day and night. Some of the the night-time illuminations are spectacular.

Not sure when you are going but sitting in parks, weather permitting,is a treat.

Bon voyage.

jpie, you're right, Lebrano is a treat. What I particularly like is that he describes not only the cuisine but also the ambiance. You get a sense of what the place is going to feel like before you walk in the door. (He also wrote parts of the Time Out Paris food guide, which is where we stumbled across the recommendation for Au Vieux Chêne a few years ago.)

My of my long term to do's, since I like food, is to do a "champions tour". Every year, for example, the maker of the best baguette is chosen. I'd like to try out him and the othertop 5. Macarons, chocolate shops,etc..

You can now rent bikes at the Palace of Versailles. My cousin and I did that this past November and rode around the garden grounds. Having been there 3 times previously I was finally able to get to the waaaay back corner by going through her Petite Trianon where I had never been before (you have to pay to get in there and no bikes are allowed in that area). There is a whole village of cottages back there I didn't even know about. Riding a bike over the cobble stones past a pasture of sheep in the rain turned out to be my favorite thing that whole trip!

There are also a lot of smaller museums that are free with the Paris Museum Pass (the one through the official Paris tourism site) that are a little more off the beaten path from the main touristy ones.

There is a perfume museum. The musuem takes about 10 mins to walk through but then you can go downstairs and mix and match oils to make your own custom perfume. You can also buy name brand smells without the name at a pretty good price.

There are a ton of small botique shops on the Ile St-Louis (island across from Notre Dame) that are fun to explore.

If you are looking for a more home cooked authentic meal at a very decent price, Chartier is a good place to check out. Be prepared though it's crazy busy (expect to wait in line), the menu is only in French and the waiters do not want to wait around long for you to order but the food was excellent and once we had our food they had no problem letting us sit and relax to finish off our bottle of wine long after we were done eating.

Rue Cler right near the Ecole Militaire Metro stop is supposed to be a market during the day (only ever made it there at night) and at night is lined with restaurants and cafes perfect for sitting and people watching. Despite the 7th's sleepy night time atmosphere that seemed pretty packed even for a cold night in November.

If you find any good spots please come back and post them. I am now also tired of the typical tourist spots (...I can successfully navigate all areas of the Louvre without needing a map) and am looking for more off the beaten path things to check out for my next trip.

We just spent 6 weeks in Paris - also our 6th visit there. Mostly we cooked (rented an apartment) and ate out! Here's a link to a list of restaurants we enjoyed

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...nt-roundup.cfm

We also found the Canal area interesting - hadn't been there before. And second L'Orangerie visit - also a first time for us.

Nissim de Camondo museum
Cernuschi Museum - collection of asian art
Guided tour of Hotel de Ville
visit of Petit Palais (art museum)
Sevres (collections of ceramic and porcelain)
Guimet Museum (the largest museum of Oriental art in Europe)
Panteon
Barbizon

I want to be the third person to recommend St Denis. I actually enjoyed the cathedral more than Notre Dame. If you like French history, this is a super place to see (Merovingian tombs), and the overall ambiance is one of illumination rather than brute strength (as in Notre Dame).

For those who have seen all the major sites, this is a gem that should not be missed.

SS

Thank you all for your fabulous ideas! It sounds like 4 days on my own is not enough to check out all these suggestions. I now have a tough task of narrowing down my list ;)

Jpie - thank you for introducing me to the "hungry for paris" blog. it's a fantastic read!

Re: St. Denis - am I confusing it with another area of Paris that i thought was really dangerous and should be avoided?

Re: The sewer tour - is it a guided tour? The thought of a woman walking by myself in an unguided tour under ground is a bit unnerving :)

Many thanks for everyone's contributions. What would I do without this forum! I'll be sure to report back with any new finds/haunts that I come across.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...o-response.cfm

cut and paste the above link for the fashion show at galleries lafayette - it is a FUN experience

Rodin Museum

or

take a day trip to Blois

Bookmarking

Tweedy I love that part of Versaille too. It's so unexpected to see that little working village.

Piccolina, St-Denis is indeed a fascinating church, generally described as the birthplace of Gothic architecture in France. You need not worry about your safety in that area.

wow, i hope paris is still best the 6th time around.

The basilica in St-Denis is about a block or two from the Metro in (what seemed to us) to be a very safe area -- very open. I would be surprised if it were unsafe in the middle of the day. We were there in 2009, however, so possibly things have changed.

SS

bookmarking

Have you ever been to the Belleville Les Portes Ouvertes - over 100 local artists open their studios to the public. We've been there twice, and it is quite a fun day...if you like that sort of thing.

This year it is May 27-30: http://www.ateliers-artistes-belleville.org/

SS

Picco: We did the sewer last year. There was a tourguide, but we didn't stay with him. I'm thinking it was primarily French, but maybe it depends on the group. You can't go very far or get lost. There are some interesting exhibits and displays. However, IMHO it is over-rated. It is on the Paris Museum Pass, so if you have it, go for it. Otherwise, not top on my list.

Bitter makes some good points about the sewers. We did it our second trip to Paris, and it was fairly interesting (plus we had the museum card). Not something that would be on my A list...but if you're looking for something different and your maxed out on the usual sights, you might at least consider it.

I thought the historical displays were more interesting than the actual sewers themselves.

SS