We will be spending a month in Europe, the first stop will be Paris then on to Italy for two weeks and to England for one week. We have been to Italy and England several times and we are excited to return but I am really excited to see Paris for the first time!!!!

I have been reading this board everyday and just get more excited. We will be staying at the Marriott in Neuilly, which I know isn't the best place to stay, however, we can't pass up a room for four at no charge. We might try to stay in the heart of the city and leave most all our stuff at the Marriott. Do you think it will be hard to find a place without reservations?

We would love (really I would love) to visit
Giverny, Monet's home, and Versailles. What is the best way to see these two sites? Any other site we must see in Paris? Thanks ahead of time for any advise you can give us.
This board is the best and everyone is so nice - much better than a travel book.


We plan on seeing Monet's home

I don't believe you said when you are going, which greatly affects whether you can get a room without reservations. I probably wouldn't bother if I had a free room in Neuilly, but if you want to pay for a room in central-city, it shouldn't be too hard to get a room somewhere of some type without a reservation in July-August and November and later. Sept-Oct are extremely full hotel periods in Paris, and I wouldn't go then without reservations, but you might get lucky.

I think directions to Giverny have been discussed on here many times and I'm sure you can find pros/cons of all methods by searching within France on "giverny"
I don't know about best way to Giverny -- train on your own or a bus tour through Parisvision or Cityrama, both have advantages and it might depend on your preferences and experiences.

It has been quite a few years but I believe we took a train from Paris toVersailles and then on to Chartres for one long day trip. I think the train was quite easy to manage.

With only a week in Paris (I assume) you'll be on a tight schedule to just see all that Paris has to offer. But I would recommend a full day at Versailles on your own. You can get head phones for the interior of the palace, there are trams that will take you to the Trianons and, of course walking all over. Years ago I took a half day trip to Versailles and was not impressed - way too fast.

Of course, if you just want quick overviews of places I pretty sure ParisVision offers tours that combine a couple of places in a day.

If you're interested I can e-mail you my trip diary on the month I spent in Paris. May give you some ideas.
Nancy [email protected]

Hi LSab - Do spend a full day at Versailles. The RER line C will take you very near the chateau. Get off at the Rive Gauche station. Don't forget to keep your train ticket handy since you need it to exit the platform in Versailles. When you leave the train station make a right and then a left and you will see the chateau (just follow everyone else going there).

As soon as you enter the gates you'll see a tent set up on the left with the word Acceuil. This is the information booth. In addition to the audio tour you can get of the main rooms there are 2 more tours in English which are infinitely more interesting. These are viewed with a guide and last an hour and a half each - well worth it. The information people speak English and they will direct you to the appropriate place to buy tickets for these tours. Two years ago the tours began at 11:10 for Louis 14, 15, and 16 rooms and 2:10 for Marie Antoinette's rooms.

adrienne

We stayed at the Marriott last year and best as I can remember there was a shuttle to take guests to and from the Metro. There was time wasted waiting for the van to be available and for a family of 4 just doing cabs might be a good plan. You could afford several cab rides for the price of an additional hotel room closer to town.

Thanks all for the good advise. Paris here we come!

Do not miss Giverny-one of the highlights of France. It is very easy to take a train from Gare Lazare which I would recommend so that you can be on your own schedule. The train stops at Vernon and a shuttle takes you to Giverny.If you buy your lunch before you enter ( you can't go in and out) you can have a lovely picnic. Try to take a walk throught the lovely village and visit the graveyard of the church to see Monet's grave. The American Museum is also worth a visit and has a nice dining room.