Paris in January: 2 Days
 

I will be in Lyon for 2 weeks in January and wish to wrap up the trip with a couple of days in Paris; never been to France before! I plan to hit up the main attractions: Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre Dame. Will be staying in 6th arrondissement. Please let me know any suggestions on other sites (I feel I am being far too narrow, to account for the short trip in the winter time).

why no palace of Versailles?

2 days in Paris?! thats wayyy too short. I've been to paris for a week and I didn't do all the things I wanted to. So points of interest in Paris:

Eiffel tower
Arc de triomphe
Pont Alexandre III (one of my favourite free sites in Paris... that bridge is awesome and a must see!!)
Les Invalides & Army museum
Place de la Concorde
Place Vendome
Place de la Bastille
Opera Garnier
Hotel de Ville
Pont des Arts (and many other great bridges)
Galeries Lafayette (well Its a shopping complex for women, however its architecture is amazing, especially the dome).
River Cruise
Admire the outer architecture of La sorbonne, Grand Palais, Petit Palais (just across the road of each other).
Tours St Jacques
Paris Zoo, Science Museum, Natural History Museum
Pere Lachaise (I wouldn't recommend it if you're staying there for 2 days only)

Churches:
Notre Dame (free entrance)
Sacre Couer (free entrance)
Sainte Chapelle (beautiful, yet very small, also mind theres a steep round staircase)
Pantheon

Gardens:
Parc du Luxembourg
Parc Monceau
Parc Buttes Chaumont
Bois de Vincennes
Bois de Boulogne

Art Museums:
Orsay
Louvre
Centre Pompidou
Orangerie
(If i had to chose one.. it would be the Louvre. I'm not an art fan, however the place is amazing, however very time consuming)

Areas of interest:
The river Seine is a must of course... everything important is there
Montmartre
Latin Quarter and Marais
St Germain De Pres
La Defense (theres Printemps.. a large shopping complex)

Also, food in Paris is simply to DIE FOR! and its an art on its own. Try:
Foie Gras (simply amazing)
Escargots (snails... BUT don't judge before you try them)
Baguettes
Chateabriand
Profiterols
Creme Brulee is a must
Crepes
French onion soup
Tarte au frambois (raspberry cake)
Terrines
Duck
Tip: I found restaurants quite cheap as most of them give you the option for 3 course meals. I found 3 course meals from 20 euros or less.

Whilst Versailles was an AMAZING experience (the palace is incredible)... it will take you around 30-45 minutes to arrive, and prepare yourselves for a long queue if you don't arrive first thing in the morning (before opening hours).

Also, Paris may be time consuming, because the queues are excruciatingly long. I've been to the Eiffel tower at around 8.30am and there was an incredibly long line already forming! Also long lines at Louvre, and Arc de triomphe and Versailles. (Since Notre Dame and Sacre Couer are free, its queues are quite shorter).

Good side of Paris: The public transport (metro) is super quick, super well connected and therefore you arrive from one side of paris to the other side in very short time.

Paris is my favourite city... Its simply magical and amazing. Enjoy!

Any way you can eke out some more time from Lyon--a weekend? Go twice. It isn't far.
And I do hope the post about Versailles was being facetious.
The list given is pretty complete--just pick and choose and enjoy.
Don't bother thinking about going UP in the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe or Notre Dame.

I agree with more than 1 short visit if you can manage it, but if you really must only have two days, stick with your plan. In doing just those three sites you mention, you will hear of / discover / walk past other things to fill in the remainder of your 2 day time. And after that you will surely plan to be back for a longer visit.
Enjoy Paris at your own pace and return often.

If you are taking a train between Lyon and Paris then you need to buy those tickets up to 3 months in advance for the cheapest prices. Use www.capitainetrain.com to check schedules and prices and buy tickets. A one way ticket bought 3 months in advance can be as little as 25€ to 30€ and a last minute one way ticket can be anywhere from 70€ to 130€

Your plans seem fine, after all, you only have a couple days. Main sites would be your preference as to what interests you. For example, some might prefer the Musee d'Orsay to the Louvre as the Orsay as later periods, like Impressionism and the Louvre does not (at least, very little). But the Louvre has much broader collections, of course.

Thank you all so much for the feedback! Given some of the above replies, and suggestions for more time, how easily can one travel between Lyon and Paris? The 4 hour train estimate , is it accurate ?

And the Louvre of course has La Joconde - the Mona Lisa and he wants to go to Paris and not see this tiny picture, in front of which are dozens and dozens of folks, many now taking selfies I understand of them with that smirking lady.

Easy train ride. Look at the schedule to gauge the time. Lyon is fabulous as is Paris, of course.

I just checked Capitainetrain.com. It looks like a two hour train ride.