Your itinerary didn't seem too ambitious to me but it does seem to bother some of the older folks.

A question, why the Place de Bastille? There is nothing of the Bastille there but you might find the Viaduc des Arts interesting. Just continue down the river side of the Opera on Avenue Daumesnil. A substitute in the same area would be Place Des Vosges.

Some of your choices are a little morbid: The Catacombes, Pantheon, Pere-Lachaise Cemetery, Princess Di Memorial, Napoleon's Tomb. All worthwhile, but you're in the City of Light and celebrating the start a new year.

I was thinking of deleting the Bastille two minutes before I read your post, actually! I've heard a lot about the Bastille in history class of course but it would only be worth going for sentimental value, I suppose. I'm thinking of adding the Musee Cluny in its place. Also, yes my choices do seem a bit morbid I suppose! But we're very interested in most of those "morbid" activities, as we don't have much morbidity here in Iowa :) I just thought they all sounded interesting! I just added up the admission prices of all our museum and monument choices, and it looks like we'll be getting the 5 day pass since it's 10 euros cheaper than all the admissions combined. Seems like a long pass but with the 3 day we'd be quite rushed. Thanks everyone!

Hi,
Definitely get the pass. If you have to pay each time you enter a museum you might be too selective and only go to a few. With the pass you can "pop" in and check out anything that might be the slightest bit of interest. There is a list of all the places that accept the pass on the website http://www.intermusees.com/wwwie/index.html check it out, you might use the pass more than you think (St. Chapelle is on there too).

We have been to the Pere-Lachaise Cemetery and I am glad we went, keep it on your list! At the Rodin, rent the audio guide. Even though you are not huge art fans, it will make the exhibit much more enjoyable and interesting (the audio tour is not really long so you won't tire of it) Be sure to check out the gardens, and if you are hungry there is a little cafe in the back.

Regarding doing the Arc and Sacre Couer/Montmartre on the same day, I think that will work just fine. I did exactly that just recently. You can take the number 2 metro line from Charles de Gaulle Etoile near the Arc to Blanche or Pigalle. After walking around Montmartre and seeing SC, the number 12 line would take you from Abbesses or Pigalle to the heart of the city on either bank. Of course, you can also make connections to just about anywhere in the city.

We walked from the Arc to Parc de Monceau, and took the number 2 from Monceau to Blanche. Monceau was very pretty (on the first of September), but it might not be so pretty in December.

A couple of comments:

Place de la Bastille has no runis of the Bastille itself, though there are outlines in the pavement of where the priuson used to be...hope this doesn't ruin it for you :)

The Lady Di memorial is not very much, but can easily see if you were to include it on a walk from the Eiffel tower to the Arch.

I agree with you that if you "force" yourselves to sleep on the plan, and maybe do some "bedtime" adjustments, i.e. going to bed earlier/getting up earlier you can minimize the jet lag. I've heard that you "get back" an hour a day of jet lag.

I stayed in the 16th my last trip, near metro Michel-Ange. Quiet, not many topurist, neat to see how the locals live.

Enjoy!

Dear Eahayden,

I just want to suggest a little people-watching at Café de la Mairie, a favorite haunt of Henry Miller and a few other writers, when you stop by St. Sulpice (the Da Vinci Code is on my list of books to read).

Here's a website:
http://www.undergroundparis.com/mairie.html

My wife and I went on our Honeymoon there last week and for what it is worth let me give my two cents about the trip and your itenerary. The three day museum pass was a great deal for us as it allowed us to do some other things on the front and tail ends of our trip that had the musuems in the middle and allowed us to enjoy those seperately. Now having said that let me say that if I had to do it all over again I would have gotten the 5 day pass. We did tend to rush a little bit while there and maybe did not get to spend enough time in each musuem. Also, we did miss some that we might have liked to see. If you can get on the go in the mornings early the pass can work out best for you. The lines in Louvre can be annoying and can be bypassed with the pass.

As far as Rodin is concerned a casual observer who does not have a great interest in sculpture can do this museum, and enjot it, in a very short period of time 1.5 hours or so. Now others may disagree but this was enough for me and I did not necessarily feel overly rushed doing it.

I would make one reccomendation that I think may have been mentioned in parts by others but I would add the Arc de Triomphe in the day you do the Louvre. Start at the Arch (go to the top on your museum pass) and the walk the Champs Elysees down to the Louvre. Bring a picnic and stop in the park in front of the Louvre and get your energy up before in for the long haul in the worlds largest (at least it seemed that way) museum. You can do plenty of shopping along the way on the Champs - although expect to pay for it. Note that the Grand and Petite Palais museums on the way to the Louvre are not open this year.

Also, I would reccomend bringing a flashlight on the Catacombs tour as it would help in some spots down there.

I know it is toursity and expensive but speaking as someone who is not into dancing and shows all that much I would reccomend trying the Moulin Rouge combined in your Sacre Couer/Montmarte tour. I would expect something special (read expensive) for that days performance.

Lastly maybe do the Seine cruise from the Eiffel Tower but be sure to get some shots from Trocedero Square (Metro stop Trocedero) looking out the Eiffel Tower.

Again my two cents for what they are worth.

PS be sure to get the Carte Orange and not the Paris Visite pass- buy single tickets when you want to go to Versailles and back.

You might want to plan your itinerary around the weather -- museums on rainy days, outdoor things on sunny days. Take a list of things you want to do and let the weather lead the way. Just a suggestion.