Here is our itinerary for Paris next week. I wanted to post it to get opinions and tips on my schedule.
Thanks

Friday 3/12:
Arrive from Chicago into Madrid at 7:45 am. The next flight from Madrid to Paris departs at 12:10 pm. I figured we get into Paris 2:05 pm. Customs and taxi will push our arrival to 4:00pm to the hotel in Paris.
After checking into the Hotel (15th Arr) we will walk to the tourists office under the Eiffel Tower where I can buy museum pass for 3 days. From the Eiffel Tower we will walk to Arc de Triump (Planning to go up). Then walk back through Champs Elysees towards the Place de Concorde.
We are planning to walk East crossing bridges to Pont D?Arcole by the Hotel De Ville, then go South to have dinner at the restaurant Atelier Maitre Albert. After dinner walk back, taxi, or metro to the hotel or take line 10 on at Mabillon off at La Motte Picquet Grenelle back.

END of day 1

Saturday 3/13
Wake up early and go to the Louvre between 9-12:00. After the Louvre have lunch at Café Very in the Tuilleres Garden, 20.00E, walk around the gardens. After lunch walk to Notre Dame 3-4:00. Sainte Chappelle 4-4:30. Then take a taxi to Cimetiere de Montmartre ? Jim Morrison?s grave. La Basillique du Sacre Coeur 5-6:00, dinner at Le Moulin a Vins then Moulin Rouge show at 11:00, after show back to the hotel.

END of day 2

Sunday 3/14
Wake up early and head around 8:00 am to Versailles via RER C5 to Rive Gauche station (50 min.) from the Javel Station close to the Eiffel Tower. Between 9 -12:00 time see the interior apartments, chappelle royale, grand apartments, galerie des glaces, apprtement de la reine, and appartement du roi, front gardens.
Lunch at a nearby café if possible 12-1:00. Take the RER train back to Paris between 1-2:00 pm. Take a Taxi from the hotel to the airport by 3:00p.m., flight leaves at 6:00 pm to Rome.

END of day 3

Note: Between 3/14 and 3/22 -Rome and Barcelona. Coming back to Paris 3/22 for a last night before coming back to the US 3/23.



Monday 3/22, arrive at 2:10, hotel by 4:00, * Make reservations for dinner at Roger la Grenouille. Going up the Eiffel Tower 4:30 - ?. After Eiffel Museo d?Orsay if possible, closes at 6:00 pm. Dinner at Roger la Grenouille then visit Les Bilboquet Jazz Club, 8pm-2:45am.

Alot of the confusion was caused in the first post since we didn't know you were leaving Paris for Rome and Barcelona and then returning later!
I am not sure about the train scheduling from Versailles but I guess you can make it in time to check out, take your taxi, and get to the airport on time. You should probably have your hotel reserve a taxi for you.
In fact, it's really hard to do and see alot in Paris with your schedule really. You have only two full days alltogether more or less with all the traveling you're doing.
By the way, it's too late now, but it may have been easier to have visited Barcelona and Rome first and then Paris finally. It's strange you are flying from the US to Madrid and then on to Paris. Then you leave Paris to go back to Spain and Rome and then you return to Paris for only one day before leaving for the U.S.

Obijuan-

Thanks for reposting, this makes a lot more sense than your previous one.

I am exhausted just by reading your itinerary... You just can't do all of Paris in 3.5 days.

For Friday 3/12:
You are going to be exhausted by the time you get into your hotel. You would have been traveling for almost 24hrs from the time you left your home in Chicago. You probably won't be able to get much (quality) sleep on the flights, unless you're flying 1st/Business class.
Why do you have to go to the tourist office at Eiffel if you are not planning to go up that day? You can buy the museum pass from any metro station. Walking from Eiffel to Arch de Triomphe and then to Place de la Concorde and then to Hotel de Ville is very very very far. I wouldn't do it even if I were well rested! I'd suggest you take the Metro from La Motte-Picquet to Etoile, then walk to Place de la Concorde and call it a day.

The revised edition, I see.

There is no reasonable way to visit the Eiffel Tower at 16:30 and then take in the Musee D'Orsay before it closes at 18:00.

Also, I believe someone already pointed out that Jim Morrison isn't buried in a cemetery in Montmarte so you can't combine that visit with your trip to Sacre Coeur. You need to pick one or the other or allow more time -- which you don't have.

Thanks for the tips and I apologize again for the confusion. I will make sure to check out of the hotel before I leave for Versailles. I'm sure if I ask them (Hotel) to keep my bags until I come back from Versaille they will do it.
I know the destinations are all mixed (Paris-Rome-Barcelona-Paris-US) but I found a great deal on it.
Thanks again.

Isn't Jim Morrison buried in the Père- Lachaise cemetery?

Thanks for pointing out Jim's grave location. I will make a correction.

Sorry, you made a grave mistake

Anyway, hope you sort out everything on your whirlwind trip to Paris. If you don't get to do much that's an excuse to return.

I agree that there's no reason to go to Eiffel Tower to get your museum pass that first day. Also, a hotel located in the 15th would be a VERY long walk after dinner, and it's also quite a long walk all the way down the Champs-Elysee to Place de la Concorde.

As long as you're willing to be flexible and not do everything on your list depending on how tired you are, you should be OK. But, if you haven't done so yet, look at a good map and get a feel for distances. Paris is a very walkable city, but it's still big, and walking the length of it repeatedly can take a very long time.

Personally I would skip Versailles and stay in Paris. There are TONS of things you have not done including giving yourself time to enjoy the city and I don't think 9 to 12 will get in in Versailles. It is just huge and there are LOTS of people with you doing the tour so it's not like you can speed thru.

Also, why are you buying the Museum pass? You have the three day pass, but are only using two days. (3/13 and 3/14) for two places? The pass is 3 consecutive days so you won't be able to use it on your return to Paris.

Now -- the feasibility of Eiffel and d'Orsay in a few hours aside, note d'Orsay is closed on Mondays. It's open late on Thursdays.

I don't know the hours of Eiffel, but I can venture a guess that it will be open late, so you want to cram things in, then do Eiffel one evening (provided you don't care for a daytime view).

Another suggestion for you -- if you must see both d'Orsay and Louvre, flip the order. See d'Orsay on Friday. Fortunately for you, the Louvre is open until 9:45 on Mondays.

(Go to http://www.louvre.fr and click on "Louvre practique" on the left-hand side: it's open until 9:45 on Mondays and Wednesdays -- well, the page is in French, so I'm assuming that I read this correctly.)

So lucky you can actually see Eiffel in the afternoon and Louvre in the evening. Personally I would cut short a visit to a jazz club -- I don't know this one, but presumably there're multiple acts and you can catch a later act.

Yes, I'm a fan of whirlwind trips.

Have lots of fun.

Hi Obijuan,

I did post my comments on your other thread but in case you didn't read them I'll post here as well.

You can't possibly leave Notre Dame at 4:00, walk to Ste-Chappelle, go through security inspection (similar to airport security), buy your tickets and see the chapel and leave by 4:30. You'll need more time here, especially if you want to look at anything in the chapel.

As you're leaving Notre Dame you might want to take a few minutes for the Deportation Memorial, located behind Notre Dame and on the way to Ste-Chappelle. It's well worth the few minutes it will take.

Skip the lunch in the Tuilleries, buy a crepe from a street vendor, and go to Notre Dame at 12:30 for the free 1.5 hour English tour.

You will then have time to hussle over to Pere Lachaise to see Jim Morrison's grave (not worth the effort IMHO) before going to Montmartre. Buy a map at the entrance so you can find his grave. It's not easy to find and is very plain.

At the Arc de Triomphe, since your time is limited, buy a ticket and take the elevator rather than walking up.

You'll not have time to see all you want to at Versailles. The King's and Queen's apartments can only be visited with a guide and only at set times. When I was there the times were 11:00 and 2:00. Could be different now. I don't think it's worthwhile to go to Versailles given your limited schedule.

A few thoughts:

That's a lot of walking on Day 1, especially after that long layover in Madrid, which will add to your jetlag.

On Saturday, you simply aren't going to fit all that in. I'd skip Jim Morrison's grave, personally.

I can't believe you're going to wake up that early on Sunday, given what you'll have been doing in the previous two days. At any rate, you're really going to have to hustle through Versailles, and that's not always possible because of the crowds.

Good luck!

All I can say is, you must have a lot more energy than I have! I don't think you realize how far you intend to walk on Fri, it's a long way, and after an overnight flight, long layover in Madrid and getting to your hotel. I'd be exhausted, which would carry over to the next day.

I agree that 1/2 hour is pushing it for Ste. Chappelle, although it doesn't take a long time there. I would take the metro to Montmartre, it will be a lot faster than a taxi.

You probably won't be able to see all you want to at Versailles in 3 hours, although note that you do not have to wait for a guide to see the King's Apartments. The audio guide is included in the admission price for the Apts (which is extra) and can be taken anytime.

Even if Musee D'Orsay were open on Mon, you wouldn't make it. It can easily take a couple of hours to go up the Eiffel Tower, depending on how long the lines are.
Hope you're flexible, you will certainly have to cut some things out. But I hope you have a great time!

Obijuan,
Having just been there and done that, I would say that your trip is pretty jam packed! You can go to mappy.fr (thanks to whoever mentioned this!) and get a good feel for distances. For instance, the walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Arc de Triomphe is 1.3 miles, then to Place de la Concorde is another 1.5. If you beeline it, you will miss stopping in shops along the Champs Elysess (sp?). And I hope Saturday will be sunny for you! We waited to see St Chapelle until we had a sunny day. (Turned out to be our ONLY sunny day!)

I don't think it's such a bad idea to walk to the Eiffel Tower from your hotel in the 15th on day 1. That isn't a bad walk, and that is a branch of the Tourist Office, so you might want to pick up maps or other info there of use. I think that's a pretty good idea myself, especially since it's on the way to the Arc and that is all a nice walk. You probably won't want to walk home at the end of the day, however.

I really would not go to see Jim Morrison's grave, as that will take a lot of time out of that day and it seems the only reason you are going there (since you didn't know it was in Pere Lachaise). IS there some reason you really want to see it? The grave itself is of no interest, unlike some others which can be interesting funerary sculpture or design. Spending the time in Montmartre would be more interesting, I think -- the little Montmartre museum is actually quite nice.

I think you could maybe do Ste Chapelle in 1/2 hr if there was no line at all.

You definitly have more incuded than will be possible to do. And I mean that literally, regardless of how much energy you have. But now you have some facts you didn't have to start with - that you can't possible do the D'Orsay on Monday cause it's closed, that Jim Morrisons grave is not in Montmartre, that the 3 day museum pass is only good for 3 consecutive days, etc. So I would go back to the drawing board and replan. I think it makes more sense to plan what you really really want to do, and then have extra stuff for IF there is time - rather than the other way of plan a whole lot and then drop some. When you do it that way you always seem to end up having to drop something that is really important to you. So pick a couple of things for each day that are really important to you and use those as the basis for your plan.

I agree with the others that say skip Jim Morrisons grave and Versailles. If you absolutely must see the grave, then plan on spending at least an hour in the cemetary (not counting getting to and from it)- it will take you a while to find it, and there is a lot there that is interesting (though I wouldn't do it on a first trip). I would definitly pick Montmartre instead. By skipping Versailles you could squeese in some of the things you need to cut from those first days.