I can hardly contain myself and cannot believe that I am leaving soon! After 4 days in London, my husband and I will take the channel train to Paris.
It is our first visit to both cities. Please take shots at my Paris plan. I will report back when I return! Thanks for all of your help these past couple of weeks!


We arrive around 2:00 on Friday
and after checking in we head to:

Paris story movie
Arc de Triomphe
Place de la Concorde
Jardin de Tuileries
Find a bridge to watch the lights go on
Dinner.
Watch the roller skaters at a cafe- Any suggestions?

Saturday
Musee d'Orsay - An hour or 2
Notre Dame
Place de la concorde
Ministry of justice
palais royal
Dinner
Segway night tour

Sunday - Free day at museums -
Louvre - couple of hours
walk around Marais
Sacre Couer at sunset
Dinner in Montmartre

Monday
Eiffel Tower
Hotel des Invalides
shopping
Hot air Balloon in 15th at sunset
Dinner

Seems like alot as I am typing this out and there is more I'd like to add!! Do I have the major 1st time sights?

Sounds good, but I might suggest substituting St. Chapelle for the Ministry of Justice.
St. Chapelle is so breathtaking, really something not to be missed! It's just a few blocks from the Notre Dame, maybe a 5 or 10 minute walk. I hope you have fun!

I think that sounds pretty good and you have hit the highlights. If you are dragging at the end of the day, you can cut some things out (like place de Concorde or Tuilieries the first day as you'll be around them at other times). I do agree you might want to try to see Sainte Chapelle when you are over that way -- I wasn't aware you could do anything but look at the outside of the Ministry of Justice, but I never really tried.

As for a cafe to see the roller-bladers, I'm not sure where might be best or how late you want to stay up, which could be the big issue. I know where I would go, which is to some cafe along bd Montparnasse as I have a couple favorites along there. In particular, La Rotonde is one of my favorites and it does have a prime sidewalk and corner position which would be great for viewing. They do go west on bd Montparnasse near the end of the run, coming along from bd Port Royal towards the Tour Montparnasse -- however, that is going to be between midnight-1 am.

Otherwise, they go along bd St-Germain somewhat earlier in the evening -- there are several sidewalk cafes along there you can pick out what suits you. I think Deux Magots would work, if you were on the front sidewalk. They turn at rue de Seine, so has to be west of that. I do have another cafe I like that would be good and not as hectic as Deux Magots (I don't really like cafes along there very well), which is one at the end of rue de Medicis across from the Luxembourg Gardens -- it's about right next to the Orbital internet cafe, although I forget it's name. That would be a good spot as they come down rue de Medicis and then cross bd St-Michel and go down Guy Lussac/Claude Bernard.

Paris Story plays hourly on the hour. Since you are across the street from the Opera Garnier, you may wish to go in and look around.

You seem to be relying on seeing the Louvre on a free day so you may not be planning to buy a Museum Pass. I would suggest you do so--particularly for the Orsay. It will also gain you entrance to Ste. Chappelle which I agree with the other posters about. Invalides is not high on my list but the Musee Rodin REALLY is--again the Carte Musee. It is near Invalides. You really might like to consider one of the hop on bus tours that take you around to the major sites in about 2 hours. You can get out, walk around and get back on the next one if you want. You also don't include a Seine boat trip which is VERY nice just at sunset with the lights coming on.

Don't miss these two bridges for your first day walk: Le Pont Alexandre III (architecture & decoration) and Le Pont Neuf (views).

Go see Notre Dame lit up at night since you will be close to it anyway.

Seine boat ride at sunset is also a winner

Not sure the Paris Movie Story would be a high priority even if I was not jet-lagged on the first day.

The view from the top of the Arc de Triomphe at sunset is wonderful

I would only suggest that you scope out exactly the works you want to see at Orsay and Louvre otherwise you could spend 1-2 hours wandering. We took the segway tour in August and it was the highlight - enjoy

I agree with those who highly recommend Ste. Chappelle. It is a must-see and very close to Notre Dame. Napoleon's tomb in the Invalides is impressive but there is little else of note. If you are there walk across the street to the Musee Rodin - the sculpture gardens are wonderful. The Luxembourg Gardens are lovely early Sunday morning if the day is nice.

Here's a great site for a 3-hour tour of the Louvre. We took it, followed this guide, and it was great.
http://www.gettingaway.com/directory...ris/louvre.htm

The sunset boat ride, as mentioned above, is highly recommended. We took the one from Pont Neuf. It's a BYOB, so grab a bottle of your favorite wine, some cheese, etc. and have a great time. It took about 1.5 hours.

I expect the Louvre will be a mob scene on a free day. The place gives me a headache on a regular fare day.

Here's an idea - skip it and go for a walk if its a nice day in the latin quarter. Stop by the Cluny.

The Orsay is wonderful and well laid out.

Why the Paris story movie?

Hi Lisa,

Agree with others about Ste-Chappelle. One of the highlights of Paris.

When you're at Notre Dame try to take the 1.5 hour free guided tour. On Saturdays it's at 12:30. After Notre Dame go behind the cathedral and spend a few minutes at the Deportation Memorial - a very moving experience.

Watching the lights from the Pont Neuf after dark is great. There are places to sit on the bridge and you have a great view of the buildings along the Seine and can even see the Eiffel Tower.

If you do the Seine boat trip from the Pont Neuf go to their internet site and print off a coupon for a 2E discount per person. Click on price and at the bottom look for Internet Discount.
http://www.pontneuf.net/

Also agree with the recommendations for the Rodin museum. It's very special, especially the garden.

Have a great trip! adrienne

Just a personal thumbs up for the Paris Story travelogue. I've seen it twice, it's really nice and welldone-- besides, it's only about an hour and a relaxing, easy way to spend an hour. It's also very efficient because they show it every hour or so. Besides, it's a nice change from the museum/monuments, etc.

I must disagree vehemently with the remark that there is nothing of note at Invalides other than Napoleon's tomb. ONe of the best military museums in the world is in there, and I'm not even a war/military buff. They just redid the WWII section which is outstanding. They often have special exhibitions in there, also. When I was there in June/July, they had some special exhibit from Russia, the Hermitage, I think.

I agree with Christina about Paris Story...it is very well done.

My favorite bridge is the Pont des Arts, which is the foot bridge right below the Ile de la Cite.