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Paris Itinerary - Third Time's the Charm!(?)

Paris Itinerary - Third Time's the Charm!(?)

Old Jul 31st, 2011, 10:05 AM
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Paris Itinerary - Third Time's the Charm!(?)

I'm trying to get your blessings on my itinerary in Paris. This is my third one, as you've not liked my first two. Seriously, I appreciate your help so much. I've even gone back and looked at my first two and laughed at myself about them. I hope I'm not laughing later over this next one!

We'll be in Paris from 9:30 Wed. a.m. until mid-morning the following Monday. Here's what I've come up with (and again, forgive the mid-week trip to London. I can't make myself remove it.)

Wed.
Marais
Montmartre
Eiffel Tower at dusk

Thurs.
London

Fri.
Ile de la Cite
Conciergerie
St. Chappelle
Pont Neuf
Ile de St. Louis

Sat.
Notre Dame Towers
Musee d'Orsay
Versailles fountain show at night

Sun.
Louvre
Nighttime cruise of the Seine

I want us to see these things, but just as importantly, have time to meander, wander, get lost, and find our way again. Can we do all of this?
I have Notre Dame on a separate day from St. Chappelle as I've heard you need to get to both of them as early as possible, so I did that so they don't conflict with one another.

Any ideas on where to shop for interesting, inexpensive items for friends back home?

I'm having to leave now, but will check back on this site when I get back home later this evening. Thanks for your great insights and patience.
Fae_Thomas is offline  
Old Jul 31st, 2011, 10:30 AM
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I might go to Montmartre first-you could take your time enjoying it. Marais next and the Eiffel Tower. Do you have a special places to see in either area?

What do you hope to see in London in just one day? Don't let anyone bully you! It's your trip.
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Old Jul 31st, 2011, 11:24 AM
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Fae - I'm confused. Why have you started another thread?

you'll just get the same advice all over again.
annhig is offline  
Old Jul 31st, 2011, 11:44 AM
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Fae-I think this is more do-able. I understand the desire to go to London for a day, so just do it. No one will ever think you have the perfect intinerary...and you will make some mistakes regardless of what you do.

I think it is smart to remover Giverny this time. I am making trip #4, and still haven't made it there yet. In fact, I still have many things left unseen....so there is always a reason to go back.

Don't really know about cheap items to take home...have heard that grocery stores often have souveneirs. While on Ile St Louis, there is a great chocolate shop called Cacao et Chocolat, that is delicious and has all sorts of goodies that would make a good gift. Also, Diwali across the street from Cacao et Chocolat has all different kinds of scarves and jewelry. You might consider the terrific mustards at Maille (across from the Madeleine church). There is also a shop that specializes in honey, Maison du Miel that could be a good source for gifts.
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Old Jul 31st, 2011, 11:58 AM
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From youngtom2910 report in this forum:"the orangerie has a joint ticket with orsay which lets you go to orsay within 3 or 4 days--i think that would be the strategy--go the orangerie, get joint ticket, then avoid the lines at orsay".
May be this can be of help to you.
Enjoy your trip!!!
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Old Jul 31st, 2011, 03:00 PM
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I'm sorry; I didn't know whether I should start a new thread or keeping picking up the ends of my first one! Sorry 'bout that. I'm taking your comments as my blessing - and permission to do what I want to do, anyway. Thanks so much for the gift ideas. You were right about Giverney; once I took it out, things seem to make more sense and give me a sense of satisfaction that I could make this work. And I love that about the orangerie and orsay tickets, as I wanted to see them both. I want to see Sacre Coeur in Montmarte, and the view of Paris, and those world-famous steps I've seen photos of - and the cobblestone streets that lead to - who knows? Marais, well, I don't know that much, other than I heard Place des Vosges (sp??) is really beautiful, and I think the bakery breads might be something I could take home to my mom, if I'm allowed to bring bread home, that is. I'm so excited about this trip, I can't tell you. I can hardly believe I am going! Thank you all so much.
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Old Jul 31st, 2011, 03:21 PM
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If you are just wanting more advice on the same subject, it would be much better to just post some continuing thing on your original post, that way people won't be starting multiple threads each on the same topic.
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Old Jul 31st, 2011, 03:42 PM
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>

Where do you live? The wonderful French bread is really only good for 1 day.
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Old Jul 31st, 2011, 05:33 PM
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Even if you can manage to package them properly and get them on a plane, there's no point in bringing "bakery breads" home from Europe. They're meant to be eaten immediately and are stale within 24 hours.Most of the French people I know actually go out in the morning for bread and then again in the afternoon; they won't even eat that morning's bread in the evening.
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Old Jul 31st, 2011, 08:03 PM
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I see no reason not to see St. Chapelle and Notre Dame on the same day. Be flexible and let the length of the lines make the decision for you. Even when the line into St. Chapelle is long, it moves fairly quickly. I've been 3 times and don't think I've had to wait more than 30 minutes to get in.
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Old Jul 31st, 2011, 08:14 PM
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You can always get into Notre Dame, no matter how crowded it is. No reason to split up seeing that and Ste-Chapelle.
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Old Jul 31st, 2011, 08:44 PM
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There is a Monoprix on Blvd St Michel not far from Notre Dame where I bought bags of Monoprix dark chocolate (individually wrapped like after dinner chocolate mints) for about 3€. They were very good - and French! I wish I'd brought back about 10 more bags.

On Isle St Louis, there is a store called la Cure Gourmand which has very attractive candy. I don't think they taste wonderful, but they look nice (candies like m&ms that look like multi-colored olives, big lollipops, etc.).

I agree with the suggestion about Diwali. Great scarves.
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Old Jul 31st, 2011, 08:48 PM
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Thanks for being open-minded and receptive to the constructive criticism, Fae. You'll get this ironed out.

When you say "We'll be in Paris from 9:30 Wed. a.m," do you mean that your plane arrives then, or you'll be in your hotel/apartment by then? If that's when the plane lands, I think Monday might be too busy and I'd pick Montmartre OR Marais. You could certainly TRY to do both, but I'm guessing something's gotta give if it's Day One on the ground with jet lag. Personally, I'd choose the Left Bank over the Marais, but that's a topic for hot debate.

I agree w/everyone else about moving Notre Dame to Friday, even if you do the tower climb. Just head there first and then go over to Ste. Chapelle. If you end up having to skip anything that day, I would leave off the Conciergerie. Also, you are listing Ile de la Cite as a separate item; but if you see all those places on it, you've basically seen the island other than a few medieval side streets that you could swing through on your way to Isle St. Louis anyway.

Have you been to Versailles before? If not, then I would not miss the gardens and Marie Antoinette's hamlet before the evening fountain show. If you still want to do the d'Orsay, you could hop on the train to Versailles directly from the d'Orsay and plan to spend the entire afternoon and evening in Versailles. (This is assuming you're skipping the chateau.) The d'Orsay shouldn't take more than two or three hours if you get there right at opening.

Another option is to spend your entire Saturday at Versailles and move d'Orsay to the afternoon of the Louvre. It would be a somewhat intense museum day, but they are right across the river from each other. Say, four hours for the Louvre in the morning; a break for lunch; and then two to three hours in the afternoon for the d'Orsay. It's possible.

Finally, if you're using Vedettes du Pont Neuf for the boat ride, you could easily tack that onto your Friday islands day.

Not that I would try to talk you out of London as it's obviously something you're serious about, but I am genuinely curious about how you're going to whirlwind that in a day. Do you have a separate thread about it? I love that city, too. I'm trying to imagine what one could narrow to a day. Hop-on-hop-off bus tour, maybe?

I know this part of the trip planning is probably driving you crazy, but hang in there. Have fun with it and good luck.
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Old Jul 31st, 2011, 09:57 PM
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This looks much, much more doable than the previous itineraries.

On Friday, I would plan on visiting the Sainte Chapelle first to try to beat the crowds. Also, many people are disappointed in the Conciergerie (not what they expected, underwhelming etc), so just in case you had to drop something as the day went along, that would be what I dropped, if it were me. You do get to see a very nice view of the outside from the Seine River ride. I find the inside interesting, but not in my Paris top 10

We always do the most important day's goal first because invariably, things don't quite work as planned and one must leave room for spontaneaty, as well.

Glad you are considering advice, but also keeping to what you feel is right for you.
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Old Aug 1st, 2011, 11:31 AM
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sorry if i was a bit harsh, Fae - i didn't mean to sound tetchy.

i really like some of the new ideas, especially the musee d'orsay followed by Versailles - sitting on the RER C [which goes straight from the musee d'orsay to Versailles] would give you plenty of time to rest and be a really good use of time. and no need to book, so if you didn't fancy it, you could just head off into st. Germain after the museum.

with due respect to SAP, I would NOT try to combine the Louvre and Musee D'orsay on the same day - far too much walking IMHO and VERY tiring.
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Old Aug 1st, 2011, 04:38 PM
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Probably true, Annhig. Plus, that would be after all the walking at Versailles!
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