RonZ, learned it from Rex. Right-click on the thread title on the RIGHT side of the screen (where the posts are) and select Properties, then copy/paste the url.

This post should serve a model for all. The newbie poster asked for help in a way that produced some great responses. My compliments to all.
I might add that she check out the Destination Guide for Paris on this website. It's got some good basic info.
Correction on a previous posting: The Latin Quarter is in the 5th (75005) Arr., not the 6th.

I do not consider myself an expert on Paris hotels, but if you feel discouraged by biddingfortravel, then take a look at webscapades.com - - they helped me quite nicely in the past, specifically they have English speaking American telephone operators, accessible on a toll-free line, shown on the website. The website itself is also quite helpful.

And I agree with HowardR; this thread is very good, even if I did mis-type "packaGe" (grimace... I hate my own typos!)

Lisa, I've been bidding on Priceline for a 4* hotel in the St. Germain - Latin Quarter - Montparnasse zone for a July stay. I've gotten a counteroffer for $119 - I suspect a bid of about $110 would work, but I haven't been willing to go up that high yet.

But you have to think about whether you would be happy in the hotels that Priceline would give you - some aren't that central. The Sofitel Forum Rive Gauche is more south than most - I posted questions here and decided I would be fine with it should I happen to succeed eventually at a low rate.

The Champs Elysses - Opera Quarter West zone has one hotel, the Le Meridien Etoile, which is quite far out west, but people are very happy with the hotel itself generally.

The Eiffel Tower - Grenelle - Montparnasse zone contains the Sofitel Port Sevres hotel, and I decided that one was just too far out (it's beyond the Boulevard Periphique), and so I am not bidding in that zone.

I wouldn't bid for a 3* or less hotel, even though I do in most cities, because Paris has so many great options you can book directly at that star level.

What a wonderful idea! As noted above, the "hop on/hop off" tour is a great orientation of the city, I highly recommend it, try to do it the first few days you are there. Also do get a good street map, I like "Streetwise Paris" available at many bookstores like Barnes and Nobel, I'm sure others have their favorites and can make other recommendations. If you and your husband want to visit the museums check into a museum pass, it will allow you access to over 70 museums, you won't have to wait in line to get in, and is well worth the money. I had a good website that explained it, but it seems to be "down", instead take a look at: http://www.museums-of-paris.com to get an idea of how it works. You can buy a pass at a museum or in most metro stations when you arrive. Have a great time planning, and I hope you can keep this a surprise, I would LOVE to be taken to an airport and then told I am going to Paris!

Paris is a perfect choice, no language skills necessary in most places because English is widely spoken. The metro is very easy to use and understand, and the stops are very close to almost every place you want to go.

My most important tip is to buy the museum pass. Even if you don't end up going to enough sites to save money with it, you have the priceless advantage of being able to get in to most sites without waiting on line. You want to buy it at an uncrowded museum, so you can use it at a more crowded one such as the Musee d'Orsay or Versailles to bypass the lines. The pass is available for one, three or five consecutive days. I have read of people buying them before going to Paris, but that will cost you extra money and is unnecessary.

Yeah sorry for my typos as well-my sentence should read "money is NO object"

HowardR-thanks for the correction regarding 5th and 6th and the Latin Quarter. You are right about the 5th versus the 6th being the Latin Quarter-at least the heart of the Latin quarter tourist area if you consider that the crossroads of St. Michel and Blvd. St. Germain, and then all the way down to the river, but just wanted to add that staying along the "4" metro takes you to Odeon, St Germain des Pres, which are in the 6th and all that area includes shops restaurants, market, etc. that are still pretty much the Latin Quarter and make a great place to stay as well.

Hi, just a couple of comments. We purchased the museum passes last summer and did find them to be worthwhile, especially in by-passing the lineups. Went to some spots we may not have otherwise and used it to visit the Louvre in a couple of shorter visits rather than one marathon session. Regarding tours - we (family of 4) spent our first full day with Michael Osman, a tour guide whose name I got from this website. It was an excellent day, he met us at 9:00 at our hotel and stayed with us until 7 that evening. He will take you wherever you want to go and spend as much time there as you wish, as well as taking you to spots that you wouldn't see on your own. By the time you finish you will feel confident riding the metro and touring around the city on your own. He has a website that can give you tour ideas - geocities.com/parisfinder/DiscoverParis.html. e-mail is [email protected]. Well worth the price and generally less expensive than the packaged city tours. It may take him a bit to reply to your e-mail, if so just send again, (recommendation I also got here) he is very busy. Have a wonderful trip - as my 21 year old son said - "Even the streetlights are beautiful."

Lisa, What a fabulous suprise! Just think how high you are setting the bar for your birthday!

Don't worry about language. But you'll have an entirely different trip if you greet everyone in French (bon jour, bon soir.. merci, s'il vous plais). It's simple courtesy.

A museum pass will save you loads of standing in line time. I like both Orsay and the Louvre. The buildings themselves are worth walking around in. I also enjoyed Versailles.

If your husband likes to read, buy him a copy of The DaVinci Code for his birthday. It will give you some things to search out and will make great flight time reading.

Printed out this thread and spent the weekend going through every bit of advice. (I plan on printing it for my husband to read on the plane.He will enjoy knowing how many people had a hand in this) Every post had some tidbit that helped me move forward. Most important was the encouragement. Glad there were no "What are you thinking!!" replies. Special notes - SeaUrchin, oh my goodness, my passport had less than 6 months to expire. Sent my renewal in today. (whew...thanks..) Wayne, simple but effective, the idea to have cards with the hotel address. Once in NYC we told a cab driver 60th and he thought we said 6th. Learned shortly thereafter the only english word he spoke starts with an "F". RonZ, loved the virtourist site. Travelnut, "100 things to do" so fun to read. Jpie, your comments re: apt...I decided to just look at hotels, seemed a safer bet for a newbie. Francophile and others, very influenced by comments regarding getting a hotel with french "flavor". After many hours on the biddingfortravel site, decided to skip Priceline, not willing to roll the dice for this trip. Currently investigating hotels in the St. Ger. area in the 150E range. Ordered my Steve's Paris guide, map, and french phrase book and spending every available moment reading all the great info on this site. Other than doing my hotel homework, is there any other priority reservations I need to make early on?

Your husband will be overjoyed because you thought out of the box and he is going to Paris. Last year I traveled to Paris for the first time. I butchered the language and the only time I experienced difficulty was with the taxi drivers.

I am a young "49" and if you like activity at night, I would suggest the 6th district. The sun sets after 9PM and if you eat late, there are plenty of restaurants to choose from that stay open very late. We usually didn't eat until 10-11PM because we were sightseeing until the sun set. The transportation is excellent from the 6th district. Purchase the 10 ticket carnet and take the metro whenever possible. It is one of the best transportation systems I have ever encountered.

I did the hop on and off bus too and would recommend it. Gives you an overview of the city. Seeing the Eiffel tower at night is not to be missed.

Take a day trip to Versaille. Very easy to do. You can find all the information on this website by doing a search under Versaille.

Enjoy and take lots of pics to remember this wonderful experience.

Gail

lisa, what a wonderful thing to do for your husband! He will love it! My husband surprised me with a trip to Mexico for my 40th - it meant so much that he put so much planning into the surprise.

We just returned from Paris last week, our first time there. It was wonderful from beginning to end. We only knew a few key phrases in French and had no problems whatsoever. We found everyone to be extremely helpful and friendly. I did what you are doing right now - reading the wealth of information people on this forum provide. I also printed out information and brought it with me. Because we were going in Feb., I was expecting rain, and I printed out Degas' walking tour of the passages. We had beautiful weather, so I'll save that for another time!

jpie mentioned Cafe Marly at the Louvre. We went to the Louvre on Wed. evening when it stays open late. It was very quiet - a great time to go. We then had a late dinner at Cafe Marly. We enjoyed it very much, but commented on how much better it would be in good weather as they have seating outside - beautiful views!

I would also recommend having lunch at Jules Verne at the Eiffel Tower. I wasn't sure how good the food would be, but wanted to go for the view. We were not disappointed. We avoided the lines - Jules Verne has a seperate entrance - and had a wonderful lunch with an incredible view!

Have a wonderful time, and remember to take time to just walk around, stop at a cafe, and take in the splendor of the city.

Lisa, what a wonderful way to surprise your husband!! I've been to Paris twice, but can't add anything because everyone has already been so generous with their suggestions and information.

The only thing I'd like to emphasize is that, even though English is spoken by many Parisians, please please do make an effort to learn at least some French before you arrive in that lovely city. The local people will appreciate your attempt, even if you're not very confident or you feel you're really messing it all up. If you at least try to speak French, more than likely the other person will rescue you by speaking in English. (Not always the case, of course.) Your effort will honestly be appreciated, and I guarantee that the service you'll receive will be better, wherever you go.

Have a great time in Paris!! Please come back afterward and let us know how it all turns out, ok?

Lisa - I'm tickled to think your husband might read this as part of his birthday surprise!

The only other make-ahead reservations you should think about are for any highly-rated restaurants you might want to go to (those that have Michelin stars, for example). At least some of those you can make via the internet, though you could call directly as well.

If you're considering something other than a tour, we've enjoyed doing our own walking tours by using the book Pariswalks. It took us to areas we wouldn't have gone to on our own, and helped us notice interesting sights.

Our favorite Paris hotel, in St. Germain, is Hotel le Regent. Great location, nice staff, nice (but small) rooms with very well-appointed bathrooms. Their "standard" double rooms (SMALL!) are currently 140 Euros, while their larger double rooms are 200 Euros. We always choose the smaller room, and have more money to spend on food!

Hi Lisa,

>Currently investigating hotels in the St. Ger. area in the 150E range. <

You might want to consider:

Hotel Bonaparte (my favorite) No website
Tel 33 (0)1 43 26 97 37
FAX 33 (0)1 46 33 57 67

http://www.hoteldulys.com/

http://rentoparis.com/hotelparis30515.html

http://rentoparis.com/hotelparis30622.html

These two are in the 5th

http://www.france-hotel-guide.com/h75005henri.htm

http://www.france-hotel-guide.com/h75005stjacques.htm

Three weeks and the secret is still intact. I have resisted sharing it with friends and family in fear of someone giving it away. I've spent many late night hours sneaking off to the computer to read all the Fodor posts. (Some of you are too funny!) I've found answers to my questions in both the smart and "dumb" postings. Armed with my new comprehension of what shoes to wear, what pink jogging suit not to wear, packing light, ice cubes in Europe, Left Bank, Right Bank, ATM's, and the ever important proper usage of bidets and turkish toilets, I am making strides toward being ready for my first Paris adventure. I booked a superior deluxe room at Le Regent for our 7 night stay, so that is taken care of. Now I am trying to put together a flexible itenerary (more of a list of must do and maybe do). Our stay includes the VE Day holiday weekend of May 8th & 9th. Any insight on navigating a holiday weekend would be appreciated. What sites or activities are best to do, or skip, on a weekend, especially a holiday?

Unfortunately, banks, government services, most museums and all department stores will be closed on VE Day. It may affect some, if not most, restaurants, as well.

I love my ISP, I love my ISP.... got booted, grrr.

Meant to add another post saying that public transportation will run, but will be slower, on VE Day.

If your travel dates include May 1st, you should be aware that May 1st is also a public holiday (France's Labor Day). That means you will have two Saturdays in a row, May 1st and 8th, that will be public holidays, with many museum closures, etc.

topping

Lisa: It looks to me like you're off to a great start. You've obviously absorbed a lot about Paris from your research on this site and others. Be sure to get a good map and learn the layout of the city in relation to the river...it will make your visit all the more pleasant.

As for the holiday, I'd say plan your museum and landmark visits for days other than the holidays. On the holiday weekend, reserve that time for just wandering through chosen neighborhoods absorbing the charm and ambience of Paris. I believe many Parisians leave on holidays, so the countryside probably wouldn't be a respite. (We were in St. Malo during All Saints Day and it was wall-to-wall people!)

Our most pleasant memories are the days we wandered aimlessly with no particular destination. It was then we saw Paris at its most charming.