tamaraten

(sorry - I'm reposting with a more specific heading including "Paris")

I'm surprising my daughter with a (1st) trip to Paris, leaving this Thursday for six days. The last time I was in Paris was 15 years ago.

What would you say are the top must-sees? So far, the Louvre of course, the Eiffel Tower, Musee D'Orsay, and the Pompidou Centre. I've never been to Musee de l'Orangerie but I'm thinking of that too. Also thinking about a sightseeing bus if there is one to give her a sense of the city.

Of course, just walking and walking and soaking up the atmosphere, going to cafes and people-watching will be heavenly.

She's really bright and LOVES art - also loves shopping.

Any other must-see suggestions?

jupiterfla

Pompidou is a must, Champs d'Elysee and perhaps the Mouffetard. The Latin Quarter s of Notre Dame has some fun shopping as well.

Notre Dame, if she's into books then Shakespeare and Company.

St. Michel - the list goes on.

apersuader65

Instead of a bus, I'd recommend taking a Seine tour. We've used the Vedettes du Pont Neuf. You can purchase tickets here: http://www.vedettesdupontneuf.com/ , print them out and take them with you to save 5 Euros per ticket! It runs from Pont Neuf Bridge out to the Eiffel Tower, turns back and then circles Ile St. Louis and Ile de la Cite. Takes about an hour, and covers many of the sites of the city.

Sarastro

The person you should be asking is your daughter. Certainly she knows what interests her and what activities she might like.

However, why not start with a ride of one of the bateaux mouches?

http://www.vedettesdupontneuf.com/
http://www.bateaux-mouches.fr/
http://www.bateauxparisiens.com/
http://www.canauxrama.com/
http://www.pariscanal.com/

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Something fun:

http://citysegwaytours.com/paris/
http://fattirebiketours.com/paris

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Something different:

http://giverny.org/transpor/traction/index.htm
http://www.4roues-sous-1parapluie.com/EN/index.html
http://www.parisauthentic.com/

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Someplace to eat which is unique (emphasis on unique, not necessarily fine dinning):

http://www.lesergentrecruteur.com/
http://www.nosancetreslesgaulois.com/

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An interesting destination out of Paris:

http://www.provins.net/
http://www.chateaudechantilly.com/en/ (particularly if she likes horses)
www.vaux-le-vicomte.com/
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And if she grows tired of the standard art museum:

http://www.grevin.com/

tamaraten

Wow, fabulous suggestions - thank you to all. Sarastro, thank you for the trouble of all the links. I'm going to check them all out now.

tamaraten

aspersuader65, thank you for boat suggestion. Having never done either boat or bus, can you tell me why boat would be better? (I thought you can get and off the bus, not like the boat).

grandmere

A visit for afternoon tea at Angelina (226 rue de Rivoli), right across from the Tuileries; it's a tea salon with history that dates from 1903 and famous for its very thick, rich hot chocolate and also its signature dessert, Le Mont Blanc. It has a sense of "faded elegance" but an experience nonetheless.

Surfergirl

Absolutely (weather permitting) do the bike tour. It's informative, passes really cool places you can go back to, and it's just a lot of fun! There are both day and night time tours. Probably at this time of year, the day tour would be best.

There's a similar bike tour for Giverny:
http://fattirebiketours.com/paris/tours/monet-bike

apersuader65

The Vedettes tour gives you a pretty good overview of all the sites along the Seine. There is another service - Batobus - that does have several stops similar to a bus. We used the Vedettes to primarily get an understanding of the layout along the Seine of the sites, as well as get photos from vantage points you couldn't get, especially in one hour's time.

I'd do as much research as you can before you leave, and make a itinerary file with opening times, etc. Sarastro's given you a pretty good start. Depending upon how excitable your daughter is, and when she actually is finding out about the trip, your printed file will give her somthing to read on the flight to Paris. Or get a good guidebook to use while there.
Good Luck and enjoy.

MaineGG

In addition to the Vedettes du Pont Neuf Seine cruise, you might consider a bus tour to cover the sites that aren't right on the river. Here are two:

http://www.parislopentour.com/paris-accueil.php?lng=gb
http://www.foxity.com/en

The Open Tour is a hop-on/off bus with several routes.
Foxity is a 1-3/4 hour ride with commentary along a route covering sites from the Seine islands to the Arc de Triomph to the Eiffel Tower.

For an art-loving daughter, in addition to the museums already recommended, I would recommend a stop at the Rodin Museum when you're in the 7th. It was a favorite visit for both my granddaughters.

denisea

Climb the towers at Notre Dame; you will get a great view of Paris and up close to the gargoyles.

I love the D'Orsay and the huge Monet canvases at L'Orangerie.

I recommend you use the buses to get around...you will see so much of the city and get where you are going. You can use the same tickets you would use on the Metro. It's a great way to get around.

I would recommend Un Dimanche a Paris for afternoon tea...their macarons are heaven! The pastries are works of art and they have an area where you can see the chocolate being made. It is a beautiful shop and restaurant in the 6th.

Rue du Commerce might be good for shopping that won't break the bank. Galleries Lafayette for department store shopping. It is a huge store (3 of them actually).

nytraveler

How can you surprise someone with a trip to Paris this Thursday? Who will do her packing? What if she has arrangements already made? I certainly hope you tell her - if you haven;t already - so she has some time to think about what she would want to do. There are some things that should not be complete surprises.

As for what mine loved:
Notre Dame
St Chapelle
Cluny Museum (they go every time they go to Paris)
Shopping in teen places they found in Let's Go guides
Exploring neighborhoods
Sitting in a cafe with a coffee or glass of wine and watching the world go by

Surfergirl

She must have been out of the country before or had some inkling since a passport is needed, photos have to be taken, and all that.

My mom NEVER would have been able to pull that off as a surprise, so milles kudos to you for that.

I remember planning a trip to France, and Paris in particular, since I was 11 years old. I'd seen the movie, Gigi and wanted to visit every single place they shot in the movie! So, Luxembourg gardens and bois de bologne (in the day time!) was high on my list. But, of course, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame were also up there, as were the impressionists (at that time, at L'Orangerie, not the Musee d'Orsay).

And don't be surprised about sitting in a cafe with a glass of wine at 14. They gave my son champagne at 10.

justineparis

Absolutely consider the FT bike tours, they are FUN and easy enough for anyone to do,, no skills required, comfy wide tired bikes. Great fun guides, history lite,, just a fun overview. I really liked all of the tours, but for this time of year you may just need to consider the day tour. No prebooking so you can choose by weather. Take gloves, hands get cold easy, just those cheapo ones will do .

tamaraten

nytraveler - re the surprise, she's (turning) 14 years old, is in grade 8, and it's only a 6 day trip!! If she had something specific like a school trip, for instance, I wouldn't be able to do this. She does have a test she'll be missing, but she's an A student and her teachers love her. I was sure there'd be no problem school-wise. It's not as though she works, and has to reschedule meetings, etc. (I've surprised DH before - that gets a little complicated!). She's just a kid! I also knew she'd be ecstatic beyond words no matter what she'd be missing - it's been a dream of hers since she was little.

Re packing - no big deal. Again, she's 14, we're going for six days. I don't stress about packing, a small rollie each and we're good.

I did tell her last night though, just because she saw me on the computer researching/planning and I wanted her to have some of that pre-trip anticipation....she almost fainted!!!! She was crying she was so thrilled. It still was a surprise. I could have pulled off a total surprise had I wanted - we do have a current passport for her - I just would have woken her up early Thursday morning and told her we're going to the airport - to Surfergirl: I definitely could have done this! I'm good at keeping secrets especially for a good cause! - but again, I wanted her to enjoy the pre-trip excitement.

That in itself was an extraordinary surprise for her.

My big question is, I don't want to inundate her with museums, so we'll have a balance of the ones suggested and cafes/walking/soaking up the atmosphere. But as a first orientation-type thing, I thought we should do a bus ride or hop on hop off deal just to give her an overall picture. I've been online like crazy on this issue - there are so many conflicting ideas. Of course there's the boat idea as an intro. Or maybe a walking tour as an intro.

What do you think of a general tour for the basics, to provide some context? Or is that unecessary? I'm just not sure what to do first!! (we're arriving at the airport this Thursday at 1:00 - I suppose we get to the hotel around 3:00. I think the tours start earlier...)

Thanks again to all.

madamtrashheap

I think a general sightseeing tour would be a good start for her - she'll likely spend most of the tour alternating gazing with a big grin to hugging you and smiling, so it will be a good thing! Plus it will be a good way to orientate both of you (even though you've been before, nothing like taking a refresher). I would, however, take the cruise or bus tour the morning after arrival just in case you're a little too tired to sit and risk falling asleep. Not a whole lotta sightseeing to be done through eyelids!

Why don't you consider, once you've checked in and freshened up, taking a stroll from your hotel through the arches into the forecourt of the Louvre, then hang a right and stroll through the Tuileries to Place de la Concorde. From there, you can see what time it is and either continue walking along the Seine and go up the Eiffel Tower for sunset (around 6.30-7pm at this time of year), or haave an early dinner and make your way back to your hotel if you're a little tired. Of course if the weather isn't playing the game, go straight to Angelina for afternoon tea and revel in being in Paris! You can also use the time to plan your next few days of sightseeing and what to hit first after the bus/boat tour in the morning.

And even though you likely have Sephora where you live (or nearby), the massive flagship store on Champs-Elysees is open til midnight, so if your daughter isn't tired and wants to keep going on arrival day...just sayin'!

justineparis

Well now that she knows,, let her get on the computer and look up "things to see/do in Paris" then tell her she can pick three must sees! I did that when I took my 11 yr old and on a seperate trip same thing with my 14 yr old. You might be surprised what she comes up with,, I know I would have never thought of the Catacombs if my son hadn't sugggested it.

StCirq

You said there will be no jetlag involved, so just get settled at your hotel, go for a walk, then do either the hop-on, hop-off bus tour or a sunset Vedettes de Paris cruise, followed by dinner. And yes, since she knows now, she's got two days to do her own research and figure out what she'd like to focus on.

tamaraten

All these suggestions are FABULOUS!!! Each and every one.

I appreciate you taking the time to respond so thoughtfully.

Madamtrashheap, you completely calmed me down. I was in a dilemma regarding that first afternoon, wanting to choose just the right thing for our first moments there. I think we'll just stroll, and see what the weather is like. If it's great, we have wonderful options of the boat ride or going towards the Eiffel Tower as you suggested. I think either of those would be a great introduction. (btw, would you go up the Eiffel Tower do you mean at this time of day?)

Justineparis and StCirq, my daughter came home from school today and did just what you suggested - spent time on the computer and also with a Paris Lonely Planet Guide given to me by a friend- and has come up with some interesting(!) ones - flea markets, wax museum (has anyone done this), ice skating, Monet Museum.....there's so much!

nytraveler

Well yours at 14 must be a whole lot different than mine. They debated for weeks (with each other) exactly what to pack, where to visit, where to shop and where to go to meet local guys (and practice their French). And they wouldn;t have done a fat bike tour were much more interested in which ballet they wanted to see - and pouring over the French magazines to see what they were going to try to buy to get fashionably ahead of their schoolmates.