From my memory, you don't need to book the hop-on-off tour buses, you can just pick one up at one of their stops, and pay the driver. I remember one day I was too tired to walk another step further, and decided to get on the bus to rest!
I enjoyed it, even though I certainly didn't need an overview of Paris. The Foxity tour sounds nice, maybe you do need to book that kind of tour, since it's not hop-on-hop-off. Be sure to take one of the Seine boat tours - they are great, and very relaxing. I particularly like the Vedettes de Pont Neuf one, which leaves from the dock next to the Pont Neuf. You can also get a discounted ticket beforehand on their website, and see the departure schedule. However, you need to get there about 15 minutes beforehand in order to get a seat up top (better if the weather is good).

We love the Vedettes du Pont Neuf cruise! With the on-line savings, you can almost pay for going twice...once in the daytime (great for getting yourself "squared away" with the history and layout of Paris and a second romantic trip at night to see Paris all lit up.

Best of all for tired, sore feet or someone with lower energy levels this is a life saver! Still lets you play tourist and see the sights without expending energy.

Access is via metro: Pont Neuf. As you exit the metro look across the water and you will see the boat(s). A short walk across the bridge and down a flight of stairs and voilà! There is a garden with benches down on the tip of the island there that is nice if you have the time during the day , as well.

If you think you won't be able to manage the flight of stairs, then you might consider the boat tours near the Eiffel tower; I think they have less of a slope, but Vedettes is the company I prefer.

TPaxe, thank you for that link!

Does anyone know of a city bus tour, beside the Foxity tour, that we can pick up in the Notre Dame area. As first time visitors, we would like to get a introductory over-all tour of Paris.

Do you mean besides the other 3 tours Michel_Paris mentioned above? Parisvision, Cityrama, and Open Tour? If you don't like any of these tour companies or programs perhaps a private tour is best for you.

I am looking for a guided orientation bus tour which we can get on in the Notre Dame area, where we are staying, instead of using Foxity which begins in the center of Paris. We are an elderly couple who still like to travel, but we need to conserve our energy. Thanks for all the advice.

Ringer,
Well, you are, at some point, probably going to need to use the Metro. For example, if you are staying near ND, a walk to the Louvre might be too much, Metro might be best. So...might I suggest taking Metro to Louvre, which is where the bus tours I mentioned start from (or a cab from your hotel!).

What sites are you hopeing to see on your own?

<< I am looking for a guided orientation bus tour which we can get on in the Notre Dame area >>

Hi Ringerdog,

You haven't explained why you do not want one of the Open Tour bus tours that stop right by Notre Dame, such as the Paris Grand Tour route. It meets all your criteria - stops by Notre Dame, guided orientation, and over-all tour of Paris.

You must be looking for something other than the criteria you have already mentioned. What else do you need? Let us know so we can help you.

The free tours I mentioned earlier we gave a tip of Euro5 each. Really was very very good.

Regarding the link for Manstouch they are resellers and add a huge commission! Tried two of their tours, NOT worth it!! Too expensive, not very good guides. Avoid Manstouch.

Paris Walks is better and also the free tours with Discover Walks.

I was under the impression that the hop-on hop-off bus tours did not provide any orientation or commentary. If there is a guided orientation, that would be great. Is it possible to just stay on the tour and do the 3 routes in order to first get a broad overview of Paris?

TPaxe, Thank You for responding to my question. It is greatly appreciated.

I wasn't thinking. The H-O/H-O bus stops at ND, why not catch it there and just do the loops. You can interconnect with their other itineraries.

The hop-on/off buses do have commentary. I believe it is multi-lingual audioguides, just like you have at many museums. I know L'Opentour does, Les Cars Rouges has an audioguide but looks like you have to download it yourself from the websie and put it on your MP3 player which would not be convenient (mainly because those audioguides start and stop at the right places easily). I don't think there is a live guide pointing things out to you or answering questions, but I'm not sure anyone does that. Foxity also has multi-lingual audioguides that are included in the price.

The reason there aren't live guides very much anymore (other than technological advances) is that you have to hire multi-lingual guides and it is hard to match buses up to languages often. Sure, maybe you have a lot in English, but it can be difficult to get tours for Japanese, Czech, etc.

You can always stay on the hop-on/off buses for the entire circuit if you want, sure, it's up to you. I believe circuits overlap, but you'd have to check the maps.

Cityrama's 20 euro overview bus tour also has audioguides, so that wouldn't get you anywhere, although they depart around rue de Rivoli and Pyramides vs. the Madeleine for Foxity. I think Parisvision also uses audioguides, but might be wrong on that.

Ringerdog: You can "hop on" and "hop off" wherever you want, which means that if you choose only to "hop on" and not to "hop off" that is up to you. At the end of the day, though, I imagine they will kick you off the bus. ;p

You should be fine in November. We experienced problems in June on the hoho bus. Traffic was slow so bus got filled and we waited "forever" for the next bus which was also full. We finally walked. Advice is to stay on for one "round" so you'll know what you wish to explore most fully.

Ringerdog - you really need to be looking at the web sites before assuming anything about these HOHO tours (or anything else). All your questions will be answered on the sites.

Open Tour has 4 routes and according to the information I read on their web site you can get on any of the buses. I would suggest getting the itineraries before you get to Paris so you can plan ahead and see where the routes intersect and what routes you want to do.

As I suggested before, the Grand Tour is probably the route you want to get the most overview of Paris.

I have been watching the long range weather forecast for Paris, and it does not look good-rain, rain, and more rain. I really don't want to be out in the open either on the Seine cruises or bus tours. I guess our views are going to be limited.