ballbuster

I am close to booking a package(hotel + flight through expedia) to Paris from Houston for two people in May.

Here's an early itinerary.
Sunday the 15th: arrive noon, eiffel tower, galleries lafayette.
Monday, Tues, Wed: three day museum pass(will be going to Versailles one of the days)
Thurs: Bus tour to Normandy for the WWII sites.
Fri: Disneyland Paris
Sat: Roland Garros qualifying
Sun: a Park or two in Paris(parc de butes Chaumont looks good)
Mon and Tues: Roland Garros first round
Wed: go back to Houston.

the subway stop for Roland Garros (the French open) is Michel ange Molitor of line 9.

I want to know what would be the best public transportation package for this journey. I was thinking a 5day(starting the first monday) travel card that covers all 5 zones so I can get to Disney and Versailles.
Then get another 5 day travelcard covering three zones, although I don't know what zone Roland Garros is in. Is this the most cost effective way?

I am thinking about staying near Gare de Lyon and I am confused about how I would get to say, the eiffel tower from there. Would I need to cross the river to Gare dAusterlitz and then take RER C????

Also, has anyone taken one of the WWII bus tours and do you think I would need Air conditioning in the hotel room in may?

PalQ

From Gare de Lyon you could connect gby metro to Eiffel but it's easier to walk over the river on the new DeGaulle Bridge, the first new bridge to be built in Paris for eons, that goes right to Austerlitz station where you hop RER C for the Eiffel. Usually the weeklong Carte Orange for the appropriate zones is the best transit pass.

Scarlett

Hi bb,
I am pretty sure that Galleries Lafayette is not open on Sunday.
Remember that the Louvre is closed on Tuesday and the D'Orsay Mondays..
Versaille is only about 30 minutes away so you can get there in the morning and be back for tea in the afternoon..so you can plan something else that day-I would recommend the Invalides/Napoleans Tomb and the Rodin which is very close by.
Have you been to Paris before?
Any reason why not the Luxembourg gardens or the Bois de Boulogne?

ballbuster

scarlett, no i've never been to paris.

I have a guidebook with some pictures of the parks in Paris and the Chaumont park looks pretty cool

Scarlett

Yes, it does look cool It is huge too.
We are planning to go to the area near the Bois de Boulogne to see the Musee Marmatton..so we will also take a stroll through the park. The Buttes Au Chamont is a bit far from the center of town, and might take quite a bit of time, that is why I asked
One of the wonderful things about Paris is, as you walk, you will come upon a small park, by itself or next to a church and you can sit down and rest and appreciate the park and just enjoy being there.

StuDudley

>>Sunday the 15th: arrive noon, eiffel tower, galleries lafayette.<<<

I'm pretty sure Galleries Lafayette is closed on Sundays
http://www.paris.org/Shops/Large/lafayette.html

Also, several of the rooms at Versailles are closed on Monday. Many museums (louvre) are closed on Tues. Orsay is closed on Monday.

I hope this is not your first trip to Paris. It looks like you are only planning to be in Paris for two days, plus the 1/2 day you arrive, plus a day in the parks.

Stu Dudley

Robespierre

May I suggest -

For the first day, buy a Mobilis pass for Zones 1-2. Get on the Balabus at Gare de Lyon, and ride it down the Left Bank to the Eiffel Tower, stopping to visit points of interest. Then maybe take the #69, stopping at Les Invalides, or the #42, which goes down the Champs-Elysees and around the Opera. From there, the #21 goes down past Notre Dame, from whence the Balabus will take you home. For a map of the whole layout, go to this page, and click Bus touristique:

http://www.ratp.info/orienter/tous_plans_pdf.php

M-A-M is in Zone 1, so a Carte Orange for Zones 1-2 will get you everywhere but Versailles and Disneyland. For these, you can buy a supplement for much less than the additional €15 a Zones 1-5 pass would cost.

You won't need a second Carte Orange for Monday and Tuesday. Get a carnet of 10 single tickets that costs €10.50 - two tickets for two people for two days, plus two left over for your next trip!

Grandmere1

Be aware that Sunday, May 15 is Pentecost Sunday, a holiday in France. Usually, the following day, Whitmonday (lundi de Pentecote), is a holiday,also, with dept. stores like Galeries Lafayette closed. (I was in Paris for this weekend in 2002 and will be again this year-duh-what planning ) However, there was some talk earlier that the Monday this year may not be celebrated as a holiday. I wrote to Galeries Lafayette a month or so ago to ask about their being open/closed on Monday, and they wrote back that they hadn't decided yet!!

MermaidSea

Ballbuster, going to the Parc des Buttes Chaumont is a fantastic idea! What you want to do is take the Metro to the LAUMIERE stop and then walk down Avenue de Laumiere. This brings you to a lovely plaza with not only a nice view of the park's folly, but a very good cafe. This is what Paris is all about! A good drink with a good view!

The park itself is way cool. It used to be an old quarry/garbage dump until the famous Baron Haussmann got his hands on it and landscaped it. He created waterfalls, a rope suspension bridge, an island with a Grecian folly atop it that has a view of Sacre Coeur in Montmartre, glorious walking trails, caverns...as I've said, it's a pretty marvelous place. Bring a lunch and picnic on the grass like all the Parisians do.

ballbuster

thanx robespierre.

bump for more responses.

palette

Why Disney Paris? That's a whole day you won't be in Paris itself. If you have been to the one in Orlando, you have done the Disney thing. And, if you haven't done Orlando, with the exchange rate, it would be far cheaper to wait until you return home. However, I admit to being biased. I've been to Disney Paris kicking and screaming with my g-daughter; the only thing that kept me going for 2.5 days was the knowledge that I had Paris for the rest of our trip.

Robespierre

BTW - avoid the Paris Visite pass like the plague. It's a "special tourist priced" item (if you catch my drift).

Much better deal is the Carte Orange, which is valid for a week starting on Monday. You need a 1" x 1" photo for the clerk to stick on your card. Keep the photo card for your next trip to Paris; the weekly ticket is the little thing that fits in the holder on the front of the sleeve with the card in it, and you retrieve it from the turnstile each time you use it.

The Mobilis I suggested you get for your first day is built the same way: a permanent card and a daily ticket for the turnstiles.