Great suggestions, here. I know you aren't much of an art person, but the Orangerie museum is very small, doesn't take long to visit and has the most exquisite, HUGE Monet paintings of waterlillies that you'll ever see. Yes, it is on the beaten track, but there is a good reason for that.

Riding a Metro line to the end is not exactly a day trip, but there are some great sites to visit--

St Germain-en-Laye, a moated chateau devoted to pre-historic art through the Merovingians, beautiful exhibits and a neat building to wander through, also a terraced vista of the parkland.

St Denis, the former burial place of the French kings and queens with lots of information on what happened there during the Revolution.

Vincennes has medieval fortifications, including a donjon/prison/palace that you can explore, a chapel built as a larger copy of the Ste Chapelle, and a mini-palace from the era of Louis XIV.

For Ecouen, you'd have to take an actual train, but from the station you walk ten minutes through the forest (directions in Annabel Simms book An Hour from Paris, or they can tell you at the bakery)to the chateau that is now a museum of Renaissance history.

I found all these places more fascinating because they are historic sites as well as (even more than) museums.

Have fun!

For something quirky and interesting I'd recommend a visit to Deyrolles in the 7th. See http://www.pbase.com/al309/paris1 and http://www.deyrolle.com/laboutique/. We were in Paris last May and unfortunately did not get to see the store. I believe it had a fire some years ago and only last year re-opened.

This is a great thread. When I read the title I started thinking of some of my favorite places, then read the posts and found almost all of them already covered. Things I'd second or third would be the day trip to Conflans to see the barges, the Carnavalet and one of the period houses such as Camondo or Cognacq-Jay(I think all or at least 2 of the 3 are free as well), Arts-et-Metiers, impressionists and art nouveau rooms and furniture at D'Orsay, the tombs of the Kings at St. Denis--especially Pepin the short and my personal favorite whom I call Matilde the big footed, the passages--very big on them, the markets--start every day with one or two of them, but also consider some of the parks and walks in the neighborhoods.

Of these I most enjoy Bercy park with its tiny vineyard, lovely modern water features and then lunch in the little shops area at the end with all the little wine bars built in the old wine warehouses. Across the Seine are the modern Mitterand library, lots of new glass buildings in a gentrifying area and the Simone de Beauvoir foot bridge to get there. Also like Andre Citroen park with its modern glass palm house and quirky fountains. Besides lovely old stuff, Paris does modern very well. Parc Monceau is lovely in the old fashioned way. Parc de la Villette in the modern new way and walk along the St. Martin canal to get there.

Touristy as it may be, we also love the area around Les Halles. Walking down the Rue des Martyrs from Montmartre is fun and the market streets like Rue Cler and Montorguiel and Poncelot are wonderful--as are the passages, don't miss them, but then we already pointed those out.

For years I would approach Paris with a list of places to see which would take us to many out of the way places that most visitors don't get to. I've slowly whittled that list completely down (although some of the posters above have given me ideas to build it back up again--Pasteur, Curie and Public Assistance museums) but for us seeking out sights or museums, etc. has been a way of getting to places you might not otherwise visit and then discovering just a charming neighborhood to walk through.

To "force" that kind of exploration, the other thing I do is start each day with a market using the information in "Paris in a Basket" a book about the markets of Paris. Since the roving markets are held in different places each day of the week, I look for a market for Tuesday or Thursday or whatever day it is (never on Monday when all markets are closed) that I haven't been to, find one in an arrondisement and location that I've not frequented, and I'm off. This has taken me to the Aligre market where they have a street market, a covered market and a flea market and the nearby quirky wine-bar, the Baron Rouge. It has also taken me to the Barbes market just below the metro tracks at the exit of the Barbes Rochechouart metro stop beneath Montmartre with its exotic Moroccan foodstalls featuring goatheads on spits and other delights.

Enjoy. And thanks to the other posters here for giving me some new ideas just when I thought I'd run out.

If you happen to be marginally athletic and perhaps casual cycling enthusiasts you might enjoy renting a bike and going for a ride in the suburbs or countryside near Paris. I cycle in and around Paris all the time and I write trip reports about my travels which I post on the website I referred to earlier (AnyPortinaStorm). They are full of photos so you can see what I see as you ride along with me. Just search my username and you will find links to all my reports. To save you some searching time here are links to a few of them:

Biking the Marne River Just Outside of Paris

http://tinyurl.com/22tud9w


Biking Paris's Western Suburbs (including Saint-Germain-en-Laye)

http://tinyurl.com/2fa3qsf


Biking the countryside in and around Fontainebleau

http://tinyurl.com/4bduunh


And if biking inside Paris itself appeals to you check out this video

http://tinyurl.com/6bwrmmg

We found the Rodin museum interesting. I'd imagined there'd be The Thinker and not much else, but was surprised. There's one bust of a young Parisian girl with a hat that still makes me wonder how anyone could hack all that detail so finely out of a piece of rock. About an hour will do it.

LOL, nukesafe.

My husband and I went to the Erotic Art Museum a few trips back and really enjoyed it. I remember thinking "How in the world can they fill 7 floors with this stuff?" but they can, and they did. It was fascinating.

There are so many good ideas here, I don't have much to add. On our last trip to Paris (my 11th) we went to the Pet Cemetery. It was easy to get to and very interesting - some of the graves are quite elaborate - and Rin Tin Tin is buried there! Here's a site I found on it:

http://europeforvisitors.com/paris/a...g-cemetery.htm

On my last trip to Paris, I visited the Musee du Service de sante des Armees, attached to the Val-de-Grace. It is a bit gruesome but very informative. Brings the horrors of war home in addition to being a good history of the development of medicine.

On my list -

Maison Européenne de la PhotographieMaison Européenne de la Photographie

http://www.mep-fr.org/

5 Rue de Fourcy
75004 Paris, France
01 44 78 75 00

Subway: Saint-Paul

Open 1100-2000 Wed-Sun except public hols - and free after 1700 on Wednesday.

Musée des Collections Historiques de la Préfecture de Police de Paris

http://www.placesinfrance.com/musee_...eum_paris.html

Fab thread, I was just going to start one myself asking the very same thing!!

Kerouac mentioned on another thread, or on Anyportinastorm about the Architecture Museum, NOW that one is definitely on my list for this year.http://www.citechaillot.fr/
I am not sure that is exact link, hopefully Kerouac will come in and let you know. It looks so interesting.

Also don't forget the Antiquities de Louvre (or something very similar to this name) an eye opener.


Schnauzer

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Antiquitaires du Louvre is across from the Louvre, on rue Rivoli. It houses 3 floors of high end antique dealers. I found it fascinating just to browse.

Some great suggestions here--what I like about the Rodin Museum and the tiny Delacroix museum is that the artists actually lived and worked there.

I find the Cluny very interesting on many levels, firstly the every day objects from the Middle Ages, which are hard to come by, then jewelry, illuminated books, religious objects, chalices, monstrance, etc.

Finally, the beautiful Lady and the Unicorn tapesties. All housed in a 15 th centry abbey whivh was built over and around Gallo-Roman baths which have been excavated. Corner of Blvds St. Germain and St. Michel.

The Clemenceau Museum is in the apartment in which the great man lived for 34 years. The apartment is supposedly just as it was on the day of his death.

If you have any interest in the man or World War I
it is certainly worth a visit.

http://musee-clemenceau.fr/en/index.html

Although you may not have art at the top of your list we found the Delacroix Museum an interesting visit. Again, it is in the apartment and studio where Delacroix lived and worked which made it the more interesting for us. Rue de Furstemberg is a quiet little corner of the city.

http://www.musee-delacroix.fr/

How about the Chapelle Expiatoire? Is is a memorial chapel that was erected near the Grands Magasins area. It marks the spot where the bodies of Marie Antoinette and Louis XV1 where thrown (a ditch) after being guillotined. Also in the ditch where the Swiss Guards killed defending the King and Queen from attack from Parisian mobs, at the nearby Tuileries Palace (in front of Louvre, now gone).

A royalist made note of the spot, tended it, and planted two large trees. When the bodies were dug up, one of the confidants of M.A. fainted at the sight of her head, recognizing it for its characteristic chin.

A chapel was built here, and the royal bodies were transfered to St Denis. It has some nice sculpture and inscriptions. When I went they had roped off the basement.

From there I went to the Jacqumart-Andre museum, also an interesting visit, since it combines a collector's house and taste in art. The restaurants is recommended.

From there I went to the Drouot area, where there are auction houses holding public auctions. When I was there I sat in on an auction of antique violins.

From there, easy to walk to the Passages, which are covered passageways with interesting shops and restaurants. Some are quite ornate, some quite old (late 1700s). In a sense, they were the first indoor shopping 'malls'.

Musée Jean Moulin at Gare Montparnasse

http://www.placesinfrance.com/musee_...lin_paris.html

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What a great thread. Thanks for all of the interesting recommendations!

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