64kerry

hello first time visitors to Europe from Australia. will be staying in Paris for 6 days end of April. had thought maybe we should hire a tour guide for first day. we arrive at CDG at 10.00am from Canada, time to drop bags at our apartment and do a 1/2 day tour to acquaint us with Paris. please give specific tours and costs and recommendations as to whether it was worth it. don't want to spend too much money on it had thought maybe 30 euro each? the other days would like to do slow pace wandering were ever it takes us that day. thanks for input.

di2315

Hi again 64Kerry!

Before our visit to Paris, I did a search on Fodors for walking in Paris.

There are enough suggestions for several days, and give great detail about where to turn, stop, eat, etc that you don't always need a professional guide.

At the end of one week, we had only covered about a quarter of the suggestions . . . good enough reason for a return trip, im my book!

Cheers, Di

64kerry

thanks Di for answering both my questions. I have just ordered an Eyewitness Top 10 travel guide to Paris. Im hoping that will be very good. at present the only book I have is lonely planet western europe. everything else is being search on the net. appreciate your responses. did you do a trip report that I could read? I love reading everyones trip reports. I think I've become a bit addicted to fodors and trip advisor!!

di2315

Sorry Kerry - no trip report! It would probably be a bit of a re-hash of other reports already here, as I took as much info from Fodors as possible, then crammed as much as we could into our one week stay in Paris!

One thing that we did do that I found out about in our hotel (rather than here) was a canal trip with Paris Canal www.pariscanal.com You can travel either from the Musee D'Orsay wharf to Parc de la Villette, or do the reverse trip. As well as learning more about the history of the canal, it takes you through areas not on the regular 'tourist trail'. We took the metro to near Parc de la Villette in the morning, wandered through the very interesting modern exhibits & sculptures there, the returned in the afternoon on the canal trip back into Paris.

If you're extremely lucky you'll have the same boat guide as us - a true raconteur who really made the history and stories of the canal come alive!

My other advice would be to get a Carte Orange . . . about the best transport investment we've ever made!

And make sure you visit the Galleries Lafayette on Housemann - the ceilings are out of this world, and the champagne bar is something else! I think of them every time I wear the silk scarf I purchased there.

Cheers, Di

64kerry

thanks Di I will definately do your recommendations all sounds wonderful. do you have to book the canal trip or just turn up? can you remember roughly how many euro it will be likely to cost each? and I had planned to get the carte orange pass. How easy was that to get when we don't speak any French. can't wait 7 weeks to go!!!

ira

Hi 64,

You might find these links helpful.

Paris Superthread
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34519236

100 Great Things to Do in Paris
http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...mp;tid=1277898

Degas’s Paris Walks
http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34712768

Jacquemart-Andre’ Museum http://tinyurl.com/p9pol

64kerry

thank you so much Ira for info. really like Degas walks who needs a tour guide when you can follow his walks! cheers

palette

If you do take the canal ride, I strongly suggest you embark at the d'Orsay location. This way you will be rising in the locks and it is much more fun. I have done the trip in both directions and definitely prefer rising and being surprised by the view and those who stand by the side to watch. You need to make a reservation but don't pay until you actually get on the boat. The site gives the cost, but it is around 15 Euros, I believe; with a discount for senior citizens. Without double checking the site, I think you can make the reservations via e-mail; or if you do need to call, whoever answers will be able to speak English. BTW, it is a 3 hour trip, but I find it just the thing for relaxing after walking the city for days.

palette

INDIVIDUAL RATES 2007 for a 2 1/2 hour cruise Adult : 17 € - Child (4 à 11) : 10 € - Senior (over 60) & young people (12 to 25) : 14 €
Our 2 1/2 hour cruises run every day from March 24th to November 11th 2007 and feature a live English commentary.

Reservations are obligatory [email protected] or 01 42 40 96 97

From Musée d’Orsay to Parc de la Villette
Rendez-vous Quai Anatole France, next to Musée d’Orsay, Paris 7°
Métro Solférino or RER Musée d’Orsay

Schedules Departure at 9:30 from the Musée d’Orsay, arrival at 12:15 at the Parc de la Villette

The return metro to Paris is about a 2 block walk from the park. Looks as if the prices have increased since last April - no surprise.

64kerry

thanks so much palette realy appreciate all the info, tips and prices merci

di2315

Hi 64Kerry

The carte orange is really easy to organise. Before we left home I printed off a picture of each of us - dimensions needed are available on the internet; just Google carte orange and the website will tell you the essentials.

We took these pics to the local train station, where they were laminated onto a card, and ready to use. Be aware that the cards start from a particular day of the week (I forget which), so you need to get them on the right day to get a full week's value. We used ours on buses and trains every day, and certainly got our money's worth.

Don't worry about not speaking french - as others here have advised, as long as you begin with 'bonjour madam/monsieur' they immediately tell from your accent that you're not the genuine Parisienne, and answer you in English. Cheers, Di