Just got home two weeks in London and Paris and I wanted to share some highlights. I got some great suggestions from this board and I wanted to return the favor! <BR> <BR>I highly recommend the Paris Museum Pass. We got a three-day one and could've used a longer one. Everywhere we wanted to go -- except the Eiffel Tower -- was covered on the pass. In most cases it let you skip the line. We used it to visit the top of the Arc du Triomphe, Napoleon's Tomb, Musee D'Orsay, Versailles (it was a huge coup to skip the super long line here), the Louvre and the towers of Notre Dame. <BR> <BR>Paris Visite pass for transit also was great. We got a 5-day one. Bought it and the museum pass on the Rail Europe site (www.raileurope.com) then exchanged the vouchers when we arrived at Gare du Nord. <BR> <BR>Absolutely loved the Musee D'Orsay. The building itself is a work of art. I love the giant clock on the 3rd level that you can stand in and look out over the Seine to the Louvre. <BR> <BR>A favorite: the Eiffel Tower at night from Trocadero. It was packed, but it's a beautiful vantage point. Arc du Triomphe is beautiful at night, too. All the bridges are beautifully lighted, too. I can see where the nickname comes from. We didn't do it, but I thought a nighttime Seine cruise would be nice. <BR> <BR>Loved where we stayed ... in the 6th arrondissement, at Hotel le Regent on rue Dauphine. It was near the Odeon Metro stop and walking distance to the Latin Quarter, Notre Dame, Musee D'Orsay and the Louvre. The hotel was very nice (a 3-star), although our room was absolutely tiny. We got a standard double room, which was 750 FF; deluxe double rooms, which were significantly larger (I peeked in when they were being cleaned) were 1150 FF. Our room, No. 53, and the one above it, 63, were the only two with views of Notre Dame from their windows! <BR> <BR>Our favorite afternoon snack was crepes at the little sidewalk shops. <BR> <BR>Went to Versailles on Sunday to see the fountains. It's a musical show called Les Grandes Eaux Musicales, where the fountains go off to a background of classical music. I didn't know that the fountains didn't go off continuously all day on Sunday; it's only certain hours. We ended up having a couple of hours to wait after we toured the palace, but that wasn't difficult with the huge expanse of gardens. <BR> <BR>I've gone on too much so I'll stop, but it was a wonderful trip! <BR> <BR>

Thanks for the posting we're going in about 12 days. Can you buy the pass in Paris for transit, as I don't think we have time to get one here?

The Museum pass is available at Metro stations and costs about 30% less than if you buy it online. If you are going to be in Paris from Monday to Sunday (or even Wed.-Sun.) consider the Carte Orange--it is good for the Metro and buses and costs 85FF (I think). You can buy it until Wednesday and it is good until the following Sunday midnite.It requires a tiny picture.

Thanks for your wonderful report DeeInLB! It will have to do until I can get back to Paris next year Please post more.....

Are you aware that the D'Orsay building (general shape and major construction - ceiling, etc) are the same as when it was a train station? On my first trip to Paris (1969) that's what it was. Great museum!!!

How was London?

We had a great time in London, also. I posted a short report on that separately. <BR> <BR>A couple of things I forgot to mention earlier... we had breakfast a couple of mornings at a wonderful bakery called Paul. It's at the corner of rue de Buci and rue Seine. In addition to all the pastries, they had incredible freshly squeezed orange juice and the best tea I had on the trip. <BR> <BR>And before we left for the trip, I had asked in a posting what to do about the funky Paris hotel showers that don't have curtains or shower doors. I got some great responses and suggestions, including to be sure to hide the toilet paper so it wouldn't get soaked. Well, as it turned out, we had a shower with a door!! I still love the toilet paper tip, though. <BR> <BR>One fun souvenir we bought was a French Monopoly game! It was from a little game shop on rue Saint Andres des Arts in the 6th. All of the streets in the game are Paris streets (Champs Elysees is where Park Place is in the U.S. game), and the railroads are Paris train stations. It's really cute. <BR> <BR>I also didn't mention how jam-packed the Eiffel Tower was -- and we were there on a Tuesday. We waited in line for nearly an hour to get on the elevator, then both the 2nd stage and the top were completely filled with people. It kind of took away from the experience, but it wouldn't have been a trip to Paris without a trip to the Eiffel Tower. <BR> <BR>

Dee - thanks for your post, I go to Paris on Wednesday. Maybe I'll be able to stop by Paul for OJ. But I am disappointed that the wait is so long at the Eiffel Tower....I will be going with my 2 1/2 yr old who doesn't really know the definition of patience. But hopefully if we go early in the morning, the line won't be too long. I definitely want to get the museum pass -thanks for the tips and hopefully I can return the favor when I return!

Lots of children have a problem with heights, especially at a place like the Eiffel Tower. <BR> <BR>To the person with the 2 1/2 year old: You might want to skip the tower this time. It is possible that you will wait in line a long time and then your child will be terrified and you will have to leave. I have seen it happen.

ttt

Dee, <BR> <BR>We're leaving for Paris next week. Thank you for your post. Did you enjoy the Sunday trip to the fountains at Versailles? We were considering that side tour. Also, did you get your museum pass BEFORE you left?

Lisa: Yes, we enjoyed the fountains at Versailles very much. In fact, I liked it more than touring the palace itself, but that may just have been because the palace was incredibly crowded. We kept getting bumped into by tour groups -- ugh. Definitely check on the times of the fountains before you go. (I can look them up tonight when I get home and post for you, or you can probably find on a web site). We came out of the palace and found we had just missed the early show and had to wait nearly 3 hours for the next one. It wasn't a big deal because we bought sandwiches and had a leisurely picnic lunch and enjoyed the gardens, but I was distressed at first. And for some reason, the Fodor's Paris book doesn't even mention the fountains. <BR> <BR>And yes, we got the museum pass before we left. I ordered it from the Rail Europe web site. Since you leave in a week, it might be cutting it too close for you now. But there were plenty of places that sold the passes in Paris. We saw them at Gare du Nord, and I recall seeing them at the ticket booths at the towers of Notre Dame and the Arc de Triomphe. <BR> <BR>Hope you have a wonderful trip!! <BR>

Just to add -- also just back from France. 8 days in Paris & 13 days driving in the countryside. The museum pass is DEFINITELY the way to go. We got a 5-day. It will probably save you money, but the important thing, even if it doesn't save money, it's well worth it for the time it saves. We went to the Orsay on a Tuesday (not a good day, since the Louvre is closed). The line was about 2 blocks long and moving slowly. With the museum pass we were able to walk right in a door to the left of the main door. Similarly when we visited the Louvre. I would have paid twice as much to by-pass those awful lines! I had trouble getting a Carte Orange. You really are supposed to be a resident. I had difficulty with the machine and the human attendant wouldn't sell us one. However, it turned out all for the best. Paris is really a small city -- we ended up walking most places anyway. Walking is a good way NOT to gain weight while you indulge in all the great food & wine! Had a wonderful trip -- thanks to all for the good advice I got on this site!

Thanks so much Dee. We'll probably do a GrayLine tour - so, I'll let them worry about the time for the fountain I hadn't heard about the fountains until I saw where someone posted about it here. <BR>Thanks again!