Seeing Paris Solo
 

I am going to Paris with my husband in May but during the week days he will have to work and I will have to wander on my own. We were there 4 years ago and saw the major tourist attractions. Any suggestions on activities that would be safe ( I have 3 days to kill)?

I would imagine most activities would be safe unless you fall into the Seine. Check Borders or Barnes and Noble (or your library). There is a marvelous little book that lists all the museums in Paris. There is a museum for anything that could possibly interest you. Buy a Metro pass and enjoy.

The major parks are full of moms and tots during the day and are beautiful and fun if you like people watching. My favorites are Place des Vosges and the Luxembourg Gardens. Hm, add the Tuileries because they always have some crazy art exhibit there.

Take a canal boat cruise on the Canal St. Martin. It's beautiful and something that not everyone does.

Just walk and walk and walk. You'll have a great time. Everything is fun in Paris!

My first time in Paris the companion I was to meet there was delayed a couple days, so I was left on my own. Armed with a basic guidebook, rusty (at best) French, the map from the hotel and suggestions from hotel staff I walked all over the place. Not once did I feel unsafe, and after a ride or two on the Metro I felt confident navigating the system. Since you've already seen the major attractions, consider picking a different area each day and just wander. There are also several planned walks, some self-guided and others led by a guide. Check out http://www.parisinconnu.com/promenades/index_us.htm and http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homep...ng/#dailywalks for examples.
If you like museums, the Jacquemart Andre is delightful
(http://www.musee-jacquemart-andre.co...re/home_en.htm) and can be easily combined with a visit to the Marmottan (www.marmottan.com/uk/sommaire/)

Here's a few museums you might like. Do a google search for basic info.


Jacquemart - Andre Mu

Carnavalet

Cluny

Marmottan

Rodin Museum

Musée Cognacq-Jay

Nissim de Camondo Museuma and walk Parc Monceau.

Musée National Eugène Delacroix

Museum of Romantic Life

Musée de Montmartre

Costume and Fashion Museum

Musee Grevin

Musee de la Monnaie

Musee Maillol (sculptor)

The Leclerc Memorial and Jean Moulin Museum (resistance)

Victor Hugo Musuem

Zadkine museum (sculptor).

Musee Guimet (Asian art)

Musee de la Chasse (Hunting)

Edith Piaf Museum

Hi merrisr,


What great suggestions. I am almost timid about adding my own ideas.

As long as you can say "NON!", you are safe.

Near to the Jacquemart-Andre Museum, one of the world's greatest collections of Egyptian art among other things, is the Parc Monceau. Well worth a few hours.

The Pere Lachaise Cemetery

Friday night Rollerblading from the Tour Montparnasse. See
http://www.pari-roller.com/

The Batobus: www.batobus.com

Arenes de Lutece a 1C amphitheatre and second most important Gallo-Roman site in Paris.

Have a lovely visit.

Would you enjoy having tea? Several Fodorites have had tea at the Ritz and have really enjoyed it.

My recommendation would be to plan on using the buses. I've met the most friendly and helpful residents at bus stops and on the buses. Get a bus routes map http://www.ratp.fr/ParisVisite/Eng/Pla_q/f_pla.htm

Trust me on this...

Take a Paris Walks. I really liked the one through Pere Lachaise cemetery. If I'd have gone to the cemetery alone, I'd have given up looking for the famous ones and left in frustration.

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/ParisWalking/

Shop through some of the covered passages. This site is in French but it gives you an idea where they are:

www.parisinconnu.com/passages/index.htm

Thanks for all the advice. I am not a huge museum person but do love adventuring into new areas and people watching. Any favorite areas for that?

ira put me on to this one. Do a text search for Degas And walks.

He did a week's worth of detailed walks covering a large part of Paris. I printed them out and tried several on my last trip.

Find a café on a busy street! The Tuileries and Luxembourg gardens are also great for people.

Reading all these suggestions, I want to go to Paris NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 8^)

You could also go out of town-perhaps to Versailles, Fontainbleu (both close by and easily accessed by public transportation. Nice days out. Chartes and Mont St. Michel require early departure and late return. Paris has so many attractions, there are many many things that you could do.

How about a litle shopping - there are all sorts of things available in Paris not easy to find other places. And I love even browsing through the stores for things i"m never going to buy to get a picture of how other people really live, (Did you know that towels and bed linens - in england at least - cost about twice what they do in the US - for the same medium sort of thing - not high end hand embroidered or anything?)

Since I'm not a museum person myself, people-watching and shopping were my best ideas too! Samaritaine is a large department store with a great (free) rooftop view. The Gardens at Luxembourg and the Tuileries are both great places to sit outside if the weather's good (buy a great sandwich from a bakery and a French tabloid or fashion magazine to read). I was comfortable solo around the 5th - Latin Quarter, sitting at a sidewalk table having a couple glasses of wine.

I'm pretty sure anything I've mentioned would be safe. My best tip learned the hard way: Take a business card from your hotel in case you get lost or walk too far, then you can catch a taxi back at the end of the day.

Some older threads for more ideas (found by searching Paris off the beaten path) There are more of these.

Going to Paris for the 3rd time
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...mp;tid=1353852

What to see in Paris after you've seen the highlights
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34430161

Hi Merrisr. For people watching, my favorite places were Place des Vosges (4th), Luxembourg Gardens (6th), Cafe Les Deux Magots (6th) and Cafe de la Paix (8th?)

Have a glorious time!

You have the best of both worlds. I really believe that when you travel alone you see so much more. You really notice a lot more of the details. I suppose because you don't have the distraction of relating to a very familiar person. Plus you have the advantage of dinners with your husband!

One of my favorite ways to really see new things and watch how the locals live their lives, is to get on a bus and ride from one end of the route the the other. Not only do you get out of the tourist areas into the places where the locals live and shop and eat and live their day to day lives, but even watching them catching buses and chatting with eachother, and carrying on is so interesting. (It has the add bonus of letting you rest your feet!) And it's almost impossible to get lost because those routes are almost always circular or out and back.

Another thing I like to do is establish some regular patterns so I see the same people coming and going each day and observe the normal life of an area. Being alone, and gaining a greater familiarity of an area allows you to find more and more as you scratch the surface, and then scratch it again, and again!

Good luck!

Trying to contact Seamus, with a question on the La Hacienda de Cortez in Curenevaca. He mentioned it in a post and can't seem to find any web site on it. thanks. [email protected]