babylon

Is it possible to stay overnight in Paris? We met a couple who just takes an overnight bag on 2 day trips and keeps their luggage in their main hotel [in your case London]. My favorite part of the last 2 times in Paris is the late tour boat on the Seine when all the lights are on -- just magnificent. There seem to be plenty of morning trains you could take back. Just a thought. You're grandchildren are lucky to have you as grandparents.

djkbooks

I happen to enjoy l'Opentour. You cannot compare views from windows on a city bus to those from seats on the open air upper deck of l'Opentour. Bus 69, in particular, is usually very crowded, so any windows/views are usually obstructed anyway.

Les Cars Rouges has a very limited one route, whereas l'Opentour has four extensive routes.

Sometimes the bus lingers at a stop if there are a lot of people boarding for the first time while their payment is processed. Sometimes, buses do not come along as often as promised, due to traffic and other conditions.

But, in the overall, l'Opentour, if the weather is pleasant, is a magnificent way to enjoy the scenery, monuments, and get around to the major sites, whether or not you have time to hop off.

AlessandraZoe

I have always been able to get myself to a window on Line 69. May have taken a stop or two, but it works.

Plus I get to look at little French kids' shoes. My daughters and I get such a charge out of those.

azzure

Another thing I disliked about the L'Open tour is the scratchy, barely intelligible information dispersed to us over the cheap little disposable earbuds. Interspersed with canned "French" music, of course.

justineparis

Barb,, if you haven't been on a bike in 30 years then I suspect you are not very old at all,, I hadn't been on a bike for 30 years when I took my first Fat Tire Bike tour, and I loved it, it was fun and easy( the route is flat!) ..

Another option not mentioned yet is a Foxity Tour, it is not a hoho, but it is cheaper and people seem to like it well enough.

I think the girls will enjoy the L'Open tour ,, but only if weather is nice.

The metro is difficult for those with any mobility issues ,, please keep that in mind, stairs and long passageways, many local seniors prefer the buses for that exact reason( and yes, I know this from a local)

Christina

I don't really think local buses are the same thing as a tour on the tourist buses because they don't have the top open-air seating. That is the one thing I really like about those kind of buses, I did one in Barcelona and it was a very relaxing way to see the city and you got a lot of good views up there. Given the weather was so nice in Barcelona, it was a lot more pleasant than the metro, that's for sure. Taking a regular bus isn't the same thing, you don't get that top open-air experience or the same views.

I never listen to the commentary anyway, on any of those buses, that isn't the reason I take them. I just do it for the ride and the views. You don't have to listen to it if you don't like it. I don't use that as a way to learn about things, but if it were really good commentary, maybe some people like that kind of thing.