What to do on the first day in Paris?
Jun 17th, 2009, 06:39 AM
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What to do on the first day in Paris?
So.... we arrive in Paris at 0835. Our apartment on the Rue Champs du Mars will be ready for check in early. We will be exhausted, but don't really want to sleep right away. Shopping and lunch. We plan to nap a little in the afternoon, Any suggestions on how to spend the afternoon and evening in the 7th Arondissment on that first exhausting day? Batobus and Eiffel tower at night feasible? Anything else?
Jun 17th, 2009, 06:54 AM
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If you are jet-lagged, the best thing is to keep on walking.
I would just start walking to explore the attractions in the area - you can start with Les Invalides, then cross the Seine and stroll through Feauburg St. Honoré, along the Louvre, through the Tuileries, over Place de la Concorde and further to Champs-Elysees (maybe with a relaxing stop in one of the cafés) and back. You will get an excellent impression of Paris during this stroll.
Eiffel tower at night is a wonderful idea.
I would just start walking to explore the attractions in the area - you can start with Les Invalides, then cross the Seine and stroll through Feauburg St. Honoré, along the Louvre, through the Tuileries, over Place de la Concorde and further to Champs-Elysees (maybe with a relaxing stop in one of the cafés) and back. You will get an excellent impression of Paris during this stroll.
Eiffel tower at night is a wonderful idea.
Jun 17th, 2009, 07:08 AM
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Explore the neighborhood. Walk to Rue Cler (or to a nearby market) and pick up a few groceries, fruit, coffee, bread, cheese, wine -- something to munch and drink at the Eiffel Tower that night. Or, walk to the Bon Marche and wander through Le Grande Epicerie. If you buy groceries there, take the metro back to your apt.
I think everyone is different about napping. I usually take a shower and sleep for an hour or two after I arrive then I'm good until bedtime. Some stay up until bedtime but I'm too exhausted and would walk in front of a bus or get lost. So see how you feel when you get there.
Enjoy Paris
I think everyone is different about napping. I usually take a shower and sleep for an hour or two after I arrive then I'm good until bedtime. Some stay up until bedtime but I'm too exhausted and would walk in front of a bus or get lost. So see how you feel when you get there.
Enjoy Paris
Jun 17th, 2009, 07:09 AM
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Keep moving and don't nap. Start out with a croissant and café crème on the rue Cler, check out the shops there, then stroll over to les Invalides and see Napoleon's tomb and the marvelous exhibits in the Musée de l'Armée, then walk to the Rodin Museum and have a light lunch in the garden café there, or another coffee. Move on to the 6ème, Boul. Saint-Germain, browse around the rue Buci market stalls, then head for the river and walk back along it to the fields in front of the Musée de l'Armée, enjoy the men playing boules there, and then back to your hotel. Freshen up, go out for a light, early dinner, then do a bâteaux-mouches tour, or the other way around. Get to bed by about 9-10 pm and you should be all set to go without jetlag next morning. I would forget the Batobus - it's just a means of transport, not a tour outfit. You could use it to get around more quickly, but it's really best to keep walking. I often log 10+ miles on my first day in Paris. Vitamin D, which you get from sunlight, fights jetlag.
Jun 17th, 2009, 07:19 AM
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I agree with the previous posters re being active and in the sunlight, though my one experience with an evening bateaux-mouches tour on our arrival day was that we kept falling asleep. Maybe save that for the second day.
Another active, semi-outdoors first day possibility is to climb the towers of Notre Dame.
I usually try to avoid taking a nap that first day, but that's up to the individual. Sometimes DH takes a 1/2 or one-hour cat nap, while I spend time at a cafe. One trip, when we made the mistake of visiting Musee d'Orsay the first day (good thing we'd been there before, as the paintings became kind of a blur after a while), I took a 5-minute cat nap leaning against DH while sitting on a bench in a corner. Churches are good for that kind of thing too, if you just need 5 minutes.
Another active, semi-outdoors first day possibility is to climb the towers of Notre Dame.
I usually try to avoid taking a nap that first day, but that's up to the individual. Sometimes DH takes a 1/2 or one-hour cat nap, while I spend time at a cafe. One trip, when we made the mistake of visiting Musee d'Orsay the first day (good thing we'd been there before, as the paintings became kind of a blur after a while), I took a 5-minute cat nap leaning against DH while sitting on a bench in a corner. Churches are good for that kind of thing too, if you just need 5 minutes.
Jun 17th, 2009, 08:44 AM
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Hi ng,
On our first day, we always walk around, stop for a little nibble, walk around, stop for a little nibble, walk around, stop for a little nibble, until it is time to go to bed.
We don't do anything that requires thinking.
The next morning we are on local time and ready to go.
On our first day, we always walk around, stop for a little nibble, walk around, stop for a little nibble, walk around, stop for a little nibble, until it is time to go to bed.
We don't do anything that requires thinking.
The next morning we are on local time and ready to go.
Jun 17th, 2009, 08:44 AM
#11
I have a somewhat different take on the napping issue. I can't stay up all day after an all night flight. I usually walk around a bit and then nap in the afternoon. Then I end up staying up pretty late that first night, and even the second night.
Those nights before I am totally adjusted to the time change work well for me to go out and do some late night activities that I might be too tired to do if it really felt like midnight to me. So those first nights I enjoy the nightlife while it still feels like it's six hours earlier.
Those nights before I am totally adjusted to the time change work well for me to go out and do some late night activities that I might be too tired to do if it really felt like midnight to me. So those first nights I enjoy the nightlife while it still feels like it's six hours earlier.
Jun 17th, 2009, 09:10 AM
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I usually don't nap on arrival but on the last trip I decided to try it and it was fantastic. Set the alarm so I only slept for 1.5 hours but what a difference that made in how I felt. Woke up, went and shopped at Monoprix and then met some other Fordorites for a Paris GTG. I'm always going to do this from now on. Did not get that "hit the wall" feeling at all and had no trouble adjusting to the time difference after that.
Jun 17th, 2009, 10:34 AM
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Sharon, that explains why you were so full of energy that night at our Paris gathering! (This is off topic, but... I was one of the people at the get-together Sharon is talking about. I walked into the restaurant in Paris, hoping I was in the right place, and a cheerful person called out from a cafe table, "Nikki"! I felt like Norm walking into Cheers.)
Jun 18th, 2009, 06:18 AM
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Good to see that a few others nap the first day. I envy St Cirq's ability to clock 10 hours the first day without napping, but know I couldn't do it. I stretch out and sleep for an hour or two and then go out into the sunshine so get vitamin D.
I think staying up or napping for an hour or two depends upon whether you've slept during the flight and how much sleep you require. My last flight was 11 hours and I probably dozed off and on for two or three while the man in the window seat curled up and slept from shortly after dinner to breakfast. I'm sure he hit the ground running but I didn't.
I'm curious about why the non-nappers think we shouldn't nap; it doesn't affect my bedtime, I sleep through the night, feel fine in the morning and am ready to go.
I think staying up or napping for an hour or two depends upon whether you've slept during the flight and how much sleep you require. My last flight was 11 hours and I probably dozed off and on for two or three while the man in the window seat curled up and slept from shortly after dinner to breakfast. I'm sure he hit the ground running but I didn't.
I'm curious about why the non-nappers think we shouldn't nap; it doesn't affect my bedtime, I sleep through the night, feel fine in the morning and am ready to go.
