gardendiva

For private tours you may want to look at Michael Osman. There are several threads here about him. We used him about 10 years ago and I have to say it was one of the best days of our trip.

You can tell him your interests and he will develope a tour just for you. We found him to be exstreamly reasonable.

I am not good at inserting links but you can do a search of his name.

AlessandraZoe

I do want to comment on the HopOnOff bus notion. I hated the thing. In fact, my whole family hated the thing, probably because it's just so unnecessary. We left it after one hour--and we had two-day passes.

I think the issue was that we didn't want to see Paris from a tourist's point of view. We wanted to see it with our eyes on both the sights AND on the people who actually lived in the city.

Ergo, the public bus. There are public bus lines that are WONDERFUL. I can't even begin to name them. My favorite may be line #69, but then again, line #29 is more "back streetish" and I like #24 for how it skirts the Seine and...

You get the idea.

You can "play" with your possible routes on this link:
http://www.ratp.fr/plan-interactif/cartebus.php
Amazing, right?

Price for any ride, no matter how far you go on the line, is just one Metro/Bus ticket.

There are numerous threads on doing the great Paris bus lines. One of them is here:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...y-bus-tour.cfm

I actually wrote one awhile ago, but I can't find it. No matter--you'll figure it out.

Ooh, almost forgot--DebitNM gave you a great tip about Discover Walks. Aforesaid younger daughter doing year abroad took a couple of those too and thought they were quite good.

And I'm going to quote your mother forever: "I don't think many people have said that they regret the time they spent in Paris."

Perfect.

adrienne

I've done about a dozen Paris Walks walking tours and they are all wonderful. Each walk covers either a theme or a small portion of the city so you're not overwhelmed. You can sometimes connect with other people traveling solo before and after the walks.

Another great tour is the free Notre Dame tour, given 3 times a week by church volunteers. You learn about Gothic churches and about Notre Dame specifically. Half the tour is outside the church and the second half is inside. Since the tour is free I would suggest a donation to the church.

If you post your interests you'll get more specific information on Paris.

Guenmai

Speaking of tours, this was a great one.

http://www.walkingthespirit.com/

I'd been going to Paris, almost annually, since 1976 when I took this walking tour in 2011. I had Ealy (?) as a guide and he was great. Since I usually stay in the 6th (rue de Seine near rue Buci/ rue Jacob), and Ealy lives a 5-minute walk away,also in the 6th, it was very easy for us to connect.

Ealy is originally from Texas and has lived in Paris a long time and has a daughter who is part French. He's in his mid-50s and is not only a very accomplished artist, but also a medical doctor. He did the artwork for the Walking The Spirits calendar and the calendar is beautiful. And he really knows his history. He's in the process of writing a history book. We talked extensively about a lot of things.

We started the tour from in front of the fountain at St.Michel. I was the only person on the first tour ( it was April, I think) and then we were two people on the second tour. Perfect. I had also booked a third tour for the next day, with another tour guide, but due to knee problems I had to cancel it. The 3rd tour was to be of the area around Chateau Rouge. I've been going up there pretty regularly for many years, but wanted to do it with a guide who not only has lived in the area for many years, but also knows the history very well.

The first tour, with Ealy, was of St.Germain, the 6th, area and we walked all over it. I already knew a lot of the history that we would be discussing as I had read Michel Fabre's book many years ago. I've known for decades the importance of the St.Germain area when connected with the history that would be discussed which is one reason that I was personally drawn to that area back around 1976.

Over the decades, I have gone to many parts of Paris and taken in the different history of the areas; French, Jewish, Asian, Arab, etc, as I like to mix things up.

Happy Travels!

disfordiana

What fabulous tips. I'm overwhelmed by the helpful responses.

I love the idea of the bike tours. A bike tour to Giverny sounds marvelous. I can just picture it now

I am definitely interested in taking a cooking class. I was a philosophy major so I wouldn't mind seeing where Sartre and Simone hung out. I MUST see the Notre Dame and the Sacre Coeur.

I really would like to work on my french a bit before I go. A good refresher course would be great. Anyone recommend any mp3s or audio books? (I love the idea about hiring a tutor but I'm afraid it would be too expensive.)

I am definitely a bit at war with myself with the apartment vs. hotel debate. It is so nice that I am getting both suggestions, however.

Goals for the trip:
Take a cooking class
Go to Giverny
Linger at a Paris Cafe so long that they ask me to leave (is it even possible?)
Ride a bicycle through the city
Listen to some fabulous and relaxing live music
Suggestions?

Also any suggestions for some fantastic french music to get me jazzed up for the trip?

I'm having so much fun planning and I'm not even there yet!

AlessandraZoe

You will only be asked to leave a cafe if they are closing or if they are setting up for dinner.

Just don't bike with a baguette and a beret however...

...totally corny--I always play Edith Piaf to get me in the mood. My one high school French teacher used to pass out the song lyrics on Fridays (if we were good), turn on the record player, and we'd all happily belt out Ediaf at the top of our lungs.

My kids used to think I was totally nuts--but now they do the pre-trip belt-out.

Off the top of my head, other examples of other types of French music:
Éric Satie
Debussy
Georges Bizet (although we always think of "Carmen" as Spanish)
Jacques Offenbach (born in Germany, but spent most of time in France and of course! "Can Can"!!!)
Chopin (Polish but spent his most productive writing years in Paris)
Maurice Ravel
Michel Jean Legrand
Charles Trenet
Tino Rossi
Maurice Chevalier
Jean Sablon
Charles Dumont
Line Renaud
Gilbert Becaud
Dalida
Gloria Lasso
Jean Ferret
Georges Brassens
Delphine

Youngest could send you current pop artists and rappers if you want to know those. But quite frankly, walk into any department store in Paris and most likely within the hour, you'll hear Michael Jackson. I kid you not.

StCirq

For brushing up on your French, there are lots of options, including:

http://www.conversationexchange.com/
www.travlang.com (might be too simplistic for you)
BBC online courses
News in Slow French (google it)

DebitNM

Charles Aznavour
Yves Montand

LucyLemonade

To fine tune your ear for French, you should watch Amelie a few times without the subtitles.

Then listen to French radio podcasts.
http://www.franceinter.fr/podcasts

Not that I'm trying to persuade you to go with the apartment, but I forgot to mention another reason I like to stay at an apartment is I love to go to the markets and try to food when I don't feel like sitting in a hotel by myself.

If you do want to find people to spend a bit of time with try couchsurfing. I'm not suggesting you stay at people's houses, just because usually you can find group events and outings. Or you can try onvasortir.

Nikki

There is a group called Franglish that organizes events in bars around Paris where English speakers spend the evening interacting with French speakers in order to improve their language skills. It sounds sort of like speed dating. You spend fifteen minutes with a French speaker, half the time speaking in French and half in English. Then you spend fifteen minutes with another French speaker, and so on. I read about this on Fodor's and am hoping to give it a try myself.

http://www.franglish.eu/

KL467

I also took a cooking class with Constance, which included shopping in the markets. It was a wonderful experience and a great way to meet people. http://www.cookingwithclass.com/

I recommend the following bike tour, which was the highlight of my trip to Paris: http://www.bikeabouttours.com/ I did not want to take a bike tour, but fortunately, my husband insisted!

Christina

YOu might want some music a bit more contemporary than the above suggestions.

Try Zaz, Les Nubians, Keren Ann, Camille, Olivia Ruiz. A bit older but I like them a lot and they are still singing -- Francis Cabrel and Maxime le Forestier. Actually, I kind of like Carla Bruni's CDs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-F_9fgtEKYg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HT1tJSJzZWo
http://www.kerenann.com/


I don't find an apartment that exciting myself, but it's funny because someone said they like it so they can buy food and cook it in the apt. That's one reason I don't like them, I don't want to hole up in an apt when traveling, I want to be out and about in Paris, eating in a cafe with others. I can cook and stay in at home.

LucyLemonade

I didn't say I want to "hole myself up in an apartment". LOL

When traveling alone, I don't always like to have to eat all my meals by myself at a restaurant. A week of eating in restaurants every day alone can be annoying, plus I find it's just too much food.

And I said I actually enjoy visiting the food markets to buy perishable food items like great bread and cheese, pastries, pates and cold cuts, fresh fruit and veg, etc. At least with an apartment it gives me the choice. If I were traveling only a few days, an apartment wouldn't necessarily be my choice as they can be more of a PITA to check in and out of.

But as always everyone has their own way preferences. It's just as easy to hole oneself up in a hotel if that is ones inclination.

Nikki

I see people say things like that here, about not wanting an apartment because they don't want to shop and cook, and I just have to shake my head. Why would you have to shop and cook in an apartment any more than you would in a hotel?

Jinky

Christina said:

<<That's one reason I don't like them, I don't want to hole up in an apt when traveling, I want to be out and about in Paris, eating in a cafe with others. I can cook and stay in at home.>>

This makes NO SENSE to me. What a ridiculous statement.

Is someone forcing you to stay in your apartment the entire time? Forcing you to cook?

As Lucy said, apartments are wonderful for the fact that you have a CHOICE. It's so nice to take advantage of the amazing markets, fresh bread, cheese, pastries etc..

Lovely to wake up, make coffee and have a lovely pastry. Or make a picnic and take to the park..

Also, not all of us have the kind of $$ to spend eating out at cafes and restaurants twice a day. Having an apartment, you can do both and still have delicious food, not having to scrimp and eat cheap nasty takeaway every day.

I never stay in a hotel if I'm anywhere for more than a few days.

jmct714

Regarding the music: I went to a performance of Vivaldi's Four Seasons at Sainte-Chapelle when I was in Paris last week, and it was a highlight of our trip. The concert is about an hour, and it's a beautiful setting. I think this would be a treat even if you don't love classical music.

justineparis

Nikki, so if you don't need or want to shop and cook, why stay in an apartment, they are NOT all bigger then a hotel room, and many hotels have mini fridges ( the ones I take always do) so you can still store food and snacks( like I always do) and more hotel rooms in the budget-moderate category have a/c then apartments in that range, and I consider that very important for those visiting in summer.


i do not find hotels cost more money at all, I can still eat in and save money, and have snacks,, plus beds made and fresh towels every day, love it.

Guenmai

"A week of eating in restaurants every day alone can be annoying, plus I find it's just too much food. And I said I actually enjoy visiting the food markets to buy perishable food items like great bread and cheese, pastries, pates and cold cuts, fresh fruit and veg, etc. At least with an apartment it gives me the choice."

Eating in a restaurant everyday can indeed be annoying, although I don't mind eating alone.

The main reason that I rent apartments on vacation is to not have to be a slave to restaurants, restaurant food, restaurant prices, and restaurant reservations. The thought of having to eat meals daily, at a restaurant, is just not my definition of a vacation. I don't want to be on such a fixed schedule where I have to wonder where I'm going to eat daily and then at dinner time have to deal with restaurant reservations.

Plus, in the mornings, I like to sleep in late and then get up and have breakfast in my night clothes while reading the paper and watching TV. I usually sleep past the hours of when breakfast is served in hotels. After all, it is a vacation and I'm not dragging out of bed just to make hotel breakfast hours.

I do eat lunch out when in Paris as I've eaten at my regular restaurant since the 1980s and I sometimes throw in a few other restaurants if I'm in the mood. And my Parisian friend and I sometimes go out to a restaurant or two. But, there are times that I go over to his place or he comes over to my place and we cook together and eat together which is really nice. But, I usually eat alone which is fine.

After being out all day, it's nice to come "home" and have a home-cooked meal. And just because one rents an apartment doesn't mean that one has to cook. I don't get that logic at all. Rent the apartment and eat out if that's what one wants.

Another reason that I rent apartments is that I have found it much quieter than staying in hotels and more private and I've also always had more than double the space in an apartment and many times for the same price, or less, than the cost of a claustrophobic hotel room.

"As Lucy said, apartments are wonderful for the fact that you have a CHOICE. It's so nice to take advantage of the amazing markets, fresh bread, cheese, pastries etc..
Lovely to wake up, make coffee and have a lovely pastry. Or make a picnic and take to the park."

I agree. It's about choice.

Happy Travels!

Guenmai

"But as always everyone has their own way preferences. It's just as easy to hole oneself up in a hotel if that is ones inclination."

True. Everyone has his or her own preferences. We don't all travel in the same way.

Back in the days, when I stayed in hotels, and prior to 2008, before the no-smoking laws in restaurants went into effect, I either had to get to a restaurant when it first opened and try to eat before the place became smoke filled or I'd get take out food and take it back to my hotel room and eat. And since I usually travel during the season when rain/cold is common, it's not like I could always sit outside at restaurants/cafes.

I have never had a room with a fridge in a hotel room in over three decades of going to Paris, so I've never been able to stock up on food items or store leftover take-out food.

After my Japanese friends sold their small, family-run restaurant, and decided to move back to Japan, I then decided that I needed to start looking for an apartment. For many of the years that they were in Paris, I would just go there and eat with them almost daily. I didn't have to worry so much about meal times as I could basically go by, at any time, knock on their restaurant door and they'd unlock it and let me in. Then, we'd go to the family room and eat. I'm not such a foodie when in Paris. I eat because I have to not because I'm into the food. Now, in other places in the world, it's another story; like Singapore and Bangkok where I eat too much. Smiles.

Happy Travels!

TFU

Solo travel is great,but you might like to connect while in Paris.I found a walking tour company named Context Travel.They have walking tours and other group activities for small groups,usually 6 people.Check their website.We took advantage of 2 different walking tours in Rome,they are on time and quite informative.The leader of the group is an expert,teacher,lecturer,historian in whatever the subject matter is,not just a tour guide.

Enjoy.

Maybe you will post your pictures from your trip.