Paris in 2.5 days: suggestions? (1 Viewer)

[Dan Lindley]

Save up money (or don't buy souvenirs) and go to the best restaurant you can afford; hopefully a classic French Michelin guide 3 star place with a multi-course menu that will take you hours and hours to sit through. You will cherish the memory forever!!!

WALK everywhere; it is a great city for that. Lots of museums as yet unmentioned (like the Invalides to celebrate Napoleon, or the small one on impressionism in the 16th), but really, just walk and soak it in. Not sure Defense is worth it (unless you are a fan of Hulot's Playtime), but walk from Arc de triomphe to (detour to Madeleine/Ritz/Opera/Fauchon) Louvre to Notre Dame to Pompidou...

Do you need a porter? Have a blast,

Dan

Edit/PS: reserve the restaurant well in advance...

 

[Tim Fennell]

One tip I would offer is the 3 day Museum pass which we got at the train station. That gets you into all the museums - but not the special exhibits. That way you can walk into the Musee D'Orsay and if you don't like it, leave 10 minutes later. We used it to go to the George Pompidou museum and left pretty quickly.

The Louvre will take a week to see everything. It will also be crowded. We saw a few highlights (my brother the art major had me find the Wreck of the Medusa which is a very large painting and another (wedding at Canan?) that was the size of a billboard. It is worth an hour to just soak in all of the sights.

The Tulierees museum has Monet's lily pond paintings. It wraps around the whole room and is 1 block from the Louvre.

I would also suggest wearing nicer clothes than you might around the US. not a suit but chinos vs jogging shorts and a button up shirt vs a tshirt.

We had lunch at the Jules Verne. It is unaffordable for dinner but very nice to go there and look over the city (it is half way up in the Eiffel Tower). I expect the view would be awesome at night but I remember lunch being over 500 francs ( >$100) so dinner would be more!

Tim

 

[Kris McLaughlin]

Don't miss the palace of Versailles. It is absolutely stunning, and only a short train ride away. When you get to the metro station where you board the train to Versailles (sorry, I don't recall the name), ask at the booth for an all-inclusive ticket. We bought them this summer and for 20Euros, it included train there & back & admission to everything there. The best part of it, however, was that it acted as a VIP pass of sorts! We spent all day skipping past monstrous lineups to go directly into the various wings.

Even just for half a day, Versailles cannot be missed!

salut,

 

[Matt Gordon]

Try the Arc de Triumph. It's their tomb of the unknown soldier, and has a mildly interesting museum in the top. You can go on top of it and look out over the city. A GREAT place to take pics of the Eiffel tower!

Check out my pictures of my European vacation (including Paris) at mattgordon.com!

 

[Jay H]

Hey, Nice pictures Matt (even the one you described as the ugliest picture you ever saw ), just watching the tour de france on OLN each year is amazing, as they have helicopter shots and usually before a commercial break they'll show some guy's private villa or castle and it's quite neat. Mount St. Michael looks one cool place to live...
Jay

 

[Philip Hamm]

My appologies to all. Have a nice time in Paris Mario.

Apologies accepted. Posting that was a class act IMO.

 

[Lew Crippen]

. Mount St. Michael looks one cool place to live...

This makes quite a nice day trip from Paris. Although, for anyone touring France, it fits in better with Brittany and Normandy.

 

[Matt Butler]

Always wanted to visit Paris but never had. Its on my to do list.
Go visit Jim Morrison's grave.

 

[Cees Alons]

Go visit Jim Morrison's grave

That's in the same graveyard I mentioned before (Père Lachaisse).

Cees

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Rent the Rick Steves video, he has some nice tips on how to handle restaurants, hotels, and the like
And yes, please don't be the ugly American. If they're rude to you, that's their problem, but don't let it be yours as well
From the stories I've heard, and as related above, learn some basic French words, but don't try to speak it. Many French get particular about pronunciation and will ignore you MORE if you're not accenting properly. Again, these were related stories and not my personal experience

 

[Cees Alons]

Oh... and be very hesitant to DEMAND a non-smokers table in a restaurant. They're forced to have one (a new law), but there's a chance you will find yourself and your company sitting at another level in what looks like a closet opposite the toilets. Or worse.
Cees