Paris anyone?

[Phar Lap]

Is there anyone in Paris? I'll be there for four nights and best of all, I'll be there for Bastille Day! Son and his missus are flying out the evening I arrive so we'll do something together for that day.

What would you do in Paris if it was your first time? I've read the Louvre and some museums are free on Bastille Day so I hope to storm the Louvre and get some culture. Other than that, how would you organise your days there? I did find the sort of place I was looking for as regards accommodation, a family run hotel in the 5th right near the Seine and Saint-Michel Notre-Dame, it's on the border if the 5th and the 6th with lots of great little eating places.

Anyway, I'm open for ideas. I'm not a museum person, I think maybe two would be alright. Which would you choose? I'm thinking quite seriously of booking a dinner cruise for Bastille Day it's expensive but...as I'd decided not to book an organised Louvre tour, not to do a tour to Stonehenge, and the behind the scenes tour I booked for the Eiffel Tower has been cancelled .....

[mei]

my favourite museums in Paris are Musée d'Orsay (although there's always a long queue for that one) and Musée Rodin. Love the latter, not too big, but amazing sculpture work of course (and usually an interesting temporary exhibition of other famous sculptures? - Henry Moore last time I was there).

other favourite parts of Paris, just walking around a lot I guess. I really like the neighbourhood just below of Montmartre, Abbesses I think it's called. Cute boutique shops, nice cafe's.

really like the parks, like Jardin du Luxembourg, Tuileries etc.

but really, there's so much. enjoy!

[Queen]

The Louvre is huge, and whether it's free or not will be crowded... if you're going to go to it do some research and figure out which bit you'd like to see. (The new Islamic wing is fantasic if that interests you).

Love the museums Mei mentions. Would recommend the Rodin museum, it's interesting, and the garden is a wonderful oasis in the city.

I love the Marais area, Place des Vosges is beautiful, always lots of people eating their lunch on the grass.

Pere Lachaise cemetery - if you're into that sort of thing there are lots of famous people buried here.

I would recommend going up to the Sacre Coeur - It's a church I like, but even without going to the church there's a great view across the city. There's a tram thing to go up the hill if the stairs feel daunting. Near the church is a square with local artists selling their paintings (it's touristic but fun), and lots of cafes. Also often see good street theatre up there.

I went to the Palais Garnier last time I was there - it's the old opera house (there's a new one near Bastille) and it's superb.

If you'd like a history museum (rather than an art one), Museum Carnavalet has a good history of Paris.

Day trip out of Paris - Giverney or Versailles

I think the boat tour on Bastille day is a good idea - pretty sure Eiffel Tower will be lit up and I guess there will be fireworks.

[lisamnz]

I'm not a museum person either and a weekend in paris is enough for me. I really liked the sacre couer and the area around there is really interesting, the 5th in general, and the area to the east of the eiffel tower - I'll have to have a look to see if I can work out where we were.

The best thing about paris for me was just wandering the older narrow streets and finding little places to have a bit of a sit down and of course a glass of wine.

Being there for Bastille day will be great.

ETA: gosh it was quite a bit to the east. I forget how quickly you can walk around Paris. It was the 5th we ended up back in, and the island in the middle of the seine. I think we'd headed to the Luxembourg gardens, decided it was too wet & gray a day for walking in a park, and went to find yet another bar instead.

[kneazle]

Also most things are closed one day a week - I found this guide helpful for figuring out what to do when based on what's open. No point getting out to Versailles only find it's closed

[whothingie]

Another free good view of Paris is from the top of the Arab Museum, which looks back across Notre Dame. Don't eat there though - the food was disgusting and very expensive.
The glass domed ceilings in both Printemps and Gallerie La Fayette are stunning.
The Museum Carnavalet is free except for special exhibitions and in an area with lots of lovely little narrow streets and great restaurants so easy to pop in for a quick look.
Agree with Q on Palais Garnier.
Shame about the Behind the Scenes Trip being cancelled. It saves a heap of time queuing and the lift engine room is interesting.
If you enjoy sculptures but don't want to go the Rodin and are out in the Montparnasse area, Antoine Bourdelle museum is a good substitute (and free).

A Hop on Hop off bus trip can be a good way to get an overview of Paris, yet save your feet and allow you to make more informed choices of what you want to go back to.

There are some good walks available at reasonable prices. Pariswalks is one I've used a few times. They do a really nice 'chocolate' walk which is interesting and takes guests to shops for samples, but also goes through a lot of the covered passage areas. LP used to have map showing the covered passages as a walk which is quite fun as it takes you through both modern and historical areas.

The windows in St Chapelle are stunning, particularly on a sunny day, but sometimes the security lines are long.


Enjoy.

[libbyh]

Recently been to Versailles - it was so jam-packed with people you could hardly move and hard to even take photos of anything except the ceilings without getting other people in the photos. We were on a tour so had express entry, the general public queuing up on their own looked like they were waiting forever.

[tzarine]

since it's your first time, i'd do the louvre
but i love musee d'orsay & musee rodin
i like the bateux mouches for the ride, paris plage: paris.fr/english/visit/highlights/paris-plages/rub_8208_stand_34146_port_18969
notre dame, especially for a service
picnic at the jardin du luxembourg
chocolate: maison du chocolat www.lamaisonduchocolat.fr/fr/fr/
19 Rue de Sèvres
richart
258 Boulevard Saint-Germain
www.richart-chocolates.com/chocolates/
christian constant
macarons at pierre herme

bon voyage
a lovely man tzarevich stole chocolate from when he was little
www.christianconstant.com/intro/
37 Rue Assas, 75006