Got back Thursday from 13 wonderful days in Paris (my wife%26#39;s and my first trip there)...
Arrived at CDG before noon on Friday June 8th and took a taxi to our first hotel (Hotel Louvre Rivoli in 1st e [review of hotel later] before 1 pm. Our room was ready; we dropped off our bags and started wondering along the Rue de Rivoli.
An hour into our wondering and saw 100%26#39;s of nude and semi-nude bicycle riders having a great time on the road. Police were directing traffic. Not sure what that was all about but I sure haven%26#39;t seen anything like that in Toronto!
Anyway, thanks to tips received from reading threads in this forum, we picked up our Carte Orange at a Metro station to start on the following Monday. As well, we worked our way to the Paris tourist office near the Rue Pyramides to buy our 4-day Museum passes.
Sunday and Monday were spent at the Louvre, Picasso Museum, the Jewish Memorial and we did the Marais walk (Frommer%26#39;s Memorable Walks) as well. On the same street that the 100%26#39;s of cyclists were travelling on Saturday were at least 1000 roller bladers on Sunday, blading for some benefit or other. Quite a sight.
Tuesday we took the RER C to Versailles. We took the Bd. du Palais bridge to the RER station at St. Michel. (TIP: if you need tickets for the RER, take the entrance on the east side of the bridge to find a booth that is manned; the west side entrance is only for those with train tickets already). Spent the day doing Versailles, including the palace, the grounds, and Marie Antoinette%26#39;s %26#39;little%26#39; abode away from the palace. It takes a good day to see everything there.
Wednesday, back in Paris for the D%26#39;Orsey Museum, Jardin des Tuileries, Obelisque, Conciergerie, St. Chapelle and the Palais de Justice. We definitely got our money%26#39;s worth from the Museum passes. Also, whenever available, we rented audio guides at the various museums.
Thursday, as I remember, included Notre Dame, Gallerie Lafayette %26amp; le Printemps for my wife to do damage to her credit card. That evening, we took in the 11pm show of the Moulin Rouge. We booked online here a month in advance and still could not get a 9 pm show for any of the nights we wanted. Others have made negative comments about the show but we thought it was fantastic. It started late (11:30 pm before all were seated) and ended at 1:30 am. As hundreds of us left after the show, we were met by a torrential downpour outside. Luckily, my wife and I ran across the street where I was fortunate to hail an available cab within minutes by running out into the traffic to get his attention. (The Metro stops at 12:30 am so we couldn%26#39;t use it).
Friday included a visit to Sacre Coeur and more miles of walking.
Saturday, we had to move hotels and went to the Aviatic St. Germaine in the 6th e. After checking in, we did the St. Sulpice Walk which included the oldest street and oldest tree (planted in 1602) in Paris.
I should add here that most of the 13 days in Paris were overcast much of each day and showers some of the day. A great tip is NEVER go anywhere without your umbrella, even if you wake up to a blue sky in the morning.
And indeed we did get a blue sky morning on Sunday when we visited the Eiffel tower. Arriving at 8:45 am, we got on the elevator by about 9:15 am. Not too bad. We%26#39;re in our 60%26#39;s and not much for walking all the way to the top so paid the extra to take the elevator all the way up. If you do one thing in Paris, go to the top of the tower. We also visited the Arc de Triomphe, did the touristy thing off having a coffee at Fouget%26#39;s on the Champs Elysees %26amp; the Latin Quarter walk.
Monday included the Luxenbourg Gardens, the Lalique exhibit, a visit to the Bon Marche department store and, at last, a decent evening to take advantage of the discount coupons we printed off for the Vendette Pont Neuf Seine cruise. We arrived there at 8:45 pm but the 9:30 boat was booked, so we took the 10 pm cruise. Great trip, good weather.
Tuesday, we included a picnic near Forum des Halles (I think). Picked up the baguettes from one shop, cheeses and fruit from another, wine from a third and we were good to go!
Wednesday was reserved for more shopping .... and walking, of course.
Thursday morning, back to CDG by shuttle and home to Toronto.
We had a great time. Walked miles %26amp; miles. Saw things and had experiences we never thought we would have in our lifetime.
For what it%26#39;s worth, we scoured this forum %26amp; associated links that trravellers were good enough to provide, we bought many books and relied on Rick Steeve%26#39;s Paris, the Unofficial Guide to Paris by David Applefield and Frommer%26#39;s Memorable Walks in Paris the most. Also, an absolutely FANTASTIC map of Paris is put out by Borch. It is large, waterproof, you can write on it with non-permanent markers and most importantly to us, it overlays the separate sections of Paris South, North and Central with all the Metro routes and stations for each Metro line. It was a godsend to us.
By the way, we used the various Metro lines alot. We found the number 4 line very hot--both stations and cars--and always crowded. On the other hand, if you get a chance, try the number 14 line. It%26#39;s the newest, fully automated (no drivers) air conditioned and it even has anti-suicide gates at the station.
As a million others have said here and elsewhere, don%26#39;t attempt to drive in Paris. among the trains, Metro, buses and your feet, you%26#39;ll get anywhere you need to go.
We also found all the French people we dealt with most friendly and helpful, whether in hotels, stores or restaurants. Our French is not terrific but we tried our best (my wife is better than I) and most people understood (or pretended to %26lt;g%26gt;) and spoke some degree of English as well.
I haven%26#39;t mentioned restaurants as there are 1000%26#39;s to choose from and I%26#39;m sure you%26#39;ll find whatever kind of food you%26#39;re looking for. Some we chose were better than others. No surprise there. I do want to mention one we really enjoyed and visited twice, the Cafe de deux Palais across the street from the Palais de Justice. Onion soup to die for!!
I%26#39;m sure I%26#39;ll remember much more of what we did as soon as I click on %26#39;submit%26#39; but I hope I%26#39;ve conveyed some of the experiences we had.
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Thanks for sharing your trip with us!
You sound like you had a great time!!
Nice tips for new people too!
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13 days in Paris seems like a dream trip. You can see so much, yet still have time for some leisurely walking and shopping. I%26#39;ve never been there for more than 5 days at a time.
I%26#39;m curious to know .........Did you stay in 2 hotels because you wanted to experience 2 different places, or did you not have a choice?
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Great post, thanks for sharing!
I live in the GTA so especially enjoyed reading the tails from someone who is almost a neighbour. My mother and I will be visiting Paris for the first time in December, so if you have any other tidbits you can offer we would love to hear.
Thanks again, glad you had a great time.
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To Shoesy.......
It wasn%26#39;t our choice to switch hotels but the first one had no dates available after the first Saturday. It took a while of frustrating searches on the various links we used to find another hotel to fit our requirement dates (smoking, elevator, 3-star, A/C, 6th e) but we did (Aviatic St. germaine) and it turned out to be an excellent choice for us.
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Really glad to hear that, dhn.
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