I also enjoyed Musee D’Orsay more than the Louvre. The Louvre was just overwhelming for me.
My favorite part of Paris was Montmartre. There’s a small Dali museum there that’s worth visiting if you’re a fan.
Yet another vote for D’Orsay over the Louvre. For me, it wasn’t even a close race.
We stayed in a tiny, tiny hotel near the Place Bastille. Breakfast was great, and a crepe shop was next door. Can’t ask for more than that.
Athena went to Paris this year. Not sure how much Dope she’s doing this week - send her a PM if she doesn’t show up here! 
Here’s some threads I found from this year about Paris, tho:
Thanks for the links. I should know about those threads considering I posted in one of them. :smack:
She majored in Art History or somesuch and is a huge impressionism fan so I suppose we’d better go to D’Orsay. Is it as crowded as the Louvre? Do you remember the name of the hotel?
Some more practical considerations, since this is the first time I will be visiting with my own wallet (or at least paying for things from it): will “unchipped” American credit cards work there? Will they look at me funny if I try to use one? Does anyone still bother with travelers checks, and should I?
That is probably the single smartest thing you did. My wife and I are confirmed winter travelers for that very reason; you don’t have to wait in lines (or if you do, they’re not long), and the place isn’t super-crowded with tourists on their once-in-a-lifetime trip.
For example, going to Rome and Florence in December meant no wait for the Uffizi, and just a very short (~5 minute) line for the Vatican museums.
For the Louvre, even in the height of tourist season, there’s a lot of merit in getting there as it opens. When I went to Paris, my friends and I went to the Louvre and waited in a relatively short line (maybe 15-20 minutes) to get in… on the final day of the 2003 Tour de France, so there were a LOT of tourists in town.
Not nearly as crowded or as big. Very good for any fans of Impressionism. You can easily spend an entire day there. Or just a couple hours.
It can vary. Set up a PIN with your credit card company, if possible.
Forget travelers checks. Nobody uses those anymore. Withdraw cash from ATMs instead. Many only need a PIN, and it shouldn’t be too hard to find one that doesn’t require a chipped card. Your credit card company should be able to provide some guidance with that as well (also, it’s not the worst idea to put a travel note on file with them).
In that case, do not miss L’Orangerie! The Monet water lily murals are stunning.
I was just in Paris a couple in May of 2013. I had no problem with an unchipped card. Check that your card doesn’t have any restrictions on overseas use, though; some do.
Musee D’Orsay was not particularly crowded when I was there, but give some serious thought to using the Museum Pass. It will get you into a lot of places for less money than you’d spend otherwise but its biggest benefit is that it will allow you to bypass lines at most of the venues it applies to. It doesn’t cover the Eiffel Tower or the Catacombs, however.
When I went to Paris I stayed at the Hotel Eldorado. Its cheap, kind of funky/artsy, and very near the Place du Clichy metro stop, 6 stops from the Arc du Triomphe, fairly close to Montmartre. It’s not a fancy American-style hotel, but it’s got bathrooms/showers in the rooms, a nice courtyard, and a pretty decent Bistro-style restaurant right downstairs (inclluding a really cool basement space that I really liked). I found it by doing some searches for inexpensive Parisian hotels on travel sites and picking one that showed up in several articles.
Also, any of the Maison Kaiser/Eric Kaiser boulangeries are great places for a fairly cheap breakfast (around 10 euros) with some of the best pattiseries in Paris.
Bumping this for advice on a proposed itinerary. Eurostar tickets are way expensive, but I found a reasonably priced trip that would arrive at 6:47 PM local time. Will that be early enough to get to our hotel (thinking about staying here) and find a nice little place for dinner on a Tuesday? Advice from Parisians is especially welcome.
Find a nice place in St. Germaine. Wander or sit, eat, drink, and soak it in. Maybe a museum.
Lets see
Brown: Check
English: Check
Lives in America: Check
Going to Paris, you really are not all that bright are you:p:D
Of all the major World cities, Paris is the one I liked the least. WHich is surprising since I really liked France otherwise. So, my advice is, get out of Paris and go to place like Nice or Normandy, Montpellier. Avoid Marseilles though.
Shouldn’t be a problem, your hotel is a shoort taxi ride away from the “gare du nord” where you’ll arrive. Say you get there at 7:30, out at 8:30 at worst, you’ll have ample time to find a restaurant. You could check the pedestrian “rue montorgueil”, which isn’t very far away, very “typical Paris” (although food shops will be closed at this time), and where you’ll find plenty of restaurants of all styles, in and around the street.
Your neighborhood will be quite lively anyway. Finding a restaurant won’t be a problem.
Couldn’t edit :
ETA : given that your link gives plenty of general results : you’re staying at the “Hotel Paris France” rue de Turbigo, right?
Yes, that’s the one. Thank you!
Hey, it’s right there in my name.
La Regalade St Honore is not very far from there. It’s one of the places I had on my list to go to when I was in Paris, but I didn’t actually get the chance. It is well reviewed, however. BTW, another great resource for food in Paris is Paris by Mouth. The french eat dinner late, so you wouldn’t want to show up for dinner before 8 pm in any case!
Is the Gare du Nord really the hell-hole that I keep seeing it described as, in trip reviews and some news articles? Some of the descriptions are so bleak, I feel some dread about going there.
Great little hotel in the Latin Quarter: http://www.hoteldesgrandshommes.com/en/
No. Its actually quite nice…or at least partly. Awfulness wise it has nothing on Penn Station.
Check out airbnb.com
Bed and breakfasts are (for the biggest part) much, much cheaper in Europe than hotels. I did a quick check and found one within 10 minutes walk from Notre Dame for $91 a night. It’s a small apartment so you’d have it, and the bathroom, all to yourself. With the cleaning fee and airbnb’s charge it comes to $394 for three nights.
Dining recommendations from a friend:
Wine/Oyster bars
Le Baron Rouge 12th Ledru-Rollin
Great neighborhood wine bar with good charcuterie, oysters and good wine, sometimes directly from the barrel. Great way to spend a weekend afternoon
Juveniles 1st Pyramides
A good wine bar full of a mix of locals and English speaking expats. Rhones and other big wines and equally big food from a simple, meat driven menu.
Verjus Bar à Vins 1st Pyramides
Great natural wines, small plates with the best sandwiches in Paris making it a great lunch spot. Run by a couple of Americans but very local scene
Huitrerie Régis 6th Mabillon
Best oyster bar in Paris. Tiny and usually a line forming by the time they open at 5:30. Great pre-dinner stop. If you like oysters at all, don’t miss this.
Restaurants
Bistrot Paul Bert 11th Faidherbe-Chaligny
My favorite bistro in the city. Really good, reasonable Burgundy list and updated traditional cooking.
Chez l’Ami Jean 7th La Tour Maubourg
My second favorite bistro in the city. A little less traditional but old school looking place with really great food.
Le Severo 14th Mouton-Duvernet
Easily the best steaks in the city and the only dry aged beef you’re likely to find. Run by a butcher, great wine list and duck fat fries, also among the best in town. Worth the longish metro ride.
Chez George 2nd Bourse
Very traditional bistro - think frisée lardon and escargot. Beautiful belle époque dining room and nothing but locals. If you do one traditional place, this should be it. Make sure you go to this one,
there are at least 5 Chez George’s I can think of in town.
Vivant Table 10th Bonne Nouvelle
One of the best new in town. Prix fixe menu only and a lot of wine you’ve probably never heard of because I’ve never seen most of these wines myself but you’ll eat and drink as well as anywhere else in town. Modern cooking, local ingredients. Very food centric place.
La Tour d’Argent 5th Cardinal Lemoine
Famous, expensive, over rated, over priced. However… easily the best wine list in town and definitely the best duck. Theres only one way to do this place and that’s lunch with the 75€ish menu and a great old bottle of well priced burgundy. You’ll spend 300€ between the two of you but theres really no better place to do that than here.