I'm going to Paris France! Any suggestions?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Mrs. Z and I are going to Paris for vacation in November (5 -13) We will be in Paris till Thursday and on Friday we will rent a car and drive out to the Loire (sp) Valley and spend the weekend in a castle. Monday we go to Disneyland. (We spent our honeymoon at DisneyWorld and this trip is kind of a second honeymoon)
Anyway if you know some good places or interesting sites to see. (that I wouldn’t think of off the top of my head)

Stuff I like
Art, WWII and history in general,

Oh a note. We’ve been planning this trip for quite some time and even after Tuesday (that’s what I call it) we are still going.

Yes I know about the travel advisory for Paris.
Yes I feel it is safe to go.

If your advice is going be to not go please keep it to yourself.

Thank you

2

if i were you, i would rent motorcycles (dont ride? get a fast car!) and blow out of the dirty city and zip around the countryside, stopping at all the fabulous little village cafes, drinking wine and sampling the local fare. i wouldn’t bathe or shave for a week! i’d be just like the french and they would welcome me wherever i went! plus, i can say “antifreeze” in french, so i would be rolling!

3

My recent experience was that Parisians were rude but that there are many beautiful things in the city. My only advice is to plan carefully, as there is little margin for error. For instance, the first night we were there my friends and I went up the Eiffel Tower. It was really cool. Then, we tried to get down. It was late – about 1/2 hour before closing. They had blocked the staircases so we couldn’t walk, but they were only running one elevator. We ended being stuck up there for over an hour waiting for our turn on the elevator. Therefore, we missed the last subway back to our hotel

I’m very happy to have gone to Paris – it was really quite beautiful. But again, plan carefully and you’ll be fine.

–Cliffy

4

There is a great fondue & raclette restaurant in the 17th - no tourists, excellent food, not expensive. I’ll get the name at home and post it.

Sounds like a great trip. This is a great time of year for Paris. Which arrondissement are you staying in? And I’m guessing you’ve never been there before, right? (That would make a difference on what you should see.)

5

Also, go to any newsstand and buy either Pariscope or L’Officiel des Spectacles. They are little guidebooks to the city and they both have sections in English. They’re cheap - maybe 6-8FF. They’re not really “touristy” guidebooks; Parisians probably buy them more often than visitors. You can find tons of fun stuff to do in there that you never would have thought of.

6

To get a good initial overview of the City, I’d go to the Pont Alma and take one of the “Bateaux-Mouches” tours. Bateaux-Mouches are large tourist boats which take you on a leisurely tour of Paris by way of the Seine River. They’re pretty touristy, but you can’t beat them for helping you get your bearings, and some of the best views of the City are from the river.

Since I’m sure you already know all about the Louvre, I’d suggest to make an effort to see the Musee d’Orsay, which contains a breathtaking collection of impressionism paintings. It’s a much more manageable museum, and you can see the most important works from it in half a day.

Some of the most fun we had the last time we were there was walking around late at night in the St-Germain-de-Pres area, the sixth arrondissement. All those famous old cafes and bistros were full of people having fun, laughing, eating and drinking at midnight: Le Petit Zinc, Le Deux Magots, Cafe Procope, Bar du Marche. The sixth was a fun arrondissement – close enough to the college areas to be a little trendy, but not so close so that it was nothing but students.

::sigh:: I wanna go back. Eat some Berthillon’s ice cream for me, willya? Bon journee.

7

Gosh, Paris … you lucky dog you.

The Metro really is the best way to get around, it goes everywhere you want to go (although it doesn’t run much past midnight). First thing when you’re there, you should get the Paris version of a unlimited ride Metrocard, which I think is called either “Paris Visite” or “Paris Touriste” depending whether you get it for three or five or however many days. It’s very affordable and you can hop on and off the Metro as much as you like.

An important thing to point out (especially to a New Yorker) is that the metro car doors do not open automatically, you have to open them yourself if you want to get out.

For art, there are of course the worlds greatest museums, along with the world’s largest crowds. November, however, is a good time to go, and you will most likely be spared the worst of the crowds. See the big stuff, like the Louvre and d’Orsay, but pace yourselves and don’t feel that you have to spend five minutes in front of every single thing.

The best small museum, IMHO, is the Picasso Museum, in the Marais. It’s short and sweet, and has some of the best Picassos in the world all in one place. Also has a good gift shop.

One thing that I have noticed is that while Parisian cuisine is magnificent, it’s only good the way Parisians like to eat it – that is, in very nice restaurants where you have many courses and bottles of wine and linger over coffee and digestifs. When you are out and about during the day, the sandwiches and croques and what-not that you can grab and go are usually not very good. The best eat and run food, in my opinion, can be found at the Middle Eastern and Greek and Caribbean places that have sprung up in the past ten years or so. Stay far, far away from snack bars in museums or other attractions.

If you like Hemingway, read “A Movable Feast” before you go to Paris. Even if you don’t like Hemingway, you might like this, because it’s all short essays about the years he lived in Paris.

8

Somebody told me that as a tourist in Paris, you shouldn’t try to speak French unless you’re fluent; the locals will show no mercy.

9

get a museum pass. you can buy them at the metro stations and they’re cheaper than paying individual admissions everywhere. and they allow you to bypass some of the lines which is worth much more than the pass costs.

I found that Rick Steve’s guide to Paris had some great walking tours.

10

Wait until August, that’s when the Parisians leave. Having lived on the Continent for a number of years. I love France and the French and even Paris but I do dislike Parisians.

11

Wow. It sounds like a great trip.

I second the Museum pass as it will save you a lot of money. I also highly recommend Rick Steves. His guidebooks have a lot of awesome walking tours, inside information (like the secret entrance to the Louvre) and are opinionated enough to state when something is going to be a rip-off. Get a good map (they have free ones all over the city) and a good metro map and keep them handy at all times. The metro system is truely awesome and is the only way to get around.

My favorite thing in all of Paris was Sainte Chapelle. Talk about breathtaking. I’ve never ever seen light like that. I also liked the catacombs. There is nothing like a bunch of old bones in a giant cavern network to give you the creeps.

Another great thing is picnics. There are so many wonderful specialty food stores that we almost never made it restraunts. Fresh baked bread, fruit, choclates. Yum. It is so much fun to go from store to store assembling a true feast, and then spreading out and relaxing on the Champs du Mars to watch the sun go down over the Eiffel Tower. Picnics are a great excuse for loungeing around in Paris’s many beautiful parks and for interacting with French people (who are nicer than you think).

Don’t worry about the locals. They are friendly and helpful as long as you don’t insult them, dangle your feet in their fountains or walk on the grass in the parks. I was never treated rudely there, even though my French is atrocious. The worst thing you can do is walk in to a French establishment and expect them to speak English. Learn to say a few phrases (Hello, please, thank you, excuse me) and use them humbly and often and I think that you will find people to be very helpful and understanding. Usually they will speak English, but if you just barge in and start jabbering in English they will pretend they don’t understand until you go away. Just remember to respect them and their country and things will be great.

While you are in Disneyland Paris, visit the hedge maze, it is the coolest part. Also don’t forget space mountain…it is awesome and a lot different than the space mountain that we are used to. For good desserts, eat at the really nice restraunt on main street that I believe is named after Walt Disney.

Have a great trip!

12

Go to the Musee Gustave Moreau (14 rue de la Rochefoucauld). It’s his old house and studio, and has a marvelous selection of his enormous, creepy paintings. It’ll snap your stix.

TRUST ME on this one. You will thank me afterward.

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Here’s a taste.

http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/moreau/

14

Ike what section is that studio in? It looks really great.
We have museum passes on the way to us. We are also seeing the Paris Ballet at the Opera Garnier. We are staying at Champ du Mars in 7 by that big ol’ tower they got there.

My wife speaks pretty good French so she’ll do most of the talking. I can say Hello, Thank You, and Sorry so I think I’m covered.

15

Some good suggestions so far. A ride on a Bateaux-mouche is a must, and I second the suggestion that you look round Ste. Germain des Pres; there are so many pleasant places there to eat and/or drink it’s not even funny. If you want to splash out a bit on a meal (about 300ff/person), Brasserie Lipp is one of my favorites. Also consider a walk through the Marais to Place des Vosges (east of Chatelet); this area was spared from Baron Haussman’s sweeping redevelopment and and with its narrow streets and ancient buildings has a pastoral character quite different from most other parts of the city.

Restaurants around Place Saint-Michel and Chatelet tend to be tourist traps, and skip Pigalle completely, IMO.

Rather than go up in the Eiffel Tower, consider riding the Metro to one of the stops in Montmartre and then walk over to Sacre Coeur cathedral. The view from the steps is amazing, and free; for 20 francs you can go up in the tower for an even better view. There is a funicular (your metro ticket is good on it) for those who’d rather not make the climb.

Don’t forget modern art; the Jeu de Palme (near place Concorde) and the Musee d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris both can be quite interesting. The Centre Pompidou is in the midst of major renovations and various sections are closed, so you may want to save that for a future trip.

The French military museum at Invalides is fairly interesting and one of the world’s finest (yet least visited) aviation museums can be found at le Bourget airport just outside the city.

My vote for quirkiest shopping: Michelin’s huge store on Blvd Opera, where you can find maps and guides for every place on earth plus a ridiculously extravagant collecion of toys and trinkets featuring Bibendum, the company’s rubbery mascot.

Finally, make sure you have plenty of red wine with each meal. Good for the heart, you know. :smiley:

16

Some of this stuff has already been mentioned. I recommend (or second):

Going up to the top of Notre Dame to see the view and the gargoyles

Sainte Chapelle (my favorite, too)

The Rodin Museum and the Musee D’Orsay

Versailles, if you have time for a side trip

Ice cream at Berthillon is worth a second mention

The Pere Lachaise cemetery - celebrity tombstones and generally a mellow place to wander

There’s a holocaust memorial near Notre Dame that’s very moving

Personally, I thought the Eiffel Tower was overrated and it was the site of the most annoying American tourists.

Find out about the “tourist” version of the metro card. I had to pay a fine because I’d gotten the wrong one, even though the tourist version was the same price.

Oh, and don’t forget to eat a lot of crepes!

Have a great time!

17

I went to Paris (as a student learning French) a couple of years ago and found that when asking locals for directions, the best results came from an apologetic little: “Hi, sorry, but I’m an Australian tourist. Do you know where the nearest metro station is?”

I’m so jealous - I’d kill to go back to Paris. It’s a pity you’re going to miss the post-Christmas sales though. And I second the bateaux-mouche idea (although it’s a very cold trip!)

18

The Loire Valley is great. I spent 5 days driving around there a few years ago. For some of the smaller places, I really liked Sully. Amboise was a nice town. Chambord of course will be on the itinerary.

My absolute favorite chateau was Chenonceau. Not as big as Chambord or Cheverny, but the gardens are nice. Chenonceau is built over a small river and just beyond cool in my opinion.

The people of the Loire Valley are really nice and friendly. Nothing like Parisians. Good friendly folk that genuinely enjoyed my pathetic attempts to speak French. We of course mystified most people as the locals would speak to me the caucasian in French, my wife the Chinese would answer in French, and then my wife and I would speak in Chinese.

In Paris, the highlight of my trip was to go to Monmarte and visit Jim Morrison’s grave. Actually, there are a lot of famous people buried there. Morrison’s grave site was pretty cool. Wave after wave of people from old hippies with their grandkids to Polish thirteen year old fans…

19

I hated Paris with a passion and it alone probably turned me off the rest of the country. However, having said that, I’m sorry I didn’t set aside at least three days for the Louvre and I never even considered myself an art lover but the Louvre is somethin g else.

I fully agree with delphica on the topic of eating in Paris. Stick with McDonalds, kebabs or better still; make your own lunches. Stay away from the rest unless you’re rich and can afford to really splurge.

Finally, if you must ignore al l I have to say except for one thing; then stay away from the City of Science (Cite d’Science?). Hopefully, it has been condemned by now as a health/boredom/stupidity/lameness hazard. If it hasn’t, then just take a side-trip to the Deutsches Museum in München anyway. It would be well worth the small detour.

20

Nothing to add, just wanted to say that, in my sleep-deprived state, I read the OP as “I’m going to Penis France! Any suggestions?”

I had a surge of defensiveness about my genitalia being turned into a verb…