Nope, but in case you’d like rollers, there’s a circuit across Paris once a week, in the evening. The itinerary changes each time, but it’s quite long (and apparently not for beginners). The crowd of…hmmm… how do you call people on rollers?..is generally quite massive, the police blocks the streets, and it seems that people have a lot of fun. It might be an unusual way to visit Paris, and parts of Paris you wouldn’t have seen otherwise.
As for monuments, activities, etc… you should probably tell a bit more about your tastes and interests.
As usual, I’m going to mention that you should visit travel boards too…
For the D’Orsay, it depends on how much you’re interested in impressionism . I assume a few hours will be fine if you’re not specifically interested in this era (by the way, if you are specifically interested in this period, the “musee de l’Orangerie”, right on the other side of the Seine, just reopened).
For the Louvre… err… a few weeks? Seriously…the Louvre is massive. You should pick up some galleries that particularily interest you (medieval decorative arts, Napoleon’s appartments, assyrian antiquities, dutch painters, whatever) and focus on these. Plus, I assume add a couple of must-see (like the crowd standing around a tiny painting by Leonardo, for instance). Note that some galleries are closed on certain days. Check this out if you absolutely want to see something very specific (say, greek poteries).
For museums, it depends so much on your tastes. For instance, I wouldn’t go to the Beaubourg’s museum of modern arts if you paid me, but I enjoy a lot the Cluny’s museum of medieval history. But then, if you’re enthralled by abstract art and couldn’t care less about medieal tapestries, what?
Sounds cliche, but you probably should take a boat cruise on the Seine at night (but not pay for a dinner). Talking about the Seine, one of my favorite place at nightfall is the pedestrian “pont des arts” . And while I’m at it, my favorite monument in Paris is the “Sainte-Chapelle”, close to Notre-dame, for its breathtaking stainted glasses (make sure to go there on a sunny day).
And by the way, I second the Rodin museum, if only for a walk in the park amongst the statues if you’re not interested enough by Rodin to visit the museum itself.
Speaking about being morbid, an anecdote : don’t do the same thing I’ve seen once a couple of foreign tourists do : the lawn at the back of the cemetery (the “garden of memory”) isn’t intended for picnics, but for spreading people’s ashes. I eventually decided to spare them and not to tell them what were the white streaks they were sitting on while eating their sandwiches.
Since you’re a couple, in case you’d be visiting this cemetery, I would mention the gothic tomb of the very famous french lovers from the middle-ages Heloise and Abelard
“Ou est très sage Hélloïs,
Pour qui chastré fut et puis moyne
Pierre Esbaillart a Saint Denis?
Pour son amour ot ceste essoyne…”
Bring a rose if you have wishes of everlasting love. If you’re more sex-oriented, there’s something to rub (you should guess what easily upon watching the tomb) on the tomb of the otherwise forgotten Victor Noir. It’s an american tourist that pointed the latter to me, anecdotically.
Personnally, I’m not fond of cemetaries, so I’m not stating it’s a must-see. Just commenting.
Oh! And of course, if you’re into morbid stuff, there are the “catacombes”, where the bones of some millions parisians are stockpiled and “artistically” displayed. In case you’d google the name, I’m refering to the Catacombs opened to the public. The subterranen network under Paris going by the same name is difficult to enter in, strictly forbidden and potentially dangerous.
Not surprising. The poem, written by Villon, and called “ballade des dames du temps jadis”(Ballad of the Ladies of yesteryears), and lamenting about famous lovers of past times dates back from the renaissance, so the language isn’t easy to understand.
You don’t really have to plan much in Venice. The city is so unique and cool (and not that large) that you really just walk around it most of the time and unique stuff is everywhere. It is a little surreal in many ways. Most of the big touristy things are obvious and nearby any time you want them. It isn’t a late-night city however so be prepared for that. Restaurants and businesses tend to operate on the Italian model with means weird hours and extremely spotty service. Ignore gypsies (I know they have real ethnic names but this is a behavioral description that fits many over much of Italy) doing or selling whatever they so. They are allowed to just wander in and out of everywhere trying to sell or scam to any tourist you run across. Completely ignoring them like the locals do is one good strategy.
The touristy gondola rides are supposed to be a big ripoff. You will have plenty of exposure to the canals and water shuttles and taxis that will give you an equivalent experience if you don’t want to waste money.
Venice has its own style of food if you are adventurous. It has lots of odd seafood and pasta dishes. I loved them especially the cuttlefish ink stained pasta so keep an open mind because you won’t find that stuff anyway else.
If you wan to do something most others don’t, Paris has catacombs as well. They are huge and they let so few people down at a time that it seems like you are alone in some Indiana Jones nightmare. They are just these tunnels with massive stacks of skeletons arranged in different patterns and right there to stare (you aren’t supposed to touch them and they check your bags for bones at the end). They have the skeletons of 6 million (or some other really high number) down there.
It isn’t well published and there was no waiting (or anybody else really) when we went. I hear the sewer tour is pretty good as well.
Tip: Everyone under the age of 50 in Paris speaks English (only a slight exaggeration). I don’t speak a word of French and I have wandered that city alone for countless days and never had one problem. The key is to just attempt to do whatever you need to like buying something or ordering the best you can. Don’t impose English on them. They will figure out the situation quickly if you can’t communicate something through other means and switch over to English on their own without resentment.
Anyone involved in tourism, especially hotel clerks, will be happy to assist you in whichever language you need. If you have a language issue, you can always duck into any hotel to get assistance.
Italy is only a little less English speaking as well.
Yes to Rodin, Picasso and Orsay! Do Rodin in the middle of the day, or at the end. It’s quiet, peaceful and a wonderful respite from the hubub of running around from here to there.
Try to walk thru the Louvre grounds at night. The way they have the lighting on the old part (circa 1200), not by the pyramid, is magnificent. It’s just beautiful. I was walking thru in a hurry one night, looked up and saw it, and just sat down by the fountain. I was mesmerized. If you’re good at night photography take a photo here (and send me one!).
Venice…just walk around, you’ll get lost (you can’t go far) and love every inch. Like I tell everyone, Lemon gelato is the best!
Nitpick : No visible part of the Louvre dates back from the middle-ages. All you see from the outside dates back, at the earliest, from the Renaissance. It’s possible to see the foundations of the former medieval castle, that have been excavated, but only from inside the Louvre, hence not at night. And, though interesting, I doubt it would be a highlight for a tourist.
I’m wondering if you’re not mistaking the Louvre for the “Chatelet”, on the other bank of the Seine river, that still has round towers. Originally the royal palace, it’s now Paris’ hall of justice but still shelter the “conciergerie” (a former jail where Marie-Antoinette was famously detained, and that I don’t recommand the visit of) and the aforementionned “Sainte-Chapelle”.
Like in most affluent and large cities, there isn’t that much really old stuff in Paris. Older buildings were demolished and the land reused. Apart from the oldest churches, and the Chatelet, there are only some difficult to find bits of the medieval walls and a tower, the not well known “Tour Jean sans Peur”, a remain of the fortified mansion of the duke of Burgundy in Paris, during the one hundred years war.
Even renaissance buildings are scarce. Out of my head, the “hotel de Cluny” where is situated the museum going by the same name and the “hotel de Sens” (now a library) are the most well-known Renaissance mansions still existing.
There are also a couple houses dating back from the late middle-ages/early renaissance, but I keep forgetting where they’re situated. One of the contenders for the title of " oldest house in Paris", the “Nicolas Flamel house”, after the name of a famous alchemist who owned it, is now a relatively well known restaurant. Anecdotically, it has been exacavated many a time by people hoping to unhearth the secrets of the alchemist’s supposedly fabulous and mysterious wealth.
While I’m at it, I will mention the existence of the remains of the roman baths, that can be visited from the inside of the Cluny museum, since they sit just under it, and of the “arenas” (which, if I’m not mistaken, were actually a theater). Not particularily interesting IMO, nor impressive, and I would assume of zero interest for a tourist coming from Rome.
And since I’m talking about Paris history, I’m going to mention too the Carnavalet museum, in the Marais district, because it’s lauded by many tourists for reasons who honestly escape me. It’s a kind of maze because it was installed in several weirdly connected buildings where “stuff” (bits of statues, paintings depicting important events of the history of Paris, old shop’s signs, etc…) is exposed. The most interesting, IMO is the reconstitution of some rooms (including wall decoration, furniture, etc…), mostly from the 16th-18th century. I particularily like a reconstitued jeweller shop from around 1900 which by regulation is closed each time I try to show it to someone. I mention the Carnavalet mainly because, as I say, many tourists apparently like it, I’m not sure why. Even regarding rooms and furnitures, someone really interested would be best served by a day trip to Fontainebleau castle.
Just to add that the aforementionned Carnavalet museum, like all museums belonging to the city of Paris (say, the Petit Palais, a museum of fine arts), is free, except for temporary exhibitions.
National museums (like the Louvre, Orsay, etc…) are covered by the museum pass, private buildings and museums (in particular the Eiffel Tower) aren’t.
I guess I ws just typing without thinking too much, not the first time. I believe parts of the Louvre are from about 1200, maybe later, or that’s when it was originally built–it’s old anyway.
But the part you see from the outside obviously isn’t from 1200, it wouldn’t look that good. It’s old anyway, it’s been repaired and added on more than a few times in that time.
The part I was refering to is the part that’s sort of square, and the big round fountain is in the middle. I think it’s 3 stories tall, and each story had some a little lighting on it to illuminate it, instead of one light blaring all over the whole thing. I’m trying to find my (bad) photos now so I could post a photo, but I can’t. I just thought that square part was the best thing I saw, I was last there in 1999, so I can’t be positive it still looks like that though. I’d sure like to go back though, I loved it there, and will someday.
I just arrived home a few hours ago and the trip was amazing. I know in the hectic getting ready stages I didn’t pop back to this thread as much as I should have, but I was reading it. We brought along a printed copy of it to help us and ended up taking a lot of advice. If people are interested, I’ll post more details and a few pictures tomorrow or the next day. If you’ve all heard too many trip stories already, please be honest (which is never a problem on the SDMB anyway).
