Bonjour Mesdames %26amp; Monsieurs! ; )
Is this overly ambitious? We don%26#39;t want to be running, running, running - we want to spend significant time soaking up Parisian life, etc., but there%26#39;s is obviously so much we%26#39;d like to do. What I don%26#39;t know is how much time to budget for each place, especially for lines (we%26#39;ll have a museum pass).
Anything with a question mark is if we have time and feel like it. As silly as it might sound, I really don%26#39;t think we%26#39;ll spend much time in the Louvre (just to see Mona Lisa and maybe another highlight or two).
We will be renting an apartment in the lower Marais (rue Beautreilles %26amp; rue Charles V).
**Tuesday, April 24**
10:35am depart Toulouse
12:05pm arrive Paris-CDG
After settling in, head via rue St. Paul to:
Ile St. Louis
Ile de la Cite
- flower market
- Notre Dame (climb to top of north tower for gargoyles and views),
- Ste. Chapelle (look for the rose window at sunset)
Walk around, buy provisions, get our bearings
**Wednesday, April 25** MUSEUMS
- Louvre
- Musee de l%26#39;Orangerie
- Jardin Tuileries
Lunch at Georges?
- Pompidou
Walk around the Marais
**Thursday, April 26** ST. GERMAIN/QUARTIER LATIN
- Musee d%26#39;Orsay
Walk around:
- rue du Dragon
- Cafe de Flore
- le Procope?
- rue du Chat qui Peche
- Shakespeare %26amp; Co.
- St. Severin Church?
- rue Ouffetard?
- Luxembourg Gardens?
**Friday, April 27** MARAIS, THEN EIFFEL AREA
- Picasso Museum
- Place des Vosges
- Maison Victor Hugo?
- rue des Rosiers
- rue des Francs Bourgeois
(lunch)
- Musee Rodin
- UNESCO?
- Rue Cler
- Tour Eiffel
- Bateau Mouche?
**Saturday, April 28** MONTMARTRE
- Place du Tertre (portraitists)
- Au Lapin Agile
- Espace Montmarte Salvador Dali
- Musee de Montmartre
- Sacre Coeur?
**Sunday, April 29**
depart
Merci beaucoup!
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Opinions? Please? : )
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Friday seems a bit of an overload. Do you intend to actually go up into Ste Chapelle or just kind of look up from outside? Even with a pass you still need to go through the security there, before you get to the ticket line.
You do realize that UNESCO requires a reservation. You just can%26#39;t drop in unless you are prepared to wear out the people at the security desk, insisting that you must be allowed to visit without a reservation. I did that and it takes quite a bit of time. However, that said, the art work is outstanding, especially the Japanese garden and the %26quot;Fountain of Peace%26quot; by Isamu Noguchi and especially %26quot;The Nagasaki Angel%26quot;, a fragment of the Church of Urakami which was destroyed bt the atomic bomb on 9 Aug 1941.
I happen to agree with you about the LouVRE. My husband just wanted to see the Mona Lisa and we were a whirlwind getting there and out. But I much prefer smaller museums with finite displays.
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Thank you, Gomac!
%26quot;insisting that you must be allowed to visit without a reservation. I did that and it takes quite a bit of time.%26quot;
LOL!!! Great to know about UNESCO. If one has a reservation, how much time would you allow for it?
I%26#39;m glad to hear you say that about the Louvre - I felt blasphemous just typing it, but honestly, I%26#39;m sure it%26#39;s amazing, yaddayadda, but so much of it doesn%26#39;t interest me when there%26#39;s so much to see that DOES inspire me! I would even say I could skip it altogether, but my husband thinks I should at least see M.L. What intrigue me the most are the glass pyramids...
Does anyone know if the Batobus is worthwhile? I thought it would be a nice way to return from the Eiffel Tower back to the Marais (or relatively near there), but not if it%26#39;s cheesy or a rip-off.
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I%26#39;ll just add another comment, Le Procope may have a lovely interior and a lot of history, but the food is barely mediocre, and the service is snail slow. We have always avoided these %26#39;tourist%26#39; places but I fell into their website grip and made reservations our last trip. It is not a repeat nor a recommendation.
The cafe at Musee Rodin is quite good, so you could have lunch there. But part of the fun of Paris is buying a baguette and some fillings and maybe a bottle of wine and sitting on a bench and people watch and soak up some of that Parisien atmosphere.
As for Rue Cler or Rue Mouffetard-I think that is what you meant- you could people watch and stroll and snack for hours and not be bored.
DO you also plan to take the Metro or walk or taxi to all these places? SO you have to allow for transportation time.
A Batobus round-trip at sundown is fab! I highly recommend it. But it also takes some time as it stops at several places along the river.
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Thank you - those are helpful comments. I haven%26#39;t really thought that far in terms of transportation, as I%26#39;m still getting a feel for distances. Of course, I have it in my head that we%26#39;ll walk, but I think I%26#39;m in for a rude awakening ; ) While relatively athletic, I%26#39;m hardly a marathon runner!
I agree about the baguette concept... I hope to plan some meals ahead (making reservations) while leaving at least half %26quot;unscheduled%26quot; so we can do exactly that (or pop into a bistro or brasserie).
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Now you have planned a rough outline, you should put some time into several websites that will help you with travel times. The ones I use are: Pagesjaunes; Maporama.com; mappy.com; and SubwayNavigator. SubwayNavigator may be an eye opener as some trips with correspondance can total 30+ minutes.
And you also need to keep in mind the opening hours of all the museums you want to visit, especially if there is a special exhibit you want to see. Not all museums honor the museum pass. The lines at the Orangerie can be very long according to TA posters. We will find out in March for that one. And you might want to factor in some jet lag time. And don%26#39;t forget taxi%26#39;s don%26#39;t stop when hailed like in the US. You have to wait at a designated taxi stand.
Just some very random thoughts from our trip planning stages.
Oh, I can%26#39;t tell you how long it would take at UNESCO. I was so stunned by the Japanese garden, I sat there and soaked up the peace for well over an hour. It was in early February and quite chilly and windy outside the garden, but for some unexplained reason, a red flowering plum tree was in full bloom. Nothing else had even leaves on it. I was totally enchanted and overwhelmed with goosebumps and all. Well, we all have our own tastes in art.
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