Going to Paris for first time, during 1st week in April ...we are staying
on the right bank..will be there for 9 days. We are trying to outline an
agenda. Do you have any must see, must do ideas??

Any suggestions would be much appreciated..thanks

le Sun, 16 Feb 2003 08:40:37 -0500, dans l'article , Dale a dit ...=20

    > Going to Paris for first time, during 1st week in April ...we are stay=
ing
    > on the right bank..will be there for 9 days. We are trying to outline =
an
    > agenda. Do you have any must see, must do ideas??

place de la Bastille (where the Revolution began), Pompidou Centre, place
de la Concorde, les Champs-Elys=E9es, l'Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, Mu=
s=E9e
d'Orsay, Panth=E9on, Luxembourg Gardens ... etc. etc. etc ...............

--=20
Desmond Coughlan=20
desmond @ zeouane.org
http: // www . zeouane . org

I'd get a good guidebook, read it, and decide what interested me the most.
But half the fun of Paris is in just wandering around--there's so much to
see that just isn't "important" enough to be in the books! Get off the main
thoroughfares, follow twisty little streets wherever they lead, enjoy the
unexpected. Don't worry about getting lost--just duck into any metro
station and you're on track to getting back to where you started.
Have a wonderful time!

Jane


"Dale" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Going to Paris for first time, during 1st week in April ...we are staying
    > on the right bank..will be there for 9 days. We are trying to outline an
    > agenda. Do you have any must see, must do ideas??
    > Any suggestions would be much appreciated..thanks

I'd agree with Jane. Get a carte orange or metro carnet and plan
your excursions from metro stop to metro stop. What we frequently
do is walk out from our hotel for a destination and when we get
tired of walking stop and have a drink, and when we are really
done for, head for the nearest metro stop.

The second tip is that there are destinations and things you'll
see all the time. For example, I would not make Notre Dame
a destination even though no trip to paris would be complete without
seeing it. On the other hand it is so central to paris, that you'll
be strolling around and say "There's Notre Dame again" by the end
of the trip.

You might also consider day trips (Reims by train, or the Loire
by tour).

le Sun, 16 Feb 2003 15:31:27 GMT, dans l'article , Ed Krol a dit ...=20

{ snip }

    > The second tip is that there are destinations and things you'll=20
    > see all the time. For example, I would not make Notre Dame
    > a destination even though no trip to paris would be complete without
    > seeing it. On the other hand it is so central to paris, that you'll
    > be strolling around and say "There's Notre Dame again" by the end
    > of the trip.

Last time we were over at Notre Dame, the West fa=E7ade was covered in
scaffolding. That was in (IIRC) November of last year, so they may have
removed it since.

--=20
Desmond Coughlan=20
desmond @ zeouane.org
http: // www . zeouane . org

We went to Paris for only 5 days (and with 2 little ones!) and crammed in as
much as we could. I researched with guide books and then decided what I
really wanted to do. I also asked people who had been to Paris.

We checked out Champs-Elysées (several times day but especially night), Arc
de Triomphe (we didn't climb up it), and the Eiffel Tower (we went to the
top!). Then we also did the Louvre museum to see the Mona Lisa. And Notre
Dame (we didn't climb the stairs though but toured inside)

We did the "L' Open bus tour" (bought the 2-day tour) where you can hop on
and off and spend time where ever and then get back on...that is how we got
to Notre Dame...the bus website is
http://www.paris-opentour.com/index_eng.htm It's very reasonable and there
are 3 different tours/buses to choose from.

We also did a boat tour...there's the Batobus which makes 6 stops (get on
and off like the bus) and there's the Bateaux Parisiens boat tour at
http://www.bateauxparisiens.com/engl...promenade.html
and the Bateaux Mouches which is the one we did at
http://www.bateaux-mouches.fr/English_promenad.htm We enjoyed it very much
and so did the kids.

Then we took a day at Disneyland Paris; took the train; very easy.

We also took the train to see the Moulin Rouge (at night) and it wasn't a
very good neighborhood so we didn't stay long. Just took a picture and ate
a crepe. Lastly, we did the Lido show on the Champs-Elysees (instead of the
Moulin Rouge because of neighborhood) with our children! They say it's a
family show and they were welcome. Interesting experience. My husband, of
course, enjoyed it!

That's about it. The train system is WONDERFUL. We bought the 5 day Paris
Viste? I think its called and we certainly got our money's worth.

Have fun!


"Dale" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Going to Paris for first time, during 1st week in April ...we are staying
    > on the right bank..will be there for 9 days. We are trying to outline an
    > agenda. Do you have any must see, must do ideas??
    > Any suggestions would be much appreciated..thanks

Dale wrote:
    >
    > Going to Paris for first time, during 1st week in April ...we are staying
    > on the right bank..will be there for 9 days. We are trying to outline an
    > agenda. Do you have any must see, must do ideas??
    >
    > Any suggestions would be much appreciated..thanks

Dale,

Get a copy of the Michelin Green Guide to Paris. You will not run out of
things to do in 9 days. When the sun shines go over to the Luxembourg
Garden (Jardin Luxembourg) and relax on a bench.

John Bermont
--
------------------------------------------------------
* * * Mastering Independent Budget Travel * * *
http://www.enjoy-europe.com/
------------------------------------------------------

In article ,
Desmond Coughlan wrote:

    > le Sun, 16 Feb 2003 08:40:37 -0500, dans l'article
    > , Dale a dit
    > ...
    >
    > > Going to Paris for first time, during 1st week in April ...we are staying
    > > on the right bank..will be there for 9 days. We are trying to outline an
    > > agenda. Do you have any must see, must do ideas??
    >
    > place de la Bastille (where the Revolution began), Pompidou Centre, place
    > de la Concorde, les Champs-Elysées, l'Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, Musée
    > d'Orsay, Panthéon, Luxembourg Gardens ... etc. etc. etc ...............


Be sure to see Sainte-Chapelle - amazing stained glass, stunning
experience. It is near Notre Dame.
http://www.paris.org/Monuments/Sainte.Chapelle/

We spent three weeks in Paris in May-June and still didn't see
everything we hoped to see!

Buy a Museum Pass - no standing in queues! We were able to go into Musee
d'Orsay ahead of all the waiting crowd because we had our pass. You can
buy it ahead at some Metro stations, museums, FNAC ticket centres, Paris
tourist office. Don't try to buy it at a major museum though - or you
will have to line up to do it!
http://www.intermusees.com/wwwie/index.html

We enjoyed a walking tour of Hemingway's Paris with Paris Walks.
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/pariswalking/

For more info, see:
http://www.timeout.com/paris/
http://jack-travel.com
http://tinyurl.com/5xu4
http://www.frommers.com/destinations...062010001.html

Frances
Toronto, Canada

On Sun, 16 Feb 2003 15:44:50 +0000, in rec.travel.europe, Desmond Coughlan
arranged some electrons, so they looked like this :

... le Sun, 16 Feb 2003 15:31:27 GMT, dans l'article , Ed Krol a dit ...
...
... { snip }
...
... > The second tip is that there are destinations and things you'll
... > see all the time. For example, I would not make Notre Dame
... > a destination even though no trip to paris would be complete without
... > seeing it. On the other hand it is so central to paris, that you'll
... > be strolling around and say "There's Notre Dame again" by the end
... > of the trip.
...
... Last time we were over at Notre Dame, the West façade was covered in
... scaffolding. That was in (IIRC) November of last year, so they may have
... removed it since.

They have. The North tower is covered in scaffolding right now.

"Reba" writes:
    > We checked out Champs-Elysées (several times day but especially night),
    > Arc de Triomphe (we didn't climb up it) ...

I recommend doing so, if it's a nice day and your knees are up to it.
It's not high enough to give you the wide-area view you get from the
Eiffel or Montparnasse Tower or from Montmartre, but instead you're
close enough to the buildings to really see what you can see.

Note that the ticket office (unless it's moved) is in the underground
passage that you take to reach the traffic island where the arch is.
So if you are going to do the climb, you can save some steps by buying
the ticket before you return to street level. In round numbers from
memory, it's about 25 steps to come up out of the passage, then 225
steps to the museum level (just above the top of the lower surface of
the arch, not greatly interesting), then another 75 steps to the roof.

At one time there was a public elevator, and some web pages seem to
think there still is, so I suppose it's possible it's reopened. It
was 1999 when I did the climb; I don't know when Reba was there.
--
Mark Brader "How can we believe that?"
Toronto "Because this time it's true!"
[email protected] -- Lynn & Jay: YES, PRIME MINISTER

My text in this article is in the public domain.

When the sun shines in Paris, go to La Sainte
Chapelle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You will be dazzled!


"John Bermont" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Dale wrote:
    > >
    > > Going to Paris for first time, during 1st week in April ...we are
staying
    > > on the right bank..will be there for 9 days. We are trying to outline
an
    > > agenda. Do you have any must see, must do ideas??
    > >
    > > Any suggestions would be much appreciated..thanks
    > Dale,
    > Get a copy of the Michelin Green Guide to Paris. You will not run out of
    > things to do in 9 days. When the sun shines go over to the Luxembourg
    > Garden (Jardin Luxembourg) and relax on a bench.
    > John Bermont
    > --
    > ------------------------------------------------------
    > * * * Mastering Independent Budget Travel * * *
    > http://www.enjoy-europe.com/
    > ------------------------------------------------------

    >>Get a copy of the Michelin Green Guide to Paris. You will not run out of
    >>things to do in 9 days.

Hi,

one thing NOT in the green book (since it's technically not in paris) is
the cathedral at St. Denis... it's the terminus of it's metro line so do
visit it...

but the idea of a Green Michelin guide is right on.





--
"But to live outside the law, you must be honest"
Bob Dylan - Absolutely Sweet Marie - 1966

On Sun, 16 Feb 2003 08:40:37 -0500, "Dale"
wrote:


    >Going to Paris for first time, during 1st week in April ...we are staying
    >on the right bank..will be there for 9 days. We are trying to outline an
    >agenda. Do you have any must see, must do ideas??
    >Any suggestions would be much appreciated..thanks

It almost doesn't matter where you stay or what you do. Paris (at
least the portion above ground) is, probably always was, a knock-out.

See http://www.zipsonic.com/~clarke/_wsn/th2001fr.html

On Sun, 16 Feb 2003 08:40:37 -0500, "Dale"
wrote:


    >Going to Paris for first time, during 1st week in April ...we are staying
    >on the right bank..will be there for 9 days. We are trying to outline an
    >agenda. Do you have any must see, must do ideas??
    >Any suggestions would be much appreciated..thanks

Oh, yes, one other thing.... get an apartment. Pick any browser and
search "rent apartments paris".

Desmond Coughlan wrote in message news:...
    > le Sun, 16 Feb 2003 08:40:37 -0500, dans l'article [email protected]>, Dale a dit ...
    >
    > > Going to Paris for first time, during 1st week in April ...we are stay
    > ing
    > > on the right bank..will be there for 9 days. We are trying to outline
    > an
    > > agenda. Do you have any must see, must do ideas??
    >
    > place de la Bastille (where the Revolution began), Pompidou Centre, place
    > de la Concorde, les Champs-Elys es, l'Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, Mu
    > s e
    > d'Orsay, Panth on, Luxembourg Gardens ... etc. etc. etc ...............

All of the suggestions are good.

I also endorse the idea of a Carte Musee museum pass. In addition to
being a bargain and allowing you to bypass the long lines at the
Louvre and Musee d'Orsay, it also includes the entrance fees for a lot
of the specialized places you might otherwise skip(I liked the Thermes
de Cluny and l'Institut du Monde Arabe).

One warning: take reasonable precautions to frustrate the pickpockets.
There is no need to be paranoid, but don't make it too easy for them
to run off with your valuables. I know three couples who lost wallets
and passports. A pickpocket tried to hit me, but luckily, I had
prepared by making my wallet relatively inaccessible(the inside pocket
of a ski jacket, which works for cooler/cold weather).