After extensive time spent on this forum things went beautifully, even though we adjusted what we had planned to different days to avoid the crowds and closures due to the Pope%26#39;s visit.
Advice we took from this forum which were great included buying a forfait loissor (spelling) pass for Versailles, buying a 2 day museum pass (it paid for itself the first day and ended up saving us over 50% for how many times we used it) buying carnets for the metro, and buying tickets online for the night boat cruise again saving a few euros.
First day our arrival was around 6:30 AM, transfers to the hotel had been booked in advance, now i know it would have been faster and saved a lot to have taken the train, that we%26#39;d change next time.
Left our luggage at the hotel, we stayed at the Villa St Martin in the 10th, which isn%26#39;t close to much you%26#39;d probably want to see, but is only a 2 or 3 minute walk to gare d%26#39;est making it easy to get anywhere. This hotel was great, clean, real nice breakfasst included, rooms were smallish but who cares about that, and all of the staff spoke excellent English if you need that.
We never did encounter anyone we felt was rude, most seemed just like you%26#39;d find anywhere. ONly once was our inability to speak more than a few words of French a problem, that was when the metro temporarily shut down due to something that happened on the line, we never did find out exactly what.
We immediately took the metro to Notre Dame to get there early, the metro is very very easy to use, well marked, although there are a lot of steps getting in and out of the stations.
At Notre Dame after being there an hour or so we got in the line for the climb up the tower, we got in it at around 9;45, it opened at 10:00, we were in the first group inside and bought our museum pass, no problem, the pass would not let you avoid the line which we saw behind us was already growing long.
The view from the top of Notre Dame was great, and up close with the gargoyles is not to be missed, so different than seeing them from the ground.
After that off to Ste Chappelle, where we encountered our first line, about 15 mins for security, the museum pass didn%26#39;t matter, this place is simply beautiful and again a must see. Next to teh concierge, this one wasn%26#39;t all that interesting, and i%26#39;d miss it if time was an issue or you had to pay separately but it was right next door and covered with the pass so why not.
We then stayed in the area by visiting first St Germaine des Pres (beautiful) and St Sulpice (old and looks it), got something to drink on the street and went into Luxombourg gardens, which weren%26#39;t as nice as this forum had led me to believe, but again well worth the time to stroll through and sit a while to catch your breath.
From there it was off to the Pantheon, remarkable building, covered by the pass, no lines, then being a little tired back to the hotel, catch a nap for an hour then back out deciding to go on the night boat ride.
We went on The Vendettes leaving near the Pont Neuf bridge, the narration wasn%26#39;t all that good but it was a restful way of seeing some sites from the river.
Next morning straight to Arc de Triomphe, no line so again the pass didn%26#39;t save time, just money, the view from the top is spectacular. After that we walked down the Champs de Elysee, turned to pass the petit and grand palace, which we did not go in, and crossed the bridge to invalides/Napoleons tomb, which were much better then this forum had led us to believe, nice cafeteria in Invalides for lunch.
After that we hit the Rodin, no lines, Orsay (no lines) then since it was Friday went to the Louvre in the evening arriving around 5:45. If you aren%26#39;t an art lover I%26#39;d skip the Orsay, except perhaps for the building itself, same for the Rodin museum.
The Louvre was as expected, huge, fantastic, confusing as all heck; there%26#39;s no chance to see even a tenth of it unless you spend days there. We purchased the audio phones, which we%26#39;d not do again as we returned them after only an hour or so because we were spending more time messing with them than enjoying the exhibits. It was crowded but not to the point it ever mattered on Friday night, you could easily get around and see everything, even the Mona Lisa.
Following day early morning off to versailles. The forfait loissor pass is a must in my opinion, the travel (we went metro to rer line C to versailles), ticket to the palace, to the grand and petit triannons, and to Marie Antoinettes farm, as well as the gardens was all included as well as bypassing the ticket line. We spent 8 hours there and enjoyed every minute. We did spend an extra 4.5E to buy the pass for the tram to get to the triannon which saved a lot of walking as the place is huge.
One word of advice for Versailles concerns the rest rooms, there were massive lines for the rest room near the main gate and palace, but no lines at all for the rest rooms at both triannons and at the restaurant at the head of the grand canal. That restaurant has a good menu, and though busy was prompt and the food was good, the prices in line if not better than we saw at similar places in paris.
Definitely go on a weekend when the fountains are on, even if it%26#39;s more crowded it%26#39;s worth seeing, they are beautiful.
We got off the rer near the Eiffel tower on the return, we%26#39;d planned on going to Eiffel first thing the next morning, and the line time was displayed as %26gt;45mins but we decided to get in the line anyhow. It did take almost exactly 45 mins, then about another 20 on the second level, we stayed in it till dusk then before it lit up for the first time at 9:00 got to the ground and went across the bridge to view it.
That bridge is a great place to see eiffel light up.
The fourth and last day we went by metro again and started at St Eustache, another beautiful church, then to the Palais Royale gardens, perhaps the most picturesque we saw, although not on the massive scale as Luxembourg, versailles, and Tuileries; roamed into Place vendome, which being it was Sunday and everything was closed was a waste of time, even if open we%26#39;d not use the time to go there if we knew.
Then off to walk through the gardin des Tuileries, to turn up the street to le Madeline church, which since a service was going on we bypassed toward vendome, then doubled back toward the Opera garnier. Purely because of rick steves book and recommendation we went to the Paris Story movie nest to the opera. if there was one thing I%26#39;d recommend against it is this place, not worth the time or money, rick steves must get a kick back as they even ask you how you heard about them when you buy the ticket.
The opera garnier was just fantastic, there was a rehearsal going on when we arrived and the main hall was closed but fortunately it ended while we were there and the main hall was opened. This is a must see. Finished up in that area with le madeline, one more beautiful church, then took the metro to see the Moulin Rouge, the area was flooded with tourists, seedy, and except for saying you saw the outside of the Moulin Rouge a waste of time.
From there our last thing on the itinerary was Sacre Coeur, and we took the stairs one last time, again this whole area of Mont Marte was over run with tourists, dozens of cheap souvenir shops, and was the only place we encountered scam artists, the string guys, who are very in your face, won%26#39;t take a polite no for an answer and will pursue you, keep your hands out of their reach or you%26#39;re going to get a string on your wrist. This was the only time on our trip we felt some authorities should clear these guys out, it%26#39;s more than annoying.
this was the only place that no photos were allowed, even without flash, which was odd, and although the view from the steps of Paris was good you were too far away to see much distinctly, just a overview of how large paris is. If we hadn%26#39;t had time this is one area we would not have missed, the area was one big tourist trap.
that night we went back to the trocadero area having decided the thing we%26#39;d most like to do on the last night was just hang out with a view of the Eiffel tower.
last thing was after not coming to any conclusion about what to wear based on this forum we found that you could pretty much wear whatver and no one would care. Just wear shoes that are comfortable because there is a lot of walking to do if you want to see much.
In summary, don%26#39;t sweat what you wear, but a museum pass, buy a forfait lossair if you intend to go to versailles, get familiar with and use the metro, plan so you stay in one area at a time, and don%26#39;t worry about rest rooms, we found them to be available most anywhere, and if in doubt find a McDonalds, they have nice clean rest rooms.
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I really liked your trip report, heaps of info that is easy to remember and do :0)
Sort of the way I would write a report.....sounds like you had a lot of fun
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Great trip report. Thank you for sharing.
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I enjoyed your report also, thanks
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Sounds like you had a great time. We are heading there Oct 6. Where did you get your museum pass from?
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We got the pass at Notre Dame, at the entrance to climbing the tower, it was no problem at all, we only bought it there because that was the first place we went.
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How much is the museum pass? Is there a website?
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great report. Thank you. It is helpful that you distinguished between better and worse ways to spend your time, depending on how much time a person had available.
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Enjoyed your trip report very much.
One point though, you did point out that lines were not a huge issue, ( which I totally agree with, I have never waited hours for anything but the ET, for which no pass allows line skipping anyways) so the Museum pass is only useful for saving money ,, if like you , people plan their time well and use it at least three times a day.
I also thought the Forfair Loisirs is a great pass.And so true about wc in Versailles, the ones at main Palace had insane lines, but out on grounds it was much better.
I do agree that Sacre Coeur is a miss ,, I haven%26#39;t gone back in many years, and have never taken anyone there in my trips since , fine if you are %26quot;in the area%26quot;( which of course you would be unlikely to be since it is not terribly central) , but there is so very many other sites and places to visit in Paris that SC comes in near the bottom of my list,, If I was there for more then a month then I would consider a revisit.
We also loved St Eustashe( sp ?) it was so peaceful when we went, nice to wander around in the quiet and really enjoy it,, I love Notre Dame,, but really being elbow to elbow with humanity can be a bit distracting from the magic.
How did you like your hotel?
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The website for the museum pass is www.parismuseumpass.com, and is very informative and you can pick english if needed.
We stayed in the Villa St Martin, i wrote a review of it on here (trip advisor) but in a nutshell it%26#39;s nothing fancy, but clean, reasonably priced, very good staff, great breakfast whic is included, and located about a 3 minute walk from the Gare D%26#39;est.
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