Im going to paris for 8 days..i dont know what to do while im there?

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Rillifane

Paris is a big city, an old city, and a city filled with political, cultural, artistic and literary history. There are enough "good places" to see that you could stay there for years and not see them all. (I've been visiting Paris pretty regularly for the last 35 years and I haven't seen everything yet.)

So your question is hard to answer because to completely answer it we'd have to write a book.

Luckily, a lot of people have done exactly that and any one of these guide books is pretty much as good as another.

I know this sounds silly but being a "good" tourist is hard work and you should spend almost as much time preparing as you do actually being there.

So get at least one of those books and read it.

And while you're at it, read some of the books written by people about their experiences in Paris. there are a lot of these type of books too. Hemingway's "A Moveable Feast" is a great one but even a funny book like Art Buchwald's "I'll always have Paris" is worth reading.

Make a list of what you want to see based on your personal interests and the amount of time you have. Of course, its fine to come back to this forum with more specific questions after you have had the time to do some research of your own.

There's also a lot to Paris that is beyond the tourist sights. Its the ambience and the attitude of Paris which need to be lived and felt.

You should spend some time just strolling around the city to appreciate its architecture and to get a feel for its medieval layout, the Belle Epoch improvements of Baron Hausman, and the modernizations seen in places like the Les Halles Forum and the new Opera in the Place Bastille.

You should take a little time to just sit in a cafe in the Latin Quarter or St. Germaine and people watch.

Enjoy some of the nightlife of Paris. Not the tourist ripoffs like the Moulin Rogue or the Lido but the vast number of fantastic music venues, from the jazz joints to discos.

Eat! And be a bit courageous. Go to places that don't cater to tourists and don't have English menus. Just point to things on the menu or, better still, walk into a cafe at lunchtime and ask for the daily special which you'll almost always see displayed on a chalk board. don't worry if you don't know what it is! Try it! The worst that will happen is that you'll have a hilarious story to tell about how you got served a calve's head with cream sauce or something else too weird for you to eat.

Mainly, don't listen to the half wits who tell you Parisians are terrible people or adivse staying in a tight little tourist cocoon..

Strike up conversations with strangers, be open minded, put your map in your back pocket and just wander around, get lost, experiment, learn, take the time to really look at things.

For something that you might not find in any guidebook, I suggest having dinner with Jim Haynes, savant, artist, agititator and legendary avant garde trouble maker. He throws a dinner every Sunday night at his atelier in Paris and for 20 euros you get a great meal, an open bar, and the company of almost 100 other people who range from regulars and old friends of Jim's to tourists to the occassional movie star, rock idol, or internationally known celebrity. Check it out here: http://www.jim-haynes.com/index.htm

Have Fun!

P.S. Forget guided tours. See things for and by yourself and not thru the filter of some canned tour.

tripleaxel_44

Eiffle Tower and the louvre. Also, Arch de Triamph and just take a stroll down a street and take in the sights smells and shopping! Relax in a cafe or marketplace. You will find anything and everything just around the corner. Make me best answer!

ALSO: Great site: http://www.britishtours.com/paris.html?gclid=CIbY0I2a_YwCFRTGhgodCBVK8w PICK ME FOR BEST ANSWER!

boxjellÃ¿

You must see Paris at night! I love to stroll the entire Champs Elysees to the Place de la Concorde. It's so beautiful to see the Louvre lit up, Notre Dame and turn around to see the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe. You are truly in the City of Lights! C'est magnifique!

lbabygirl08

oh my! I've been to Paris once and it is such a bustling city! With only 8 days, you'll probably be scrambling around and finding that you don't have enough time to go see everything..seriously I stayed a week and I thought that I did not have enough time! THere is so much to see, from architecture to museums to landmarks..there is so much culture in that city! Some famous, popular tourist attractions include the Eiffel Tower, Louvre, Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, Champs Elyssee, and lots of shopping!

William L

LUCKY YOU!

First and foremost, as suggested earlier, do your homework and focus your attention on those things that interest YOU the most.

Now, a couple of nuts-and-bolts things and a couple of generalities ...

If you plan to visit Versailles, and want to see it thoroughly, plan on the better part of a day to do so: there is the main chateau, the gardens, the two Trianons, and Marie Antoinette's Hamlet. In addition, the town itself is well-worth strolling around.

If you have any interest in furnishings/decorative arts, the Carnavalet Museum (in the Marais district, Paris) is a "must." As of last November, it was a freebie.

Yes, a ride on the Seine is fun (go at night when the landmarks are beautifully lighted).

If you have any intention of visiting a lot of museums, please look into getting a museum pass: it enables you to jump to the head of any entrance line, and you completely avoid the cashier lines. SEE:

http://www.parismuseumpass.com

I also urge you to get a metro pass; again, you avoid cashier lines, and you can ride as many times as you like during its period of validity. SEE:

http://www.ratp.fr

(There is an English option on the home page.)

Enjoy!

sotagirl74

I just did a Yahoo search "things to do in Paris France"
and about 19,700,000 things came up for 'things to do in paris france".
Yahoo Travel, gofrance.about.com, tripadvisor.com, worldtravelguide.net, www.viator.com/Paris, just name a few.
I would check them out.

Nathalie & Laurent F

Go to Monaco Half of the city is Italy half is France and it is beautiful, of go to Annecy Mountains and the beautiful Lac D' Annecy

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