What should I do when I go to Paris... any suggestions (Apart from the Louvre Eiffel Tower and Moulin Rouge)?

Show all answers

TrainerMan

The Musee d'or Se is an incredible museum that houses MANY impressionist painting. Paris Opera - if you can get tickets. The building itself is amazing to be in. You can't go to Paris without seeing Notre Dame and taking a ride down the Siene. Finally, go to Sacre C'ur, the cathedral up on the hill. It's absolutely beautiful.

txbeachgirl76

Make sure you go to Sacre Coure- a church on top on a huge hill. There is supposed to be great shopping there and the view is great.

Go to the Rodin museum

Take a river cruise on the Seine at night. Walk around Paris, there are places you can get books with city tours that will get you ideas. http://www.frommers.com/destinations/paris/0062020033.html
This is one of the best ways to see Paris.

visit the people at http://www.fattirebiketoursparis.com/
They are from Houston and give bike tours around the area. The one for Versaille is excellent.

Make sure you eat crepes and pastries...they are so yummy!
Oh yea, they have egg pizza- yuck.

Rillifane

Its easy enough to name tourist sights and museums. Paris is a large and ancient city with many such things to see. A week or even a month isn't enough time to see it all.

What you can't find in a list of places to see is the charm of Paris. That charm is the reason I keep returning despite having seen just about every "sight" in more than thirty five years of regular visits.

All that introduction is to to suggest that Paris should be experienced rather than viewed.

Go to the Luxembourg Gardens, sit on one of the lounge chairs that are scattered about and watch kids sail toy boats in the pond.

Stroll thru the Tuilleries Gardens and find the sandy courts where older gentlemen gather to play boules (maybe someone will offer to teach you how to play).

Get a good map then put it in your pocket and just wander around off the main streets. Peer into shop fronts, check out a grocery store, take in the architecture, and when you see a small cafe with no bright lights or "english spoke here" signs, just walk in and have a glass of wine. Sit a spell and watch the world go by.

In the evening try Aux Trois Mailletz at 56 rue Galand (left bank) or Un piano sur le trottoir at 77 rue des Francs Bourgeois (right bank) for dinner. Both places are very friendly, relatively untouristy, and have pianos playing and people singing. Join in.

Be both fearless and open minded. Meet people. Become part of the city for just a little while. Don't worry about seeing some list of "must see" tourist sights. Fall in love with Paris as so many of us do and you'll be back.

60s Chick

Walk into the neighborhoods: the area around the Tuileries is (was, anyhow!) beautiful and peaceful when I was there.

Don't concentrate on eating out a lot. Go into the little delis and buy wine, bread, and cheese.

Paris is wonderful and you can miss a lot of the ambience by just concentrating on the touristy things/areas.

Catis

Place des Vosges.
MusÃ©e Rodin
Rue Montorgueil
Centre George Pompidou

RolloverResistance

Many famous people are buried at Pere La Chaise cemetery. Jim Morrison's grave is visited by many every day. Victor Hugo is buried there too.

Cathedral of Notre Dame is also a "must see" and a good photo op.

Ride a Bateau Mouche on the Seine.

WillO

You have already received excellent suggestions from numerous readers, but I have one more.
Although the French cousine is outstanding, if you are there for more than a week, as we were a few years ago, you might be craving American food. Eat at McDonalds, located beneath a shopping center somewhere. We found it to be a welcome relief.

dlr015

Go to the Muse de Orassy (Monet, Van Gough), Notre Dame, Arc de Triumph, be sure to eat the pastries there. There are two great places by the Louvre. One is at the end of the park by the ferris wheel and to the right when facing the Arc, the second is when you walk out the to the right from the Louvre (with your back to the Louvre) down the street where cars and buses enter. The cafe is by the metro entrance that has a silver and colored pieces of artwork at the top of the stairs.

When I went, a couple of the people went to Moulin Rouge and said it was a waste of a $100. Go to Versailles, take a boat ride in the river Seine. You can catch the boat by the Eiffel Tower. It is a great ride. Nice and relaxing after a long day of walking. Don't be afraid to take the Metro. It's safe. Try to blend in while you're there and try to speak French. Even if you say "hi" they'll treat better than those who don't. Trust me. I've seen it.

If you're out late, go to the outdoor cafes. There great to sit, have a pastry or two and enjoy the city.

sansrival

Paris is known as the City of Light because of its beauty. It is a place to enjoy great food, see nice buildings & famous works of art. It is the center of fashion & style in the world.

The river Seins cuts Paris. In the north side of the river is called the Right Bank ( where businesses & large stores are located) & the one on the south side is the Left Bank ( government buildings & the University of Paris is). The neighborhood is known as the Latin Quarter, Latin used to be the official language in learning. The Ile de la Cite, is the oldest part of Paris, an island in the Seine. Did you know that the famous Notre Dame is in the island? Wow, its construction started way back in 1163. It is one of the famous cathedral in the world.

BUILDINGS & MONUMENTS:

Where do you go? Take a walk down Champs-Elysees. What do you expect to see here? This is a wide, tree-lined boulevard, is one of the most famous streets in the world. You should take hold of a map when places are suggested to you! From here, you can maximize your time & get the best out of your money.

What's next? at the end of Champs-Elysees is where you see Arc de Triomphe ( Arch of Triump). This honors the French, Napoleon I. This Arc is the national memorial of France.
It took 30 years to finish its contruction. See the names of the 386 generals of Napoleon inscribed in it & 96 of his victories are here also.

What do you expect to see at the other end? You will see Place de la Concorde ( Square of Peace) known for its huge fountains & statues. I supposed so that you already know where the Louvre is. If not, then it is located at the heart of Paris. Dont ever forget to see the famous painting of Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa. Did you know that its entrance is a modern glass pyramid? It is one of the famous museum in the world & it is housed in a palace.

Are you already tired? You can take a time out to sit back & relax. There are 2 gardens ahead of you, the Tuileres Garden located on the Right Bank & Luxembourg Gardens on the Left.

Right Bank:
1. The Marais

2. Louvre & Palace de la Concorde
See the fountain at the palace at night!
It has a nice view!

3. Champs Elylsees & Trocadero

4. Grands boulevards

5. Montmarte & Points East

Left Bank:

1. The Latin Quarter
Try seeing The Shakespeare & Co bookstore in the Latin Quarter, No 37 Rue de la Bucherie.

2. west from the Latin Quarter to the Eiffel Tower
Did you know that the tower was built in 1889 for the World's Fair. ( Did you know that the famous Needle Space in Seattle, Washington was bult in 1962 for the World Fair also). It was named after the engineer who constructed it. He is a French engineer, Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel. It was constructed using high quality wrought iron, considered as the masterpiece of the wrought-iron technology.

3. Montparnasse & the Southeast

At the left bank there is the Au Bon Marche department store.

Here is a checklist of the Popular Attractions in Paris as suggested by Yahoo travel:
1. Musee du Louvre
Location: 99, rue de Rivoli
Paris 75001 France
See schedule at Yahoo travel
I suggest that you see it at daytime & at nighttime too. Its beauty is different at night with the lights on. Enjoy the lovely garden outside. What a beautiful landscape they have!

2. Eiffel Tower
Location: Champ de Mars
Schedule varies to season!
Yahoo travel cites, Paris wont be Paris without the Eiffel Tower.

3. Basilique du Sacre-Couer
Location: 35, rue de Chavelier-de-la-Barre
Paris 75018 France
It takes 234 steps to bring you to the bell tower. Just imagine, the basilica was built between the years 1874-1919.

4. Arc de Triomphe
Location: Place Charles de Gaulle Etoile
Paris 75008 France

5. Musee d'Orsay
Location: 1, rue de la Legion, d"Honneur
Paris 75343 France
Website: www.musee-orsay,fr
See their shops were you can buy souvenir postcards. Did you know that it is a former train station?

6. Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Paris
Location: 6, place du Parvis-de-Notre-Dame
Did you know that there are 387 steps to the top of the masterpiece. It was suggested that it is worth the effort. Better bring bottled water. It is definitely tiring to climb this one. It has a wonderful circular rose window.

7. Centre Pompidou
Common name is Beaubourg! Architecture is a combination of Italian & British!

8. Musee Rudin
What is the difference of this with the other musuems? It is here where Auguste Rodin spent the last years of his life, from 1908 to 1917. It is here where is private collections can be seen.

9. Cimeti re du P re - Lachaise
Location: 16, rue de Repos
Paris 75020, France
website: gargl.net/lachaise//
It is high time to learn the French language, hey this place is a cemetery!

10. Napoleon's Tomb
Location: Esplanade des Invalides
I suggest that you study a part of the life of Napoleon Bonaparte! He was called the "Man of Destiny/" He was a hero in France but many people in Europe hated him. Imagine, he started his military life at 16 years old at the French army. He reorganized many laws in France even affecting religion. In fairness, he introduced faired taxes & a new education system.

Other things to do:
1. See the famous Paris Ferris wheel

2. shop for the famous cheese

3. Shopping: see the interior of La Samaritaine department store at 19 Rue de la Monnaie

4. See the famous hotels like the Ritz Paris, a room costs $776 per night! Comparing it with the 4 star hotel K+K Hotel Cayre, which costs $217 per night. Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome Paris, is at &738 per night.

amyman12

Pastry shops. Notre Dame is gorgeous, ride the canals(or whatever their called) the opera house is pretty neat, the shopping is Fantasic. try eating lunch at a cafe. Go see Oscar Wilde, hes in Pierre La Chase

you should defintely go to versailles its really pretty and euro disney

krissydahs93

Go to Shakespeare and Company, a famous English-language bookstore near the Place St. Michel in the 5th arrondisement (the address is 37 rue de la Bucherie). Back in the 20's and 30's, it was the hangout for authors such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and Ezra Pound. It first published James Joyce's "Ulysses" in 1922. I read "A Moveable Feast" by Ernest Hemingway, and he mentions it quite a bit in there.

The store was originally located at 12 rue de l'Odeon until it closed in 1941after the Nazi occupation of France. Another English-language bookstore was opened in 1951 and was renamed Shakespeare and Company after the original owner, Sylvia Beach, passed away. It's still a hangout for avant-garde authors and artists, and there are beds in there - the owner encourages people to live there as long as you make your bed, help in the shop and read a book a day.

Sidsassenach

Just fo the record it is MusÃ©e d'Orsay.

Opera Garnier (there is two operas in Paris, the other one is modern)
PanthÃ©on + Sorbonne
SacrÃ© Coeur + walking around Montmartre (Place du tertre)
Versailles (must do!!!)
walking up or down the Champs ElysÃ©es (if possible at sunset)
Doing the double decker bus city tour (you'll see nearly everything at least once and wille get some explanations)
Notre Dame and l'lle de la CitÃ©
Walking around Le Marrais (maybe at night hile looking for a restaurant)
Gardens: Palais Royale, Luxembourg, Tuilleries
Visit la Conciergerie (that reminds me I should go back there)

nativeAZ

Musee Rodin (the Thinker)
http://www.musee-rodin.fr/welcome.htm

Chateau de Versailles
http://www.chateauversailles.fr/en/

You can also do train trips out to the smaller towns & countryside, like Nice or Grenoble.

Aeryn Sun

Visit the chateaux in the Loire Valley--GORGEOUS!!

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment: