Review of our 4 1/2 days in Paris

[itsanita]

We had a wonderful time in our 4 ½ days in Paris, due mostly to all the help I received on these boards..so just wanted to do a short review in case it might help anyone else trying to plan a short trip pre or post cruise. It’s a bit long..

 

We (my husband and I, both in our 60’s) took a straight thru flight from Miami to Charles de Gaulle Airport. Upon arrival, we were directed to immigration/passport control, then to baggage pickup, then Customs control for baggage, which is separate from passport control and handled by customs officers near the exit of the baggage collection area. All was quick and easy, just followed the crowd. Along the way we saw a kiosk that said Tourist Information, with no one waiting. We stopped and inquired about tickets for the train to Paris, a 4 day Paris Museum Pass, and a Carnet (batch of 10 metro tickets that we could use during our stay). To our delight, we were able to obtain all of the items at this one stop, using credit card.

After we went thru baggage control, we then just followed the below signs to the train to Paris…(RER not GARE SNCF)

 

We found the correct train…got on with all our luggage..2 large suitcases, 2 carry ons and my rather large purse. Again, no problems at all. At this time I want to mention that when using the transportation in Paris, you need to hang on to your ticket, as you need it to leave the station. So you put it in a turnstile when you enter and get on, and the same type of turnstile when you leave…so KEEP YOUR TICKETS..we learned that the hard way. LOL

 

We got off at the Saint Michel / Notre-Dame stop (about 40 min). That stop had both an elevator and a series of escalators up to the street. It is very deep so you will welcome the ride up with your luggage. We struggled a bit to locate them, but everyone we asked spoke English and gave us directions. If you plan on doing the train, investigate the stop you are planning to use, make sure there is an elevator / escalator which will make getting to street level much easier with your luggage.

We stayed at a hotel called Le Regent hotel, (it included breakfast and free Wi-Fi) at 61 rue Dauphine. It was within a 5-7 minute walk from the Odeon metro station, the St Michael Metro station, and the train/RER St Michaael-Notre dame station. It was perfect for our plans. We could walk to Notre Dame, walk to the Louvre, and had about a 3 minute walk to the Seine, right at the end of our street. It worked out perfectly for us. The rooms were small but immaculately clean. Bathroom was very modern, almost as big as our room! Our room was ready, so after checking in, dumping the luggage, we were off.

 

First stop was down our street, over the Pont Neuf Bridge (at the end of our street), turned right and headed toward Notre Dame.

We passed and stopped at Sainte-Chapelle (Museum Pass 930-6 ) and then visited the Conciergerie (Paris Museum Pass).

We wandered around the plaza at Notre Dame, which had HUGE lines waiting to get in. We had a late lunch/ early dinner at a Bistro by the Cathedral, and then wandered behind the Cathedral.

To the left, behind the Cathedral was Pont St Louis Bridge that took us to the Ile St Louis. We wandered around that area for awhile, sampling the Berthillon ice cream, which you could get several places on that little island. We then headed back toward our hotel, walking along the Seine till we came to our street. We made it to about 8pm before jet lag insisted on bed.

 

The next morning was Sunday, so after a quick breakfast, we walked back to Notre Dame, walked past the line that was already formed, and went right in to attend 9:45 Mass. It was a beautiful service, and afterward we toured the cathedral.

We then got on the Hop on Hop off bus that had a stop right at the Cathedral. We purchased a 2 day HOHO ticket when we got on the bus. We stayed on the bus, learning all about the sites we were passing, until we got to the Eiffel Tower.

Here we got off as we had pre purchased tickets for The Behind the Scenes Tour of the Eiffel Tower with Cultival. We bought these tickets on line via the Eiffel Towers official web site. This turned out to be one of the best things we did! The lines for the tower were huge..and these were for people who had already purchased a ticket for that day. We were told there were no tickets available for the next few weeks. YIKES..glad we did not wait to see how the weather was going to be. Because we had the tour booked with Cultival, we did not have to wait in ANY lines. The tour took us to a bunker, also to the area below the tower to see how the elevators worked. We had booked the tour in English and our guide was wonderful. Learned all kinds of things about the tower and its history. I would definitely recommend. It was about 29E per person.

After our time at the tour, we got back on the HOHO and finished the route, getting off for lunch and at the Hotel Invalides (not on my list, but was very impressive so we had to go look!).

We got off at the end of the day at the Notre Dame stop to visit CRYPTE ARCHÉOLOGIQUE DU PARVIS NOTRE-(Paris Museum Pass).

We then walked to the Panthéon (Paris Museum Pass) and then just wandered back to our hotel. We found ourselves on the Rue de Buc, lots of markets and wonderful shops, selling everything from fish to cheese to bread. We found the Blvd. St.-Germain and had dinner at a small restaurant with tables outside and wonderful wine! We found everyone friendly, most spoke some English. We finally found our hotel, with a little help from our new Paris friends.

 

Next day, after breakfast in our hotel, we walked down the street to the Pont Neuf Bridge and turned left to the Louvre (Paris Museum Pass) It opens at 9 (closed Tuesday) and our goal was to be there a little before that.

We arrived at about 8:45 and found a huge line already formed at the Pyramid entrance. But having the Paris Pass, we could go in another entrance. Looking at the back of the Pyramid, it is to the right, through a arch. It says ‘group and Paris Pass only’. That line had 4 people in it and at 9am we were in. I had done my homework and knew where to go first..of course the Mona Lisa, going by the Winged Victory on the way. If that is your plan, when you are in, and find yourself in the huge lobby under the Pyramid, there are several entrances to the actual museum. You want to look for “ Sully” and enter that way. You just need to show your Pass, and you are in. Follow the signs to the Mona Lisa. It is quite the walk..about 15 minutes or so. When you go up a huge marble staircase, you will see the Winged Victory at the top…take a minute , as later in the day its mobbed here. When we arrived at the Mona Lisa there were about 20 people there, by the time we left it was getting crowded. Even if you are not interested in what the museum has within it’s wall, the building itself is worth the visit. It was more impressive than we thought.

 

After we got our fill of the Louvre, our plan was to wonder toward the Obelisk, and stop at the Musee d'Orangerie (Paris Pass, priority access 9-6 Closed Tuesday). We loved the walk, stopped for coffee at a pond/fountain and then went into the Orangerie. Here we found Monet, (supersized water lily paintings which you can see of all 4 seasons in the same room on oval walls). It was small, easy in and out. We kept walking toward Avenue des Champs-Elysies, but our HOHO bus came by so we hopped on for the ride up the Avenue..we weren’t shopping anyway! We were hungry by this time and got off the HOHO on the Avenue des Champs-Elysies were we saw a Pomme de Pain. We had a wonderful sandwich (it really was good!! Fresh warm bread, melted cheese..yummy for a chain restaurant) , sitting outside on the Avenue. We then walked the rest of the way to the Arc de Triomphe (Paris Pass). We were on the right side of the road walking toward the Arc, and you go down into a tunnel that take you to the Arc..follow the signs. DO NOT TRY CROSSING THE TRAFFIC CIRCLE! Get there via underground tunnel. You can go up by elevator or a winding staircase. Beautiful view, even thought it was starting to cloud up.

By the time we got down to the bottom it was starting to rain. We had planned on taking the HOH0 to Montmartre/Sacre Coeur/Moulin Rouge next, but with the rain we decided to nix that. We got back on the HOHO and got off at the Opera Garnier. Here we bought tickets via credit card at the door. There is a guided tour in English at 230, but we were way too late for that so we wondered around by ourselves. It was beautiful, well worth the extra money and the time.

Back on the HOHO bus to the stop nearest our hotel at the Pont Neuf Bridge. By this time the rain had stopped so we decided to use our ‘free river cruise’ from our HOHO.

 

We got great seats and took the entire cruise..took over an hour, getting off at the Notre Dame stop. While walking back to our hotel, we settled on a little outside restaurant for a lovey bowel of French Onion soup, warn bread and a wonderful bottle of wine.

 

It’s now Tuesday, and we headed to Versailles (Paris Pass, closed Monday, Zone 4 9-630 Park open till 830). We were told that Tuesday is one of the busiest days, but it was the only day we could go. We had our hotel breakfast and then walked to the St Michal-Notre dame station. This time we needed RER tickets. We just asked for round trip tickets to Versailles, they were about 7E per person round trip. The train came within minutes and we were pointed toward it by the lady that sold us the tickets. We got off at “Versailles Rive gauche Chateau de Versailles. Train schedule: http://www.transilien.com Once there it was a 5-minute walk from the train station to the Chateau.

 

We got there at about 8:45 and there was already quite a line. There is no fast track for the Pass, so we waited with everyone else. Once the doors open we were in by 9:20am, picking up the included earphones and auto recorder that was invaluable. There is a restaurant inside, the gardens are extra, not included on the Pass. My understanding is the only way to avoid the lines is to purchase a tour. It looked like you could do this at the information station in a little strip mall right off the train station. We enjoyed our morning and afternoon here. We were done around 2pm, but you could get thru in a couple hours if you did not stop or tour the gardens.

Back on the RER train, direction Juvisy-sur-orge. We got off at the Musee d’Orsay stop (Paris Pass 930-6 closed Monday). This museum is worth visiting if only for the building itself. It’s an old train station and its incredible. The art inside is not too shabby either!! There is a beautiful restaurant here if you are inclined to have a meal.

Since we missed our outing to Montmartre/Sacre Coeur/Moulin Rouge, we decided to use our Carnet metro tickets and go there for the evening. We arrived without issue but had a bit of a time finding our way up the hill. So make sure you have a good city map with you. We had left ours back at the hotel thinking we knew the way!! After exploring the church (free), make sure you walk around to the back of the Sacre Coeur to the little village/city behind it. This is where you will find all the street artists, little shops, restaurants etc. We had taken pictures of our 5 grandchildren with us in hopes of getting some drawn by these artists to take home as a souvenir from Paris. We found the artists to be very nice , not at all pushy as we had been led to believe. We choose our artist, negotiated a price (45 e per child) and left him with the pictures. We then shopped, had dinner (yep, with a lovely bottle of wine) and then went back for the pictures. Some we felt were better than others, but they were all acceptable. He rolled then up and put them in a tub for transport. We then went back to the Metro station and back to the hotel. A wonderful end to our days in Paris.

 

The next day we took a cab to the du Nord train station and got on the Eurostar (pre purchased tickets) for our train ride to London.

 

I just have a couple comments. We saved a bit of money purchasing the Museum Pass vs the Paris Pass. And it worked perfectly for us. Since we had the 2 day HOHO, we found we only used the Metro tickets for one ride…so glad we did not buy the Travel Card. It was much nicer traveling above ground and hearing commentary of what we were seeing and the history of Paris. We came home with 6 Metro tickets we did not use. Dressing for Paris: As many have said, dress for comfort. We saw everything from shorts to jeans and all kinds of footwear. Parisians do dress better as a rule than what I see in American cities. We did not wear jeans or sneakers, and I did wear a couple of lovely scarfs. We never felt the need to ‘hide’ our money in a secret place or use a money belt. I carried a purse every day without ever feeling uncomfortable. I just kept it over my chest in front of me…as many women in Paris do.

The Metro is crowed, if you can avoid it, try not to take all you luggage on the metro…trains are ok, they expect that, but its hard in the metro.

 

If you have any questions, feel free to ask as I would be happy to help if I can. Again…THANKS so much to all who helped me plan this wonderful trip.

[Keith1010]

Excellent trip report.

 

Keith

[Turtles06]

OP: thanks for taking the time to do such a detailed report, which I'm sure will be of great help to anyone visiting Paris for the first time. Actually, we have been there before and I learned something from you as well: that we can buy a Carnet at the Tourist Info desk at CDG. We'll be back in Paris later this year and were going to buy the Museum Pass at CDG (barring long lines), and then buy a Carnet on the Metro, so it's very helpful to know we can get both at CDG. Thanks!

[sparty1]

Thank you sooo very much for taking the time to do this review!! It is very informative and helpful. We'll be using this info for our Oct trip. :)

[seacrystal]

Hi Anita!:D

 

Thank you soooooooooooo much for your detailed report. We leave in five days for six days in Paris before our British Isles cruise. Your information is much appreciated. Having never been to Paris, I have been a little nervous about what we will encounter. Our plan is to do pretty much what you did with the tourist information center upon arrival. We knew that would be our first stop to save time for tickets. I appreciate your reminder to hang onto your rail ticket. All your other information is invaluable.

[itsanita]

Hi Anita!:D

 

Thank you soooooooooooo much for your detailed report. We leave in five days for six days in Paris before our British Isles cruise. Your information is much appreciated. Having never been to Paris, I have been a little nervous about what we will encounter. Our plan is to do pretty much what you did with the tourist information center upon arrival. We knew that would be our first stop to save time for tickets. I appreciate your reminder to hang onto your rail ticket. All your other information is invaluable.

 

Have a wonderful time. We found everyone very kind and helpful. Enjoy your cruise too!

[loma linda ca a & j]

even tho we've been there in 1989 and 2001 for total of 15 days,

we are returning in 2017 for 8 to 10 days with 2 kids and 2 grandkids -

am printing all your info to help us plan our trip - glad you enjoyed it !!;)

[happycruizer]

Our first time to Paris in September; thanks for the infor. I did not realize we could purchase a Carnet of tkts. at the CDG Tourist Desk....good to know. Which HOHO bus did you use?

[Turtles06]

For first time visitors to France, may I offer two tips (apologies if you already know them). First, in France, unlike in the US, it is customary when entering a shop to greet the shopkeeper; use an upbeat "Bonjour madame/monsieur/mademoiselle." The French will think you rude if you don't. Similarly, say "Au revoir" when leaving. These courtesies are an important part of the culture, and fitting in like this will go a long way in how you are treated.

 

One other tip, applicable in any country where English is not the native language: learn how to ask "Do you speak English?" in whatever the local language is. Many French do speak English, but find it insulting for Americans to presume that they do by asking them in English whether they do.

 

Enjoy!

[loma linda ca a & j]

For first time visitors to France, may I offer two tips (apologies if you already know them). First, in France, unlike in the US, it is customary when entering a shop to greet the shopkeeper; use an upbeat "Bonjour madame/monsieur/mademoiselle." The French will think you rude if you don't. Similarly, say "Au revoir" when leaving. These courtesies are an important part of the culture, and fitting in like this will go a long way in how you are treated.

 

One other tip, applicable in any country where English is not the native language: learn how to ask "Do you speak English?" in whatever the local language is. Many French do speak English, but find it insulting for Americans to presume that they do by asking them in English whether they do.

 

Enjoy!

 

agree with everything you wrote !!

 

too many americans expect everyone to speak to them in english

and get mad if they don't - we have found most everyone in other

countries very friendly and happy when they can be of assistance

 

a smile from us goes a long way along with the bonjour etc. :)

Edited July 23, 2015 by loma linda ca a & j

[loma linda ca a & j]

read all about their hotel - looks lovely - location is great !!

 

if it were just 2 of us would seriously consider but for 3 rooms

(the grandkids are teenagers) for 8 nights it was over US$6000

so might consider 3 bed 2 bath apartment for a week - plus we

would have living room & kitchen - maybe about US$3000 - 4000 -

a few cc members have written about

a few that look really nice - some with balcony etc.

Edited July 23, 2015 by loma linda ca a & j

[itsanita]

Our first time to Paris in September; thanks for the infor. I did not realize we could purchase a Carnet of tkts. at the CDG Tourist Desk....good to know. Which HOHO bus did you use?

 

We used L Open Tour.

http://www.paris.opentour.com/en/practical-aspects/lopentour-shop/

 

They were prompt, and their different routes went everywhere we wanted to go.

[happycruizer]

Thank you for your reply and your detailed report.:) That is the Bus Tour I was considering and I think I saw we could purchase tkts. at the CDG Tourist Desk. Considered purchasing them before departing home but may wait to see how the weather is on arrival and then purchase.

Love these boards. Lots of tips and info that is hard to find any place else.

[Steirisch]

What an exciting report...felt like I was transported there. Thank you for sharing your lovely experiences with us.

[itsanita]

Thank you for your reply and your detailed report.:) That is the Bus Tour I was considering and I think I saw we could purchase tkts. at the CDG Tourist Desk. Considered purchasing them before departing home but may wait to see how the weather is on arrival and then purchase.

Love these boards. Lots of tips and info that is hard to find any place else.

 

That's why we waited to buy the tickets that day...it was easy as we got then right at the bus and we could choose another day if it was raining. And me too!! I love these boards!

[marazul]

 

It’s now Tuesday, and we headed to Versailles (Paris Pass, closed Monday, Zone 4 9-630 Park open till 830).

We got there at about 8:45 and there was already quite a line. There is no fast track for the Pass, so we waited with everyone else. Once the doors open we were in by 9:20am, picking up the included earphones and auto recorder that was invaluable. There is a restaurant inside, the gardens are extra, not included on the Pass. My understanding is the only way to avoid the lines is to purchase a tour. It looked like you could do this at the information station in a little strip mall right off the train station.

 

Anita, that was a wonderful trip and report. Thanks.

 

I have one comment about the guided tours in Versailles. Yes, they let you skip the lines and they are excellent. They can be bought near the train station, but it is best to buy them at the information building just inside the palace gates. It will be on you right while you are standing in line. BUT, the tours do fill up days ahead of time, so I highly recommend that you book them on the palace website before you leave on your trip. The best is for "The Private Apartments of the Kings," it also includes all the public areas.

 

http://en.chateauversailles.fr/prepare-my-visit-/single/tickets-and-rates/billets-et-tarifs/visites-1-en

 

And if you want additional tickets for the gardens, Trianon Palace, fountains shows, etc, look here:

 

http://en.chateauversailles.fr/prepare-my-visit-/single/tickets-and-rates

 

http://en.chateauversailles.fr/prepare-my-visit-/single/tickets-and-rates/billets-et-tarifs/les-grandes-eaux-1-en