Paris

dmc said:

We're big into art and I really want to go to the places where the impressionist painted... Like I want to go to Giverny and see Monet's house and the water lilies... So museums are definitely on the plan... The Louvre for sure.. Also the Musee d'Orsay and Musee de l'Orangerie...

I also want to see the palace of Versailles.. Always dreamt of going there..

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looks like you have laid out your schedule right there. giverny is a day trip really. i would rent a car for that trip. you can do versailles in a half day if you don't walk the entire garden and the inside and you can take the metro for the trip. if you love the modern art, the place to go is centre pompidou. if you want to do the louvre, you need to choose wisely. you can spend several days if you wish. look at the layout before you go and decide. but, the building itself is a work of art and can take a whole day to checkout.
i would also suggest taking a boat ride in the seine. there are a few operators and you can jump on it quite easily. you can do this after you check out the latin quarter or the notre dame. gotta go now, but will give you some more later.

Definitely spend some time in some cathedrals. Sacred spaces are grounding and uplifting at the same time. Second the rec on the Centre Pompidou for modern art....it's the place to go to see many works by Matisse, Picasso, Miro... Also there is a cool and lively street art scene on the plaza outside the museum.

i'm back. here is another suggestion. 6 days is not a lot to cover paris especially since you want to take day trips. so plan out your days in sections. one strategy is to take a day or two to check out north of the seine river and another day or two to check the other side of the seine. i also suggest checking out the champs elysees during the day but definitely in the evening.
if you are definitely going to giverny, consider stopping by auvers-sur-oise on the way back to paris. that's where van gogh is buried. you can check out where he lived. i like that town. van gogh painted quite a few of town scenes and you can check out where he painted some of them, like the famous church in town.
and of course, his tomb stone.
when you are on the eiffel side of the town, check out les invalides. napoleon is buried there. for hanging out later in the evening, i like st. germain des pres area.
if you want to check out a fancy restaurant, you prolly want to reserve before you get there. have fun.....

Mr. noski and I were there during the elections last May. That was pretty cool actually. The media can't talk about polls, statistics, odds or anything at all for the 24 hour leading up to polls closing on Sunday night. Then the whole world heard the winner at the same time - at 8:00pm. that Sunday night.
Three of the favorite things we did was:
1. Sainte Chappelle Cathedral - The stained glass was breathtaking;
2. the 4 hour guided Seine walking tour (http://www.sightseekersdelight.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4&Itemid=4 )
3. Fat Tire Bike Tour to Versailles (www.fattirebiketours.com)

I missed doing the Eiffel tower due to a kidney stone attack. Fail.

I've been to Paris a dozen times over the years.

Some tips:
Get yourself a "chip and PIN" RFID credit card before you go. You'll encounter situations at kiosks where a magnetic strip credit card doesn't work. The Paris Metro is the most painful since you often get stuck in a huge queue to get your metro pass from a human.

Depending on where you are staying, the Air France bus from de Gaulle can be an easier way into the city than the RER commuter rail. The kiosks for the RER at de Gaulle will be your first place where a US magnetic strip credit card won't work.

France is not Paris. Rent a car for a day and go out to the Loire. Chateau de Chenonceau built on a bridge over the river and Chateau de Chambord with the (attributed to) da Vinci double helix staircase and massive scale are worth the trip. Chambord is about 2 hours from Paris and Chenonceau is another 45 minutes. Spend some time in the small town countryside. Check out the vineyards. Drink some wine.

When I think of France, I think of a simple outdoor cafe breakfast of cafe au lait and a basket with fresh baked sliced baguette with butter and strawberry jam. I've traveled all over the country. Bakeries are standardized and it's the same everywhere.

As for Paris, just walk the city for a few days using the Metro occasionally. Here's my last walk-about on a free day in October, 2011
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2054062466848.2096879.1103153592&type=1&l=b572ca86e0

Gore is heavenly today.:beer:

Geoff said:

When I think of France, I think of a simple outdoor cafe breakfast of cafe au lait and a basket with fresh baked sliced baguette with butter and strawberry jam. I've traveled all over the country. Bakeries are standardized and it's the same everywhere.

As for Paris, just walk the city for a few days using the Metro occasionally. Here's my last walk-about on a free day in October, 2011
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2054062466848.2096879.1103153592&type=1&l=b572ca86e0

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What he said.

Awesome time.... Great city... Walked/strolled and took the Metro all over the place. The Metro was super easy and we got a weeks pass...
Didn't have issues with the credit card chip... Just bought our train tickets with cash. Was warned about pickpockets all over the place.. Some sketchy people around for sure.

Spring had sprung and the city was gorgeous..
Coffee and croissants for breakfast everyday at little cafe's on route to wherever we planned to go to.. Ham and cheese baguettes and wine in the park or square for lunch... Ducked into restaurants at night... Stumbled into a couple Jazz restaurants. Mixed with locals in some places off the beaten path.. Dirty city... Lot's of dogshti everywhere.. Kinda nasty...

Saw the Louvre... Glad I got a "cut the line" tour... Place is absolutely insane. Chinese tourists running from picture to the picture to get a picture of themselves in front the piece. We stayed the whole day so i revisited a couple of the popular pieces just before closing.. Way less
people...
Also checked out the Musée d'Orsay which holds a ton of impressionist and post-impressionist masterpieces... So much more chill than the Louvre.. People seem to be there for art more that pop culture...
A smaller and kind of cooler museum is the Musée de l'orangerie which has the Monet water lily murals housed in 2 rooms - just fukcing incredible...
Also went and saw the Panteon and all the revolution art there. Cryptes were pretty cool..
Also near the was Musée de Cluny - which houses Medieval and Renaissance art..

Went to the top of the Eiffel Tower - was on the second level at sunset - nice view... Sat in the field next to it for a while with a bottle of champagne watching the light show and all the freaks..

Checked out Versailles.. Holy crap.... Talk about the 1%.... damn... The place is amazing... We got a tour guide that took us to the private rooms not on the public tour which was nice.... The gardens are just amazing..

Really LOVED Notre Dame. Great location to just hit it to check out the inside... Or climb up the tower.. Or just hang out outside..

Walked all over the Latin quarter - Rue Mouffetard was great... Shopped and ate over there..

Missed the cemetery with Morrison... And a couple other things..
i could see myself going back again.

Glad you liked it- Paris is a cool city- there's so much going on at all times.

ctenidae said:

Glad you liked it- Paris is a cool city- there's so much going on at all times.

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thanks for all the advice...

Looks like I'll have to go on business in the near future, think my work will be near CDG airport...any advice for a quick tour on a Sunday after the red eye flight? Also hoping I can avoid having to get a car.

We honeymooned there. We took the train from the airport right into the city. There are plenty of subway stations. We enjoyed just exploring around some of the neighborhoods away from the touristy stuff. We really enjoyed eating out in France. They expect you to linger for a while...


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hammer said:

Looks like I'll have to go on business in the near future, think my work will be near CDG airport...any advice for a quick tour on a Sunday after the red eye flight? Also hoping I can avoid having to get a car.

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Trains are easy there.. You can download Paris metro offline apps for your mobile..

Don't rent a car in Paris.. Just take the subway..

Funky_Catskills said:

Trains are easy there.. You can download Paris metro offline apps for your mobile..

Don't rent a car in Paris.. Just take the subway..

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You Don't want to drive in Paris. It gets CRAZY! The subways work great!

hammer said:

Looks like I'll have to go on business in the near future, think my work will be near CDG airport...any advice for a quick tour on a Sunday after the red eye flight? Also hoping I can avoid having to get a car.

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Trip cancelled but I have another one to Germany (Frankfurt area) a few weeks later. Been there several times but it's been 10 years since my last trip.