Going there mid march with the wife. Anyone been?

Just spend an hour or so on Google street view. Same difference.

Been there last Nov.

1st day we went to Champ Elysee mainly for branded shopping. then we walk to the Eiffel tower, went up for a good view, it gets pretty windy and chilly up there. You might have a long queue up the lift to the top of the tower.

2nd day we went to Notre Dame Church, pretty huge church, pretty nice architecture on the building structure, There was a prayer going on there so we could experience a little of 'holyness'. After that we took a canal boat ride along the river. It was a 2.5 hr boat ride down the river.. gets pretty boring after a while.. but its a nice experience to see the people and buildings along the river. After that we went to Pigalle, the so called red light district of Paris, its pretty small and quiet(if you have been to Amsterdam one). And its kind of dodgy over there. Didnt feel safe.

3rd day we went to Paris Disneyland, some of the rides there were closed or too kiddish for us, so we managed to cleared Disneyland in about 3 hours? Journey from Paris to there was about an hour and a half. After disneyland we went to a nearby factory outlet where they have a huge shopping lane(outdoor). Cant really remember the name of it. but it was one stop away from Disneyland.

4th day, we went Louvre musuem for a short while, not a artistic type of person that appreciates art. But its a must to go there to at least have a look. :) I think on Wednesdays its free entry, you gotta check there. After that, we went to galaries lafayette, its an indoor big shopping mall.. again with branded shopping!

5th day, had breakfast and headed to Zurich via train.

To sum up, Paris is a place for branded shopping. you're gonna be eating bread, baguette especially for every meal and it gets sick after a while. You might find the buildings architecture special, but you'll realise that its all the same around Paris. The people there generally are not friendly, especially to the non-french people. I didnt quiet like the people there, there were also alot beggars/scammers around tourist attraction areas that tries to 'rob' you.

I went there with a girlfriend once. We just strolled around the city basically, spend time in bed, ate croissants, had dinner late at night at restaurants, went out for beer after that.. that kind of thing. Just enjoy the city, although the weather might really suck in march.
Champ ellysee and eifel tower are hard to miss of course. But doing all the touristy things like the Louvre is really boring in my opinion (I did those as a kid with my parents).

We liked walking along the river too.

Oh, and her French was really good which the locals seemed to appreciate, most were nice enough. So if you know some French it probably wouldn't hurt to try to use that.
It's a big city mentality tho, a lot of people seemed to be in a hurry or just annoyed somewhat with all the tourists (which I can understand living in Amsterdam).

It should be forbidden to visit Paris without visiting Montmartre.

I thought this thread was about candyman

Make sure you go visit the eiffel tower.

I guess are the parisians more or less friendly than the quebecers in quebec city :P

For purposes of this trip: I'm mostly interested in architecture, art, historic stuff and the food. I've been to Disneyland in Florida so I'll pass on the euro one:P

Seriously considering Versaille along with some of the above mentioned stuff. Will be there for 7 days but will probably only see 5 days worth of stuff, plus a day wandering aimlessly and a day doing very little.

If my wife wants to go to mcdonalds I'll disavow her for the day:P

watch out for the militant Islamists. they might still be mad at France when you get there.

So you mean wandering around the streets saying "dirka dirka Mohammed jihad" would be a bad idea?:P

might keep them from kidnapping you as a political hostage.

Oh btw, it might be worth it to order a "paris pass" for tourists if you like art and are going to visit museums and versailles. Allows you to skip queues and you can use it for public transit.

canadian war memorials, martian.

oh, and visit vichy to call its residences nazis. can't forget that

what about the plannes to DK? you went with Paris instead?

DK will be a future trip. We decided to do Paris first.
Trip to DK inspired by Hans Christian Anderson:)

@Braden: vichy looks like a spa town now lol

it was started as one by the romans, if i recall.

that has no bearing on the fact that they are nazi's, though.

Went there, hated it. Dirty place.

P.S.....Disneyland is in California, not Florida :P

its hans christian andersen not -son.

DETAH TO mARTIANS!!!

lol @ h2orich

never heard french food described as "baguettes for every meal". i've been to paris 5 times and it was always great.

Man, the paris you guys talk about is different from the one I know.

There are a couple of things you should know. The first thing is that for many americans(and Canadians) it is the first culture-vacation they will ever take. Many treat it as one and have a terrible time. Why? Cause generally, culture is lame or condescending. Another thing to know is that if you don't speak french that learning, or even attempting to learn a few phrases will do you wonders. My wife's a Quebecker so no one in paris understands her, but I did a class or two of high school French and everyone brightens up when they hear me butcher their language.

Here is a list of things I've done:

1)Eat and get drunk at all hours of the day.

Food and wine are what the French take pride in and they do it for good reason. Where's your hotel? I normally stay in the 'way out there' 17th. It's two train stops from the Champs Elysees and I love it. There's tons of food, few tourists, and lotsa local haunts in walking distance. Hungry at 4am? Time to go out and get pie. Hungry at midnight? Try rare duck breast at a cafe. Thirsty at 7am? Get drunk. My wife's favourite sub $100 dinner is this little crapshack that only serves this thin stew and bread spread with bone marrow. Mmmmmm.

2)Museums and stuff

Ok ok, culture is lame. But GO TO THE LOUVRE, there's some awesome stuff in this world. I have a picture of me licking the Stella of Hammurabi. I get to tell people, yah that's me, licking a 6000 year old set of laws. I always find the da vinci exhibit filled with Japanese taking flash photography though. Drives me nuts. But I've been to the Louvre 4 times now and can't wait to go again.

Musee d'Orsay - Everyone says it's amazing but paintings don't get me going.

3)Eiffel Tower
LAAAAAAMMMMEEE. Take a picture, then find a restaurant with a few and have some wine. The Eiffel tower is filled with angry too many tourists shoehorned in.

4)Rheims
It's a quick train ride outside of Paris. It has a stellar cathedral, but more important, it is the centre of the Champagne region. Take a tour through the chalk caverns carved by the romans that they age champagne in. After getting culturally acquainted proceed to drink a lot. The champagne is reasonably priced and plentiful. Last time I was there I missed my train back to paris and spent 6 hours at a bar in front of the train station experiencing the culture of france(ie. getting drunk).

Anyways, I actually love paris if you want some recommendations tailored to you just pm me. Paris isn't everything to everyone, but it can be a lot of fun, or a lot of romantic, or a lot like reading a non fiction book. you just need to be ready to enjoy it.

@galleri.. whatever..

@cloaked cool.. I'll hit you up.. Given that I live in a city with a giant tower (CN tower) the Eifel tower isn't on the top of my list.. Yeah I'm sure it's magnificent view but crammed + high up = two strikes against my wife wanting to go up it:P

Food and wine: definitely. I spent most of my money in Italy on the same things.. for the record I only had pasta once:P. One of my favorite memories is sitting on some giant set of steps in Rome (they are famous, I just can't remember the name right now) drinking wine.

Regarding hotel I'm not settled. I have something booked near Notre Dame contingent on me not finding something cheaper/better/being lazy. I would prefer to do hostels but my wife overrode me on that:P

2) Louvre: definitely. I'm a sucker for things like that..

Regarding Rheims: yes.. I still wanna see versailles though. see who was richer: the french kings or the venetians:P

If you're bored and do want to have a good view of the city than the montparnasse tower (modern skyscraper) has a nice observation deck. Takes like 40 seconds to go up with the elevator and its not nearly as busy.

Nah, doesn't really get it done, it doesn't convey the smell of the place. Think NYC/Philly subway station smell outdoors.

philly subway didn't smell like anything.
Same with most nyc stations.

Venice on the other hand...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Eustache,_Paris

I found it by accident and it was really impressive. Didnt show in any of the brochures etc.

Recommending the trip by boat around the city, its not super awesome mega amazing, but its worth it. I think it was about 10E per person.

The Louvre has a free day, i think thursday. Depends on what you want, one year i went then and it was way too crowded. Other year I went and payed and enjoyed it much more. Not sure if teh free day was soemthing special or if its all year around.

Versailles is about 45mins by train. It wasnt much of a hassle to get there and I dont remember the train being expensive. If you have an extra day its worth spending it on that, otherwise no.

Subway system is pretty good, didnt have much problems except for the day of the republic when it was so crowded we decided to walk an hour instead of taking it, but youre not there for it. I remember soemthing about getting a week ticket and that it was cheaper but I dont remember how much it was or where I got it.

Best ice cream is on the smaller island. Youll recognize it by a long line of people.

Edit: as for the eiffel tower, i didnt go up on it but it was a good sight from the bottom due to the metal construction thingy. I dont know if thats interesting for you but id say its worth the trip. Theres the mars field next to it which is just a big park but its nice.

I went to Versailles for a day, got there first thing in the morning before it 'opened'. Do be warned it is tour bus central. Never ever seen so many tour buses parked up in a row ever.

Personally i didnt think much of Notre Dame in Paris (climbing the tower for the views was good thou). Strasbourg and Chartres were more impressive.

I've been to the vatican (and the top of the dome thingy) so I can't imagine that there is going to be a more impressive church than that anywhere..at least that still functions as a church).

I'm more interested in notre dame because I've seen the mini version in montreal..

@Saint-Eustache,_Paris: Nice. I love gothic architecture. Will definately have to check that out.


@torment: have you ever been to niagra falls?:P

Go to that big tower thing

... there it is! :p

Never been to the americas. Versailles is big, but i'd wager Niagra is much bigger.

PS: Chartres & st chapelle have better stained glass than the Vatican.

Well, you can get a cake sized peanut butter cup in niagra:P

And I bet the Vatican has more gold and shiny things:P Stained glass is always cool though. I haven't been anywhere with a huge amount of it used in windows yet.

Be prepared to do alot of walking if you're going to Versailles. Its about an hour half from Paris too.

Lived in Versailles for 3 years. The Cloaked provides a lot of good information.

Getting around Paris on Trains or the RER/Metro isn't expensive, and they are frequent and generally ontime.

The weather in mid-March is usually pretty mild. Expect temperatures well above freezing (8-14 celcius/44-55 farenheit or so). Expect a few days of rain.

Make sure you head on out to Versailles, the Chateau is pretty awesome (bonus points if you find it without having to ask the locals, I lost count of how many times I was stopped and asked for direction by Americans speaking >really bad< french. For reference, I can butcher the French language better than most Americans can, even having lived there for years.

Montparnasse Tower was pretty cool, and definately something to visit. I only really did the Paris sightseeing thing once, and that was in mid-February - when the weather was atrocious (-5 celcius, snow, near blizzard conditions at times) - and the Tower provided a welcome alternative to the Eiffel tower. I'd only really recommend visiting the Tower if you can get there really early, before the queues start to hit. I certainly wouldn't recommend queueing for hours there.

The Louvre is highly recommended, and I'd recommend stopping by and taking in the sights at Notre Dame.

Take a walk down the Champs-Élysées. One of the most famous streets in the world. Witness, and be amazed at the feat that is the Arc de Triomphe, and stand there wondering how thousands of people don't die on that road each year. :p

Make sure you book (they speak English if you don't feel up for trying to book a table in French), and stop by the Black Dog bar and restaurant (http://www.blackdog-bar.com/). When I lived there, they served the best Steak in Paris. The Chef has since left, but the food there is still exceptional - according to my friends who still live in Paris.

There's tons of little side cafes and restaurants that you can stop by, and you can find food at any time of the day or night. Out drinking all night and fancy a steak at 7am? No problem.

Edit != Quote.

Paris is awesome on one condition - that you at least attempt to speak the language. If you don't, you'll find that Parisians can be quite rude... but if you at least ATTEMPT to speak to them in French, they're very friendly and helpful. Seriously, even if you have to read every word out of your Berlitz guide, give it a shot - they'll rescue you with English eventually. And the Metro is a great way to get around.

The Louvre is a must, but you might want to carve it up into chunks. It's so huge that IMHO it's not possible to do in one day... plan on maybe 3 days, at a few hours a day. Otherwise you get so tired that you can't really appreciate what you're seeing.

Go to the top of the Tower. The view is spectacular - all the rooftops are white! If you like impressionist art (Manet, Monet, etc.), you won't find this at the Louvre - you'll find it at the Musee d'Orsay on the banks of the Seine not far from Notre Dame (as I recall - but it has been a long time). Definitely worth the trip. I was completely floored by the size of the originals... they're HUGE!

Eat somewhere off the beaten path before you wander down the Champs Elysee. You'll be sorry if you don't. We stopped for a coffee in 1996 right on the Champs (2 of us), and the bill was almost $24 Canadian. For two cups of COFFEE (and nothing else). It's nice to sit there and soak up the atmosphere if you've got money to burn, but if you don't, the benches are free and you can still soak up some atmosphere that way.

Definitely visit the Arc d'Triomphe. It doesn't take a lot of time, and it's worth the effort because again, the scale is MASSIVE. Much bigger than it looks in pictures.

I didn't get to Sacre Cour, but I heard it's pretty spectacular too.

I really enjoyed the dinner cruise on the Seine. Incredibly touristy thing to do and totally cliche, but I loved it. Dress up for the full effect. :D Most of all, EXPLORE! (But don't expect to find the Bastille. I was very disappointed. We followed signs and walked forever, and when we got there all we saw was a big glass building - I think it's a theatre now. Bummer. lol)

Oh, and see a show. Preferably Les Miserables, if you haven't seen the live stage version. C'EST INCROYABLE!

WQ

the drowning crazy man is truly inSeine in Paris

don't jump in the water, k ? :)