Paris in October

[silentg]

Hi Tuggers,
We are going to Paris in October. This will be husband and my first trip there and will be just the two of us. We welcome any and all suggestions for sight-seeing, dining, and other tips when traveling to and in Paris. We are staying at a hotel right in Paris and supposed to be within walking distance of all tourist sites. Thanks in advance for your travel tips! TerryC

 

[glenn1000]

October is the best time to visit. The weather is still good but the tourists have left. Here is an itinerary I helped a friend with:

Day 1

· Arc de Triomphe (metro: CDG Etoile)- climb to the top

· Champs Elysee- shop, have lunch

· Walk along the Seine- walk down by the river. Get some croissants and eat on a bench down there

· Notre Dame (metro: St. Michel)- tour inside and climb to the top

· Latin Quarter- just walk around in the evening (dark)

· Isle St. Louis (Bertillion ice cream)- killer ice cream. Nearly right behind Notre Dame.



Day 2

· Tuilleries- gardens

· Marionnettes du Luxembourg Spectacle les mercredis, samedis et dimanches Jardin du Luxembourg, 6e Tél : 33 (0)1 43 26 46 47 Metro : Vavin/Notre-Dame-des-Champs- in Luxembourg Gardens this is a puppet show. Your kids are probably too old to enjoy this but it's very old-fashioned and fun. All in french. This is for people with kids.

· Luxemborg Gardens (kid’s park)- great play area and one of my favorite places to walk around.

· Monparnasse

· Louvre (9am-945pm). Either use museum pass if you are going to several or buy tickets online before the trip to avoid a long ticket line.



Day 3

· Montmartre (metro: Anvers, walk up rue Steinkerque)- get you kids' portraits done by an artist in the center square (not the hackers on the periphery. Tour the church and maybe the tomb and the top. It's a 1/2 hour metro trip plus a little walk so give this half a day.

· Sewers of Paris- very cool, though it smells bad.

· Eiffel Tower (metro: Trocadero, Ecole Militaire or Bir Hakim)- go up while it's still light and watch it get dark shile up there. Make sure you get tickets to go all the way to the top. Best recommendation: dinner in the Eiffel Tower at the Jules Verne. It's great food, the huge wheels that drive the elevators spin around you as you eat and you're at the top of Paris. A nice and very expensive place but kids are OK.

· Bateau Mouche- take a boat ride on the Seine after dark. Boats leave hourly at the Pont d'Alma (there's an Alma metro stop). Don't go on one of the boats where you eat and drink. Total waste. Just take the hour ride. This is right by the sewers tour.



Day 4

· Versailles (train: RER C @ musee d’orsay)- this is a great day trip. About an hour by train, maybe a bit less.



Day 5

· Parc Monceau (metro: monceau or villiers)- another beautiful park. Not far from where you are staying.

· The Paris National Museum of Natural History (metro: jussieu)- haven't made it there yet

. Go shopping

Day 6

. Giverney- visit Monet’s home and gardens. This is a most-of-the-day trip since the train ride is about an hour plus each way. To see the original Monet paintings (there are only reproductions at Giverney) you can visit the Marmottan Museum in Paris. It’s a bit out of the way but worth seeing the originals if you are going to the trouble to see Giverny.



Day 7

. Musee D’Orsay

. Anything else that you missed!

 

[Ireland'sCall]

A good itinerary in my opinion! Marmatton is not too well known , but well wort a visit.
G

 

[silentg]

Thanks for the tips! If you think of any others, let me know.
TerryC

 

[Laurie]

My favorite place in Paris was Sainte-Chapelle, and I also thought the Cluny Museum was worthwhile.

 

[hibbeln]

Pick up the Rick Steve's Paris Guidebook.....we found it extremely helpful.

LOVED the Picasso Museum (and we didn't think much of Picasso before going there). The Picasso Museum is in the Marais district which is adorable to wander around in.

Also thought the Pompidou Museum was a riot...."Modern" art and it sure is MODERN! Some of it was beautiful and some of it was absolutely hysterical.......we alternately gasped and giggled (stifling the giggles so the serious art lovers didn't see) and had a grand time. The escalators are fun to ride, they're on the OUTSIDE of the building and give you a cool view of Paris.

Of course, go up to the top of the towers at Notre Dame. Also, visit the "Excavations" of Roman Ruins UNDER the plaza in front of Notre Dame.

A huge second vote for Saint Chappelle......AMAZING stained glass.

Absolutely get the Museum Pass....you walk right in everywhere and don't have to pay once you have the pass. Lovely!

 

[Elli]

Debi, did you buy the Museum Pass before you left for Paris? We are going to Paris in May 2009, so I will be following this thread closely. TIA
Elli

 

[Jimster]

museum pass

Do the math on the museum pass. You need to visit 3 museums a day to make it worthwhile. So, it depends on how many museums you want to see and how quickly.

 

[Laurie]

Do the math on the museum pass. You need to visit 3 museums a day to make it worthwhile. So, it depends on how many museums you want to see and how quickly.

We found it very worhwhile, even without visiting 3 museums per day, to save hours of standing on lines - that was in August, maybe October is different. We didn't begin our stay with a pass, based on several TUG votes against it, and regretted not having one. For example, we missed getting into some additional parts of Versailles, because the day ran out - had we been able to walk to the front of the line, we would have gotten more out of our visit. So it really depends on season and crowd levels.

You can purchase it there at any museum, easy if you start out with a no-wait museum like the Cluny, then have it begin the next day.

 

[MULTIZ321]

http://www.parismuseumpass.com/en/home.php


Richard

 

[Jimster]

passes

I was there last April and there were no lines to speak of. I try to avoid Europe in the summer and instead go there during shoulder seasons. I realize not everyone can do that but it is a great time to go.

 

[Elli]

Thanks for all the replies. Since we are going in May, we'll see how long the line ups are then.

Elli

 

[hibbeln]

We bought the Museum Pass (both times we've been there) at our first stop into a Metro Station. Just go up to the ticket booth and ask for it. THey are very used to selling them. We'd also buy the pack of metro tickets (can't remember what it's called, but I can try to look it up) as we used the Metro A LOT. You can also buy them at almost all the places that take it.

What I liked about the Museum Pass is I tend to balk at paying fees to get into places over and over and over. We really liked paying once and then putting our wallets away for the rest of the trip. You never had to stand at the entrance to an attraction or museum and ponder over whether it would be worth the entrance fee or not. Like going up to the top of the Arc de Triomphe. I think it was something ridiculous like 10E per adult! CRAZY! No way would I pay that. But with the Museum Pass you just go on up and enjoy the view and not have your husband grousing "this is such a rip-off!".

Because of the Museum Pass, we went into many many many places that we never would have actually paid for because they were "free". Purely psychological, but we made some great discoveries of things we never would have experienced without it........the Cluny Museum, the Pompidou, the Picasso Museum, St. Chapelle, the Conciergerie.... When we took my mother-in-law back 2 years later, the kids enjoyed taking her to all of these places and we popped in and out and enjoyed them again for "free".

Plus, you can go into a museum to "try it out" and see what you think and not feel like you have to spend hours and hours looking at every darn thing to "get your money's worth". This was huge with our kids along, because we could wander through and look at what caught our fancy and bypass those that were more ho-hum. We felt like quite the explorers and our kids LOVED all the museums because it wasn't torturous. We popped into the Rodin Museum for a quick look-over and then out to the gardens to check them out. Never never never would I have paid money at the door for it, but it was sure great to see. We thought we didn't like Modern Art or Picasso, but after trying out both the Pompidou and the Picasso Museum on a rainy day we became quite the fans! (and even if you still don't like modern art after going to these, you'll get quite the giggle out of the other folks that are taking some VERY crazy off the wall art VERY seriously!!!!) This kind of experience happened over and over.

 

[Elli]

Thanks for your very detailed post, Debi. Looks like the Museum Pass is worth it after all.

Elli

 

[CarlK]

We also loved Sainte-Chapelle. Walking into the upper chapel gives you one of those WOW! moments. We visited in the late afternoon and the sunlight streaming through the stained glass windows was amazing.

Carl

 

[silentg]

Thanks for all the tips and the museum pass sounds like something worth purchasing. More questions, is the Eiffel Tower on the pass or is that a separate admission? What about the boat cruises? And restaurant suggestions?
TerryC

 

[MULTIZ321]

The Eiffel Tower is not included with the Museum Pass. To see what is included go back to my earlier post and click on the Museum Pass link - once at their homepage click on the "Museums & Monuments" tab



Richard

 

[happymum]

Another vote in favor of the Museum Pass. We bought the 6 day version and felt it was money well spent. One additional benefit that I don't think anyone mentioned, is that you can split a museum visit in to two this way. We went to the Louvre on two days, so that it wasn't quite so overwhelming. Ditto for Musee D'orsay.
Depending on what days you are visiting it may be worth getting a Navigo pass for the metro. We purchased the current version called a Carte Orange and found it very useful - but they are changing to Navigo later this month.
You had to provide a passport-size photo which they laminated in to a permanent pass. You buy weekly updates. They are good for Monday-Monday usage and include the RER's and buses. They are intended for local's use, but if they fit your timeframe we found them a good deal.
Have a fantastic trip! We spent two weeks and still didn't see everything.

 

[x3 skier]

Just got this from the Frommer's news letter. It has some rather unique things I have never heard of and two that really interest me are the Champagne Cruise on the Seine and the Canal Cruise through the City.

http://www.frommers.com/cgi-bin/WebX?13@251.UKF3cRZuqvg^1@.ef4c270

Cheers

 

[hibbeln]

All the boat cruises are separate from the Museum Pass. Try to do one right around sunset BUT ONLY IN GOOD WEATHER that leaves from near Notre Dame. Kind of cheesy, but it's fun and pretty. Sit up top.

Eiffel Tower is also separate and not included in the pass.

We bought I think 10 packs of tickets for a discounted price at the ticket booth in the subway stations. Those really lasted us pretty well. Depending on where you stay, and what the weather is like, you will use the metro more or less. When there in February (and our children were a little younger) we used the metro more. When there in April with glorious hot weather we walked most places and used the metro only here and there for the longer-hauls.

 

[Jimster]

metro

The Carte Orange as mentioned above is the way to go if available. It is what the French buy and it is the lowest cost and the greatest flexibility. The down side is that I believe the ticket is good Sunday- Sunday so if you plan to arrive on a Tuesday or Wednesday it may cause some problems. The information is on the Paris Metro Website.

 

[MaryH]

If you cannot get the carte orange (or actually carte jeune for the weekly one Sun-Sat I think), get carnet which are books of 10 tickets.

 

[Laurie]

What about the boat cruises?

While not a formal cruise, there's something called the Batoboat - basically a form of transportation like Venice's vaporetto, this boat goes up and down the Seine, stopping at several stops. You can use it as a pleasant alternative to the metro for many popular sites, and you can purchase a multi-day pass for not many Euros. We purchased the full week's metro pass, and maybe 3 days of the batoboat, and used both.

 

[Laurie]

We purchased the current version called a Carte Orange and found it very useful - but they are changing to Navigo later this month.
You had to provide a passport-size photo which they laminated in to a permanent pass.

Good point, and here's another tip: remember to pack a photocopy of your passport photo, as I recall that would be accepted for your carte orange. Otherwise you may have to waste time and $ finding a photo booth, as we did.

 

[darcy]

Agree with all the recommendations above, espcially the Museum pass and Rick Steves. Some things that haven't been mentioned:

We enjoyed the Rodin museum; fairly small, and entry included with the pass;

Napoleon's tomb is interesting (also on the Museum pass, I think), and doubly so if you have seen or ever will see Grant's tomb in NYC;

At Versailles, we took both the self-guided tour and a guided tour (in English); the guided tour went to some areas that were not open to the self-guided tour. This was a few years ago, but that may still be the case.

For a classic local Paris experience, walk down Rue Cler in the late afternoon. It is a street in the area near the Eifflel Tower that has shops of every kind - cheese, wine, produce, meat, patissierie, etc., and people are shopping on their way home from work. I'm sure there are many similar streets, but this is the one that I am familiar with in the center city.

Stop at a patisserie and buy a pastry every single day. In addition to any chocolate croissants you might have had for breakfast.