Okay, my wife and I are going to be in Paris for the first time ever later this week. We leave Seattle, WA on Wednesday 9/16 and arrive at CDG on Thursday 9/17 at 7:25AM. We%26#39;ll be staying there until Thursday 9/24 leaving at 12:45PM. We%26#39;re going to be staying at the Le Meridien Etoile from Thurs. 9/17-Sat. 9/19 and then will be at the Westin Paris the rest of our trip. We plan on taking the Air France bus from CDG and I%26#39;ve confirmed early check-in so we should be ready to start sightseeing that same day after freshening up after a 14 hour flight. What do you think of our itinerary? Any suggestions and/or feedback? Thanks :)
Day 1 (Thursday 9/17): Arrive at CDG @ 7:25AM --%26gt; Check-in at Le Meridien Etoile by 10AM --%26gt; Walk %26quot;Champs-Elysees%26quot; --%26gt;Hotel de Invalides --%26gt; Dinner --%26gt; Walk around Trocadero and go up the Eiffel Tower to finish the night or just hang out in that area and watch the Eiffel Tower light up :)
(We plan on using a 4-day Paris Museum Pass from 9/18-9/21)
Day 2 (Friday): Musee D%26#39;Orsay in the AM --%26gt; lunch --%26gt; Musee Rodin in the afternoon --%26gt; dinner --%26gt; Go up the Arc de Triomphe at night before heading back to hotel
Day 3 (Saturday): Wake up early to be at Notre Dame at opening and also see Sainte Chapelle --%26gt; Concierge --%26gt;Centre Georges Pompidou --%26gt; walk Latin Quarter and have dinner there (Need to do all this while trying to change hotels to go from Le Meridien Etoile to the Westin Paris..can it be done or too much?)
Day 4 (Sunday): Versailles Day trip
Day 5 (Monday): Louvre first thing in AM --%26gt; L%26#39;orangerie/Place de la Concorde in the afternoon --%26gt; Seine river tour from Pont Neuf after dinner
Day 6 (Tuesday): Go to Montmarte and Sacre Couer --%26gt;Hang out and walk the Le Marais district -- any suggestions for this day or at night??
Day 7 (Wed): Open?? Any suggestions?
Day 8 (Thurs) Check out and be at CDG by 12:45PM.
That%26#39;s really it..it%26#39;s still a work in progress based on some last minute research from now until we leave and even on the plane :) Any feedback you can provide from our itinerary to changes to places to eat or if we are missing anything in our week there please feel free to tell me and hopefully we can figure it out. At the very least, it gives us an idea and i%26#39;m sure we%26#39;ll have fun regardless of what/where/when we go as there%26#39;s just way too much to do and see in Paris right? Thanks.
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Montmarte?
Maybe day 7...day trip to Chartres
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ooops...I missed that you said Montmarte on day 6
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I think you have a good itinerary. It%26#39;s busy but manageable.
For Wednesday, one option is a guided tour of the Opera Garnier. English tours are at 11:30 and 2:30. About 11 euros, cash only. My tour guide told me the morning tour has a better chance of seeing the Marc Chagall ceiling. The auditorium is closed to tours during rehearsals.
Nearby are the major department stores. If you go to Galeries Lafayette be sure to visit the terrace on the top floor where you%26#39;ll have a free view of the city.
While in Montmartre, take time to explore the area beyond Sacre Coeur and Place du Tertre. They%26#39;re quite busy. Other parts of Montmartre are much quieter and in my opinion some of the lesser known gems of the city.
Enjoy your trip!
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Very good Itinerary. I especially like that you did not try to jam much into day 1 when jet lag will be a major issue.
Day 3 is OK but a couple issues: when you say opening of Notre Dame, are you referring to the tower climb? My limited experience is that if you don%26#39;t have to get there too early. It opens at 1000. You say %26quot;walk the Latin Quarter.%26quot; That could be a day in itself, so do you have a few streets or sights to focus on? Were you referring to a guided walk, such as Paris Walks? (Also day 6) http://www.paris-walks.com/download-pdf.html I have not tried them, but I have read many positive comments here. Or you might return to LQ after Versailles for dinner (again) and a brief walk around Place Contrescarpe.
My suggestion for Day 7: by that time you will have AT LEAST one place you will have loved so much you%26#39;ll want to return. Kudos to you for giving yourself that chance.
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Get a map of Pere Lachaise and roam around for a while. We visit every time we go to Paris. My husband wants to be buried there.
S
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You may want to consider going to Luxembourg Gardens. If the weather is nice I would recommend having a picnic there and just taking in all the sights and sounds. Great place to people-watch and just relax in general.
Did you mention walking along the Seine? It%26#39;s really nice to walk along the river near Notre Dame and check out all the book vendors lined up along the river.
Opera Garnier...another person posted about it and I agree. It really is a wonderful tour. 90 minutes long and worth every penny.
If you like gourmet food shops you might want to make a trip to Fauchon and/or Hediard. We went there multiple times. mmmmmmm
You%26#39;ve left some wonderful margin in your schedule, and I think you%26#39;ll be grateful that you did. That way you can go back to favorites or schedule in new things as time/opportunity allows depending upon your mood and energy level.
Oh, and one place I would for sure go back to eat at again is Le Trumilou. Comfy, interesting setting along the river with fabulous food. It%26#39;s at 84 Quai de L%26#39;Hotel-de-Ville.
Hope you have a wonderful trip!
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Thank you all so far who has replied with their feedback on our itinerary. Sounds like so far that it%26#39;s a good thing we have some open/free time on some days. That was what my wife and I were thinking when we kept the last day open and/or planned only a couple of things on some days. We didn%26#39;t want to be bound to a strict timeline and/or places to go/do all in one day. I%26#39;ll definitely do more research on the Latin Quarter. Haven%26#39;t really gone that in depth on where/what parts of it during our %26quot;walk.%26quot; I just figured we%26#39;d do it during Saturday since we%26#39;ll be in the area. Of course, we%26#39;ll be following some different guide books but we%26#39;ll most likely be referring to Rick Steves%26#39; Paris guide book for the walks unless someone else has other recommendations. Thanks again and please keep the responses coming :)
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I don%26#39;t see a problem with the itinerary.
For the Day 3 hotel change I think your best option would be to leave Le Meridien Etoile in the morning and drop you luggage off at the Westin Paris and then come back later to check in if they don%26#39;t have a room ready.
I%26#39;d opt for the 6 day musuem pass - its only 16 euros more and gives you a lot more flexibility if you want to hit up museums on day 6 or 7. You won%26#39;t feel pressured to complete all your museum visits in the 4 day period if you find you run out of time.
There are lots of smaller museums not in your list (Orangerie, Cluny).
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I second everything TrenSanDiego has said.
There is a lot to see and do in the Marais and it is also a good place to have dinner and just generally hang out. I can think immediately of several good to great museums in the area that are not on your list — Carnavalet, Arts et Métiers, Cognacq-Jay and the Holocaust Museum. And there%26#39;s a great patisserie in rue du Pas de la Mule right by the not-to-be-missed Place des Vosges.
Of the hundred or so museums NOT on your list, it is hard to suggest just one or two for your free day without knowing more about you and what you are interested in but IMO the Orangerie is a must for any lover of Impressionist art. Or there%26#39;s the Musée du Quai Branly, the fascinating new ethnographic museum — And I could go on and on.
So help us out by giving us a clue as to your interests and passions and I%26#39;m sure we can come up with something to fill the empty spaces!
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Well I know about the museums. We%26#39;d do a 6 day pass but we really feel that we can do most of the museums that take advantage of the Paris Museum pass in 4 days and if planned correctly should be good enough. I do have the Orangerie on our itinerary in Day 5 (Monday) after doing the Louvre in the morning. We definitely can%26#39;t miss that museum as both my wife and I are excited to see Impressionists painting. I put that down with checking out the Place de la Concorde only b/c it%26#39;s near each other and right next to our hotel at the Westin Paris. As for the last day I think we%26#39;re leaning on keeping it open for now and seeing what happens. Like people mentioned I think there%26#39;s more to do in the Marais district and/or Latin Quarter than we expect right now so it would give us flexibility on our last day. But of course please keep giving suggestions so we can take it all into consideration. Again thanks everyone...so excited for this trip. Can%26#39;t wait. Too bad I have 2 loooong days of work ahead of me this week before Wednesday for our flight out.
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