going to paris, what to, what to see

[drteeth]

Like the title says, I'll be spending a fee days in paris soon, and I'm looking
for suggestions how to spend them. Thanks!

[machine gewehr]

Visit Eiffel tower.

You didn't see that coming did you?

[Jazz Ad]

Music shops are gathered near Pigalle, mostly Rue de Douai and rue Victor Massé. We're talking roughly 50 shops within a couple blocks.

[drteeth]

No, I saw it coming

[dancehallclasher]

Montmartre is lovely. Go up to Sacre Couer in the late afternoon, have dinner at a nearby restaurant, go back up the hill as the city lights come on and the Eiffel Tower fires up, then stroll along the Boulevard de Clichy and past the Moulin Rouge and gander at the adult-themed establishments.

If you're in the mood, too, a burlesque show is quite something to see. I saw one at the Crazy Horse, and fully recommend it. It's hot but very tasteful, with a couple of entertaining magic acts interspersed!

[erix]

Well, it mostly depends on what you like in life and your budget...

You can do shopping and find quite unusal products, you can go in cool Jazz clubs in Rue des Lombards, there are plenty of very nice museums everywhere (I would recommend musée d'Orsay for Impressionnists and Beaubourg for Modern Art, as a beginning or musée du Louvres if you have time), you can find very nice restaurants almost everywhere. Notre Dame is a nice place to visit, full of history, even if you're not a believer.

If you want to discover Paris, like a Parisian guy, I'd recommend you to find a nice bistrot with a terrace somewhere and stay there, drinking whatever you prefer and look at the girls in the street.

I also recommend to go in the Bastille / Oberkampf borough, where you'll find many small bistrots with paintings, artist kind of life, bohemian style (BOBO as we call them today), nice small trendy shops.

In the morning try to go to one of the several open farmer markets, you will discover a pure parisian lifestyle. The one in Rue de la Convention is nice for instance, but they are everywhere.

At night, go to the 5th and 6th arrondissements, you will also find something fun to do with nice people.

[Joe Gress]

French masseuse. Duh.

[hover]

Originally Posted by joeinsprings

French masseuse. Duh.

Denouement Joyeux?

All good info as I plan a trip with the Missus soon. After the Louvre, Ima wanna try out some Vigiers.

[Vandelay]

My wife and I spent 3 days there last summer. One suggestion: bring along an iPod/MP3 player, and pre-load it with the free audio tours at ricksteves.com. (And print the maps too). All his tours are very well done. They cover the Louvre, the Orsay (which we loved), and a decent "historic Paris" walking tour. Perfect for when you have only a few days to spend there and want to hit the highlights, and you'll learn a good amount of history by listening while you're walking.
http://www.ricksteves.com/news/trave..._downloads.htm

His website is also full of great planning tips. Spend some time there.

The lines were too long to go up the Eiffel Tower when we were there -- mid-summer, heart of the tourist season. But it's still very cool from ground level. (Just learn to ignore the gypsies/beggars). Also, walk across the street from the Eiffel Tower and down the steps to the Seine, and buy a ticket for one of the big-boat cruises. Sure it's touristy, but it's still worthwhile when you want to see a lot in a short time.

[Happynoj]

Don't bother going to see the Mona Lisa. Long queues, relatively expensive tickets, and then when you actually get there the painting is about 3 inches square and its behind 2 feet of glass and you can't stand within 20 feet of the glass. I mean, if you want to look at the rest of the art in the Louvre then please do go, but don't go in specially to see it.

The Parc de Villette is a cool place to spend an afternoon - themed areas, cool designs, shiny stuff to look at, lots of stuff going on - when I was there, there were 2 different open air gigs going on. I have no idea who it was, but it was cool.

The Arc de Triomphe is impressive, and the chaos around the base is even more impressive - crazy traffic. I would recommend going to the Arc de Triomphe, and then walking down the Champs Elysees. You go past a whole lot of shops, gardens, etc, and if you can make it the whole way down, you will reach the Louvre.

[AlembicPlayer]

when in paris, don't forget to look over the paris sites

[erix]

Originally Posted by hover

Denouement Joyeux?

All good info as I plan a trip with the Missus soon. After the Louvre, Ima wanna try out some Vigiers.

Here is a pic of my own Vigier:

an Arpège model, number #168 from 1983 or 1984.

Vigier is located outside of Paris. I don't really recommend visiting him, he is a very business man (importing gears). But you will find some Vigier models in the Pigalle area (rue de douai, rue Victor Massé and around).

[MakiSupaStar]

Find a sexy French chick and ask her to show you around.

[cheezewiz]

Originally Posted by dancehallclasher

Montmartre is lovely. Go up to Sacre Couer in the late afternoon, have dinner at a nearby restaurant, go back up the hill as the city lights come on and the Eiffel Tower fires up, then stroll along the Boulevard de Clichy and past the Moulin Rouge and gander at the adult-themed establishments.

Exactly what I did when I was there, and an excellent suggestion. Montmartre is beautiful. The Sacre Coeur Basilica is beautiful.
Check out my skillful photography (with special attention to the lower left corner)

[IanStephenson]

Originally Posted by dancehallclasher

Montmartre is lovely. Go up to Sacre Couer in the late afternoon, have dinner at a nearby restaurant, go back up the hill as the city lights come on and the Eiffel Tower fires up, then stroll along the Boulevard de Clichy and past the Moulin Rouge and gander at the adult-themed establishments.

+1 on Sacre Couer.

As some one else said, the Mona Lisa is overrated, but the Louvre is well worth a visit for everything else in there (and the glass pyramid entrance hall is worth seeing even if you don't go in).

It's been a long time since I've been, but when I was there the Latin Quarter, just south of the river from Notre Dame was a great place to get dirt cheap/good food. I've heard it's got more expensive, but when I visted it was cheaper there than at home.

[Alexander]

I'd start at the Arc De Triomphe and walk to Champs de Elysses to the Louvre. Continue past, walking along the river to Notre Dame and climb the tower steps (very cool gargoyles and nice overall view from up there). Take a river taxi back up the Seine to the Eiffel Tower - go up if you like. Cross over to the Trocadero for dinner (I like Le Coq) before heading back to your hotel for the evening. It is a full day of walking, but beautiful...

[Jazz Ad]

As others said, avoid le Louvre unless you have several days to spend there. Just walking around the pyramid in the yard and in the Jardin des Tuileries already is a pleasing experience.

[erix]

If you want to see something really different give a try to les Catacombes.

This is a net of dark paths and caves under the streets where millions of parisians have been buried in the worst times of Paris history (wars, revolutions...).

It is rather impressive but gloomy.

The are some official organized visits, but the best is to go there with experts (there are some web sites). It is a kind of city below the city, so that's really underground.

Not the typical romantic vision of Paris, but interesting.

[Relic]

French women.
/thread.

some of the best times of my life were spent in France. Oooh the stories I can tell. (which I wont, don't even ask)

but yeah, the wimmenz are the bestest.

[Phalex]

Complain loudly about all the foreigners that don't speak English running rampant every where.