Advice re Paris

[Achica123]

Hello folks,
Travelling to Paris for the first time during the bank holiday weekend for a 5 day trip. Any recommendations on must see places? I am looking for a cultural and foodie experience.
Someone told me that you can buy a pass that will reduce queue times for the museums & major attractions. Does anyone know where I can get this pass from?
Advice and directions are greatly appreciated.
Best

We looked at the pass but decided against it, we felt we would have to do everything to verify the quite steep price. DD wasn't 7 yet and we found the Louvre or similar would be not what she wants to see. There a re two different passes, one includes the metro and sightseeing buses, the other one not. Calculate carefully.

Restaurants - be prepared to pay a lot. We found we paid around €75-100 for the three of us each evening. For lunch we often did crepes or similar as the weather wasn't good enough to do a picnic.

We didn't do the Eiffel Tower, we did the Tour Montparnasse, less queuing but also good for a great view. We did a bus tour, the ticket is valid whole day so we also used it for the evening. I think we did the green bus company. We also did a boat tour, DD was too tired to do anything else after 4 days.

If you want to go to Versaille, get the tickets in advance to avoid long waiting at the chateau.

The Musee D'Orsay is a must but definitely get tickets in advance. Notre Dame is great but we are not so keen on the Monmartre area. A bit too touristy. A river trip is well worth while and so is a visit to the Opera Garnier and Galleries Layfayette. The Louvre is huge and crowded. We also like to see if there are any exhibitions on that interest us. Last time we saw a huge collection of Louis Vuitton creations from the earliest trunks to the latest bags. There is always something of interest. I think the Eiffel Tower is a must for the first time visitor and the Arc de Triomphe. It is Paris after all! The Place de la Vendome is beautiful. I am sure you can get one of the "Top 10" books about Paris which will give you a few more ideas. We get the underground "carnet" which gives 10 tickets at a reasonable price and plan your day around a fairly close area or you can walk a long way.

Food is expensive however. I now like the recommendations in Lonely Planet for food. Usually well researched restaurants at varying price points. If you want top quality restaurants, take plenty of euros!!!!

The River Siene - Use the Bateau bus, 15 Euro's per person, get on and off at that price throughout the day. Book the Eifel Tower if you want to go up in the lift save queing, it is lovely at sunset when it lights up and sometimes glitters. There is a small park behind the 2nd pillar of the foot of the ET for children hidden away to the left side, you can usually find a seat there to eat an ice cream and look up at the ET. Toilets at the ET stink try and use others on the Champs-Élysées inside bars or Macdonalds. Practice saying Non Merci to the street sellers esp at the ET. There are WW1 posters along the Champs-Élysées which might be of interest to you. If you don't go to the Louvre enterence shuts at 5pm but it is open until 11pm it is still worth going to the shopping centre where it is located to see the diamond outside and in and to pose on the plinths outside. The number 42 bus stops at most of the main attractions around the ET, CE and ARC useful for tired legs. If you decide to see the Louvre one of the metro stations for it is shut and you will need the M1 line to get there. The Metro is very busy so I would reccomend overground where possible or the bateau bus, Eating, buy bagattes, cheese, water, ham, snacks to save spending a fortune at restaurants. Ice cream is in line with prices across France we found. Enjoy :)