Paris - next weekend

[MrsK]

Due to an inset day, we're taking the teenager & her best friend to Paris for a long weekend. We are going by Euro Star.

Hotel is booked in the Montmatre area. Would anyone be kind enough to offer advice or travel tips, particularly re Eiffel Tower & minimising queue time (if that's possible). If anyone could recommend a vegetarian or veggie friendly restaurant that would be fab.

Merci Beaucoup 😉

You can pre-book the Eiffel Tower I think?

Thank you Patricia, we were too last minute to book

Go up the Tour Montparnasse instead?! No queues, lifts all the way and spectacular views of, among other things, the Eiffel Tower.

We're veggie and always find it really hard to find good veggie food -lots of veggie restaurants in France seem to be quite macrobiotic and worthy! Salons du the sometimes have surprisingly good selections of veggie quiches and things like that. I've also been to a veggie restaurant in the Maria's which was quite good -will try to find the name. Time Out Paris often had suggestions or Guardian/Telegraph travel features that you find by googling.

Have fun! I love Paris and a last minute trip sounds great.

Go up the top of the Arc de Triomphe.

Le Postage du Marais is the name.

Or really early in the morning for smallest queues for the Eiffel Tower. May not work though.

Sorry, not Postage! Potager

I used a company called Fat Tire Tours Paris to pre book Eiffel Tower tickets. They offer a Skip the Line ticket which isn't a guided tour but gets you inside and past the queues. It might be worth it - they usually have last minute tickets left.

Go to the eiffle tower in the evening and walk up...or pre-book. Have a look at their website. I would only book trough someone else if you have money to waste.

Personally I would bother going up the arc d' triumph for the view...sacre coure will give you the best view of oaris IMO.

Other tips

Paris is quite small and most sites are walkable
For something a bit different consider Pere Lechaise (sp?) cemetery or the catacombs
Watch out for things like ham and tuna being included in supposedly veggie dishes

Other tips

Paris is quite small and most sites are walkable
For something a bit different consider Pere Lechaise (sp?) cemetery or the catacombs
Watch out for things like ham and tuna being included in supposedly veggie dishes

Breizh cafe in the Marais for delicious crepes and galettes with veggie options, but do book as it gets very busy at weekends. For the tower walk up to the first level and you'll avoid the worst of the queues, and go as early as you can. It will realistically take at least a couple of hours, but our teens were desperate to do it and nothing else would have ticked that box!

Thank you for all your advice. I've made a list of your recommendations, I didn't know about Montparnasse Old Lag, you're restaurant has great reviews too I had a look online. I'd wondered about Pere Lachaise & the catacombs Eurochick, there 16 so might possibly enjoy a rather more "left field " excursion 😉
Bon nuit

I wouldn't bother with climbing the the Eiffel Tower, unless you want to stand in queues with a million other tourists and a bunch of pedlars trying to flog you stuff. Take the metro to Trocadero, just across the river, which has a lovely view of it.

I'm vegetarian, used to live in Paris and still visit regularly - I was there last week, in fact - and I would likewise not bother looking for vegetarian restaurants, which are usually grim 'cuisine minceur' affairs. If I can't face the inevitable goat cheese salad or omelette the average brasserie will offer you if asked, I tend to eat Italian or Middle Eastern if I'm eating out, or look for a creperie which will usually offer some kind of vegetarian galette. Noura is a Lebanese chain -

www.noura.com/

Or any of the falafel places in the Marais. Try Chez Hana on the rue des Rosiers, which is small, no-frills but reliable plates of falafel, pita, baba ganoush, salads etc.

If you're after something slightly more upmarket, Macéo by Palais Royal has a vegetarian menu for lunch and dinner.

www.maceorestaurant.com/Maceo_English_Home.html

If you want a quick or picnic lunch, the Eric Kayser bakeries have delicious sandwiches and salads as well as bread and cakes.

www.maison-kayser.com/en/

One more tip: go to Trocadero in the evening. On the hour (I think) the Tower lights up and looks fab.

Thank you all again for your time & advice.

It was tiring but good fun. I've learned a few things, teenagers just want to take selfies in front of famous landmarks & keep up constant threads on Snapchat.

When I took my primary age kids for the first time, recently, they wanted selfies in front of landmarks too. I don't think I was half so aware of what was and wasn't a famous building when I was a kid!

Glad you had a good time.