Dirty weekend in Paris! What tourist stuff is a must?

[rachaelsara]

My DH and I are distributing our 4 dd's around the county so we can go to Paris for our anniversary. We fly in to CDG, we aren't hiring a car, but we will use buses to get about.

What are the must see/do things in Paris? We'll probably never do it again, so we want to make the most of a bit of time alone!

Thank you!

the river dinner cruise on the seine is lovely.

How do I book it? Should I google and do it online?

I think you can do it online or book it whilst you are there, the food is suprisingly nice and its just so atmospheric and memorable!!

forgive spellings
Climb to the top of L'Arc de Triomph
sacra couer
the Eiffel
Centre Georges Pompidou
Louvre
Notre Dame
Trying to think of the trendy district where my friend took us. Full of converted factories etc. Wil rack my brains

I love it there. I can't wait to start taking my ds he'd love it there especially the food.

We went up the Eiffel Tower - very good!

Also La louvre (sorry about French spellings) Although I think it is closed on Mondays...

Have a lovely time, it was lovely just wondering around the left bank to be honest.

Thank you! This is great!
I'm a ceoliac so I'm a bit sad that I can't eat all the lovely pastries, but I'm sure ther'll be plenty choice. We went to the Vendee with the kids before I was diagnosed and I was so ill from all the yummy croissants!

We arrive friday night, leave monday evening, so we'll have three days to explore. Really gratefull for the tips!

forget cruise dinner.......sorry blink but that's really really naff.

Have brreakfast in palais royal and go to the Louvre and have lunch on the terrace of cafe marly in the louvre. Then walk accross the river and up rue de seine and rue bonaparte for gorgeous window shopping (highly unaffordable antiques) get lost in St germain des pres.
Sit on terrace (cafe de flore/deux magots or place st sulpice for a glass of wine)

Go up to montmartre & Sacre coeur in the morning and sit for a nice breakfast to avoid hordes of tourists.

Go to musee Orsay and then walk down the seine along bookinist stalls all the way to Notre dame and go to Ile st louis for lunch or Ice cream at berthillon.

If you have time, Bellevile (buttes chaumont) and cimetiere pere lachaise very athmospheric.

If you want to go out evenings there is so much, what's your style?

This is brilliant!

In the evening, we'd probably do something fairly low key, then get an early night !

All this advice is fab, it's like extending the fun!

Even though it's a tourist cliche, going to the top of the Eiffel Tower is reat fun, and the views of Paris are amazing. I also love Sacre Coeur and Montmartre, and think a trip to Paris wouldn't be the same without going there.

Don't worry about getting to and from CDG to the centre of Paris - you can either get the train right into the centre, or there is a very good bus service which goes right to Opera. Cheap as well. Don't get a cab because it will cost a fortune!

Last time I was in Paris I ate at a really good, traditional French restaurant called Le Procope, just off Boulevard St Germain. I think there is a website. Anyway, it is brilliant food, very good service and romantic. It is quite expensive a la carte, but they have some very reasonable fixed menus. Can't recommend it enough (and Paris is full of VERY dodgy tourist restaurants as well).

Don't try and cram too much in, can be just as much fun to 'waste' a few hours sat outside a cafe watching the world go by.

Have a lovely time!

I just loved the Rodin museum, which is fairly near the Eiffel Tower. I'm not arty at all. I wander round the odd art gallery, but this is in his old house and garden. There are statues of gorgeous bodies made out of marble or bronze (The Kiss is one of his). I thought they were v. romantic, and was just blown away with how someone could chip away at chunks of rock and turn them into people who seem almost to breathe. It was lovely being able to wander through the rooms of his house and having the sculptures on tables etc close enough to touch. V informal and a brill discovery.

If the weather is nice there are some lovely parks to walk through too. We had a nice picnic in the Jardin de Luxembourg, off the Rue de Luxembourg, but there are lots of other parks - in fact you can almost cross Paris on foot, via parkland, if you know the route.

i would highly recommend diner at muee d'orsay
and the tour eiffel
and perhaps the musee d'erotocism to get you in the mood
and walk along the seine on the Isle st louis, witha fab ice cream from Berthillon

The musee d'erotocism sounds good, it's our 14th wedding anniversary after all!

For evenings buy a nice scented candle + cheese and fresh crusty bread and good wine and lock yourself up in hotel room to get down to business.
Am sooo
Enjoy!

Whats does 'naff' mean? It is what it is - a dinner cruise down a fantastic river!!

Obviously there is all the cultural highbrow stuff to do - but that is something a bit different, fun and romantic imo

sorry blink, just lived in Paris so many years, the idea of such a tourist trap.......