OT: Oui, Oui, Two Perfect Days In Paris, ...help me put together a to do list. Options

[Eric_Shea]

So... I'll be in Frankfurt 3/11 through 3/14 and decided to take the bullet to Paris 3/15 and 3/16.

I'll get in around 10:00AM that Saturday and fly out Monday the 17th. Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to put together "Two Perfect Days in Paris"

What the hell should I do, go, see, eat? Looking for advice from those who have been or are there.

I have my "pick" of hotels (insider connection):

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/parl...tel-la-defense/
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/parv...-vendome-hotel/
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/pars...rocadero-paris/
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/pard...champs-elysees/
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/pars...ference-center/
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/parc...-paris-neuilly/
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/para...gaulle-airport/

Thoughts? Can "The Collective" put something together?

Any advice would be appreciated.

[ThinAir]

I'm envious. I was in France for 3 weeks last March for our 35th anniversary and I can hardly wait to go back. We had 4 days in Paris. I discovered Paris on a trip in 2000 and have now been back twice. I've fallen in love with it and go every chance I can get.

The suggestions to get Rick Steves' stuff are spot on. He points out that the French are not rude in "refusing" to speak English, but they are very particular about language and unwilling to speak a language if they cannot speak it well. We have found this to be quite true and have found that the few phrases listed earlier are about all you need to get by. The big thing is to initiate a conversation with "Pardon, parlez vous anglais?". Pardon is important because you have asked permission to engage in conversation. Using what French you have is important because you've just built a cross-cultural bridge and shown that you recognize that you are a guest in their country and have invited them to make you feel welcome. Although we have found Parisians to be "ruder" than people in the countryside, it's really because it's the big city thing. Using this little bit of French has always opened every door we've needed.

On my last trip I picked up a handy phrase for ordering meat - awe pwan (that's a phonetic spelling - the last word has the "a" pronounced like pawn). It means you want your meat cooked "medium".

Being American has never been a problem and in fact we've been thanked for visiting France. Some French people may have a problem with our current government, but they are quite welcoming of Americans.

We've taken the Seine River cruise. There's one that leaves from Pont Neuf and returns to the same dock. It's fun to take at sunset when the lights are beginning to come on. There is also one called a Bato Boat that is like a water taxi that will drop you off up and down the Seine and your ticket gives you unlimited on/off privileges. We've never seen a need to take that since the Seine can be a good walk away from where we want to go from the stop if it's someplace away from central Paris.

Although going up the Eiffel Tower is a must, we prefer to do the Arc de Triomphe at Sunset because you can see the city well and see the Eiffel Tower as it lights up. We've found that going up to the second level of the Eiffel Tower is high enough to get a great view of the city without the extra expense of going to the top.

When we go to Paris we stay cheap at the Etap Hotel at Porte de Vincennes (49E per night). Our "commute" is to stop for breakfast at the patisserie (bakery) near the St. Mande metro station, then take the #1 line to Place St. Michel. We grab a coffee from the Columbus Cafe or Starbucks and wander off to whatever sights are on the list for that day. Everything in central Paris is pretty much within walking distance from that point. We get a "carne" (pronounced car-nay) of 10 metro tickets so that it's easy to take the metro to get to more distant places like the Eiffel Tower or Arc de Triomphe. You can get the carne at a self-service station in the wall that will take your credit card or the ticket booth with "un carne, s'il vous plait".

My own list for a 2 day first visit would be:
Eiffel Tower
Crepes on Rue Clere for lunch with dessert from the patisserie
Notre Dame
Arc de Triomphe
Saint Chappelle
d'Orsay Museum
Louvre (just the highlights)
Baguette sandwich from the Paul cart near the Louvre
Seine river cruise
Eat dinner at a street cafe near Notre Dame
Walk between every site that you can and just soak in the city

Cautionary notes:
When around the Louvre watch for gypsies who will attempt to start a conversation with "Do you speak English?". Be rude and do not answer at all, just keep walking as if you did not understand them.

Same thing goes for the guys near Sacre Coeur who want you to stop and let them do some kind of string braid thing on your finger.

Wear a money belt that is inside your clothing. There are pick pockets on the Metro, but if you sit with your backpack on your lap and don't have your wallet in your back pocket, you'll probably do fine.

P.S. -
Buy the museum pass. It saves you from waiting in line to get in to places.

Enter the Louvre through the entrance on Rue de Rivoli. It's a kind of "back door" through an underground shopping area and is always quicker than going in through the pyramid.

Check out Samanta Brown's "Passport to Europe" shows on the Travel Channel. Her shows on Paris are pretty good and are repeated often.

Our library has Rick Steves' videos available for check-out. If your library has them, they are well worth viewing. His DVD on Germany includes his 3-part "travel skills" series which is highly recommended.

This post has been edited by ThinAir: Feb 16 2008, 01:59 AM