Trip to France

[garçoncanadien]

people if u need French help while in Paris ask me freely, i shall do what i can

[Piblokto]

Originally Posted by Toc De Mac

For the day-trips, my thoughts are:

1) Versailles and Giverny
2) Loire Valley (to see the châteaux)
3)* Alsace region (medieval atmosphere, etc.)

These are good choices. Versailles is very close to Paris. 20mn by suburban train. For les Chateaux de la loire, there are many bus day trips like this one : http://www.parisvision.com/product.p...id=2&prodid=45. I don't know if this one's good but you'll find a lot in any tourist office or over the net... Or just ask at your Hotel.
Alsace is a beautiful region. This is where my family came from about a century ago. But one day's too short to visit it. Though Strasbourg's only 2 hours away from Paris by the new East European TGV, Alsace is more than Strasbourg, and if you want to see the best parts of it (Colmar, la route des vins) you really need a car and a bit more than one day...

[Twitch]

Hmm, this might sound strange but if your only in Paris for that amount of time you might want to skip the Louvre and experience the rest of the city and area, sure most tourists go there but because it is so usually packed with people, especially after the Da Vinci code, you would have to spend most of the day there and you wouldn't see very much. Yes the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo are there but they are very far apart and in the case of the Mona Lisa it is quite small and behind glass, so you can get a better look at it from a high quality gift shop print than the real thing.

Personally when I go to Paris I am going to check out the Musée d'Orsay before the Louvre because of its large Impressionist collection, but only because of a preference of that movement over the Louvre's more classical works. But to go to Paris and not see the palais du Louvre would be unfortunate (although some say without the Tuileries Palace it is architecturally incomplete). But if you must go inside here is a quick guide to help you survive it. http://gofrance.about.com/od/parisat.../ht/louvre.htm

But being jammed in a tourist filled museum all day (and I have a BFA lol) is not how I would want to occupy an entire day when I am only in France for 6. I would plan a 1 to 2 week stay in Paris if I was going to the Louvre, but that's because of the BFA. Anyway hope you have fun on your trip.

[RMJ]

You can see all the interesting stuff in Louvre in 6 hours. No need to spend 16 hours there.

And if art happens to be passion, then those 16 hours would be worth the trip alone.

[Toc De Mac]

Originally Posted by Piblokto

These are good choices. Versailles is very close to Paris. 20mn by suburban train. For les Chateaux de la loire, there are many bus day trips like this one : http://www.parisvision.com/product.p...id=2&prodid=45. I don't know if this one's good but you'll find a lot in any tourist office or over the net... Or just ask at your Hotel.
Alsace is a beautiful region. This is where my family came from about a century ago. But one day's too short to visit it. Though Strasbourg's only 2 hours away from Paris by the new East European TGV, Alsace is more than Strasbourg, and if you want to see the best parts of it (Colmar, la route des vins) you really need a car and a bit more than one day...

Thank you for your suggestions!

I agree with you about Alsace. Strasbourg isn't even the reason I suggested to my mom that we should go there. It was because of the cute, medieval-looking villages throughout the region.

[Toc De Mac]

Originally Posted by Twitch

Hmm, this might sound strange but if your only in Paris for that amount of time you might want to skip the Louvre and experience the rest of the city and area, sure most tourists go there but because it is so usually packed with people, especially after the Da Vinci code, you would have to spend most of the day there and you wouldn't see very much. Yes the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo are there but they are very far apart and in the case of the Mona Lisa it is quite small and behind glass, so you can get a better look at it from a high quality gift shop print than the real thing.

Personally when I go to Paris I am going to check out the Musée d'Orsay before the Louvre because of its large Impressionist collection, but only because of a preference of that movement over the Louvre's more classical works. But to go to Paris and not see the palais du Louvre would be unfortunate (although some say without the Tuileries Palace it is architecturally incomplete). But if you must go inside here is a quick guide to help you survive it. http://gofrance.about.com/od/parisat.../ht/louvre.htm

But being jammed in a tourist filled museum all day (and I have a BFA lol) is not how I would want to occupy an entire day when I am only in France for 6. I would plan a 1 to 2 week stay in Paris if I was going to the Louvre, but that's because of the BFA. Anyway hope you have fun on your trip.

Thanks!

I'm not sure whether we're going to go to the Louvre (due to the number of people there) or, as you suggested, go to an alternate, less crowded museum.

[Piblokto]

Originally Posted by Toc De Mac

Thanks!

I'm not sure whether we're going to go to the Louvre (due to the number of people there) or, as you suggested, go to an alternate, less crowded museum.

I'm afraid every museum is crowded in this season, but the Louvre and Orsay (my favorite because les impressionistes are there) are worth waiting in a line for an hour...

Originally Posted by paleddy62

LOL...i sure did...but while me and my partner were checking out the info...it was quite confusing. We are from a small pacific island that has none of the transportation systems like Paris. Also, we no nothing about the French language. We almost tried the Metro, but became too confused regarding transfer points...so we ended up walking from Bastille area to downtown everyday. All in all it was a fun trip.

And I agree with Paleeddy, the metro is convenient to go from one point to another, but walking is the best way to discover a city even when you don't come from an remote island in the Pacific. And unlike London or Berlin, Paris is small.

[isabella]

i' ve been in paris (may 2007) for 4 days.
it was amazing! i really want to go for the second time.
i was travel with a group and a travel leading.
we have seen much but not all i want see.
i think you must go minimum 3 days, the best i hink is 4 days.
i have some must-go tips for you:

- tour montparnasse above you have a amazing view of paris! absolutely a must do!!!
http://www.tourmontparnasse56.com/uk/

- ofcourse the tour eiffel.certainly at 22.00 pm. the eiffel tower will sparkle on this time. that' s beautiful too.
http://www.tour-eiffel.fr/teiffel/uk/

- i think it' s nice too to visit the castle of versailles. i don' t have done this. i' ve been to vaux le vicomte. that' s a smaller castle but nice too. versailles is based on this.
http://www.vaux-le-vicomte.com/

- when you love shopping galleries lafayette. i' ve been there to spot alizee, without succes..but it' s the most beautiful shopping house i' ve ever seen.
http://www.galerieslafayette.com/international/index.do

that was the must-do list.
but here i have a list with other things for you

- pont alexandre III not really a touristic attraction but a nice bridge
- the student district (i' ve forget the name of it) it' s nice to walk there and to eat. (there are much restaurants, when you go to eat, some of them will throw with placards or with flowers)
- boat excursion seine nice too do, you see some of paris at a funny way.
http://www.vedettesdupontneuf.com/

travel tip:
when you have to travel to castle' s or something (near) paris. you can easy pic the metro. it' s a bit difficult. but when you have a metro map it' s easy.
http://www.comby.org/acces/images/RER-map-PARIS.jpg

have a nice trip!

[isabella]

i want to go to paris again.
but i have to change the plans by my parents(they don' t want to travel this year).
i must look for a travel by myself they have said. but i don' t know where!
do anybody have some website' s for me, or tips how i can tell y parents ???

[Toc De Mac]

Originally Posted by isabella

i' ve been in paris (may 2007) for 4 days.
it was amazing! i really want to go for the second time.
i was travel with a group and a travel leading.
we have seen much but not all i want see.
i think you must go minimum 3 days, the best i hink is 4 days.
i have some must-go tips for you:

- tour montparnasse above you have a amazing view of paris! absolutely a must do!!!
http://www.tourmontparnasse56.com/uk/

- ofcourse the tour eiffel.certainly at 22.00 pm. the eiffel tower will sparkle on this time. that' s beautiful too.
http://www.tour-eiffel.fr/teiffel/uk/

- i think it' s nice too to visit the castle of versailles. i don' t have done this. i' ve been to vaux le vicomte. that' s a smaller castle but nice too. versailles is based on this.
http://www.vaux-le-vicomte.com/

- when you love shopping galleries lafayette. i' ve been there to spot alizee, without succes..but it' s the most beautiful shopping house i' ve ever seen.
http://www.galerieslafayette.com/international/index.do

that was the must-do list.
but here i have a list with other things for you

- pont alexandre III not really a touristic attraction but a nice bridge
- the student district (i' ve forget the name of it) it' s nice to walk there and to eat. (there are much restaurants, when you go to eat, some of them will throw with placards or with flowers)
- boat excursion seine nice too do, you see some of paris at a funny way.
http://www.vedettesdupontneuf.com/

travel tip:
when you have to travel to castle' s or something (near) paris. you can easy pic the metro. it' s a bit difficult. but when you have a metro map it' s easy.
http://www.comby.org/acces/images/RER-map-PARIS.jpg

have a nice trip!

Thank you very much for all of your great tips!