Sunday, July 5, 2009

The Paris Plan - First Day

So what's a good plan of attack for Paris? We should be arriving early on Tuesday morning and leaving early Thursday morning. That gives us all of jet-lagged Tuesday and all of well-rested Wednesday to explore in and around Paris. The Louvre is closed on Tuesday, but is open late on Wednesday. Here's a tentative schedule:


Tuesday:

1) Around 7AM - arrive in Paris (probably Charles de Gaulle airport)

2) At the airport or one of the Metro stations, we can purchase a "carnet" of tickets that are valid on buses and trains around Paris. A carnet is a pack of 10 tickets and is generally the best deal.

3) We can also purchase Paris Museum passes at the airport or Metro station - or we can get it at the first tourist sight we visit.


4) I'm not sure if we will be able to check our baggage into our hotel at this early time of day. If we can, then we might want to go there first and drop off our luggage. Otherwise, we might want to find a locker at one of the train stations to put heavy luggage in.


5) Getting a quick bite to eat might be a good idea also at this time.


6) For our first place to visit, I vote that we head to Notre Dame. If people want to see St. Chapelle, it's near Notre Dame and could easily be visited at this time too.






7) From St. Chapelle, the Musee d'Orsay is not far away. It would be a logical next stop.





8) From Musee d'Orsay, a good next stop could be Les Invalides with the French Army Museum and the Tomb of Napoleon.

9) From Les Invalides, we are basically in the neighborhood where we should be lodging, so we can check in now if we haven't already.

10) If some or all want to quit for the day, this might be the time.

11) For those with lots of energy, there should still be enough time to see the Eiffel Tower, which is open late, or go by the Rodin Museum. Might be nice to walk around the nice parks in the area too. This would also be a great time to take one of the bus tours that are available.

12) I don't know when we'll mix in lunch and dinner.

The longest tour stops of the day would likely be Musee d'Orsay and Les Invalides.

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