2 full days trip to Paris

Take a gander of the Les Frenchies YT channel to visualize responses to your questions. Attached is a link:
https://www.youtube.com/c/lesfrenchiestravel

Good friends just returned form a similar schedule to Paris and chose to not expend the time, energy and money on going up the tower. They did take in being close to the tower, but utilized their most valuable commodity, time, to include other experiences. One reason they punted on the tower visit was a terrible experience in trying to book a tour. The day they visited during first week of June the tower was bombarded with tourist.

Carefully plot the amount of time is consumed for the round trip to Versailles and then add the amount of time you desire to spend inside touring the joint. This trip can consume the majority of one of your two days......... are your kids as interested in this site?

Can't help with your ET questions.

There are a few different companies doing Seine cruises. Some are at docks by the ET. The other location is at Pont Neuf, neat Notre Dame. No need to book in advance, although you can. I prefer the Vedettes du Pont Neuf for their live guides. Doing the cruise in the late evening, with the buildings all lit up is really beautiful.

Both the Louvre and the Arc de Triomphe need advance timed tickets.

Versailles is not inside Paris, and requires most of an entire day. You don't have time on such a short visit.

Versailles is not worth your time on a 2 day trip; takes the better part of the day no matter what. Spend all of your time in Paris.

The Eiffel Tower is also a frustrating experience anymore, it is swamped with tourists, very difficult to get tickets.

Similarly, the Arc de Triomphe, at least going to the top, is overrated. I am dumbfounded by the popularity of this attraction, at least I am puzzled by the high priority that so many seem to place on this site.

Sure, a visit to the Louvre makes sense, as does riding on a boat in the Seine (not a dinner cruise, just a regular one hour ride). I would also recommend spending some time in different neighborhoods, enjoy the parks (like the Jardin du Luxembourg), go to Montmartre and enjoy the street scenes and the view of Paris from the Sacre Couer...

I enjoyed going to the summit of the Eiffel Tower but we went in March and I bought the tickets months ahead of time. We also went to Versailles and with your limited time, I would skip that. To me the most impressive thing was first seeing it from a distance and viewing the entire grounds and going there would take up most of one day.

A friend of mine did a Seine River cruise and said you really can't see much as the river is lined with walls. He also went to the Louve and said the place was packed with tourists trying to see the Mona Lisa. He left quickly.

Two things I wanted to do but ran out of time was a walk through the Catacombs (your kids might like that) and a tour of the Opera House (alas, Adam Sandler was there that day filming a movie so it was closed to tourists).

We did a bike tour that we really enjoyed so I would recommend that - there are many to choose from.

I like a Hop On-Hop Off to get the lay of the land. If you do the circuit early, traffic won't be as much of an issue as it is later in the day.

Hi saw, here’s what I’d do….

Eiffel Tower - it would be a shame not to go to the Summit, especially if this is your first time. Try Get Your Guide, I’ve used them twice for the ET, very satisfied. https://www.getyourguide.com/paris-l16/paris-eiffel-tower-tour-with-summit-or-2nd-floor-access-t375311/

Seine River cruise - do the 1 hour cruise, board by the ET. Day is nice, evening is spectacular with the twinkling ET. No need to purchase advance tickets but get there a bit early.

Louvre - yes, check official website to purchase advance tickets.

Arc de Triomphe - yes, same as Louvre

Versailles - you really don’t have time, takes most of a day.

Stay near the ET. You can walk to all these sites. Not a fan of Hop On/off bus.

laughed at the Louvre comment. Well OF COURSE if he pushed his way in to see the Mona Lisa, he will find a crowd -- but if he actually visited pretty much any other part of the museum not so much. He left without seeing most of the museum.

Versailles is a full day pretty much. Unless it is the number one thing you want to see, I would drop that and double that in the summer when it will be stifling hot and miserable. Kids that age are likely after a day at Versailles to never want to see another chateau.

I am not a huge fan of the Seine cruises because, yes you are down in the ditch but you can actually see a fair bit and IMHO they are nicest at night when you see the Eiffel Tower lit up and sparkle at the top of the hour.

Less is more. Pick a couple of things a day and then explore things in that area. August is hot. Be sure you get your ET tickets ahead; they go on sale at 1 pm Paris time 7 days out (although they change this all the time. ). so you are not too late to get the tickets. Be persistent -- the site jams up on time but if you keep dialing in you will probably succeed within the half hour. They do go quickly.

Both the Tuilleries adjacent to the Louvre and the Luxembourg Gardens have small sailboats you can rent to sail on the fountain pool -- it is really fun to do and the kids will love giving it a try. There is usually a cart with pretty good ice cream cones at the entrance to the Luxembourg Gardens by the Luxembourg metro exit. (and if he is not there -- there is an ice cream shop across the street)

The Eternelle Notre Dame VR experience would be high on my list to reserve ahead. It takes 45 minutes and is available at la Defense and at Notre Dame (that one is of course more convenient). You wear a backpack with the technology and the VR headset and walk around Paris in the 1200s when Notre Dame was being bullt, watching artisans at work, gazing out over the city before Haussmann, being 'lifted' up to see them put the stained glass in the rose window and up into the bell tower and you walk along the tower. It is quite wonderful. And although you are of course flat on the floor the whole time, it is quite convincing. This is one the kids will adore.

Thank you so much for everyone's excellent suggestions/recommendations!

In case it got lost in all the verbiage not particularly that Eiffel Tower tickets go on sale 7 days out at 1 pm Paris time.

Fewer lines, more of Paris?

• Neighborhood walks - Marais, Montmartre, Covered Passages
• Small museums, Cluny, Carnavalet, Petit Palais (Special Sarah Berhardt Ex,), Luxembourg (Special Leon Monet Exhibit, Claude's brother, a friend, influencer and collector), Marmottan (Claude Monet)
  
• Parks - Luxembourg Gardens, Jardin des Plantes

We used Fat Tire Tours in May 2018 to go to the summit at the Eiffel Tower and were very pleased.

I agree with most of the above. Versailles is "a bridge too far" for a two-day visit. A one-hour boat ride is a good way to orient to the city layout and enjoy its wonderful bridges. Instead of the ET, consider the Tour Montparnasse, not as high or as open-air but still great views over the city and much easier to access.

I've never been to the top of the Arc de Triomphe, it remains on my list for a future visit, but I wouldn't call it a must for a short first-time visit like yours. The Arc itself, from ground level, is worthwhile and would be easy enough for you to do. The Louvre could take up your whole two days seeing "everything," but if you have some specific pieces you want to see it would be worthile. Mona Lisa is a zoo but, as someone else noted, there's a lot else that isn't especially crowded.

I'm not a HOHO bus fan either. You might consider doing a full loop (don't get off) just to orient yourselves. But I think a better idea would be a few strolls through neighborhoods like the Marais, Latin Quarter, Montmartre, whatever, punctuated with cafe stops for coffee or wine, with cheese.