3 and half days in Paris before south of france tour end of August

jcavali,
Paris is wonderful! Glad you will have some time there. I have just a few suggestions. Did you plan on ascending the Eiffel Tower on Wed.? If yes, you may not have time for Napoleon's Tomb that day. I say this because you might not get to your hotel for a check-in until four hours after touchdown. (Things may go quickly, but you never know at CDG.) if you are just going to see it from below (there are several places with a terrific scenic view of it!), then yes, you will have time to walk to see Napoleon's Tomb. Do allow for possible jet lag after your flight (overnight from the US?) Pont Neuf is a bit of a ways from the ET...walkable for most (not me ,alas) but the metro or a taxi will suffice.

Thursday has a lot to cover and you may find yourselves cutting things short to get to the next sight. It depends on your viewing/visiting style and preferences. If running short of time I would drop the Pantheon, only because it is free and you don't need a reservation, so nothing lost. The catacombs do require one,and you do have a fee, so you should decide ahead of time what you might cut if you spend more time than anticipated at Ste. Chapelle and/or Notre Dame. Double check the open hours for all the places on this list, plus when tickets are available, etc.

Saturday reserve the earliest possible time for the Louvre to get ahead of the crowds. I believe most people are "Louvred" out after 3-4 hours just because it is so large and has so much to see, so a nice lunch afterward, followed by time in Montmartre is a good idea. Sacre Coeur may not be "old" like Notre Dame, but the mosaics are beautiful, and the view of Paris from on top of the hill is great.

Overall, your plans sound fine. Do try to fit in time to stroll along the left bank riverside and see that marvelous view of the back of Notre Dame with the flying buttresses. Stop somewhere for an aperitif or coffee and watch Paris walk by. I recall my first time there (in 1974), I felt that the air in Paris was different than the air anywhere else in Europe, somewhat magical and romantic. (Of course, the air right now is not good, esp. with all the nearby fires.) You will definitely want to return to see the many, many, many other sights and feel the ambience of this wonderful place! Amusez-vous bien!

You are covering a lot of sights. Part of what I enjoy about Paris is just strolling through the neighborhoods. I’d prioritize your sights on each day in case you decide to take a detour and slow down.

The Louvre is open until 9pm on Wednesday and Friday. You might take advantage of one of those late closings to give you more time.

I really enjoy the walking tours offered by Paris Walks. They have walking tours in several of the neighborhoods you plan to visit. You might check to see if you are interested in any of the tours and if that leads you to swap some of your days.
https://paris-walks.com/wa_res/files/2026_SEPTEMBER_WALKS.pdf?t=819962cc_d8f3_4635_97d5_12add441c76a

A correction to Judy's post. The Pantheon is not free for most adults unless you have an eligible pass.

The Pantheon

Based on the venues you are planning, you may want to look at a Passion Monuments Subscription.

A 1 year membership is currently €49 single and €78 double for unlimited entry to over 80 monuments in France.

In Paris, the sights included are

• Sainte-Chapelle
• The Towers of Notre Dame
• The Pantheon
• Arc de Triomphe
• Conciergerie
• Hotel de la Marine
• Basilica of St. Denis

In addition to your admission, there are a few other perks like priority security lines, bookstore discounts and more.

Note- admission to the Cathedral of Notre Dame is free. However, there is a fee to climb the Towers of Notre Dame (included in the Passion Pass).

With such a short time in Paris, I would consider giving up your day at Versailles unless it is a must do and you believe you will never have another opportunity.

I agree with Laura. Some time for strolls in various neighborhoods is a great way to enjoy Paris.

Oops! I always forget about the Pantheon not being free. Wishful thinking on my part? Sorry.

Here are my thoughts:

Wed: Agree with Judy upthread who asks if you are planning to go up the ET or just look from the outside. IF you are just going to walk around this is a good plan. You do not need a timed entry for Napoleon's tomb. You will have to purchase an entry to the entire Invalides complex so if you are not flagging you could wander thru some of the museum areas. I don't do well being inside on an arrival day so this would not work for me but it might for you. IF you are not wanting to go up in the ET or see some of the Army Museum you might be able to do the Arc de Triomphe today depending on your energy levels.

Thurs: This is a lot. Both Sainte-Chapelle and Catacombs need timed entries. Are the Catacombs a must for you all? It is not something of interest to me but I know many like to go. OH, IF you plan to climb the towers of Notre Dame you'd need a timed entry for that as well. You do NOT need a timed entry for the Cathedral or Pantheon.

editing to add...just thought of something: IF you get an early time for Sainte-Chapelle, and after Notre Dame, you could consider heading to Luxembourg Gardens and having lunch at one of the many restaurants outside the gates. Last trip I ate at Le Rostand as well as Au Petit Suisse. Both are good and easy for lunch. There is also a nice terrace cafe in the Luxembourg Gardens about on a line with the street that leads to the Pantheon. It's called La Terrasse de Madame.

Fri: This is fine and yes, it will take all day.

Sat: This is a lot. After spending time in the Louvre you might be flagging a bit to do Montmartre especially if you plan to walk up. IF the day is nice, you might plan to get sandwiches from either the boulangerie in the Louvre entry hall or at the kiosk next to the Carrousel Arch and take them into the Tuileries to eat. Find a chair and have a break!

Su: This will work fine. Does your tour start this afternoon or are you going a day early?

If you are art lovers, the Musée d'Orsay is a much better choice than the Louvre IMO. The Louvre has a couple of important pieces around which there is a constant throng of tourists. Aside from those, it features a generally uninspired collection of paintings from a narrow temporal range and little variety of styles. (There are some very important historical pieces, however.) The Orsay has a wider range both in time and style; it's extraordinary.

I understand the imperative most visitors place on the Louvre, but I think the Orsay gets short shrift as a result.

To say that the Musee d’Orsay has a wider range of time and style than the Louvre, well, that couldn’t possibly be less correct. The Orsay is a museum of French art from the period 1848-1914, with its main draw being the Impressionists. The Louvre has everything before 1848 — Egypt, Greece, Rome, medieval, Renaissance, Rococo, Baroque, neoclassical. Paintings, sculptures, manuscripts, jewelry, and more. They complement each other and both are well worth a visit.

If you switch your arrival day and go to Les Invalides for the tomb first and have a visit time for the Eiffel Tower afterwards. The museum closes earlier than the Tower.

Note if at all interested in climbing the Notre Dame tower, it's 424 winding steps up and 425 winding steps down.

Thursday, you have a nice mix. If strolling on the Île de la Cité, be sure to cross the bridge to the Île Saint Louis and stroll around, too. Like Pam, I'm not a fan of the catacombs. I was there in 1973 when we had to carry our own flashlights. Instead, I'd spend the time relaxing in the Luxembourg Gardens.

The Louvre is a good choice is you know what you want to see. The problem is that it contains several museums in one, which can be either convenient or confusing. You can see the Egyptian collection, Hammurabi's Code and multiple early civilization objects, Greece, Rome, a section on Northern European painting, French painting from the 13C to 1875, Italian from the primitifs on, Spanish masters, precious objects, jewels, Napoléon the Third's apartments... There are hundreds of masterpieces, much more than the big three ladies, Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and Winged Victory and Michelangelo's Slaves. You could study online, choose highlights and then try to see them.

As Slate said, the Musée d'Orsay is much smaller, more limited to a short time period, but IMHO, a doable, pleasant museum with interesting sculptures on the ground floor, interesting paintings on the ground floor marking the period of technological and social change which led to the period in art that we call modern. Then the final breakthrough to modernity is on the 5th floor, the floor most people run to when they get into the building because it has the Impressionists and their colorful paintings of an easy lifestyle and the post-Impressionists. This is an easy museum to navigate, has both a casual restaurant and a white-tablecloth restaurant.

The third museum in the national museum sequence is the National Museum of Modern Art, which begins with 1905 and cubism. It's in the Pompidou Center, currently under renovation.

Elizabeth,
Thank you for your wonderful explanation and comparison of the museums. Well-put and succinct. It should be in a guidebook! Wish I could have said it that well!

Thank you, Judy. I belong to both museums and used to have a pass for the Pompidou, too, so I know the collections somewhat.

I think the difficulty with the Louvre is that it’s at least 5 museums under one umbrella. Imagine if the National Gallery in DC also contained the Smithsonian Asian, African, Sculpture, AfroAmerican, Native American collections in one huge building, along with the National Portrait Gallery collection. No one would know where to begin.
The Louvre is a place to visit several times, two hours at a time, each visit in a different area. Or, choose your pieces ahead of time and visit those, but there won’t be time for gazing.

Thanks to all for your responses and suggestions. One more question Passion Monuments Subscription vs Paris Museum Pass. Which one should I get? Looks like they overlap?

You have to decide what you want to see and then do the math.

Neither pass includes the following from your list:

• Eiffel Tower
• Catacombs
• the Cathedral of Notre Dame (free)
• Ile de la Cite (free to explore)
• Montemarte (free to explore)
• Sacre Coeur (free)

In a nutshell, if you are definitely planning to hit all the other places on your list, the 4 day Paris Museum Pass would be most cost effective.

However, if you are uncertain about Napoleon's Tomb, Versailles or the Louvre (included in the Paris Museum Pass but not in the Passion Monuments Subscription) then it could be more cost effective to buy the Passion Monuments Subscription supplemented by individual tickets for the venues not included in the subscription.

You really do have a full list of sights on your itinerary.