Comments of my Paris itinerary

Hi, you'll need to move your Orsay museum visit to another day, as they are closed on Mondays.

The Hotel la Perle is great! The rooms are on the small side, but the decor is gorgeous. Pizzeria Positano is right across the street and could be good for dinner your first night there. I thought the pizza was very tasty.

sbowers992,
The Rodin Museum (one of my favorites, esp for the outdoor sculptures), is close the the Invalides (army museum) which has Napoleon's Tomb. That is worth a stop, even if you don't want a quick look at the museum. The museum does have a great collection of suits of armor, which is quite interesting., and something not found here in the states.

However.....Giverny.....go on Thursday morning when it first opens. Get back in time to see the Rodin. If you miss Napoleon's Tomb, Giverny trumps that. May will be a great month to go! Train there, short bus to the gardens, 2-3 hours there, bus and train back, leaving you time to see the Rodin.

Try to fit in a one hour ride on the Seine on a Vedettes de Pont Neuf either on Monday, Tuesday or Thursday. It is inexpensive, takes about an hour, and is relaxing, day or nighttime. It is narrated in French, but the narrator usually does some English as well. Sit on the top deck for better views. It leaves from the tip of the Ile de la Cite, so it is near to Notre Dame. This is one of the best bargains in Paris, IMO.

St. Sulpice...Sunday mass at 11:00 a.m. is preceded by an organ concert at 10:45, so if all goes well when you arrive and can get your bags dropped off by 10:30, you will get to the church in time to hear the organ. (Of course, the organ will be played appropriately during mass.) The concert USED to be after mass, so if you are going there to hear the organ, you need to go before the 11:00 mass.

You have planned well. I've never had a tour of Paris, private or group, so enjoy leaving it in someone else's hands on Tuesday. That sounds great! Have a wonderful time. Amusez-vous bien!

I don't know how you can see the Eiffel Tower, Arc du Triomphe, Montmartre and the Marais in one day. I think you need to move either Montmartre or the Marais to your Thursday.

Here are my thoughts:

Sunday: Looks fine. IF you are a Midnight in Paris fan, the steps where the time-traveling taxi picked up Gil are at Saint-Etienne-du-Mont which is right behind the Pantheon. The Pantheon does not need a timed entry so you can go if you feel like it or skip it if you are tired.

Monday: This looks fine except for the Orsay closure.

Tuesday: Wow, this looks like a lot AND you are going to disparate sections of Paris. You don't really need a guide for the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe but walking tours of Montmartre and Marais are fun.

Wed: This is fine although maybe a bit light during the day. The Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Pres will not take long. Maybe 30 minutes if you dally. You could see if there is a Paris Walks walk of the Latin Quarter (although I think now they are combining it with the Ile de la Cite area. Check the Louvre website to see if any of the rooms you are interested in are closed on Wed. evening.

https://www.louvre.fr/en/visit#list-of-available-galleries

Thursday: Unless you go forward with a day tour for all the sites on Tuesday, I'd move the ET to this day. It's in the same "neighborhood". Are you interested in Art Nouveau architecture? There are some cool building facades near the ET that you could walk past on your way to the Rodin Museum.

Have a terrific time in Paris!

Thanks everyone!
1. Kim: Switched Monday itinerary to Tuesday for d'Orsay. I don't know how I messed that up!!
2.Dawn: Glad to hear positive reviews for our hotel and the Pizza place close by.

3:Judy: Thank you, for all your helpful suggestions. See my revisions. Of course they all subject to change as things go.
4:Happytobehere: Yes, the guided tour day will be challenging and I had considered we might need to move Le Marais to Thursday. We won't climb the ET and plan for about 1 h at the Arc de Triomphe. Since we have a personal tour guide we hope to eliminate the time it would take us to navigate transportation. We will research Montmartre and Le-Marais and coordinate, with the tour guide, a plan to see what we are interested in. The pace we set will be our own and if we need to eliminate something on that day it won't be a problem.

5:Pam: Thanks for reviewing this for me. I know we don't need a guide for the ET and Arc de triomphe but I wanted to take advantage of our private tour guide since we will be moving from one area to another. Wednesday Thinking about a small group tour of the Latin quarter and also spending some not structured time wherever the road takes us. I added a possible River cruise to this day if we don't do it on Tuesday. Thanks for the info on the Louve, I'll check into that.

Still a work in progress but feeling a lot more confident with everyone's input. Thank you again
Sharon

I concur with everything Judy and Pam are saying! I'm reliving our Paris trip last spring.
The organ starts playing before mass at St Suplice. I believe a half hour before. Some people walk around the church; some sit and listen; parishioners begin to arrive for mass; you can come/go at anytime without being disruptive. It was really quite impressive. Even if you get in 10 minutes of music; you'll be glad you did!

I enjoy doing the Seine cruise in the evening to coincide with sunset. It’s a nice relaxing way to end a day and enjoy the lights of Paris from the river.

You need to book reservations for a lot of the attractions you have listed. All the museums close one day a week. Check Rick Steve guides for the details.

Paris is a great walking city. You can go downriver on the Seine from the Louve to Eiffel Tower or upriver to Notre Dame.

Leave extra time for wandering around and chilling out at cafes