Ideas for "day of arrival at 11:00 CDG" from 4ish-8:00

Janet,

I'm going to assume your trip is for spring or summer, given the implied time of sunset.

And I'm going to assume you are arriving from North America.

Not knowing where your apartment is, I can only be general.

Your plan to be outdoors is a good one, but you should also have a plan B for inclement weather.

For Plan A, in your place I would prefer a picnic to a sit-down meal in a restaurant. You can't really do a restaurant and make your ET date, actually.

So I would identify a street market or bunch of shops where you could buy what you need, and then eat in a park.

In the 7th, the Rue Clair neighborhood is a good choice, as cliche as that may be around here.

You can also get sandwiches, pizza, crepes to go or from street carts.

If the weather does not cooperate you should plan an early meal in a cafe.

The boat ride is lots of fun, if not exactly educational, if it doesn't rain. If you have the energy to walk about, however, you'd probably be best not sitting for an hour.

All of the above subject to your knowledge of your grandkids, whose ages, predispositions, and number you did not share.

Yes - it's early June :) and we are coming from Chicago. The apartment is between Luxembourg Gardens and the Pantheon. It's an area I've never been in. And of course we need a "rain plan" - funny that I didn't think of that.

It would be easy to have a picnic, as I'd like to go grocery shopping right after we get to the apartment and I guess the gardens would be a good spot?

"The boat ride is lots of fun, if not exactly educational, if it doesn't rain. If you have the energy to walk about, however, you'd probably be best not sitting for an hour." That is true!

My grandchildren are 18 and 21 and my 21 year old granddaughter and I were in Paris a year and a half ago. My grandson was also there, but he was 8 years old. They enjoy history, art, and sleeping :)

Put on a Green Bay Packers T-shirt and stop in at the WOS bar, the premier GB Packer fan bar in all of Europe, at 184 Rue Saint-Jacques. Its right in your neighborhood. Say "Hi" to Pierre.

Since you've been to Paris/Europe before, are you usually wide awake at 9:30-10 p.m.? on your arrival day? If you're planning to do the Eiffel Tower starting at 8, you'd need to be. That seems to be pushing it - even if you're awake at that hour, I wouldn't want to be doing something like the ET then. Can you fit it in one of your other nights? In early June it will still be light quite late - I think a mid-afternoon picnic in Luxembourg Gardens is a great idea. You can then walk to Notre Dame, go in the cathedral, then walk along the river - that can be as short or long as you like. If you're hungry you can always get something around 6 at a cafe or brasserie. Some of the wonderful creperies on rue Montmartre also open at 6.