Itinerary for last week of July - Comments/Suggestions

Looks like you've got it all figured out.

When in Paris, we like to ride the Metro around to the Trocadero station right at sunset. It's across the river and a little up the hill from the Eiffel Tower. When they start up the strobe lights on the tower, it's magical.

Be sure to get a Paris museum pass to avoid long lines, but you probably knew that.

Sat - start at the Orsay, then cross the Seine to Place de la Concorde. From there you can either walk up to the Arc de Triomphe or take the metro (there's really not much to see on the Champs Elysees). Even better, after the Orsay, walk to the tip of Ile de la Cite and take the Seine cruise (you'll be on your feet for a long time at the museum). Then nap, take the metro to the Arc de Triomphe late. It's a great place to watch the sun set behind La Defense and the Eiffel Tower and the Champs Elysee begin to light up.

Sun - that's a lot of museum time in one day.

Marais - visit the Carnavalet Museum - beautiful building, interesting exhibits, free.

Thanks everyone for your comments. I've been reading and doing my research on this so I'm glad to see that I'm on somewhat the right path. I agree Sunday is a lot of museums but I'm restricted since many are closed on Monday and Tuesdays and Wednesday is Versailles day. I'm hoping that with the Tour de France going on many won't be in the museums and thus not as crowded.

For Saturday we arrive via overnight flight from the States so I wanted to spend some time walking around outside and to help get over jet lag. I know that the Avenue is mostly touristy big name boxes (much like the Mag Mile in Chicago) but it's more for the experience to say they walked it.

And yes we're getting the museum pass (6 day). The teenagers don't need it (we timed this one right as they're both under 18). Should we get them a Student ID card to "prove" that they're under 18? One will be 17; the other 15.

Thanks again everyone. Much appreciated.

My stepdaugher (18 at the time) got the ISIC and it saved money on quite a few entrance fees. Easy to do, $25.
http://www.myisic.com/get-a-new-card/

With a four day Paris Museum Pass from Sunday to Wednesday, you may need to rearrange a little to consolidate your museum visits on these days.

Sat. 23 - Champs-Elysees + Arc de Triomphe, Sacre Coer + Montmartre, Boat Cruise
Sun 24 - Pompidou + Picasso + Orsay
Mon 25 - Historic Paris Walk + Cluny Museum + Food Tour in St. Germain area
Tue 26 - Versailles (maybe rent bikes there?) + Eiffel Tour at night
Wed. 27 - Rodin + Orangerie + Louvre

Absolutely get a museum pass! It covers all your chosen sights and museums except the Eiffel Tower. We just got back from Paris, did a lot of the same sights you are doing, and we started saving money on day 2 of our 4 day pass. If you are doing Rick's Historic Paris Walk, I highly recommend you go into Sainte Chapelle. It's part of the walk and covered by the museum pass. It is truly incredible. If you do get a museum pass, then it might be smart to go to a less crowded museum that sells the pass first thing on your first day, but you can also buy them at various locations around Paris, including the airport. We bought ours at the Cluny and there was no kind of line to get buy tickets. I think the Louvre is open late on Wednesdays, so if you are having trouble fitting museums in one day, you might want to go there in the evening instead.

If your daughters speak French, it will be a fun chance for them to use those skills! And don't worry if your husband walks slow, the Parisians didn't run us over when I was limping around slowly with blistered toes, that only happened in London :)