Our "tentative" Paris itinerary

Where is your Airbnb?
Regardless, here are my suggestions!

• Fri: skip rue Cler. You can see it after Eiffel Tower the next day.
• Sat: you can walk via rue Cler from Eiffel Tower to Orsay museum; a quick cab ride from the end of rue Cler to Orsay could help tired legs for 10€.
• Sun: see Versailles on that day.
• Mon: Louvre, Tuileries, add Palais Royal. The Loire is not really a good idea as a day trip from Paris.
• Tue: my suggestions would be based on the location of your Airbnb, bearing in mind that you would have to leave Paris by 11.15 am or so if it's a flight to the US. 1 hour later if it's to the EU.

Our Airbnb is at 63 rue des Vinaigriers 75010 Paris

Our flight leaves on 8/29 at 3:05 pm

But I don't think you're flying back to the States? Are you flying to Zurich? That can make a difference regarding how early you need to be at the airport.

Walk to Vedettes du Pont Neuf - go on a Seine evening cruise (17 min
walk)

Arg. I would not plan to do a cruise on a jet-lagged arrival day. We're all different but I'd go right to sleep on a boat. Move it to your last night in Paris?

2)Since Versailles is closed on Monday, can we rearrange and squeeze
that in somewhere?

No. You would have to free up a day to do this. Could you switch your Louvre day to Monday and do Versailles on Sunday?

On the Tuesday morning, you could stroll along the Canal Saint Martin if you have not had time to do so, or you could pop by the Saint-Quentin covered market.

Also, it would be a shame to stay relatively close to the Marais and not see it. From your Airbnb on the Friday, you can walk 30 minutes towards Place des Vosges, winding your way around the streets of the Marais along the way. Or take metro line 5 from Jacques Bonsergent to Breguet Sabin, then walk to Place des Vosges, and go towards the Ile Saint Louis, up to the Panthéon, then down to Luxembourg gardens.

The evening cruise on the Seine might be a bit of a bust for jet-lagged members of your party that first night. Perhaps skip something in the afternoon so everyone has time to shower and nap?

Don’t underestimate how steamy August can be in Paris. Afternoons are probably best spent indoors at air conditioned museums or napping. Hit the Eiffel Tower as early as possible. Will you ascend? Advanced tickets advisable versus standing in endless line in the heat. Also, advance tickets for Museum D’Orsay are advisable.

Remember you will only move at the pace of the slowest member of the group. With a large group there will be hiccups,

Yes, we will be going to Zurich. (What time do you think we should be at the Paris airport?)

2 hours before, so 1PM. If it leaves from terminal 2G and you are taking public transport, take into account an extra 15-20 minutes for the bus shuttle from the RER station.
I wonder why you decided against the train to Zürich, though? Is the flight booked already?

I'll agree with everyone else's advice and add that Saturday looks pretty awkward to me as you are zig-zagging all over the city.

Depending on how transport looks from your apartment, perhaps you could do the Arc de Triomphe then Eiffel Tower then the Orsay and do Montmartre on the afternoon after the Louvre whether it is on Sunday or Monday.

Or you could do Arc de Triomphe on the day you do the Louvre because you can actually see the AdT thru the Tuileries from the Louvre end of the gardens.

You can decide on the river cruise at the time and just go to whichever one is closest to where you are standing - Bateaux Mouches or Vedettes du Pont Neuf. By this time on your arrival day I suspect the kids will have crumped so maybe some of the adults will go back to the apartment with them and other adults can go for a cruise if they want. They are both about an hour.

To me your minute to minute seems unreasonable and exhausting to maintain. That's to me and not how I travel. Yes, I pre-read, research, plan closely. (A Renaissance Art specialist and Holocaust/Genocide Studies professor, the museum sites are my priority).
*** RS Best of Paris Feb '23 I walked numerous day & night times to the Eiffel and park, as I always walk to see whatever & our hotel happened to be w/in 2 minutes. Metro, Rue Cler, Champs, independent visits to the Louvre, d'Orsay, Concorde, Holocaust sites--all when opportunity presented.
BUT I insist on keeping myself in the moment. OK for you in your desires maybe, but certainly not "Europe Thru The Backdoor."
*** I suggest planning by the clock should be to get up early, ready to go, let's see what we can and take time to appreciate the location/culture we are visiting. Where's a break/lunch/relax place? WC? Afternoon exploring with a planned visit then back to hotel to refresh. Supper experience surprise. To bed after a quick shower again ready to morning go.
******** The minute to minute walk/travel times negate the ability of spontaneity of "What's that" and "Let's stop here" and "Where's the WC?"

1 month returned from RS Best of Paris--luckily pre-violent garbage filled Paris. I planned a pre tour 2 days in Chartres to see the Cathedral I have taught for years. My numerous hours there over 2 days included a tour to the roof! Yes, it was in French, but being on the roof of a massive structure after praying inside and before Mass was beyond worth in experience. Post tour train to (a pre-purchased train) to Reims for more discovery--found Pommery Champagne upon being shut out of another, Surrender Museum (newly discovered by me), 2 more Cathedrals. Walks, eats, sights. More trains (7 total in my France visit--most spontaneous). Enjoy your France. (P.S., I followed a similar my way pre & post RS Best of Scotland to Stirling and Edinburgh last June.) ab

EDIT--just reread your 11 person/2 kids. Whoa! Definitely not how I travel, but hoping you can corral some/all while trying to "herd your cats" into your demanding scheduling. Glad I'm not a party to the vagaries of your group. ab

If we were to move Rue Cler Market to Sat., what else would anyone suggest we do on
Friday, Aug. 25 besides - drop off lugguage at our airbnb, get groceries and lunch then go to Luxembourg Gardens and Vedettes du Pont Neuf night river cruise?
Or, do you think that's enough?

You may think this is a tame, lame idea, but after dropping off your luggage at the airbnb, which hopefully you can, take a hop-on/hop-off bus tour of Paris. This will give you an overview of the city and orientation to the sites you've planned on touring as well as an opportunity to recover from jet lag. If you fall asleep while riding the bus, so what? Just loop around again!

Rather than going to the top of L'arc Triomphe, consider climbing to the top of the Pantheon for great views of the city. This can also be accomplished by going to the Tour Montparnasse- more spendy but no climbing the 206 steps of the Pantheon!

Re; fitting in Versailles. Consider this which could work for Saturday night 8/26: https://en.chateauversailles-spectacles.fr/programmation/the-night-fountains-show_e2291
The June evening we were there, we got to mingle with historically costumed participants. I enjoyed this event more than the crowded tour inside the palace itself!

"If we were to move Rue Cler Market to Sat"

-->IF you wind up walking from the Eiffel Tower to the Orsay you can easily walk by Rue Cler. The thing about Rue Cler is this...to me it's a great neighborhood for me to stay in. I love walking the street on the way to dinner or coming back from my daily activities BUT I don't really see it as a tourist destination in spite of what our forum host says. You might be able to have lunch there although the restaurants are generally small and might not be able to accommodate your part of 11+2. It might be easier to pick up sandwiches from one of the bakeries and then take them to the small garden on the side of the Invalides. There is a small play area that the toddler might be interested in. I didn't know the name of the little park but according to Mr Googlemaps it's Square Santiago du Chili! Here's a map from one of the boulangeries on Rue Cler.

https://goo.gl/maps/gyFiW37D6nhWxXo17

what else would anyone suggest we do on
Friday, Aug. 25 besides - drop off lugguage at our airbnb, get groceries and lunch then go to Luxembourg Gardens and Vedettes du Pont Neuf night river cruise?

-->If you arrive on time at 8:10, I usually figure 3 hours from the time I step off the plane to arriving at my hotel. Sometimes it's less time, occasionally more. So...you may get to your place at 11:10. You'll assess everyone's stomach situation and eat lunch if appropriate then maybe to the grocery store. I'd bet it will be 2PM before you have finished with those 2 things. If no one needs a nap, do your Luxembourg Gardens visit. Let the toddler run and play some then maybe head downhill to the Seine and walk the Notre Dame area. At the west end of the Ile de la Cite is the dock for the Vedettes du Pont Neuf. Walk from Notre Dame by the Conciergerie and cut thru Place Dauphine to the Square du Vert-Galant where the dock is. IF anyone has the interest hop on a boat although it will not be sunset. Do another assessment of the stomach situation and see if people are hungry for a meal or if they want gelato.

On one of your other threads Balso suggested this for Day 1 which has a lot of merit especially if you have some of your group who need naps and others who are ready to go: "I would focus on an area close to your Airbnb. If it is still the one at Rue des Vinaigriers from your other post, you could head to the Marais. It is walkable in less than 30 minutes, or a quick hop on bus 38. The Marais is almost adjacent to Notre Dame so you could see that too."

Kathryn, as other folks have noted, you've planned things perhaps too precisely, and haven't allowed for jet lag on the day you land. I think you are also not allowing for weather: If it's very hot or rainy, you might switch outdoor plans for indoor plans.

When I'm planning a trip that includes Paris newbies, I make one big list of what everyone wants to see, with the "must-see's" starred. We reserve tickets (if needed) for the must-see's, usually for midmorning, and we try not to do more than two must-see's a day. That way, the afternoons and evenings can be flexible, choosing what everyone wants to do from our list.

We let weather and energy levels drive what we do. If it's nice out, outdoor things and walking are prioritized; if not nice, we switch to museums, shopping, or big meals. As the days pass, we start to narrow down the list: What haven't we done that we must see? What can we leave for next time?

Re: the first day -- even with excitement and adrenaline, there's no telling how jet lag will affect you. Sometimes I sail through the day with just some coffee, sometimes I'm wrecked by 3pm. Not only that, I find the jet lag (and overeating in my case), kicks me in the butt on day 3, so I have to dial it back. As everyone has noted, get outside and walk that first day. I try to do some shopping that day for things I want to bring back (candy, souvenirs and so on), just so I get that out of the way. Anything like a museum or a concert -- forget it, I won't even remember going.

Re: the Rue Cler market -- I know it's cute and all, but you have the Marche Bastille within walking distance of your apartment, and that one is AMAZING: https://www.visitparisregion.com/en/marche-bastille. You also have the lovely restaurants near the Canal St-Martin, again just a few streets away. As someone noted, get to know your own neighborhood that first day, and do some discovering!

Please let go of your Rue Cler focus!!! When you visit the Eiffel Tower you can walk through that highly touristed neighborhood if you want.

I haven't been through all your posts about this trip, but I just want to urge you to let some of your 11+2 make their own plans, or peel off from the general plan now and then, or decide to do something different on a particular day or afternoon or whatever. (Well, the two kids better stick with their adults, I guess.) Without knowing your group I don't want to presume, but it's hard to imagine 11 adults sticking together like glue for four weeks.

Re your second question, why not go to Versailles on Sunday and the Louvre on Monday? Both will be open. Whichever you choose on Sunday will be crowded, but Versailles has a much bigger footprint to share with the crowd. And I'll add that the Loire seems like a bad idea for a day trip, much more time spent traveling than seeing the sights there. That region is worth several days, and your time in France is way too short as it is.

BTW, I agree with others about Rue Cler. I've been there, had a meal, it's a nice pedestrian market street, like many others in Paris. A place you could walk through between the Eiffel and the Orsay, maybe have a bite to eat if the time is right, but no reason to make a special trip there on a very packed first (or any) day.

If we were to move Rue Cler Market to Sat., what else would anyone suggest we do on
Friday, Aug. 25 besides - drop off lugguage at our airbnb, get groceries and lunch then go to Luxembourg Gardens and Vedettes du Pont Neuf night river cruise?
Or, do you think that's enough?

I've made some suggestions in a previous post. You could head to the Marais, either walking or taking the metro #5, or bus #38 for a few stops, and work your way across the river from there. If you do not have time to make it to the Luxembourg Gardens, it's fine. You are going to Versailles anyway so you will see French gardens.

with a direct TGV train at 12:13 that only takes 4 hours 13 minutes I don't understand why you're flying. That will be faster than a flight.

To fly you need an hour to get to the airport and 2 more hours for check in and security and all that other stuff - although 11+2 will be plenty of organizing to make that happen on time, with the train get the herd to Gare de Lyon, not too far from your flat, maybe 15 minutes (30 maybe with 11+2 in case of any dawdlers) and stroll to the train. Settle in and people can move around and talk to each other, easy access to the toilets and cafe, and scenery. By 4:30 you'll be in Zurich with plenty of time to settle in for dinner.

With such a large group it just seems so much easier, and faster.

The train passes through Dijon, Mulhouse and Basel on the way, just FYI.

What Pam (and balso, Suki and Kent) said about Rue Cler. It’s not a destination in and of itself, at all.
Skip completely, unless walking that way anyways to/from Eiffel Tower, or staying nearby of course.

I think it's a great idea to "drop off lugguage at our airbnb, get groceries and lunch then go to Luxembourg Gardens" on your arrival day. I would NOT do a Hop on Hop off bus tour at all, but especially not on your arrival day. You will be nodding off and it will be a waste of time and money. I wouldn't do a boat ride either for the same reason. You will be tired and will probably fall asleep. Save the boat ride for another day.

It is good to get out in the sunshine to help fight jet lag. But don't overdo it. Luxembourg Gardens would be a good idea. And after that just walk around and maybe find a nice place for dinner. But by that time you will be ready to go back to your airbnb. Get some rest and be ready for the next day's adventure.