Paris in August

Only three days in Paris, one reserved for Versailles. Is there anything else your family would like to see/experience besides the Louvre and Orsay? So many things to do in Paris ... not just great museums with long lines. Do you have Rick's books for tips on alternative entrances and better entry times?

Are you crazy? No disrespect intended. EUR 305 for a 2 hour tour !!! I'm sure it's fantastic but I think I would direct my family travel budget elsewhere. Perhaps leave Versailles for another time. Spend your first day doing Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, Sacre Coeur and Montmartre. Then buy a 2 day Paris Museum Pass, doing Louvre one day and Orsay the other (plus other things on the Pass as well) The Louvre has so much information about its collection online - perhaps concentrate on the 24 works it lists as Masterpieces. http://www.louvre.fr/en/selections/masterpieces?nrppage=50

You shouldn't have astronomical lines even with a Museum Pass for the Orsay or the Louvre. At the Orsay, there is a separate line to the right of the main entrance for pass-holders, at the Louvre it's easiest to go in through the underground entrance by the underground mall the Carrousel du Louvre.

Versailles, though, according to numerous reports, does mean a long line even with an advance ticket.

You can still get the RERC out to Versailles by taking the Metro line 10 to station Javel, and transferring to the RERC there. It's not completely closed, just for a certain section within Paris.

If you only have 3 full days in Paris, I would skip Versailles. I did really enjoy it, but if you're going to do the house, gardens and outbuildings it really is a full day. I would spend the valuable time seeing the sights of Paris. Have fun!

I'm comparing the price of this tour to private guides recommended in Rick's Paris book and see that those private guides charge closer to €200 for 4 hours; most or perhaps all of them are licensed to guide in the Louvre as well as other parts of the city. That book also includes a lot of Louvre info, or you can try listening to Rick's free audio tour to gauge whether it will hold the kids' attention. I see from your earlier post that they're 12 and 13.

It would help me to know how old your children are and are they used to art galleries and crowds in general. We took our granddaughters, ages 10 and 12, to Paris 2 weeks ago for 1 week. We had so much we wanted to see that we decided that 1 major art museum would be enough and since the 10 year old reeeeealy wanted to see Dega's little dancer sculpture, we spent a few hours in Musee d'Orsay, starting on the top floor with the impressionists, lunch in the cafe and rooftop views, 2 rooms of post-impressionists on the next floor then time to wander on the lower floor. It helped that they were really intrigued by the architectural features of the museum itself because they loved the book and film, The Inventions of Hugo Cabret.

We would have chosen Fountainbleau over Versailles based on the horrendous crowds at the latter but we didn't have time.

What did we do with our time? Sometimes we let the daily weather forecast help us decide how to adjust our plans-- temps above 95* and we included some park, water or air conditioned museum time...

We went to a lot of kid friendly, I hope, things like Paris Plage events along the Seine and Villette de la Basin, velibs bike rides, boat rides, Luxembourg gardens, vintage clothing shopping (their idea), picnics and walks around historical places like Montmartre and the Eiffel Tower.

It would be helpful to know your kids ages and if they have any passions or desires.

The Louvre guides, employed by the French government and for the most part art history PhDs, offer introductory tours in English twice a day, 11:15 and 2:00, for 12 euro. Here's a webpage and follow the links:
http://www.louvre.fr/en/visites-guidees

If it takes you to a French language page and you don't understand, you can use google translate to help you.

Went to Louvre today, didn't do tour, and it was still great. Saw a lot of bored and miserable children though. Absolutely go to the tobacco store in the mall of Carousel du Louvre to buy your Louvre tickets (much shorter line). Went to Versailles yesterday, one of my favorite parts of the trip. However, get there before it opens to try to avoid the line. Buy your tickets in advance. Eat breakfast or snacks while in line (line was about 2 hours long yesterday). Bring an umbrella or a stick with a decoration on top so that if your family loses you they can see it above the crowd to find you. Expect it to be very, very crowded inside. Go on a nice day so you can explore the gardens. RER to Versailles should be a straight shot, but know which ones are closed (Javel to Versailles is currently open). Haven't done Musee d'Orsay yet. A boat tour along the Seine will allow you to take in the most sights. It's the most cheering I heard out of children of all the attractions we've done. Some are expensive, I recommend Vedettes de Pont Neuf (cheap and leaves every half hour). Know your exact Metro and walking route to each attraction so you don't get lost. See if there are other attractions along your route or near your destination so you can take in as much as possible. Expect to have sore feet.

Thank you to all who have chimed in to this conversation and gave suggestions. I've reached out to one of the guides that Rick Steve's suggests for the Louvre and decided to leave Versailles to another trip. We plan on boating the Seine (Vedettes du Pont Neuf) and visiting the Musee d'Orsay. Aside from those attractions, we will do a lot of walking around town (maybe join a Paris-walks tour), visit Marais, Luxembourg gardens and possibly Sacre Coeur.

The Metro is easy and cheap to use. It will save some walking and time.

Last summer, a friend took her daughter and 2 granddaughters (about 9 and 12) to Paris. They did the Vedettes du Pont Neuf and the one thing the girls asked to do on their last (of 5) days was another Seine ride. It's lovely during the day and also at night.

Work with the guide in advance to plan the best tour for your family, both the day and time, and the rooms and pieces that you see. You could get the kids involved by having everybody look at the Louvre's website and choosing things that look really interesting. The site has a section for self-guided tours called "Thematic Trails" which will give you some ideas.