Paris - Marmottan to LV Foundation to the Arc de Triomphe

Rae, I can't help you, but I'm bookmarking this! We'll be in Paris next spring for several days, and a return visit to Marmottan is high on my list. Adding another sight and a possible lunch place would make a nice day.

I'll just say I've walked from Marmottan back to the La Muette Metro stop area, had lunch, then walked to the Trocadero (across the river from Eiffel Tower), then down across the river to the Eiffel Tower and on to my hotel near Les Invalides. Googlemaps says it is "only" 2.6 miles but wow, it felt much longer, especially after having done the "museum shuffle" (you know - stop to look at a painting...shuffle to the next....rinse,repeat....which I find very tiring). It looks like your route is about 3 miles from Marmottan->LVF->Arc de Triomphe but it's relatively flat.

I am a pretty big walker - 6-8 miles per day in Paris is usual for me.

I had a nice lunch at a restaurant with a bakery across the street from the La Muette Metro stop. There seemed to be a lot of locals in there as there was a lot of banter between the waiters and some of the guests, particularly the ones standing at the bar with espressos. Plus my waiter brought me a free little bite sized dessert (had not seen him do that with anyone else - I thought it might have been because I tried to order in my very awful French and he very sweetly helped me thru it!)

Completely agree about the museum shuffle. We're planning to view the special exhibit at the Marmottan as well as the Basquiat/Schiele exhibits at the Foundation. So that is a lot of standing and shuffling.

It turns out for 2.00 euros the Foundation has an electric car that shuttles to/from Arc de Triomphe. That solves one leg of the day's adventures!

Jane - I will aim to update this post after the Christmas holidays and let you know how we fared :)

I would spend my walking time in mid-December at the museums themselves, and not walking between the Marmottan and the Fondation Louis Vuitton. It is rather a schlep, and gray and dreary in December.

Agree that the Marmottan is too far to walk from the Vuitton Foundation.

When I was in Paris earlier this year, the stop for the Vuitton Foundation shuttle bus at Etoile had a notice on it saying that the bus was now only available to visitors with a ticket to the LVF purchased in advance (presumably online or from FNAC), I assume because people were using it for day-to-day public transport as the area doesn't have very good transport links otherwise.

Rae, that is excellent news on the car from LVF to Arc de Triomphe. I'm sure the special exhibit at Marmottan will be wonderful.

One other thing to mention and that is how you do layers. I have NOT visited Europe in winter in many, many years so others will correct me if I'm wrong, but sometimes the interiors of buildings were kept too warm for me. In my opinion, it's better not to load up on base layers/long underwear, but have a warm coat you can take off and layers underneath you can unzip/unbutton if that makes sense? It's hard to step into a bathroom and remove a long underwear shirt but if you have say, a wool sweater over a longsleeved shirt you can open the sweater after you remove your coat.

Thanks, Rae. I'll be checking back.

Phillip - Thanks! I checked the website. One can purchase tickets to the Foundation in advance as well prepay for the shuttle.

Thanks for the insight, Kim!

I was just at the LV Foundation this summer - sounds like you have the transport situation worked out.
For lunch I would highly suggest the cafe on the ground floor of the museum...the food is quite good - not bargain basement prices by any means but it has large windows looking out over the park at the back and is, OF COURSE, well designed. Make a reservation when you walk in so you don't have to wait. I spent about 2 hours in the exhibits and outside on the terraces. There is also a nice exhibit on the design process and building of the structure itself if you are interested.
I am also a big Gehry fan and the building is phenomenal! Make sure to go out on the roof terraces - it's an architectural and engineering marvel!