Paris Riots

If you don't go on Saturday, you shouldn't see anything. If you do go on Saturday, you might see non-violent marchers, but it's not likely you'll see any rioting. Enjoy your trip.

I'd probably not do a HoHo. I'd take the Metro from Gare du Nord where the Eurostar comes in and walk between some of your stops. What do you want to see other than d'Orsay and Notre Dame and when are you traveling?

It's only about a mile and a half between d'Orsay and Notre Dame and it's a nice walk along the river or cross the river, walk thru the Tuileries Gardens by the Louvre and on to Notre Dame.

Rick's got some free walking tours under Watch, Read, Listen over on the left side of the page. One of his is of Historic Paris. It ends near the Louvre so you can do it backwards (all or part) and end at Notre Dame. Here's the map to this walk.

https://d3dqioy2sca31t.cloudfront.net/Projects/cms/production/000/004/448/original/3c66122982ac08e67e321e97929f63b8/map-historic-paris-walk-AT.pdf

Sorry, no riots, no unrest.

There might be demonstrators along the Champs Elysées on Saturday but nothing that could not otherwise be totally ignored.

I can't comment on any protests, but I wanted to second the advice to consider skipping the HOHO. If none of you has any mobility issues, you will be much better off utilizing the metro or a public bus to get around. My only experience was with L'Open HOHO and I was not impressed with the recorded commentary on the bus (we did it on a day trip because we had my elderly parents in tow and wouldn't have been able to easily navigate the metro). Also, you end up wasting a lot of time waiting for the bus (or in traffic).

My wife and I recently returned from 8 nights in Paris and France. We were there over the holidays. We saw no rioting. We never felt uneasy. We'd been to Paris 4 times previously - and this time felt no different than the others. With the exception that many of the branch banks have removed their ATM's. So if you're wanting to get Euros out of an ATM - I'd just advise using the first one you come across.

I'm not a fan of HoHo buses in general. I far prefer using the metro. And walking the streets or along the Seine. You get a better feel for the city that way - IMO.

Have a great trip!!

I'm not a fan of HOHO. I think you see more walking (when possible) and using the metro. When I've traveled with my kids I like to have them experience reading a map and finding their way around a city and taking public transportation. I feel this gives them skills for their own future travels. Also, if they will travel as young adults it is good for them to learn some ways to travel on a tight budget and HOHO tends to be pricey.

If you want a bus top overview then get a two hour Foxity bus tour; the HOHO involves endless waiting and is a huge waste of time on a short visit. I'd do neither, but if I wanted the top of bus overview, I'd go with the two hour tour.

Agree with above posts. However, if you do decide to take one, CityBus (red/white & Blue) has four different routes. The blue route is called the Grand Tour hits the most important sites. We caught it right in across from the D’Orsay (Metro stop Solferino). You can easily pick up their Green route on one of this route too (at the Invalides stop (their second best tour.) A one-day ticket will cost you 34 euro. We did have a long wait one day - but hey, it was New Year’s Day - tons of people everywhere! Hope this helps!

As the riots: I’ve been here a month: I paid attention to the US Embassy alerts on their website as to which metro stops were to be avoided. Would not even consider being anywhere near the Champs on a Saturday, but that’s just me. Too many other places to see, things to do.