Paris suggestions before tour starts

On my days before the tour I did the Rodin museum, the Eiffel Tower, the Champs Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe since none of there were included on the tour. I really enjoyed the Rodin museum, it's not very big and won't take you more than a few hours. If I remember correctly it is near Les Invalides, which I did not get a chance to visit but was highly recommended by others. Do you have any specific interests?

We can suggest a few things to do. Take a walk down Rue de Bac. The Bon Marche and the most incredible food market is across the street. The Rue Cler is definitely worth seeing. The catacombs are interesting but only worth the visit if the line is short. My sleeper suggestion is not found in many books: the museum de Arts and Metiers. It is like a small French Smithsonian. It has machines, levers, early flying machines, clocks and a host of interesting exhibits. It was not crowded at all when we visited. Take the metro stop of the same name, Art Metiers, which I am probably misspelling.The metro stop itself, is definitely worth visiting as it must be the grandest in Paris. the whole inside of the tunnel is covered with copper. Rue de Bac, I forgot to mention must be the home of all the diplomats and higher-ups, as we constantly saw huge street front gates open for fancy limos which revealed huge mansions and grounds behind the gates. A touch of the rich and famous. Enjoy, Hank Novato CA

Assuming you are taking a Rick Steves tour: go to that tour's webpage, then scroll down to Planning Tips, then expand that section.
There you will find pre-tour tips. For the Best Of Paris In 7 Days tour, they suggest:

Arc de Triomphe; Les Invalides; Jewish Art & History, Marmottan, Picasso, and Pompidou museums; Eiffel Tower; St. Sulpice organ concert; Père-Lachaise cemetery; Paris sewer tour; day trips to Monet's Giverny garden, Chartres, Vaux-le-Vicomte and Fontainebleau. (Entry is free with the Paris Museum Pass you'll be given when the tour begins. To save money, you may want to save a couple of these for your free afternoons.)

They also suggest the Eiffel Tower, with the proviso that you make reservations: https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/france/eiffel-tower-info

BTW, why they hide this frequently asked question (what to do before a tour starts) in the way they do, is beyond me. I've even e-mailed them asking them to make it more visible - to no avail as yet.

I do agree that it also depends on your interests.

Great suggestions all-
We are really open to anything but prefer out of the way non touristy things. I really enjoy old churches.
Thanks for pointing us to the section on pre- tour suggestions!

A must for you especially since you enjoy churches is St. Denis on the Metro Line 13 stop Basilique St. Denis. This is the oldest Gothic church in Europe and the burial site of the Kings of France. They were trashed during the revolution and may or may not now be interred in a mass grave at the site. But their magnificent tombs were preserved as works of art by some fine revolutionary and they are wonderful.
https://janettravels.wordpress.com/2010/10/26/confronting-mortality-at-st-denis/
I would also really recommend Vaux le Vicomte as a chateau visit. Before I visited the Rodin Museum I would do the Marmottan with its impressionist collection. (but I think Rodin is the most overrated sculptor of note and you may disagree) You can go to the gardens of the Rodin museum for a couple of Euro and have coffee and see plenty of Rodin sculptures.

We. went on this tour in 2012, and arrived in Paris two days before the tour started. On our first day we went to Pere Lachaise cemetery. It was a good way to walk off the jet lag.

I've edited my reply, because the formatting didn't come through correctly the first time. In case it still doesn't, the ones in italics are included on the Museum Pass.

The Institut du Monde Arabe is worth a visit, if only for the architecture.

Hi Bridget:

I went over early before also when I took this tour. In fact I am taking it again this Christmas. I really enjoyed the musee de quai branley. They have a wonderful collection of articles from the South Pacific and other Pacific areas if you walk down the rue de bac stop at the Angelina store and get a bottle of the best hot chocolate you will ever have. They have restaurant at Versailles stop by there after your tour and have some hot chocolate.! I enjoyed a trip on the bateau bus. I am not sure if that is the correct name, but it is a hop on hop off boat that stops at the main sites. Everything is interesting viewed from the water.

I will reply in general. Good for you that you arrive in Paris this amount of time before the tour starts. First point ... relax ... If you have not been here before, Paris will enfold before you. The tour will be excellent, I assume, taking you to the "most important places." There is a term I learned to be a "flnanier" or stroller of Paris. In my opinion now is an excellent time to just experience Paris as a working, everyday city for normal people. Sit or walk on the edge of Seine, relax. Walk over to the Champes de Mars before the Eiffel Tower. Ignore the tourists and focus on the French and Parisians (okay you are one). Just "flananier". My favorite place to sit and watch Paris is the Luxumbourg Gardens. You will be busy on the tour . .. Before, Relax Paris will come to you if you just get out and don't feel like you have to do something.

I am sorry about this, but I have to, simply have to say that the correct French word is "flaneur", with a circumflex over the "a", which I don't know how to do. Again sorry.

Thanks. I just relaxed, took a guess and the spelling came to me!

Love how jrmeier took both the city of Paris and a spelling correction in stride. A true flâneur--maybe a bourlinguer. Bravo.

My go-to to find a lot of non-touristy (and generally uncrowded) places to visit in any city is the Atlas Obscura website. I check out their website to find some places that might be near some of the bigger, well-known sites I plan to visit, or if I'm in a city for a longer stay or a repeat visit, it gives me a variety of places to choose from that aren't typically listed in guidebooks.

On my most recent trip to Paris, I stopped by Deyrolle (right on the Rue du Bac), the Museum of Hunting and Nature, the Musee de l'Erotisme, and a couple of smaller churches: Chapelle Notre-Dame de la Medaille Miraculeuse and Chapelle des Prêtres de la Mission Lazariste. No idea what's on the tour itinerary, but I'm betting that most of the places listed on Atlas Obscura are not part of it.

For a good 360 degree view of Paris without the lines and hassle of trying to book tickets ahead of time for the Eiffel Tower (without knowing if the weather will actually cooperate), I like the rooftop terraces that are free on top of 2 Paris department stores - Printemps and Galeries Lafayette. They both offer places to sit down for a rest and a cup of coffee or soft drink if you want to just relax for a spell. A bonus is you actually get photos of the Paris skyline with the Eiffel Tower featured in them.

Thanks, Ceidleh, for the Atlas Obscura hint-I've never seen that website! Very interesting!

I also agree with the flaneur suggestion… On our last trip to Paris we took that approach and really enjoyed just soaking up the atmosphere wherever we wandered.

We had a late lunch on the rooftop terrace of the Printemps store, and just relaxed up there and enjoyed a 360° view.

You might also enjoy exploring some of the covered passages. I didn't know anything about them on my first trip to Paris, but they are really beautiful. If you know where some of them are ahead of time, you might find it's near where you were heading for another destination and you could pop in..

Laurie