Paris trip: March 2018 itinerary help!

....."Orsay/ orangerie (if time)"

I would make this stop a must see instead of "if time". It is our favorite museum in all of Paris and even if you don't enjoy the art, the building itself is historic and stunning. Also, a walk to the top of the Arc de triumph is my favorite view of Paris. Enjoy!!

Monday will need to be re-arranged as Musée d’Orsay is closed on Mondays. To me, also, doing it on a Louvre day is too much. The Orangerie would work because it’s much smaller plus it’s a lovely walk thru the Tuileries if the day is nice.

You may be able to do d’Orsay on Saturday with Notre Dame and Sainte Chapelle or on your free day when you come back to Paris.

The Internet bulges with websites about Paris, including general info from several government tourist agencies, food sites, walking tours, etc. You can start on this very website by looking at the destinations menu at top left of the page. Then look at others. Then Google. Find the airports; find the rapid transit site (you will need the Metro tube for planning.)
Your schedule is relatively relaxed aside from trying to do the Louvre and the Orsay on a single day; each deserves a half day with the rest of the time for something other than art while all those beautiful images sink in. Moulin Rouge? How antique. But that's my taste.
However, that raises a ticklish subject. Travelling with a gang, there will be plenty of different tastes (i.e. disagreements.) My experience is to agree ahead of time that you can go separate ways during the day rather than trying to cobble together an itinerary for everyone. Meet in the evening for a fine meal to discuss your adventures.

We had limited time in Paris and actually chose Musée d’Orsay over the Louvre. I agree with others. As fantastic as the museums are, it is easy to get overload. Don't do two big museums in one day.

I also agree that you don't necessarily have to move around as a pack. Plan the next day over dinner or discuss the day over breakfast. If the group wants to move as one, that's great, but it shouldn't be mandatory.

Expect to be flexible. Don't feel you have to stick to the itinerary. You may stumble across something you'd rather do. Check for events in Paris the week you'll be there.

I'm thinking of the 13 year old. The first time I was in Paris, I was 15. My future wife was there as well. She was 14. Get your 13 year old companion to do a little studying up before going. This will help he/she appreciate Paris all the more. Have a couple of group movie nights before you go. Watch "Amelie", "Romantics Anonymous" and "Lost in Paris".

If you've never been to Paris, prepare to fall in love. Walk as much as you can. In October we averaged 10 miles a day, even with time in museums, etc. The Metro is great and it is easy to scoot from one section of Paris to another.

What’s with that Loire Valley bit? As it stands you’re there for barely a full day. It’s an area that takes time to get to and to get around in. What were your sightseeing plans? If you’re actually trying to make that worthwhile you’ll need a solid two days, not travel days. You’ve also got 7 people, so you’re talking about wrangling everyone together and getting them into two cars as you get around. Personally, I’d skip it. You’re going to Versailles. Concentrate on Paris, and leave yourselves the option for daytripping to Reims, Chartes, or Vieux-Le-Vicompte or something. When you have that many people, it always takes longer than you think to do something. Keep it loose.

Dealing with 7 people will be like herding cats. I hope the young adults in your group have had the opportunity to contribute to the planning, and I think they should have a day or two to make their own plans on their own, either as a group or 2 by 2. Just my opinion, but I see many adults in their age group around Paris and think they may have their own priorities.

Restaurant recommendation: Nicolas Flamel on Rue Montmorency off Rue Beaubourg. Wonderful food in what is reputed to be the oldest house in Paris. You need reservations. Reasonably priced. I would skip two days in the Loire. You are cheating yourself on Paris. Don't do two museums in one day. You can't do the Orsay, Orangerie, and Louvre in one day, and the tickets are expensive. When you do go to the Orsay, you can buy tickets from the magazine stand just down the steps on the right in the front on the museum and not wait in line. Go to the Louvre on a second day.

Read up on the art there before you go to the Louvre and you will appreciate it more. Be prepared for Disneyland-like atmosphere in the room where the Mona Lisa is. However, the long gallery just the left of that one has four Leonardos that you can spend all the time you want looking at. Also Raphaels and many other famous Renaissance painters. The stone with the Code of Hammurabi is in the ancient art section of the Louvre. And don't forget to visit the galleries with art from the Dutch Golden Age, with Vermeers and Rembrandts and lots more. And whatever the special exhibit going on at the Louvre then will be worth visiting. Buy your tickets online before you leave. Or find an FNAC store, there's one in the Les Halles area, where you can buy tickets for all museums and lots of other things. After you come out of the Louvre, stroll down Tuilleries Garden to the Place de la Concorde. And then keep going and walk down Champs Elysees toward the Arc de Triomphe.

The Orangerie is pretty cool. It takes at least 2 to 3 hours to fully appreciate. Another one worth going to is the Petit Palais, and it's free. Also visit Invalides across Pont Alexander III where Napoleon is entombed under a huge dome.

Walk around the Marais and take pictures. Visit the gallieries under the arches around Place des Vosges. Sit down and relax in Place des Vosges, thought of as the most beautiful square in Paris. Visit Rue des Rosiers, the old Jewish section of the Marais.

Walk down Rue St-Louis on Ile St. Louis. Visit the galleries and other shops there.

Get up early every day and take pictures, not with your phone but with a good camera with a good zoom lens. No one is around and you will have Paris to yourself. At 7 AM, few people are around Notre Dame. It opens around 8 AM and you can walk in, take pictures, and there's not a dozen people there. Walk down next to the Seine in the morning and take pictures. (Here is a link with pictures I took mostly in the early morning https://plus.google.com/collection/AJZxoB). Spend time on the left bank visiting art galleries. I would skip the Moulin Rouge. It's expensive and touristy. Go to an organ concert at 5 PM on Sunday at St. Eustache Church near Les Halles. It's the biggest organ in Paris.

Go to the Jardin Luxembourg and spend some time there. Go St. Chappelle on the Ile de la Cite and see some the greatest stained glass windows in the world. Walk down Boulevard St. Germain not far from the Orsay.

Learn to use the Metro, and buy ten tickets at a time in the machines in the station. It's not hard to master the Metro and you can get almost anywhere in about 20 minutes. If you have to change from one train to another, be prepared to walk a bit underground.

I know that I am suggesting a lot, but Paris has so much to offer that limiting your time and trying to see too much, like Versailles and the Loire takes away from many places in Paris that are special. I am writing this from the perspective of having spent a month in Paris for each of the past three years. My wife and I really love that city. Good luck. Have fun.

I think I agree about the Loire. My first thought was that your one-night plan is better than the day trips many people make or try to make, but my second thought is that the Loire deserves at least two full days, preferably a few more. (A week was a little longer than we liked, it turned out, but others would say not long enough.) So consider Chartres or Fontainebleau or some more Paris time.

I noticed you didn't plan to go up the Eiffel Tower. This puts you in an elite group of travelers who don't feel compelled to do that. (Also, to your credit, you're not heading to the Rue Cler.) But a bird's eye view of the city is a good experience, and the Tour Montparnasse is a good way to get that if you want. Not as high as the ET, and the building isn't beautiful at all, but you won't see it from the top!

You're not museum people but you might consider the Invalides with its military collections, or the Cluny with its medieval masterpieces (including the original heads from Notre Dame's west front), or the Rodin with its beautiful sculpture garden.

I also agree with the idea of splitting up now and then so you can do your own things. Maybe someone will discover a sight or neighborhood that someone else will want to visit later. And give the 13-year-old as much input as you can so he/she doesn't feel dragged around. Have fun!