Rick Steves Paris Driving Tour or Seine River Cruise?

When will you be in Paris ?

last week of May

I don’t know what all the RS Paris Driving Tour encompasses, but as of April 26, a portion of Cours la Reine will be closed between Pont des Invalides and the Alexandre III bridge (that’s roughly over on the river side by the Grand Palais) and as of May 17, the North-South axis of the Place de la Concorde will be closed, as will the Alexandre III bridge itself to vehicle traffic (pedestrians will still be allowed on the up-river sidewalk).

The very center of the Champs de Mars will close April 12, as will a couple of bits of rue St Dominique right in the middle of the Esplanade des Invalides. May 17, ave Gallieni through the middle of Invalides will close.

Most of the closures will take place progressively as of June 1, but those listed above will already be in place when you are in town.

Also around Trocadero, traffic is already only one-way on ave des Nations-Unies. Traffic will go to only one way on avenue du President Wilson as of May 1. But ave des Nations-Unies won’t be totally closed to traffic until June 10.

Source:
https://anticiperlesjeux.gouv.fr/montages-demontages-sites-olympiques-paralympiques-temporaires

I don’t think you’d have any problems that early with the boats on the Seine. You would have to check various operators’ sites, I would guess. I think the main ones people usually recommend are the Vedettes and the Bateaux Mouches. The port des Champs-Elysees closes as of May 20, but I think the Bateaux Mouches leave from further up.

I don’t know anything about a RS Driving Tour. But when in Paris consider a 2CV Tour. The drivers can customize the tour for you. I enjoyed an hour tour during my first night in Paris. https://2cvparistour.com/

I'd rather be in the open air than cooped up in an uber or taxi; that is no way to see a city if you can walk. If the 2cv is a convertible then that might work.

If you opt do do a river cruise, consider a river cruise well after sunset. Vedettes du Pont Neuf is a river cruise company we've used several times, we've never had to have a reservation. You might want to google them to see if that is still the case. The evening cruises with the city all lit up give new meaning to "the city of light". Especially when the Eiffel tower twinkles. It is not a dinner cruise, but dinner cruises are offered by several companies. The reviews have been mixed in the past; some good, some not so good. We think it's better to have a great meal somewhere before the cruise. Then we can concentrate on the views of the city and not have to split our attention between eating and watching the views.

none of the river cruises that don't involve meals require reservations; just walk up and go on the next boat

I've never. heard of a Rick Steves driving tour of Paris. And I've been on 6 Rick Steves tours now and been to Paris 3 times.
Can you give me a link or a URL to what you are talking about? Its hard for me to believe that Rick Steves would advocate for driving in Paris.

Thank you for your replies (sorry, am not "smart" enough to know how to respond to each entry individually)! The Rick Steves Paris Driving Tour info is in his Paris Guidebook, in the "Entertainment in Paris" section of the book. He suggests hiring a taxi or Uber to do the driving. Nice map included with instructions for the driver in French!!