Paris for two days!

Are there any things in your guidebook that look appealing/not appealing to you? Have you ever been there? That will help in our responses...I assume you don't refer to the 'obvious things', but instead the more obscure/not well known...

Behind Notre Dame is a bridge that takes you to Ile St. Louis, a scenic enclave that's fun to walk around. Just across that bridge is said to be the best ice-cream stand in Paris. A block on the other side of Notre Dame is Ste. Chappelle, a beautiful small chapel surrounded by government buildings. If you get a chance to go to a concert there, do so. It's magic. If you're a Harry Potter fan, the home of Nicholas Flamel, who owned the Philosopher's Stone, is in the Marais, not far from Place des Vosges. If you can't make it to Monet's house in Giverny. the out-of-the-way Monet-Marmottan museum in Paris has the best collection of his art. At the bottom of the hill in Montmartre, there's a small street packed with lace stores. (Easy to carry souvenirs.) Don't forget to take some time to find your own memories!

Definitely sit at a cafe, have a cup of coffee and a nutella crepe and just people watch for as long as you want. Trust me, you'll need a break after all the walking you'll be doing. As for the rest, get's Rick's Paris book, read up on what you want to see and then group the sites you want to see together so that you're not going back and forth across town. That's the lesson I learned when I went to Paris. If you want the less obvious places, I recommend the Marmottan, the Orangerie, the Carnavalet for museums. For history, check out the Conciergierie, it's right next to St. Chappelle on Ile de la Cite so you can group it together with Notre Dame and St Chappelle. You can get all this info from Rick's book. My first and only trip to Paris was with my sister who had been there 3 times already that's why I went to these places. I also recommend cruising down the Seine, you get on and off right by Ile de la Cite. I did make it to the Louvre, that is a definite must see. And the Eiffel Tower of course!

I agree with the poster who recommends getting a good guide book, reading it, and highlighting the things that appeal to YOU. Paris is an amazing, gorgeous, thrilling, and DIVERSE city. There are so many things to do that no matter WHAT you do, you will be kicking yourself for what you missed. Therefore, I recommend not taking the advice of folks who have their favorites - just find what appeals to you, and do it. That having been said, I also vote with the poster who mentioned "just sitting in a cafe." It is quintessential Paris - and it's something that you might miss out on if you are rushing from sight to sight, trying to fit everything in. And that being said, you can "kill two birds with one stone" by choosing the Cafe Diane in the Tuilleries, near the entrance to the Louvre, as your cafe. They make a superior cafe creme, and are located outside, right in the gardens. There's excellent people-watching, you're outside (of course, this is predicated on the weather being nice) enjoying a gorgeous day, and you are looking right at the Louvre, one of the most magnificent edifices in France, with its IM Pei pyramids in front. On the other hand, a cafe in St. Germain des Pres.... GAH! See what I mean? There's just SO much to choose from, that you are really better off choosing for yourself. Have fun!!!!!

I'm assuming that you are asking this question not because you have not read a guidebook on Paris, but that you have read one and know of the various sights and now want others to chime in with their two favorite things to do to help you decide what to do. The problem is, of course, you will most likely get the same list of varied sights to see. With that said, here is what I recommend: see a concert at Ste. Chappelle and then go to the Cluny museum to see the stained glass up close, eat your lunches at a cafe and then linger over coffee, get falafel in the Marais, use public transporation, go to the Louvre right when it opens and walk directly to the Mona Lisa (this way, we saw it with only maybe six other people rather than the hundred we saw just half an hour later), and grab some wine and dinner at a market on your last night and sit at the park across the Eiffel Tower to see the lights.
There is so much wonderful things to do. Cannot list them all here (and you did only ask for two). Have a great time!

I had noticed the scatter gun and disappear technique too.

Catherine? Helloooooo...? Are we on the right track?