Paris itinerary

Christine, are you referring to the Metro carnets? Why would your daughter have one and everyone else have 2? If it's the Metro carnets you are referring to, a carnet is 10 tickets that can be used by anyone.

I see five metro trips times five people, that's twenty-five tickets or 2.5 carnets. Three total might do it. If you're walkers, you might get buy on two. I'd buy two initially and individuals or another one as you need it/them. That first night is out of order. Put the tower next to the cruise since they're closer together.

Carnet. The price for a child carnet is cheaper, so I was going to get 1 of those for her. Then 2 for the 4 of us to share. We can obviously get more if we need them. I didn't know if that would be good to start. I figured we would take the cruise to the Eiffel Tower, but that depends where we decide to eat. Anyone have any great suggestions? Our hotel is near the Bastille. Christine

NOOO - look at the Louvre as a history museum, not a huge building filled with paintings of frilly-haired young boys!!! The mummies, sarcophaghi, stele, (rare) Greek statues, ancient Roman mosaics...PLEASE go to the Louvre website, click on "Collection/Curatorial Departments", then at the left of the page click on each category - Near Eastern Antiquities, etc. THEN, click on each photo that comes up in the slideshow; you get larger photos that you can zoom in on, and more information about the pieces. They have rooms with complete reconstructions of ancient buildings in them...stone 'account book' tablets showing workers names and their pay for the day's work...an ancient safety pin that looks just like the one you will probably have attached your moneybelt with...ancient eating utensils and toys...rooms of Roman emperors' busts - and on the other side of the spectrum the Apollo Gallerie with the Napoleon III Apartments (jewels, etc.). The building itself is something to see; you can also get upclose to the original foundations of the former palace. You could spend days and not see a single 'artsy' painting or sculpture. You MUST work something out as far as a meeting place or whatever in case you get separated...'cause it's gonna happen. Be sure everyone has a map (they give them to you at the entrance; be sure it's the 'English' one). Yes, you should go LOL! (in my very humble opinion - giggle) It looks like the Louvre would have to go Sunday afternoon...Be prepared for long security lines at Sainte-Cappelle...be happy if they aren't. Good job on Sunday; you could spend quite some time in the Army Museum. Of course, I now have you going to the Louvre afterwards...BTW, the Louvre's weekend hours are 9-6.

getting up the Eiffel tower may take some time, but you must do it, and be sure to be there after dark in order to see the light show which goes on from 10 minutes before the hour. You can see it from Champs du Mars at base of the Tower or walk over to Trocadero for a beautiful view. But it's not absolutely essential to go to Trocadero. skip it if you don't have time. The evening boat cruise is lovely. These are 2 fantastic things to do in one evening.
I think Sunday's itinerary sounds great. But if you depart from it (if lines are very long) and wander off and do something else, that's fine too. You can't go wrong in Paris. The Louvre is great, but time consuming and entails a lot of walking, even if you just see one wing. Going in through the "Carousel" entrance through the mall (which Rick describes in his book) and under the pyramid though, without going into the museum, is an easy thing to do and free. The food court there is pretty good, and there are a other nice shops, including the museum store. Hanging out on the plaza outside near the pyramid is a great sight also -- great place to hang out and people watch, if you can't make it inside.

Christine You have done some great research. Paris Can I talk you into staying 1 more night in Paris? So hard to do much in 1 1/2 days! Louvre We ran through the Louvre with my 3 boys (then 6,9, 12) in 30 minutes! Just saw the art they knew about. I think that with only 2 days in Paris, it would be better to skip it unless you have a history buff and focus on one area Saturday Great to do the Eiffel Tower at night. Note that in the summer, it doesn't get dark until way late, 10 or after. Trocadero is a cool hangout for French teens and is very active. However, that would not be my first choice. If you want, you can pick up sandwiches, dessert, drinks at a bakery, patisserie, or a take out stand. And eat on the Champs de Mars, the park adjacent to the Eiffel Tower. Lots of others will be there too. Avoid the ticky tacky vendors. While it is still light, take a Fat Tire bike tour based at the Eiffel Tower. Everyone will like it and it will give you an overview of the Paris sites. You can take the Bateau Mouche, the river boat, from the the Eiffel Tower as you already know. Sunday I am not a fan of Napolean's Tomb and the Army Museum but lots of people like it. The one thing about this is you are back tracking as it is pretty near the Eiffel Tower. Probably isn't open at night. Paris 2 Island Tour is a great idea. If you all have MP3 players, check out Ricks free downloadable tours. Try to visit a market and a cafe and sit in a park near your hotel or site you are visiting. People watching is the best! Monday???
Do one more day in Paris and reduce 1 night in Normandy. You will have a great time with your kids!

Sorry, I can't really add any time in Paris. You can rent gites either Friday to Friday or Monday to Friday in Normandy. Plus, this is the part everyone is looking forward to. Believe it or not, my first plan had us with just one night in Paris..ariving Sunday Morning. We will have finished somewhirlwind days in London before this.. So I am looking forward to relaxing in the small town in Normandy. We are doing the Caen museum on that Monday. Then Tuesday we may go into Bayeaux or we may just veg. Wednesday we will see various towns like Arromaches on our own. Just wander and see what we see. On Thursday it will be an all day Band of Brothers tour since 4 of us are major fans. Then Friday we head to Versailes. Saturday will be Verdun then Sunday through Wednesday we are in Germany. So that Normandy section is my recoop time for the 5 of us. We'll just have to go back another time. Sorry, but I HATE big cities. I like the countryside better.. That said. Paris and London are Paris and London and I know I'll enjoy it. But most of our family vacations are to National Parks in our little travel trailer with no electricity and hiking and cooking in our dutch oven or coleman stove. Christine Christine

I hate to contradict Eileen after she makes such a great case for the Louvre... but don't do it. You basically have one day in Paris. Do you really want to spend the morning in one museum and the afternoon in another? That's just too much museum time. Pick one or the other. (I liked both.) Then spend the afternoon strolling around the two islands that were the original parts of Paris. Saint Chappelle was my favorite place in Paris, and the lines get really long. It won't help to have a museum pass because it's the security line that slows you down. You might going here first and doing the walk in the morning, then heading to Invalides in the afternoon. The weather will be a factor too. If it's supposed to rain in the afternoon, that's another good reason to do the walk first.