Seine River boat tour

The boat ride is worth it, the food is not. All boats travel exactly the same route. Check what time sunset is before taking for granted that you'll be in the dark.

"has anyone ever done this?" Probably, just about everyone does it.
And good advice from Ed re checking the time it actually gets dark in Paris--in the summer, some travelers have been surprised by how late it actually gets fairly dark, which is later than the time given for "sunset". Here's a site that may help: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=195

Can we just play it by ear and go when we wish OR is it preferable to check sunset time, etc. and book a day or so beforehand? Thank you.

Sunset in Paris in mid-July is about 9:45 and civil twilight won't end for almost another hour. Nautical twilight won't end until around 11:30. It's my impression that, during the summer, the last cruises start around 10:30 or 11:00. There isn't much leeway for a true dark/night cruise. It's been so long since I've been to Paris in the summer, that I have no idea what the demand is. Others seasons, the boats never appear full. A wild guess is that you could stop by one of the places and be able to get a spot for, at worst, the next day.

i have always just walked on from the site near the tower. never had the dinner cruise. just had a few drinks and dinner beforehand and rolled onto the seine. this has been in march and april. maybe it is harder later. but there are alot of boats. have fun, be safe.

We did the river cruise about 5 years ago. My expectations were somewhat low, but we really enjoyed it tremendously. It was nice seeing different views of places we had already visited, seeing the small version of the Statue of Liberty (that France had gifted to the US), young people socializing along the river, and, of course, the Eiffel twinkling at night was incredibly lovely. The boats are basically barges with rows of seating nothing fancy, but clean and relatively comfortable. Good advice from Ed re: timing. Seems we took a 9:50 pm journey, and it got dark while we were cruising. Also just showed up at the dock after dinner and we were able to get on the next departure. Unique to our experience was the fact that important soccer tournaments were going on at the time, and it was Spain who had just won that day. It was fun to see young people on board celebrating with their Spanish flags. But,when we sailed by the small Statue of Liberty, the students from Spain broke into "God Bless America," waiving an America flag while they sang. It was touching, especially since we were there on July4th. If the weather is nice, it's a pleasant experience. Oh, and we stayed at the Hotel Londres Eiffel, which at that time gave guests free cruise tickets when showing the RS guidebook. So, check w/ your hotel for any offerings or discounts.

Astronomical Twilight is when the center of the sun is between 12 and 18 degrees below the horizon. And aviators do care since, when in inverted flight, the sun appears to be between 12 and 18 degrees above the horizon.

Interesting Saturday reading. Liz seems to be speechless.

Hold on, James, I've gotta google out how to get a satellite inverted. Where's the wheels on those suckers, anyway?

No luck, but right here in My Big Golden Book of How to Drive Flying Machines in Gereral it sez: 1. Fly right side up, note position of horizion and sun 2. Fly wrong side up, note position of horizion and sun 3. Draw diagram and note that horizion and sun did not move, do not turn loose of pencil until right side up again, else it will fall up six to eighteen degrees Actually, most of those tables are for MSL at a latitude anyway, and you have to adjust for altitude.