Sightseeing

Head to the Pere Lachaise Cemetary and the Galeries Lafayette.

http://www.gadtravel.com/2009/01/paris.html

Hi Nancy,

Yes, the museums are open on Sundays. (You'll find Tuesday and Wednesday to be more problematic days than Sunday in Paris!)

If it's sunny, the parks are not to be missed -- all the locals leave their apartments and bask in the public spaces. Any little neighborhood park will do, but Parc Luxembourg is the grand dame of Paris parks, IMHO. You'll see children floating sailboats in the fountain, old men playing boules, and everyone in between strolling the grounds.

I'd also suggest mass in one of Paris' great cathedrals. Rick Steves recommends St. Sulpice for its organ (you can actually go up to the organ loft after the service and watch the organist play), but Sunday mass in the Notre Dame seems pretty unbeatable to me. I'm not even Catholic, and it was still an amazing experience.

Enjoy Paris!

Most museums are open on Sunday, but all have one day of the week they seem to be closed. Louvre is Tueday and Orsay Monday (or maybe the other way around). Google the ones in which you're interested and make notes.

Stuff that's always open/available: Lux Garden, Botanical Garden, people/street performer watching at Pompidou Center, BatoBus, Place du Tertre (Montmartre), all the churches.

Odd things that not many people go to: Sewer tours (south end of Pont de Alma), archaeological crypt (opposite end of square in front of Notre Dame).

Not to be missed: St Chapelle (somewhat of a wait due to security requirments since it's surrounded by justice ministry). View from the Eiffel Tower at night when smog/haze has dissipated (do this toward the end of your stay since it's fun to spot the stuff you've already seen).

Defintely try to see Luxembourg Gardens on a Sunday. The sailboats in the pond are wonderful to watch. Also, there are all kinds of people in groups doing all kinds of weird posing, looking very serious about it. I have no idea what they were doing, but it was interesting/amusing to observe.

Ed mentioned St. Chapelle had a long wait to get in. I just wanted to say that when I went I did not have a long wait. I arrived just before they opened. Like many sites it is all the timing! And the time of year too. I was there for the holidays last winter. Paris is beautiful for the Holidays. Decorated just enough to be pretty, but not tacky!

I forgot to mention, of some of the things mentioned in earlier posts, not all are possible during the winter. The batobus is not running. They still have the Seine river cruises going. If it is cold out you will probably not see street performers and going to the parks and cemetery might not be that much fun. There was a Christmas market down by the river near the Eiffel Tower. We didn't arrive in Paris until 12/29. Our trip last year it was extremely cold...similar to what it is right now. As much as I like strolling the streets in Paris we had to make daily stops in the afternoon to get something hot to drink...and maybe a crepe or chocolate mousse or something. Hey, in Paris you do what you have to do. As long as you are prepared for the cold you should be fine. Being from DE the cold may not be as big a shock to you as it was to me.