Trocdero

Nothing's far away by metro. The area around the Trocadero metro station is tidy, but nothing really special. If you mean the Palais de Chaillot which is what a lot of folks call the Trocadero, go ahead - - it has the best view of the ET from the gap between the two arms of the buidling. If you're into museums, there's a good natural history and a great maritime museum in the southwestern wing.

My husband and I walk past Trocadero at least twice a day every time we stay in Paris (10 days, twice a year for the past few years) and we have never been into the Palace of Chaillot (the big building on the plaza that most folks refer to as "Trocadero")! We see the signs. There's the Museum of Man (in the anthropological sense, which would really float my boat, I think), a maritime museum, a museum of French monuments (personal take on this? SNORE), the national theater, an architectural museum, I think... anyway, quite a few things. But we have never gone in. So I suppose there's plenty to see if you are interested in seeing it - but I would check to see what exhibitions are on and decide based on that. I would say that Trocadero - the plaza outside - is chiefly "do-able" in the touristic sense as a GREAT and FABULOUS place to watch the nightly light show on the Eiffel Tower. It's very romantic. The sun goes down... the fountains splash... folks lean and sit on the marble railing... the Tower lights go on... the mind turns to thoughts of love.... Truly. It's lovely. That is something worth seeing. Since Trocadero is also a Metro stop, it will be quick to get to from wherever you are in the city. It is also easy walking distance from l'Etoile, so if you are strolling up the Champs Elysses to the Arc de Triomphe and want to stroll to Trocadero from there, it's a natural progression. And you can stroll across Pont d'Iena to the Eiffel Tower - take a ride on either of the adorable little carousels on either end of the bridge - take a nighttime cruise down the Seine - make an evening of it.

I don't know about the sights in the area, but the view back toward the Eiffel tower alone is worth it.

Whenever I'm talking with someone who is going to Paris for the first time, I always advise them to get off the bus/metro at the Trocadero and get their first photos of the Eiffel Tower from the Palais de Chaillot. Then walk across the Pont d'Iéna. If you do get suckered into buying a mini ET trinket, cute photos can be taken with the trinket in the hand and the real thing behind...