Visit Paris on Sunday or Monday

Generally, Sunday is quiet. Most shops close Sunday although big shopping malls will be open. Some museums, not all, close Monday. Some restaurants close Sunday, or Monday, or both. Since you're not going to get much of Paris in a single day anyhow, especially if it rains, why don't you pose a specific question about your interests?

I guess a better plan would be to go to Paris on Sunday and Monday. And hopefully get in as much of the big attractions as possible. The Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, etc. And I would love to just walk and take in the sites. Thanks for your input.

Totally recommend going both days if you can swing it, there is so much to see and do.
Strongly suggest if you are on such a tight timeline that you prebook your tickets for the Eiffel Tower. You can end up waiting hours there, and there is no pass to let you "skip the line" there. The tickets are same price as walk up but you prepurchase them online on the official Eiffel Tower website , but you do have to pick a time slot, and that is when you have to be there, then you can skip the long long ticket line. It then takes about 10 minutes or so to get to front of elevator line, but that is way better then the hours you can end up waiting in summer. Louvre is easy to enter without long wait and without prepurchase( I have gone many times in summer and this always has worked for me). Just use alternate entrance( not the Pyramid entrance in courtyard), the one through the Carosuel Mall entrance is pretty fast and easy, purchase ticket from machine and about 5-10 minutes to get through security ( security is always unavoidable at sights that have it, and many do)

PS Sunday the 7th of July is a free day for many museums, and personally I would avoid it like the plague as crowds can be insane at main museums. I usually suggest if people are in Paris on a free sunday( first sunday of the month) that they use that day to visit museums on their "secondary "wish list as that way they aren't wasting money on something they may not be thrilled with and they avoid the mega crowds that descend on ORsay and Louvre on those days

I can't imagine going to Paris and only spending a day. There are SO many sights and SO many museums and SO many fountains and gardens and sidewalk cafes and beautiful architecture - Paris is SUCH a place to stay for several days and without schedules.

Thanks everyone. We have never been to Paris and will be traveling with 11 and 17 year old boys. I just wasn't sure how much we could see in one day and am really trying to get an itinerary together.

Our two kids went with us several times to Paris. The first time was a mistake because we arrived on the EuroStar from London, stayed one night at Gare du Nord, and left the next morning. The other times we loved our trips to Paris...the kids loved them as well. Paris is always full and bustling in summer no matter what day.

My son fell in love with Paris when he was 11 and has loved it ever since (he's 23 now), he/we can never get enough. If you can manage 2 or more days, do.

Tracie your boys would likely love to visit the Catacombs, my 13 yr old found out about it in his research for his trip( family rule kids are required to find three things they want to do or see on holiday, no free rides on the holiday trip planning in my world) , also both my boys loved the Invalids Army Museum .

Thank you everyone for all of the great suggestions.

Tracie, be sure to check the websites for any of the museums that you want to visit. Many museums are closed on Mondays (the louvre, by contrast, is open on Mondays and closed on Tuesdays). So if you do decide it's important to see the Invalides or the Catacombs or whatever, check NOW to see if their opening days coincide with the days you'll be in Paris.