7 day Paris tour questions

Every time we visit Paris we make visits to the Rodin Museum and l’Orangerie; don’t miss either of them!

We've been on 3 RS tours, but not on this specific tour, but your itinerary tour says it includes a 7-day metro and bus pass. Day 6 after d'Orsay is a suggested day to visit l'Orangerie on your free time. You will definitely want to make a reservation for the marvelous l'Orangerie. The best way to plan for that is to reach out to the Rick Steves' office. They can tell you specifically what time your d'Orsay tour (at least the organized part) is over; then you can figure out from there your timing for other things. (This was very helpful for us in planning our free time on the Amsterdam tour.)

Also, we were in Paris in the spring on our own. The Rodin gardens are wonderful. It's such a beautiful, intimate, calm place to enjoy the outdoor sculptures and view of the top of the Eiffel Tower. If the weather permits, I'd suggest starting outside first. It's the best part of the museum. We missed the VR at Notre Dame but hear it's marvelous. We of course are sorry we were too early to see the scaffolding come down on the catheral. So amazing that it reopens in a few weeks.

Enjoy your tour!

Don't worry, KD. There will still be scaffolding on Notre Dame for a long while yet. They are reopening it, but there is still plenty of work to be done.

I remember our bus and metro card was good for the last day of the tour, too. We did this tour in 2018 and after the group orientation we did a bus tour versus a walking tour that gave us several opportunities to take pictures of the Eiffel Tower. It looks like they still use the same hotels one of which is close to the Eiffel Tower. We also got great pictures of it on our Seine boat tour with the twinkle lights and the last night we walked to it and did a Champaign toast as a group. On our time on our own, we visited a variety of museums not covered on the tour including Rodin and the Musee des Hospitalieres to see Napolean’s tomb. On our tour we did the Louvre and the l’orangerie as a group with city guides but were given tickets to the Orsay to do on our own. It may be different now and it’s too bad because the tour of the Louvre was done in the evening and the guide was wonderful. We also just walked, a lot, down the Champs d’ elysees to the Arc de Triomphe, thru street markets, spent more time in the Montmartre area, etc. There’s so much to see and do, have a great time.

Kim, that makes so much sense! I said aloud to my husband when we were there; there's no way that scaffolding will be down by December.

On the first night neighborhood walk we did not walk by the Eiffel Tower but my tour date was also not staying in that neighborhood. Some stay at the Hotel Londres Eiffel which is literally a 5 minute walk to the Tower.

We were given the Navigo Decouverte which is a week pass. You need to bring a photo although I'd missed that bit of info so the hotel just photocopied my passport picture for me and that worked fine.

I do recommend you arrive a day early to give yourself time for travel hiccups. I generally stay in the Rue Cler area and walk over to the Eiffel Tower on my arrival afternoon. That would work if your tour departure stays at Londres Eiffel.

All three of your choices are excellent options for your afternoons. You'll need a timed entry for the Orangerie. You do not need it for the Rodin. I'm not sure about the Eternelle Notre Dame presentation.

Thanks! This is all good info. We are arriving Friday before the tour starts Sunday so will take the opportunity to walk over to it that day. We are staying at Hotel Londres Eiffel which looks very close so will try and be outside to fight jet lag. I think we will try a food tour on Saturday but it also looks like the hotel is very close to Rue Cler which looks to have many options for good easy food.

If the metro/ bus ticket is good for a week that would be convenient. I might email the office once I have all questions lined up. The tour isn’t for 4 months. Can you tell I’m excited?

Oh, you will LOVE this tour! The ONLY bad thing is that it has cost me a LOT of money...in return trips to Paris, hahaha!

And yes, at Londres Eiffel you are literally right there for the Eiffel Tower.

Be really cautious about eating at the restaurants at the intersection of Rue Saint-Dominique/Avenue Rapp/Avenue de la Bourdenaisse, particularly the one called Le Champ de Mars. I see it listed on the Les Frenchies FB page as being a place where people are ripped off for tips and charged exorbitantly for water, etc. Any of the restaurants on Saint-Dominique east to and past Rue Cler, or down Rue Augereau and on Rue de Grenelle are fine. Just that corner and that particular restaurant.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/pdi8ATydyA8jy16h9

Here are some things to get you excited!!

This is a link to a Corey Frye pre-Covid video walk that starts on Avenue Rapp near your hotel and walks down Rue Saint-Dominique. At 9:50 into the walk there is a street that goes off to the right and this is where your hotel is located. Just at the end of the restaurant on the corner but he doesn't pan in that direction.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAY8vsAbpFs

The restaurant he walks by with the red awning at 22:32 is one of my favorites - Cafe Roussillon. Nice food, nice people who will accommodate English.

He starts the walk at Square Rapp and shows some Art Nouveau architecture if that is of interest to you.

https://www.parisperfect.com/blog/2011/03/art-nouveau-7th-arrondissement/
https://parisadele.com/portfolio/lavirotte-building-and-square-rapp/?fbclid=IwAR0ewCFJJSQ-dsJpEx6Ax4gVPAx9adU-k00kFVJLAhHRTngXax8Tb3R7n6Q

Any interest in military history including WWII? On one end of the Champ de Mars is the Eiffel Tower. At the other end of the green space is the Ecole Militaire (also the name of the Metro stop) and that is where Napoleon went to school! There is also a cafe on Avenue de la Motte Picquet that was used by the resistance in WWII to spy on German soldiers who were billetted at both the Army Museum complex and the Ecole Militaire.

I will shut up! I just came back home 3 weeks on Wednesday and I wish I were back there!

Thanks Pam, you’ve given me tons of info to look into! I had heard about Les Frenchies and have their YouTube channel bookmarked to start watching. I had also read a couple of posts about people who got sick at the restaurant you mentioned. Too many restaurants to try to even take a chance.

Hi ncangelose, I’ve done this tour twice. It’s a great intro to Paris and you will have a wonderful time! As discussed, the Londres Eiffel Hotel is steps away from the Eiffel Tower (we walked over every evening to watch it twinkle). It’s a very nice, clean hotel. The neighborhood is safe, staff is helpful, included breakfast is great, rooms are small.

Many shops and restaurants in the area. Avoid the Champs de Mars Brasserie, we were ripped off there twice. We’d been there many times in the past (which is why it got a second chance), but in the past few years management or something has changed. Food still good but we got royally ripped off with the “after 9 pm surcharge” and excessive tip the server helped himself to. Many other choices.

The Notre Dame virtual reality experience was really unique and fun.

Have a great trip!

Ive been there a few times and have gone on some bike tours. The bike company was called Fat Tire bike tours and they have a day time one that is more history based and very good. I also did the night bike tour which has less history, but it includes a boat cruise of the seine with wine, and on your bike home, they stop at the Eiffel tower to watch the light show. Both were very fun, just depends what you are looking for. Enjoy your tour!

The Rodin and L’Orangerie museums are definitely going on the “must do” list. So many have recommended it. But a bike tour probably not, because we are well into our 70’s Oh to be young again! Enjoy every minute you can be so active.
There is so much to see I must remember to try and not do too much but instead savor, like a fine wine or chocolate.

My friend and I did the virtual reality Notre Dame experience in June. We are both in our 50s, had never done any type of virtual reality experience and we both loved it! We thought it was well done, you learned a lot and it was amazing that you did feel like you were looking at the real things! I have been in Notre Dame before the fire and while that is an amazing experience it was equally impressive to have the virtual reality experience to be able to see things like the Rose window up close at eye level.

We have the VR Notre Dame experience on our list but on another thread here someone who just did it said the personnel told them the location by Notre Dame will be closing sometime in 2025. So that will be on the “maybe” list to check into closer to the time. I also read that we will be able to book tickets to actually go inside Notre Dame once it reopens in December since the tour group doesn’t go inside together on Day 2. So I definitely want to do that.
We are looking at going to Monet’s garden after the tour ends. It seems that it should be easy by train but we live in a very limited public transport area. We did use the metro ( with the guide) and bus system ( on our own) in Rome, and caught a train from Rome to Venice so I don’t know why this makes me kind of apprehensive about doing it on our own, but it does.
Also Musee Marmotten has popped up as another option to satisfy my Impressionist cravings. Anyone go to it too?