Just Booked RS Paris City Tour for Oct. 2017

Dreams, you are in for a treat. It's a wonderful tour. If you're an art lover may I suggest you find time to visit the Marmottan museum while you're there? Many people don't know about it, but it's home to some of the seminal works of Impressionism. I think Rick mentions it in his Paris book.

Also, take time before you go to learn a few "polite" phrases in French. Singing out with a friendly "Bonjour" when you enter a shop or café pays big benefits. And of course, "please" and "thank you" are magic words in any language.

I envy you the experience of your first trip to Paris. And you'll have a wonderful time the next 10 months getting ready; anticipation is half the fun.

You will have a wonderful time, Paris is such a special place. I can't wait to get back there. Is this your first RS tour? I have been on 3 so far and they are organized very well and you will meet friendly people, too. I think the interactions with tour mates makes each activity and meal a special occasion. I have fond memories of each trip.
Best,
Judy B

Congratulations! Paris is the favorite city for many of us here on the Forum.
Your one week will go by so quickly, so try to arrive a few days early to help with jet lag and stay a few days after ... just because! If your tour hotel is full, we can suggest others.
I was just in Paris for a week on my own at the beginning of November; it had been about 10 years since my last visit. Learning the polite phrases is an excellent thing to do. You might even find a conversational French class in a local Adult Education School. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that so many more people spoke English, and did so graciously. (I think it's the effect of the EU and the elimination of borders making it easier to travel and study in other countries.)
Have fun prepping for the time of your life!

Don't forget to reserve a time to go up in the Eiffel Tower. The Rick Steves tour does not go up the tower. I really recommend the book "Eiffel's Tower" by Jill Jonnes. She has been a guest on Rick Steves Podcast. I have read her book and wished I would have read it before I went to Paris.

This is a wonderful tour! It really increased my confidence in managing in Paris (with little to no French) and now I can't get enough! I loved how my guide helped us not only with transportation lessons but culture lessons on the go. We used the whisper vox system where you have an earpiece and the guide can talk to you as you are walking and point out examples of things to do or not do.

I do suggest you fly in at least 1-2 days before your tour starts to allow yourselves time to get over jet lag. OR fly in to London for 3 or 4 days and take the Eurostar to Paris!

One thing I missed on the instructions was to bring a small picture of myself for the Navigo Decouverte (the Metro pass you get as part of the tour). The hotel very kindly photocopied the passport page pictures for those of us who forgot. They need to be slightly smaller than the passport sized pictures but can be black and white so you can photocopy your passport at home.

I know you will have a wonderful time!

Went on this tour Summer 2013. It was fantastic. Loved our hotel, itinerary and the group camaraderie. Excellent guides. Agree with learning a tiny bit of French -- I used Fluenz and got through 2 levels. It was helpful and the effort was appreciated. Oh so beautiful. The Eiffel Tower twinkles at night. The evening boat ride down the Seine was magic. Enjoy!

I've been to Paris many times. If I found out today I only had enough time left to take one more trip, it would be a return to Paris. It's a magical city in so many ways. Being on the tour will allow you to experience many of the great places, and still have some time on your own. Learn the courtesy words and key phrases-greeting, please, thank you, where is the bathroom, etc.-and you will be fine. I mastered a bit of conversational French so I could ask a question. But, dagnabit, they answered me in French and I couldn't understand a thing! English is very widely spoken, lucky for me. Enjoy!

Congrats on taking the plunge. Last time I was in Paris was in 2006. Enjoyed it tremendously. I am going again in June 2017 and doing a river boat cruise down the Rhone, then tacking on a RS tour in Spain. RS Paris and heart of France in on my bucket list.
Have a great time.

Kim in BA

Thank you for sharing in my excitement and all the tips.

This will be our 1st RS Tour. Actually, this will be our 1st escorted tour ever. I have been following this forum for 1 1/2 years and dreaming. In 2015 I convinced some friends to take this tour for Sept. 2016 BUT the attack on Paris occurred the very week we were to make the deposit. Needless to say, My friends were scared off.

So, when Sept. 2016 came, and I wasn't in Paris, I told my DH I was going solo in 2017. Low and behold he decided to come with me!

Our plan is to arrive 2-3 days before the tour. I am trying to learn some basic key French words. But rest assured my Southern accent does not sound very French.

Now, if I can teach my DH that Rick's last name is Steves and Not "Stevens". Lol

We took this tour in June 2015, not only our first RS tour, but our first trip to Europe. We started with three days in London on our own, then took the Eurostar to Paris to meet up with the tour group. We absolutely, completely loved our Paris tour with our guide Rebecca. Someone mentioned bringing a small picture for your Metro pass. One of the best things about the tour is that you immediately start learning how to use the Metro. By the second day of the tour, we were jumping on the Metro to criss-cross the city with complete confidence. It really is just a wonderful tour. You'll have a great time. We were so happy with this tour that were taking the RS Venice-Florence-Rome tour next May.

Dreams,

My wife and I took this tour in October of last year and we had the most amazing time! Our tour guide, Virginnie, was the model of Parisian class; her knowledge of the city was unsurpassed and we had a the greatest time of our lives. We actually skipped two days -- the tours to Versailles and to Montmarte -- and just explored the city on our own on those days; we were just so comfortable wandering around after only a couple of days in the city.

There's so much to love about Paris: the people are wonderful, the sites are amazing, the museums are second to none and the food . . . oh, the food!! I had a serious cheese-gasm at a little cheese shop off the Rue Cler, not to mention the wonderfully rustic and delicious meal of lentils and sausage from a back-alley cafe' that I enjoyed on our wandering around day.

We fell in love with Paris, so much so that we're going back for nine days this coming early May. This time, we've also planned for side trips to Reims and Chartres.

Vive la France! Vive la Paris!

I took the RS Paris tour off season in February, 2016, just a couple of months after the terror attack at the Bataclan. This was my 7th trip to that lovely city. There were no crowds, no lines and other than the understandable and reassuring presence of many police and military personnel asking politely to search my bag, no hassles. Cab drivers, bus passengers, fellow diners in restaurants--all complete strangers, said "Thank you for coming to Paris." The tour was wonderful and interesting and even the snowflakes at Versailles added to he charm.

I have been on the Paris two twice, the best of Europe tour where we went to Paris and two France bus tours where we started in Paris and spent a week on my own in Paris after a tour and I love this city. You should look at the very good on line scrapbook for the 2016 contest on this website. In order to get ready you should also look at the Youtube videos that are free and RS videos are on line for free too. If you have time, get into Paris at least a day a head of the tour and spend a few days after the tour. I like spending more time after the tour in a city as you then know the city better after being there for the week. The Museums, cafes, restaurants are all wonderful. There are too many museums to see all in just one week. Research what you think you will want to do in your free time this way you don't waste time trying to figure out what to see and do. Research how to buy tickets for the Eiffel Tower on line if you want to go to the top as the lines can be very long and you don't want to waste time standing in line. If you are a Monet fan, do go to the Musée Marmottan Monet as someone else suggested, it is wonderful. But it is out of the way so you need to make time for it. I love The Arc de Triomphe and climbed all the staris to see the amazing view and see the Eiffel Tower from the top of the Arc de Triomphe, I did it at night but if I had the time I would do it during the day and at night! There is an elevator so ask about that if you don't want to climb the stairs. I took the elevator down! The Musée de l'Orangerie is one of my all time favorite musuems. Right near the Louvre! Just walking around Paris is simply amazing. You will have a wonderful time. I am giving you suggestions about places and museums the tour does not take you to.