Travelled to Paris solo on 23 Oct (arrival 24th) , flew Air France fm JFK. Flight was maybe 1/2 full, I had my own row. Arrived 30 minutes early (5 am local time), checked bag came right off and I flew through immigration, waited 3 minutes, max.
Picked up my Navigo Decouvert pass at the office in Terminal 2, no issues (had to wait for the office to open); ended up taking a cab into Paris instead of the RER (the Navigo pass I purchased was not good until the next day, and I knew that in advance and that was ok). I purchased the ND as a solo traveller just because I wanted the flexibility it afforded.
Stayed at a budget hotel (Hotel Marignan, Rue Sommerard) in the Latin Quarter. $520 USD for 7 nights in a single (twin bed only) rm with shared bath/shower, but it included breakfast (which was the largest croissant I have ever seen). The hotel has no lift. I got in at 8, check in is at 12 (I had emailed in advance that I would be in at 9, but everything at CDG went so fast, I was an hour early). They fed me breakfast and got my room ready super early. The owners speak English (the wife is from CT). The only problem? I was on the 7th (US) floor, so 6 floors of 18 steps per floor, and the stairs were all circular!!! No, I’m not in shape but I survived.
That Sunday, I had 1030 Carnavalet ticket (free, but due to Covid, must order tickets online, in advance), so walked there from the hotel to the museum. Such a fabulous museum, newly opened after a multi year/multi million $$ renovation. Then I moseyed around Le Marais, ate at a place on Rue de Rivoli, took a 6:45 Seine Cruise (Vendettes Pont Neuf, easy walking distance to my hotel, as compared to the other 2, who were still not picking up and dropping off any place other than the Eiffel Tower area).
I had a whole week in Paris, left on the 31st. I did purchase the Paris Museum Pass, did it first thing Monday at the Pantheon and did not need a time slot to enter that museum. I did have to schedule the Louvre and Versailles in advance, but generally it was pretty easy on line. You will need both your time slot ticket and your PMP to enter those museums. St Chapelle & the Conciergerie I did on Saturday due to the extra security required for the Bataclan trial – you do go through metal detectors at the Conciergerie even on the weekend. Pre scheduling was needed as well for these museums.
I did not need advanced time slots for Rodin or the Orsay, both allow PMP entrance whenever. LPT for the Orsay – open until 945 pm on Thursdays. They also had a series of musical guests, so I got to hear a wonderful Opera singer while I was at Orsay. The Liberation Museum in the 14th (new, right across from the Catacombs) also did not require advanced time slots.
I did go up the Tour Montparnasse to the 59th floor at sunset, it was awesome (windy, must walk the last 3 flights up), purchased online but no advanced booking required. I walked up and purchased an Eiffel Tower ticket, too, but the very top was closed, only made it to the 2nd floor which was fine.
I joined 2 guided tours – one w/ paris-walks.com (their occupation tour – they’re still running a reduced schedule due to Covid) and a Ghost tour w/ Airbnb Experiences. Both were great, although the ghost tour was more of a history tour (we went to the spot where Henry IV was killed, for example) which was also fine with me.
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