Going to Paris, Looking for Advice

[daysgoby]

stay way from street artist lurking near Eiffel tower.. even if they tell you that you don't need to pay or they like to draw you for their own portfolio. it's b.s. but if you are inclined.. try to bargain the price down but they usually suck

[daysgoby]

oh yea.. public washrooms are not very common I found. Try using unisex washroom.. interesting 'european' experience for you

[Dexter Morgan]

We had such a good time in Paris! I want to thank everyone for their information and suggestions, as it was of great assistance; even CZAR for making me a little paranoid with the "Taken" reference.

We went to many great places, and all of the "famous" sites are just unreal, and much more spectacular and beautiful than I ever imagined. The architecture was just jaw-dropping, and I found myself often just stopping and taking pictures of random buildings. I felt really safe the entire time I was there, even on the Metro and RER lines. That's something I couldn't say about any American city I've ever been to.

Here's a little rundown of some of the places we went:

The Louvre - Went there at least 3-4 times since it was only about a 20 minute walk from our hotel. The property itself is HUGE. I took my daughter to the courtyard one day while my wife was working, just to hang out. On the final day there, we finally went into the actual museum. Talk about crowded! We had a few pieces in mind that we wanted to visit, so we ran around (the confusing layout) trying to find those. I never knew the place used to be a castle either, really neat!

Eiffel Tower - We took the Metro to Trocadero on our second day there, which was what turned out to be the worst day weather-wise (50 and rainy). It was a very surreal feeling, seeing the tower for the first time. That sucker is a lot bigger than I had anticipated. It was very busy that day despite the weather, and we ended up waiting about an hour and 15 minutes to walk up the stairs. Great view of the city from the first level, and we probably would've gone up further but we were all just cold and wet, and decided that enough was enough. Beautiful structure though.

Disneyland Paris - I went here with my daughter on one of the days my wife was working. It was about one hour and 20 minutes by RER, and thankfully my daughter napped during the trip. We just went to the main park, and I would say that it was basically a large Disney-themed version of Six Flags. Very crowded of course, but I loved all of the great theming, and was surprised that the stage show was done in mostly English.

Normandy D-Day tour - I could type a million words about the experience had here, as this was my favorite part of the trip. We took a minivan tour to a number of the D-Day locations such asPointe du Hoc and Omaha Beach, one of the American cemeteries, to a small village east of the beaches for lunch, and then finally to a D-Day museum. It's hard to describe the thoughts and emotions I felt while walking on Omaha beach. It was very beautiful, and serene, which was so ironic, given what had happened there many years ago. I also couldn't believe how huge the bomb craters were at Pointe du Hoc, and that the German bunkers were mainly left as they were when it was taken over. I'll never forget my visit to those sites.

I found that Paris is a city that has so much to offer, and one week was just not enough time to get to everything I wanted to. Maybe someday I'll get to go back!

[silversnake]

Glad you had fun blu atlas

[Elandyll]

Glad you enjoyed your visit