Itinerary Help

Hi

I am in Paris for 2 full days and 1 part day in July, and was wondering if I could get some feedback from you experts on the itinerary I have planned:

Sat -

Arrive CDG 2pm

Musee de l%26#39;Orangerie (closes 7pm)

Eiffel Tower

Sun -

Mussee D%26#39;Orsay (this is museum free-day, but it%26#39;s the only way I can realistically fit it in, I will just have to line up early and make a dash for the secret escalator at the back)

Notre Dame

Mon -

Louvre

Rue Cler market (have heard one bad review but it%26#39;s only about 200 metres from my hotel so I may as well)

Arc De Triomphe

Does anyone know of any good cheap eateries in the 7e or close by? I%26#39;ll eat street vendor food during the day, but at night I may like to eat a little fancier...although I%26#39;ll be by myself so I don%26#39;t know how I%26#39;ll be with the %26#39;eating alone in a restaurant%26#39; thing yet, I%26#39;ve never done it before...

Do you think I%26#39;ll need a travel pass? I%26#39;m pretty fit, so I%26#39;m planning on walking to most of the places, I might need to resort to the metro just for the Notre Dame and Arc De Triomphe?

Thanks for your feedback in advance

Shelley :)

|||

Hi Shelley, your itinerary looks good, very workable and not too much at all in the time you have allocated. IMHO I do not think that you would need a travel pass. If you do get tired and want to take the metro back at the end of the day, just buy a single ticket. In the time you are there, you probably would not utilise a whole %26#39;carnet%26#39;.

The best way to see Paris is on foot.

As for eateries, we all seem to worry about where, when and how but mostly we just fall upon them in our travels and are certainly not disappointed, especially in Paris.

Personally I do not have any experience of restaurants in the 7th, so would prefer not to offer any solutions. There are many other posters with excellent experience in this area.

A personal favourite, in the 6th not far from the banks of the Seine and certainly walkable from the 7th is as follows:

http://www.zekitchengalerie.fr/

Happy travels.

|||

Thanks Blossom, you%26#39;re right about the restaurant thing, I%26#39;ve only ever ended up at one or two bad places - I was hoping (dreaming) that just around the corner from my hotel there might be a perfect little restaurant with amazing set menus for 10 Euros or something!

Dreaming on.....

Shelley :)

|||

Hi Shelley! I agree, the itinerary doesn%26#39;t try to stuff too much into too short a period of time.

Also, agree that a %26quot;carnet%26quot; of 10 Metro tickets is more than enough to get you anywhere you want for at least 2, maybe 3 days considering all the walking you%26#39;ll do (if for nothing else, than to drink in the view that surrounds you!).

%26quot;Rue Cler%26quot; gets a bad name because of it%26#39;s association with the Rick Steve%26#39;s guidebooks and the Americans that follow in his wake. If you got a good deal on your hotel, great! The Rue Cler/7th district is very central to anywhere in Paris via the Ecole Militaire Metro stop. There are a LOT of specialty shops on Rue Cler that do actually serve a local clientele, the quality is high, and in this way is perfectly Parisian!

Best budget eaterie - Cafe du Marche - not exactly $10E per dinner, but good, staple French fare w/out too much %26quot;embellishment%26quot;. Good crowd thoughout the evening (although Rue Cler gets criticized for being quiet). I%26#39;m told they also own/operate the next-door Tribeca, which has rec%26#39;d good reviews on this board. Dinner for $10E might be a little lite in this neighborhood.

As for eating alone, do you speak any French? Either way, look for a crowded place, try to find a seat, and I%26#39;ve found that if you eat alone, at least one of the tables around you will attempt to solicit some sort of coversation - ask them what they%26#39;ve ordered? Do they come here often? What do they recommend (short of organs)? You typically do fine if you understand a little French, even if not, any pidgen French will usuall prompt nods/smiles from most French

You WILL see a lot of Americans in Rue Cler, but they are the supposedly %26quot;good%26quot; Americans, yes, there%26#39;s plenty of French too, but the rest of the city is easily accessible to at least midnight via the Ecole Militaire stop. And like most of Paris, the neighborhood is particularly safe for solo women travelers.

Have a safe and lovely trip!

|||

You guys are awesome, thanks for the great advice! :)

|||

-:- Message from TripAdvisor staff -:-

This topic was inactive for 6 months and has been closed to new posts. We hope you'll join the conversation by posting to an open topic or starting a new one.

To review the TripAdvisor Forums Posting Guidelines, please follow this link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/pages/forums_posting_guidelines.html

We remove posts that do not follow our posting guidelines, and we reserve the right to remove any post for any reason.

Removed on: 8:20 am, August 30, 2009