I looked up today and realized I%26#39;m leaving for Paris in less than 3 weeks! Amazing how fast time goes by. I%26#39;m getting more and more excited (and also more and more nervous) about showing my mother Paris for the first time...it%26#39;s on me to make sure she falls in love with it, and while theoretically that shouldn%26#39;t be hard (I mean, how could she not) but I want to carefully choose the handful of things she should see and hopefully the rest will come. Thus, I have a couple of questions that I%26#39;ve been turning over in my head:
1) the Funiculaire to Sacre Coeur: is it still out of service? I was planning on taking her up there one early evening while the basilica is open to see it, then wander around Montmartre and Place du Tertre (she%26#39;ll love it), have dinner, and go back to the basilica at sunset or at night after dinner (because I love the view at night). BUT, there is no way my mother can climb those steps. If the Funiculaire is still broken, can anyone point me to information about the bus that has been mentioned to take people up the hill? Thanks!
2) Catacombes: I%26#39;ve been, and would like to bring my mother, but I can%26#39;t quite remember the steps involved. I haven%26#39;t found anywhere that says how many...I know it%26#39;s nowhere near as many as Montmartre or Notre Dame, but I wanted to try to figure out if it was worth giving it a go. She can probably handle 50 or so if we do a few at a time, but more than that I%26#39;d hesitate.
3) This is more of an opinion question: my mother has requested only 2 things, the Eiffel Tower and the Mona Lisa. We%26#39;ll be doing the ET and the Louvre (for a couple of hours, anyway). Beyond that, I%26#39;m trying to figure out if a visit to Musee d%26#39;Orsay will be overkill. It%26#39;s my favorite, and I%26#39;d love to show her my favorite paintings there, but she%26#39;s not terribly into art (to my knowledge). With only a few days, do folks think spending some time in Orsay on top of the Louvre is too many museums? I also love art museums, so I%26#39;m looking for an answer from people who aren%26#39;t so much into it.
4) Can someone describe to me where Dalloyeau is? I%26#39;ve been there twice, and know it%26#39;s on the edge of the Luxembourg Gardens, (and would probably recognize the area when I find it) but walking around the outside of the Gardens is not what I want to do to find it. For some reason I%26#39;m having trouble locating an address...it%26#39;s not in the guidebooks I have and online I%26#39;m not finding it.
Thanks!
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Sorry, I an%26#39;t remember how many steps are at the Catacombs, but, what I do recall is that they are not %26quot; easy %26quot; steps, so if mobility is an issue, it may be a %26quot; skip it%26quot; for your mom. The ground below is uneven in places, lighting a bit dim, and the stairs , if I recall , go around and around, so, you know your mom best, do what you think is best for her.
Notre Dame is another site where I consider the steps %26quot;not easy%26quot;. Not that there are many steps, but that the stair case is narrrow and winding.
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I was in Paris just about a month ago and the funicular at Montmartre is still closed. I think there may have been a shuttle bus running in its place but I%26#39;m not sure - we ambled our way up hill
Have fun!
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I%26#39;m also leaving in 3 weeks with my mother.
The D%26#39;Orsay isn%26#39;t one of her %26quot;musts%26quot;, but I am planning a visit. I love the museum, and I think she will as well. She%26#39;s not particularly into art, but I%26#39;m confident she%26#39;ll enjoy the impressionists. We%26#39;ll stay only as long as her interest lasts. We%26#39;ll have the Museum Pass, so entry should be fairly simple.
She is basically trusting me to plan the trip. I%26#39;m basing my decisions mostly on what I think she will like. She%26#39;s getting up in years and I want her to enjoy Paris while she%26#39;s still able to get around.
Enjoy your trip!
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I think the D%26#39;orsay building and layout itself is worth it and for many its art is not as heavy as the Louvre. I love the big clocks that are build into the building. If she can%26#39;t walk that much and tires out easily you could always have her sit in the main hall where all the sculpture is--its nice just to sit and take it in with the grandeur of the building, and take then you could take a little time on your own to do the rest of the museum while she%26#39;s taking it easy.
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in answer to your Question 3, i%26#39;m one of those who isn%26#39;t so much into art or museums, so if i were planning a trip just for me, i%26#39;d skip the museums and focus more on the people-watching, shopping, eating, and exploring places off the beaten path. that said, hubby and i are taking 18-yr-old daughter to paris in july, and we will be visiting several museums with the museum pass. i would feel remiss as a parent if i didn%26#39;t show my child the Great Works in paris - LOL! so, assuming that this may be your mom%26#39;s only chance to see paris (you don%26#39;t mention how old she is, but i%26#39;m guessing from the description of her limited mobility that travel isn%26#39;t the easiest thing for her), how can you NOT spend at least a couple of hours at the Louvre and Orsay and even Rodin%26#39;s Sculpture Garden? and, even for this non-art lover, i do get chills in the presence of these fine works! enjoy!
p.s. how cool that you%26#39;re sharing Paris with your mom - what a special gift!
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I think it%26#39;s definitely worth it to take your mom to the Musee D%26#39;Orsay, even though she%26#39;s not into art. The building is so different from that of the Louvre, and it%26#39;s quite impressive, as you know. Don%26#39;t forget - you can spend as much or as little time as you want in a museum. Therefore, one person may marvel at various paintings for hours while another person may choose to enjoy himself by just getting a general feel of the place.
I wish you and your mother a wonderful trip together. She definitely WILL fall in love with Paris.
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Hi joanarc4, can%26#39;t help with anything except question 3. I enjoy art galleries but find them very tiring, and I love the Musee d%26#39;Orsay. I can also handle a very small section of the Louvre at a time. For minimum time and effort and maximum effect I also loved the Orangerie. Have a wonderful time.
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Hello,
Last month the funiculair was not working but they have a little bus that picked us up right there and took us where we would have exited. There is also a regular public bus that runs up and over the mont from Pigalle. Perhaps someone could post that bus number, since I cannot find it.
You and your mom might enjoy the Petit Palace. Lovely building, some great art, nice gardens and a great tea room to sit and enjoy. My most favorite sculpture is there. %26quot;The First Funeral%26quot;.........just great. Not too much if you stay on the first floor. Also just Rodins gardens and their cafeteria is nice...........
For me, the last thing I would do with limited time would be to go underground to see a lot of skeletons......but thats up to you guys.
Careful once she gets the Paris %26quot;bug%26quot; she might run you ragged.
Have fun.........
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Thanks, everyone...this is very helpful. So I will keep Sacre Coeur on the list, and plan to swing through d%26#39;Orsay as well as the Louvre (yay, I love that place). I%26#39;m planning on keeping our Louvre visit limited to a morning: the Big Three, the Grand Gallery (she loved the Da Vinci Code), Napoleon%26#39;s Apartments, and a little more wandering if we feel like it. Perhaps afterwards we can have lunch and stroll over to d%26#39;Orsay for an hour or so. We will have the museum pass, so it should be pretty easy. Of course, this is all open to change if we decide we feel like something else!
My mom%26#39;s mobility isn%26#39;t that bad -- she%26#39;s only in her mid-fifties! -- and I wouldn%26#39;t say she tires easily. However, she has some joint issues that make stairs particularly difficult, and cardio-vascularly she%26#39;s never been in great shape, so she always wants to avoid stairs and hills (even when I was a kid and she was my age she couldn%26#39;t handle them). The walking and standing shouldn%26#39;t be a problem, I%26#39;m hoping!
I think I%26#39;ll skip the catacombes on this trip, then. I, too, am totally in charge of planning. On my list of musts:
- Louvre (per request)
- Eiffel Tower (per request)
- Notre Dame
- Sacre Coeur
- Luxembourg Gardens
- cafe breakfasts
- crepes
- Berthillon
On my list of possibles depending on our time/desire/inclination:
- Musee d%26#39;Orsay (although this looks more likely)
- L%26#39;Academie de la Biere (bc she%26#39;s always wanting to share those parts of my life I tell her about, and I practically lived at this place at night the last time I was in Paris)
- Dalloyeau (if I can find it)
- shopping (it%26#39;s not totally her thing, but she might be into it in Paris)
- Seine nighttime boat cruise
And otherwise, we%26#39;ll just wing it. She%26#39;s only there a few days (and then I stay on for another week), so I don%26#39;t want to *plan* to much in a rigid fashion, and yet I want to make sure I%26#39;ve thought of the way to see some key things in that time frame.
My ideal experience would be to have her go home and say to my dad, %26quot;Next year, we%26#39;re going to Paris on our vacation.%26quot; If she asks for it, they%26#39;ll go, and I%26#39;d LOVE to see my dad leave the US. (Farther tthan Nova Scotia and Bermuda, anyway).
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Hi! Glad you are getting to take your mom out, I wish I could get my family on a plane! Anyways, it seems like you already have the answers to your questions where I have knowledge so I just wanted to add a suggestion. Since you say your mother loved the Da Vinci code, you should definitely do the audio-guide tour. My husband and I were there in December and decided to skip it because of too many people crowded around each painting, but I was just there last week with friends and we decided to go for it. It was wonderful! It%26#39;s an hour long tour and is very entertaining. You don%26#39;t get to see the whole museum, but who does? Since it is only an hour it doesn%26#39;t get tiring and you can still go and see your other special favorites afterwards. My second tidbit of advice is to go on a Friday evening if possible. Maybe you already know, but the museum is open until 10pm on Friday nights. We got there at 6pm when the rates go down and there weren%26#39;t so many people. It was my best trip there yet. Well, hope this helps, have a great time!
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