It was our first trip to Paris (DH and I-both 40) and we loved it!
June 22
Arrive 30 min early at CDG from Toronto at 5:30 am. Taxi to Hotel Residence Henri IV in the Latin Quarter-Rue Bernardins with %26quot;Airport Nice Shuttle%26quot;. Took about 1 hr. Dropped our bags and went exploring around the Pantheon. Walked towards the river and had breakfast at a cafe and then hopped on The Vedettes Pont Neuf for a tour. Went to hotel at 2pm and napped until 4 pm and returned to Pantheon to buy 6 day museum passes. Dinner at Le Petite Provence-14 euros for 3 course meal.
June 23
Walked to Notre Dame and waited 45 minutes to climb the towers and then toured the church. Approached 2 or 3 times with the %26quot;do you speak English line%26quot;. Skipped St. Chapelle and went up to Odeon Metro stop to meet the French Revolution Paris Walks Tour, which was excellent! After the walk we went back to St. Chapelle and had a much shorter security line-the windows are spectacular! Had a Berthillon ice cream and it was ok-but not the best I have tasted. Stopped at St. Michel RER to retrieve SNCF tickets and then went on to dinner at ChantAirelle at 17 Rue la Place and it was very good.
June 24
We started the day at 10 at the Louvre and had no line to get in. We walked around for 2 hours and then went into the Tuilleries Garden and had lunch there. We continued down the Champs Elysees all the way to the Arc de Triomphe and climbed it at 2pm with no lines. From there we walked to the Eiffel Tower. We relaxed in the park and grabbed a hot dog before our Fat Tire Segway Tour. There were only my husband and I on our segway tour so it was private! It was so so fun.
June 25
We took the RER from St. Michel to Versailles. We arrived at 10 am and there was no line to get in. We bought the audio guides and toured the palace for 2 hours. We ate lunch in one of the little cafes in the garden. We walked to the Petit %26amp; Grand Trianon and to (our favourite) the Queen%26#39;s Hamlet. It was so pretty! We took the little tram back to the castle as it was so hot %26amp; humid! We jumped on the RER back to Paris and called it a day! Had dinner at a greek place off St. Michel and food was not very good. Stopped for Amorino gelato and it was amazing-made up for the crappy dinner!!
June 26
Left our hotel at 6 am to take the Metro to Gare St. Lazare to catch our train to Bayeux at 7:07 am. We arrived at 9:30 am and made our way to the tourist office and then walked around the town-the beuatiful church, the Bayeux tapestry etc. We had an amazing lunch at a restuarant calle La Fringale on the main street. At 1 pm we met our guide from Normandy Sightseeing Tours for our 1/2 day tour of Juno Beach. It was a definite highlight for us. So much rich history brought to life. After the tour we bought some sandwiches and made it back to the station to catch the 8:08 pm train back to Paris.
June 27
Walked to Les Invalides and visited the museum and the Tomb of Napoleon. We also visited the Rodin Museum while we were right there. After we took the metro to the catacombs-creepy! We had about a 45 min. wait to get in. We took the RER back to St. Michel and did some souveir shopping-stopped for crepes-and went for a rest.
In the evening we walked to the Tour Montparnasse. We ate dinner in the 14th Arr. and went up the tower at 10:30 pm and was able to catch the Eiffel Tower sparkling at 11 pm. Took the RER back to Luxembourg.
June 28
Took the metro to Abbesses to meet the Paris Walks Montmartre tour, which was excellent. Stopped for lunch after the walk and our visit to Sacre Coeur at a little cafe on Rue Abbess. Took metro to Opera and toured Opera Garnier. Walked back to the hotel and then dined at Le Grenier on Rue Mouffetard-this was the best meal I had in Paris-mamazing onion soup, steak %26amp; dessert-all for 16 euros!
June 29
Taxi to airport to fly to Prague...CDG Terminal D is stuffy, small, no air condtioning appeared to be working...
Had a speactacular time in Paris and can%26#39;t wait to go back! We need to stay on the right bank next time for a different perspective!
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Fourdarlings1997
How was the Residence Henri IV? I will be staying there in August and was just wondering. You don%26#39;t hear it mentioned very often on this forum.
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Sounds like a lot of fun! We just got back this week. On our last trip we went to Bayeux and also had a great meal at La Fringale. So are you planning a return visit yet? ;)
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Thanks for your report, I am going to Paris for my first visit in September and love reading about other%26#39;s trips and experiences. Thanks for sharing!
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Thanks for posting this - I%26#39;ll keep an eye for the restaurants you liked during my October visit.
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What a great report. I love to read about other folks trips. I was planning on going to Paris for the first time in Oct. 2009, but my travel buddy backed out, so the trip is up in the air, but I still love to read about the trips of folks who actually made it there. It reads as if you had a really great time.
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Fourdarlings,
Thanks for posting yoru trip report, always fun to read.
Goolawgirl..
Go alone, its a great experience. Many do,, you can do what you want when you want,, think about it.
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fourdarlings, thank you for posting your interesting and informative report. I%26#39;ll have to go to the Prague forum to see if you posted there too!
Sounds like you had a great time.
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Nice trip report. We stayed at the Residence Henri IV in 2008 and enjoyed it. I would like to see more of Montmartre in the future as we went at night and just saw the ET from a distance and had dinner at a local restaurant.
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We%26#39;re planning a May 2010 Paris vacation and your trip report was very helpful. Thanks for posting.
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fourdarlings1997,
On your Normandy Sightseeing Tour on June 26, did you find this tour was long enough to see all the sites there. Did you pre-book this tour or book at the tourist office that morning? thank you
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