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We stayed at the Hotel
Londres-Eiffel, a darling small hotel located in the Rue
Cler area. Our room (#64) was on the top floor, and we had
a fantastic view of the Eiffel Tower over the rooftops. The
hotel was a 3 block walk to either the Ecole Militaire or
Pont d'Alma Metro stations - we used the Metro to get just
about everywhere. You can buy packets of 10 tickets at a time,
which saves time (and about 1 Euro).
We visited the Louvre twice - both times first thing in the
morning to avoid the crowds. The first time we followed the
Rick Steves tour exactly. We were walking pretty fast and
it still took two hours and we only saw a fraction of the
Museum. The second time we saw the Art of the Pharaohs exhibit
and the Egyptian antiquities.We also visited the Orsay - using
our Museum Passes to jump the 3 block long line by entering
through the gift shop. The top floor alone would have been
worth the wait - impressionist paintings galore, and a lot
of our favorites (Monet, Seurat, and Signac). We made a quick
stop at the Maritime Museum,
We climbed the Arc de Triomphe for a great view of the Champs
Elysses and went to the top of Montparnasse Tower (elevator
to the 57th floor) for a great view from the out-of-place
looking sky scraper. After visiting the Eiffel Tower, we concluded
that the views OF it are better than the view FROM it (a must,
but entirely too crowded to be enjoyable).
We took three short trips out of the city: Versailles, Chartres,
and Giverny. Versailles was immense - you would definitely
need a day to see the palace and surrounding grounds. Using
the Jennifer and Andy "check it off the list" travel
methodology", it took about three hours (including train
time from Paris, the Rick Steves tour of the palace and gardens,
and a stop for afternoon tea :).
Chartres was a must for me - have been wanting to see the
Gothic cathedral for a decade. Again, the books say it's a
day trip, but we left Paris at 8am and were back by noon.
AND, we had tea there too :) The trick seems to be knowing
the train schedule so you don't waste time waiting around
and bring a snack on the train and plotting your next move
while you are en route.
Visit the
main trip page
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