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Ellie

By Ellie
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Ellie

Ellie

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I may have the opportunity to visit Paris for a weekend in early October (first time) If so it will be a whistle stop tour with both budget and time being tight. If any of you lovely Ballet co people have any suggestions as to what I should try and cram in I'd be very grateful :)

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Legseleven

Legseleven

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Sacre Coeur and Montmartre always get my vote. Notre Dame leaves me cold but I love Sacre Coeur.

 

I would also suggest visiting the Musee d'Orsay and the Louvre, where the Mona Lisa always strikes me as extremely small ;)

 

Plus the Left Bank and if possible a trip along the Seine, which allows quite a bit of sightseeing. And of course the Eiffel Tower!

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Colman

Colman

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Paris Opera obviously. They do cheap tickets, so maybe try and see a ballet if the timing works.

 

Museé d'Orsay, with Degas's ballet art on the top floor. Book tickets before if you can, the queues are a horrible waste of time.

 

Boat tour on the Seine is a nice way to see the city.

 

Walk a lot. It's a lovely city for walking.

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Colman

Colman

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Ile de la Cité (with Notre Dame) and Île Saint Louis are well worth a stroll. Berthillon ice cream *is* that good, and the tea room is wonderful.

 

I always think the Louvre is a project in itself, too big for a weekend trip. And the queues.

 

Oh, and bring a brolly!

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Jan McNulty

Jan McNulty

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Here is the link to Fonty's thread:

 

http://www.balletcoforum.com/index.php?/topic/7852-day-trip-to-paris/?hl=%22day+trip+to+paris%22

 

I adore the Orsay.  Also the Orangerie if the queues are not too big.

 

As it is your first trip to Paris, a boat trip on a Bateaux Mouche or equivalent is great fun, as is the Eiffel Tower.  Don't forget Notre Dame too.

 

Last time I was there we met up with my friend's granddaughter and did the open top bus tour, which turned out to be good fun.  We didn't really get off except by the Orsay.  Looking at the Orsay from the river, there is a cafe on the corner on the left hand side called Le Frigate - I seem to have been there on every trip I have ever made to Paris!

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Jan McNulty

Jan McNulty

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It's worth investing in a guide book to Paris - I usually find Berlitz, Lonely Planet Pocket Guides or Dorling Kindersley Top 10 lists give you good ideas of where to go and fit easily into a pocket or bag.  They also have maps!  It is definitely worth looking at the map and deciding where you want to go before you get there so that you can cram in as much as possible during your time there.

 

For my last few visits we have stayed in the Hotel Chopin which is within walking distance of most of the places you may want to go to in the centre and is not too far from a metro station for places further afield:  http://hotelchopin-paris-opera.com/grands-boulevards/eng/index.html

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Lisa O`Brien

Lisa O`Brien

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I highly recommend all of the above suggestions. The Louvre, to see it all takes about 4 hours, but is well worth it. Remember my mum coming out to visit and being desperate to see The Mona Lisa. She didn't know the French called it La Jaconde and wondered by "The Mona Lisa" was not sign posted anywhere !!  It rains a fair bit in Paris so as others have said take a brolly. Being biased but I would suggest seeing "Feerie " at the Moulin Rouge, but it's not cheap. Suppose it depends if you are ever planning to go again or if this is a once only, never to be repeated trip. If it is, then try and cram in as much as you can.

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Duck

Duck

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The Orangerie for Monet's waterlilies http://www.musee-orangerie.fr/en

 

The Rodin museum (& the bistro inside the museum offers inexpensive lunch)

 

Queues for the Louvre can be extensive, I would recommend pre-booking a ticket

 

Cheap tickets for the mixed ballet programme at POB in early October are currently sold out however return tickets on the main web site as well as tickets on the ticket exchange form of the opera tend to appear especially within the last 2 weeks before a performance, however they do tend to go very quickly once made available

 

A walk through the Marais, completely free of charge

 

Pere Lachaise for its atmosphere

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alison

alison

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Talking about bateaux-mouche(s?), oddly enough I had a flashback earlier today to my trip on one back in 1979.  I never did work out whether the crazy American leaping about the boat and taking photos of everything conceivable (this was in the days of film, as well!) was John Denver, or just someone who looked very much like him ...

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Duck

Duck

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The pass still existed when I was last at the Louvre in February. :)

 

Coming from London where many museums don't charge an entrance fee except for special exhibitions and just ask for voluntary contributions, visiting museums in Paris can seem & be expensive. The pass could be a worthwhile alternative if the plan is to see as many places as possible in a short period of time. I haven't tried the pass yet though so don't know how it works in practice.

 

Checks upon entry are very thorough throughout, I'd recommend carrying as little as possible with you.

 

The Paris Opera offers day-time guided visits in case you can't get a ticket for a performance.

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Jan McNulty

Jan McNulty

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Is that hotel ok Janet? I've been looking for a new place to stay since someone converted the lovely, battered old hotel we used to stay in into a boutique joint charging three times as much. 

 

 

 

It's the sort of hotel I absolutely adore, full of character and charm.  It's nicely kept and spotlessly clean, although no facilities other than the breakfast room.  It is at the end of a gallery with other galleries at the back so you don't get any views but it is very quiet.  The main gallery is a delight to walk down (and very tempting).  Assuming it is still there, on the opposite side of the road at the start of another gallery there is a fantastic creperie for late night feasts (or at any time of day really).  It is about a 10 minute stroll to the Garnier so very handy for walking from the airport bus too.  It's a couple of years since I have been able to go to Paris but I am sure it is still as charming as I remember.  The breakfast is very basic but nice and fresh.  Yes, I like it a lot!

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MAB

MAB

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Is that hotel ok Janet? I've been looking for a new place to stay since someone converted the lovely, battered old hotel we used to stay in into a boutique joint charging three times as much. 

 

It wasn't the De Nil, was it?  That favourite of mine around the corner from the Opera suffered the same fate.

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MAB

MAB

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Janet, although I've never stayed at the Chopin I have stayed at the Ronceray, the other hotel in Passage Jouffrey.  As an opera fan it is wonderful to eat breakfast in a room that was part of the apartment where Rossini lived and there is a plaque in reception commemorating the fact that he wrote William Tell there.

 

A lot of Paris hotels have an historical connection to the famous.  For many years I used to stay at the Favart, once the home of Goya, the Spanish artist, but after a refurb it moved out of my price range.  .

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Ellie

Ellie

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Thanks so much for all the ideas. I've been 'googling' a bit today and yes there does seem to be a 'Paris Pass' which includes public transport costs, museum entry and a boat and open bus trip. It costs around 100 euros, so I'll do a bit more research and figure out if it's worth it - (I'll probably only have one full day free).Moulin Rouge is out of my budget and as much as I'd love to see the Paris Opera, I may have to settle for a tour of the Garnier :) Hotel is pre booked and near Orly airport so I'm guessing if I do get to go (it's my husband's business trip - but I may be allowed to tag along !) I'll just head towards the centre of Paris with my brolly and distinctly un- Parisienne trainers and make the most of it ! Once again many thanks. X

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RuthE

RuthE

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Pere Lachaise for its atmosphere

 

Call me morbid but I love "cemetery tourism"... I haven't been to Paris for a while but last time I was there I visited Montmartre cemetery, where - as well as so many others - Nijinsky is buried in a wonderful grave with a statue of him as Petrushka (depicted on the Wikipedia page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montmartre_Cemetery).  Somebody had left a pointe shoe on the grave.  The real Dame aux Camellias is buried there too under her birth name of Alphonsine Plessis.  (Edited to add - as I was racking my brains to think of other ballet connections - Adolphe Adam, who wrote the score for Giselle.)

 

I've got a long weekend in Paris for some opera at the beginning of November and I'm going to have to go back there, I think...

Edited by RuthE
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