[Idyllchat] 5 days in Paris

[Lyn Slazyk]

Hi Donna,
  I guess it's unanimous! I agree with all that's been said and would add that the Rodin Museum is a must see in my book. It's in his house/gardens and you can get a bite to eat at the outdoor tables. Another must has been mentioned, Musee D'Orsay. The Louvre is overwhelming and I advise using guide books or other sources to decide on your must sees, then map your way to them. I read somewhere that if you spent something like 10 seconds at each exhibit it would take months, not days to see it all. Don't know if that's true but I don't doubt it. In many trips to Paris, none shorter than two weeks I still find new things to see and do without setting foot outside the city. Although I've done that as well. You'll love it and don't ignore the advice to park yourself at a table, preferably outside, eat pastry, have coffee, imbibe in your beverage of choice and drink in all you see. It's one of the most delicious things you can do.
  Lyn



Jerry Clancy <jclancy at billtrak.com> wrote:
  Donna,

I concur with both Joan's and Linda's advice. Five days in Paris is almost cruel: too little time to see so much, so I would leave Normandy for another trip. Paris is rich in museums but a full fare of these could make you miss what I consider one of the joys of the city: its ambiance. Sainte-Chapelle aside (it is a "must"), most of my fondest memories of the city were casual ones: leisurely  dinners with friends, particularly at my favorite, Chez Tante Louise, and La Coupole (Montparnasse); strolling the Left Bank; watching life go by to a pitcher of beer at St. Germain and St. Michel or on the Champs Élysées; watching kids sail their little boats at the pond in the Jardin de Luxembourg; and, of course, the boat trips on the Seine  (do it just before dusk for added color). I still have the photo I took on my first bateau with a full moon rising and centered exactly between the legs of the base of the Eiffel Tower.

I would definitely encourage staying on the Left Bank. And leave your diets at home. Make sure you do a different boulangerie every morning. To die for. Have an aperitif or glass of wine at a brasserie late each afternoon, as the locals will often do on their way home from work. If your French is up to it, try to enlist a fellow patron in some casual conversation. Even it it's "see Spot run" kinds of sentences. Don't be shocked if they respond, "Oh, you are American, non? Where from?"

This way you will enjoy the flavor of Paris and its people, not just see things, stunning though they may be.

Jerry

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