Day one -- We arrived in Paris (by way of Columbus, OH and Atlanta, GA) on the morning of June 27th (a Saturday). We took care of buying museum passes and using the ATM machine while still at the airport, then went searching for the %26quot;Roissy%26quot; bus -- not an easy task! After about an hour on the bus, we were dropped of at the Paris Opera House and made the short walk to our hotel -- Hotel Muguet. In order to stay on our feet and stay awake, we headed to Versailles. We encountered unexpected news that the %26quot;Le Passeport%26quot; was no longer available, which left us scrambling to figure out our plan of attack. (The woman in the RER station booth was not at all helpful and even a little rude.) We ate at a little outdoor crepe shop (4 crepes + water for 23 euro) Our plans didn%26#39;t accommodate using our museum pass for this attraction, so we waited in line in the very hot sun. The wait was about one hour. We listened to our downloaded Rick Steves audio tours for the palace and the gardens. We were especially impressed by the lovely grounds and gardens! We ate at a Cafe Central on rue Cler. (4 dinners for 76 euro) We came to love this little pedestrian street!
Day two -- Sunday, June 28th -- We picked up breakfast and some picnic lunch items on rue Cler (pastries, bread, sandwiches, and apples for 15 euro) before walking to the bus stop for the L%26#39;Open Bus Tour. We rode around the Green line tour until our bus broke down and we had to load up on another one. We then got off at the Arc de Triomphe. We climbed the narrow spiral staircase to the top for an amazing view of the city. We had our picnic and walked around at Jardin des Tuileries. Our next stop was Sainte-Chapelle. This little chapel is tucked away and a little hard to locate but so worth the effort! It was definitely an unexpected highlight of our visit to Paris. We walked from here to Notre Dame and stayed long enough to hear the organ concert. Next we walked to the Ile de St. Louis for dinner. This tiny island is mostly pedestrianized streets and so charming. We ate at Cafe Med (4 meals for 51 euro) then walked across the street to get ice cream from Berthillon (4 cones for 10 euro). We rode the bus loop the rest of the way back to the hotel, then walked with most of our large group to the Eiffel Tower to see it twinkle and light up. It was a beautiful evening, and we enjoyed sitting on the grass chatting, playing cards, and watching the tower twinkle and glow in the darkening night. (Side note: Michael Jackson was quite popular in Paris. Since we were there the week of his death, there was quite the tribute event beneath the Eiffel Tower this night -- a large group of fans playing MJ music, dressed in his likeness, and dancing.)
Day three -- Monday, June 29th -- We stored our luggage at the hotel then headed back to rue Cler to pick up breakfast and lunch food. We rode L%26#39;Open bus to the Louvre. We arrived close to 11:00 and got in pretty quickly with our museum passes. We had learned from other members of our group not to use the Rick Steves tours for this, since several of the rooms on the tour are currently closed. Navigating through the museum was a little tricky, but we located the highlights -- Venus de Milo, Winged Victory, Mona Lisa. Each exhibit was very crowded, but we managed to wiggle our way close enough for some decent pictures before moving on. We rode the bus again to Jardin du Luxembourg for our picnic lunch. There were benches and lots of shade there, and a visiting band was giving a concert. What a lovely lunch setting! From there we walked to the Pantheon. What a beautiful building! After returning to the hotel to pick up luggage, we rode the Orange line this time to see some different sights. Sacre Coeur was on this route, but there is only a very brief glimpse. We met up with the rest of our large group at the train station (Gare de l%26#39;Est). We were there pretty far ahead of our train, so we walked to a grocery store across the street (Monop) to pick up some dinner (4 sandwiches, 2 apples, chips, 4 drinks for 27 euro). Once we boarded our overnight train to Germany, it was quite comical to maneuver in our 6-bunk couchettes! We have fond memories of our trip to Paris!
(If you%26#39;re interested, our trip continues next to Rothenburg/Nurnberg, Salzburg, Munich, Venice, Rome, and Athens. I%26#39;ll post trip reports there next.)
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Good report glad you had a good time. Thank you for including your prices on food! As somebody planning their first trip to paris food prices can be a little intimidating. I%26#39;m reading that food can be affordable if you know where to look and it sounds like you found em!
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Thanks for posting. Just curious - what group were you traveling with? 17 is a lot of people.
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22 of us went to Paris for Christmas and then again to London for another Christmas - all family members - it was fantastic!
Nice trip report - I too love Rue Cler!
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Nice trip report so far...thanks for sharing it! Sounds great what you and your group did; it%26#39;s fun to travel with a large group sometimes. I totally agree about your finding Ile St. Louis charming.
Will be glad to read your other trip reports-totally envious.
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Very nice trip report. Thanks for posting.
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