Hi, everyone!
My husband and I are planning our February trip to Paris (an 8 day visit); and, while we have a few reservations/tickets for events (Opera, Jules Verne, Le Crazy Horse), we are just planning on making a list of places/museums/restaurants and exploring the city with those in mind. After reading this great forum, however, we (OK-just me) are rethinking that.
Which leads me to this: how do YOU explore Paris?
Thanks so much...I love this forum, and can%26#39;t wait to see your replies!
Erica
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BOTH....Paris is a city that tends to toss planned itineraries out the window within 15 minutes of arrival.....We%26#39;ve usually got a long %26#39;list%26#39; of %26#39;..To Do%26#39;s..%26#39; (most left over from previous trips)...%26#39;grouped%26#39; within geographic %26#39;..sections..%26#39; of Paris (Latin Quarter, Saint Germain, Louvre/Tuileries, Marais, Arc de Triomphe/Champs Élysees, Montmartre, etc.). This list provides the basics...but is largely just an aide memoire to remind us of what%26#39;s where we are at any given moment. We%26#39;ve usually found that it%26#39;s better to find ourselves saying, %26quot;..Nah....let%26#39;s do something else instead..%26quot; then...as mood and moment strike...rather than, %26quot;..Damn..if we%26#39;d only known/remembered..%26quot; later.
If there is a particular %26#39;..event..%26#39; that we have in mind, we%26#39;ll make pre-reservations. If there are particular day-trips that we might want to do (there may be several to choose from), we%26#39;ll carry notes for directions, schedules, etc. with us and decide which, when, as mood and moment strike. A rainy day might become a %26#39;..museum crawl..%26#39; a sunny day a tour of parcs and gardens. The %26#39;..list..%26#39; simply provides us with %26#39;..reminders..%26#39;...and in no way precludes doing something else entirely...or nothing at all...as mood and moment strike.
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I am going in April for 4 days. There is no right or wrong way of doing it. My preference is to good a good guide book (most recent that you can manage-I got the %26quot;Rough Giudes%26quot;) and read through it if you have the time. It should seperate the city into seperate areas (most by arrondisements or districts). I picked out the areas that I considered important to see or experience and what particular area they were in. I then will branch out and explore that area for the day. On 8 days you can get alot in without feeling rushed or stressed with a set itenerary in mind. My goal is to get to 2 set areas per day and explore all of the areas around them. I tried to pick a particular area of the city and explore that area for the day. I had to cut alot of what I really wanted to see because of the short amount of time I will be here but you have to schedule time for all of the great cafes and brasseries that will becon to you. I have my planned intenerary on the forum under %26quot;Paris intenerary for April posted on January 4. Don%26#39;t know if this will help you and sure we have differing interests but it may give you some ideas on one if that is how you decide to plan your activities in Paris. Have a great time.
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Hiya Erica,
I agree with KDKSAIL, a bit of both! We originally went with lots and lots of %26#39;must do things%26#39; but now (this will be our forth annual visit this year) we tend to pick one or two things that we %26#39;plan%26#39; to do and leave the rest to the mood and happy chance!
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I plan it in advance so I don%26#39;t waste time %26#39;researching%26#39; on vacation. (efficiency)
After I arrive, I willingly allow some things to slip while others take their place. (serendipity)
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On January 4th, I write my 30 day itinerary in 8 parts on this forum. You can look back for them if you want information on things to do. The information I am listing here is Part 1 from that itinerary.
I%26#39;ve been promising this for weeks. It%26#39;s long. You were so generous with me so I want to give back. Each time I have gone to Paris I have looked to do different things. Its like the peeling the onion metaphor--my exploring gets deeper and deeper. Each time my trip to Paris is %26quot;the trip of a lifetime.%26quot; I have four of those now and I can%26#39;t wait for the fifth which appears that it won%26#39;t be until Sept. %26#39;09. Until then I will have to live through you and my memories.
Planning my trip is part of the fun. I have an unusual, time intensive yet, for me, stimulating way of getting organized for my trip. I start early. I look online, at this forum and use Google Earth to see placement of sites/activities/metros. Eventually I gather information of what I want to do, organize it according to arrondissements and then put each day%26#39;s activities on a 3%26quot;x5%26quot; notecard. Activities go on the front and restaurants/food go on the back. I print out a copy of that day%26#39;s activities, food and metros on a Google Earth page. Then I make a photocopy of all of the cards so I have two sets. While in Paris, each day I take that day%26#39;s index card, that day%26#39;s Google Earth page and the entire extra set of note cards. All of these supplies are very light-weight and easily fit in my purse without adding much additional weight. I used to carry a map of all Paris streets but this trip found it unnecessary. Each Metro station--at train level--has a wall map showing the surrounding streets. It also shows what direction you are facing when you exit each of the station exits. Between that Metro map and my Google Earth map, I am able to find my way to my next destination. Rarely I would need assistance. But when I did, I used that as a great opportunity to ask directions. It allowed me to practice my French, which I love doing, and by the end of this fourth trip I completely understood directions given to me by the local French-speaking people. Very satisfying. The reason I carry the extra set of notecards is that occasionally I will get somewhere only to find out that I had incorrect information and it isn%26#39;t open, etc. or I complete that days activities quicker than I anticipated. Then I can look at my other days activities and see what I might want to use as a fill in for my time. For me, it works perfectly.
There were two other note cards I made. One was of the six activities I had paid for inadvance through FNAC so that when I went to pick up my tickets at the FNAC office, I knew exactly what I needed to pick up. The other notecard listed the Metro stations which were closed at the time so I could accurately maneuver on the Metro.
I don%26#39;t carry a camera. I write in a trip journal each day and that, combined with souvenirs I pick up, and my index cards, provides me with accurate memories of my trip. I find that no one wants to sit and look at the pictures anyway, and I like to travel very light. I keep the sites in my mind, and I keep going back to Paris.
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My girlfriend loves creating an intinerary which outlines our day’s activities. She%26#39;s really good at it also. It gets her psyched. It rubs off on me as well. But once there we factor in such things as weather, how much we want to just %26quot;chill%26quot; and cafe sit, and events that we didn%26#39;t know about before leaving, such as catching some music in one of the churches. We%26#39;re with Travelnutty - we don%26#39;t like to waste time once we get there. We always leave with a good sense of which restaurants we want to eat in, which is frequently based on where we will be - but not always. I think it’s very helpful to have essential information at the ready such as opening and closing times, phone numbers, etc. So some prep is helpful. You want to have some outline of your time, but if you don%26#39;t explore, how will you find out what you like to do?? A little of both - but start with a plan. Also, its great fun looking back on previous itineraries and you can use the old ones to create the new ones. Why reinvent the wheel? We%26#39;ll be there in Feb. as well. Let%26#39;s hope the weather is good! Have fun.
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We create an itinerary, but intentionally %26quot;plan%26quot; our unplanned time. Like if we know we want to have some time to wander, explore, shop, and hang out at a cafe, we%26#39;ll leave an an afternoon open for that. We intentionally cut back on our to do list to accomodate this.
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I agree with others that you should allow for some flexibility in your planning. But it%26#39;s good to keep a few things in mind:
- some museums close on mondays, others on tuesdays; If you plan to visit certain museums, it might be a good idea to make a note about which day(s) they will be closed.
- a lot of shops (Printemps, Galeries Lafayette, etc. included) are open until 21:00 or 22.00 on thursday; on other days they close earlier (19:30);
- Most of the shops are closed on sundays, but you can find quite a few shops that are open on sundays in the Marais and on the Champs-Elysées.
- If you plan to visit a flea market - they are mostly on saturday, sunday and monday.
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As previous posters have suggested, I like to leave fora trip with a list of things I want to do. I read up in advance, so I will know about closing days, hours of operation, special performances and festivals, etc. Then when we are actually there, we decide which things we want to do that day and talk tentatively about things we want to squeeze in before we leave, then we try to fit them in. But we don%26#39;t do it on a pre-arranged timetable, and we give ourselves permission not to do something we had at first thought we might like to do, if we are just too tired or another opportunity pops up.
Another approach is to make a tentative itinerary for each day, with one or two things you want on no account to miss on your trip, then let the rest of the day fill in as opportunity and inclination permit.
Bon voyage!
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It all depends. If it your first trip to Paris then plan to visit the main tourist attractions - the Louvre, Tour Eiffel etc., dine in a few traditional Parisian restaurants, explore the streets and markets and do some shopping.
If this is not your first visit to the city, then do as we did a few weeks ago and plan nothingin advance but decide what to see and do each morning - a day at the shops, a day just exploring a particular neighbourhood...
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