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A Night in Paris, France

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I have an 17-hour overnight layover in the City of Lights in a few weeks. If you were me, what would you do? I can sleep on the plane for the remainder of my trip, so don't let rest figure into the equation. Francophiles, give me your recommendations, svp.

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I just checked my Rick Steves guidebook for you. He suggests:

A night walk along the Champs-Elysees and Arc de Triomphe (open until 11:00). From there, a right turn on avenue George V will lead you to where you can go on a river cruise.
A movie on the Champs-Elysees. Pick up a copy of "Pariscope" at a newstand to find cinemas. You can also find bars listed in there. You have to know French to read it. :P

Visit the Trocadero and Eiffel Tower (open until 12:45). The Trocadero has a lot of street entertainers.

Walk to Notre Dame to see it illuminated at night at visit one of the barges nearby to get a drink.

Go to Montmartre and visit the Sacre-Coeur (open until 11:00). See the Paris lights from up on the hilltop.

Rue de Lappe (behind the Bastille) has a lot of nightclubs, from what he says.

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

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Other than seeing the Eiffel Tower, Louvre and Arc d'Triomphe, I would highly recommend eating as many crepes and chocolate croissants as you can handle.... and send some to me!!! Also, drink some wonderful French wine, along with bread and cheese. OMG... I'm drooling. I love French food. I would just eat and eat and eat. :P

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Catch the tube to the Eiffel Tower, then walk over to Champs. After shopping for a few hours, it is 1 tube connection back to Notre Dame and dinner in the Latin quarter. Get a taxi to the airport...

Perfect use of 17 hrs!
My .02 anyway!

Have fun,

Doug.
I have never developed indigestion from eating my words.
Winston Churchill

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Grab a boat .... Bateaux Mouche.....and see all the sights from the Seine....can get a meal if going at night......Montmartre is great for a wander....see all the artists...and great view of Paris.......and as already suggested eat as much as poss esp crepes...:)


If you're holding anyone else accountable for your happiness, you're wasting your time."

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I just spent a bit of time there, Paris is amazing!

As has been suggested, definitely take a walk or Bateu Mouche down the Seine.. crepes in Bastille, just next to the train station- banana and chocolate.. yumm.. go to eiffel tower but go right til the top, they let u in til 11 i think.. it's amazing, definitely go there at night, it's absolutely worth it!!
best hot chocolate in paris is at a place called angelo's on rue de rivoli.. musee d'orsay if u have the time to visit only 1 museum - it has all the monet and renoit and other impressionists..
montmarte is really cool and arty...

paris is amazing, u'll love it no matter what u do!

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. cr go to eiffel tower but go right til the top, they let u in til 11 i think.. it's amazing, definitely go there at night, it's absolutely worth it!!
musee d'orsay if u have the time to visit only 1 museum - it has all the monet and renoit and other impressionists..

We did the Eiffel tower in the middle of the day. Next time we're going at sunset, get to see twice the show.:)

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same - we had 4 hours to do the louvre and panicked cos we didn't think it would be enough.. so of course went to the mona lisa first (so overrated) and then just got lost in the egyptian room for ages trying to find our way out.. the louvre obviously has heaps of amazing art but i found that trying to do it quickly means that ur not really appreciating anything properly and it's just too big to be able to do that. we actually ended up getting fed up and leaving with an hour to spare..
the other thing about the louvre is that there's so much amazing art there but u just watch ppl go past without even looking at it trying to find the mona lisa (and u find urself doing it as well) which just made me a little disillusioned with the idea of art appreciation..

u could go to the picasso museum if u only have a bit of time.. it's at the st. paul metro and it takes about an hour or so to get through..

or.. u know what else u could do.. go to the wind tunnel in paris!! it's open really late in the evenings and is a bit of a trek from the city (maybe like an hour in trains + 25 minute walk) but the people there are so nice and it's a cool experience! make sure u make a reservation though.. it's called aerokart.

have fun in paris, i'm so jealous!!!

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We followed the self-guided tour in Rick Steves book (yes, I'm a big fan of his!) and it worked out great for us. He'll tell you to go into a room, go to a certain painting and then he tells you to look at certain things in the painting to understand what was going on during that period for the artists. It really helped and we saw other people doing the same thing with his book, which was kind of funny.
She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

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We "Rick Steved" through several European countries. I do like his philosophy of light travel and down to earth experiences. Many of his hotel suggestions have been superb if you want a clean, comfortable bargain. One place in Cinque Terre, in Italy, We told the inn keeper, Edie, who had a picture of herself and Rick Steves hanging on the wall, that we were from Seattle, same as Rick. She all of a sudden had an even nicer suite for us, just up the hill, dirt cheap. :)knew Rick.:D:D It was a great stay though. Ask Vskydiver about the ocean view.B|

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I've just spent a week in Paris (one of my favourite cities - much cleaner and more open than London!!!

The Louvre & ET are easy walking distance - other wiseuse the river bus.

I'd been to the Louvre before so didn't go inside this visit so this time I went to The Orsay (just over the river from the Louvre). Personally, I think that a lot of Impressionist "art" is like the Emperors New Cloths!! - Some dick head expert said that it's great so we all parrot that it is..... well. I'm the young kid telling you that a lot of it is shite!!:D:D:D

Anyway, make sure that you can set the ET at midnight, it is lit up special, with flashing white lights.. looks reallty sweet.


(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

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We always trust Rick's recommdendations on hotels too, we're using a couple of his suggestions on the trip we're starting this week. I try to travel light, it doesn't always work out that way though. :$

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

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Go to the airport's airline lounge, get your lungs filled with French smoke (yeah, the still smoke at airports), buy some expensive perfume, some cheap post cards and have some sweets.... that's about 8 hours worth...
Y yo, pa' vivir con miedo, prefiero morir sonriendo, con el recuerdo vivo".
- Ruben Blades, "Adan Garcia"

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You can do a lot with that time in Paris. The Metro can get you most anywhere from the airport in about 40 minutes if you take all the right trains. The Metro is great. I would suggest not eating in any fancy restaurants....you will find the best food in the small restaurants. I suggest doing a little research of the things you would like to see the most and make it happen.....most of the cool stuff is in the same area. The Rodin museum is really cool.......And make time to sit at a cafe and drink coffee and people watch! People dress nice in Paris, so wear something business casual. And don't forget to go see Jim!;)


"Some call it heavenly in it's brilliance,
others mean and rueful of the western dream"

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I love how Americans think they have to specify that Paris is actually in France. Same as London, England and Rome, Italy I guess.

The rest of just take it for granted that people know these things:P

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

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If your going to Paris can you please bring me something back? I'm thinking about an old & dusty thingy called La Gioconda. It's on show somewhere in Paris and I have a nice spot ready for it in my kitchen.:P

I'm willing to pay the fedex fee :P

Edit to add the dusty word... it's the one underlined !;)

Lock, Dock and Two Smoking Barrelrolls!

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