Going for a week in Oct. Have dinners set–going to Giverney, some museums, Notre Dame, rue de Mouffetarde, but what else will be fun to do? What is interesting?
Will be eating at Troisgros (side trip), Jules Verne, Carré des Feuillant, Le Petit Cler, to name a few.
If you haven’t been to the Moulin Rouge, it’s a ton of fun
We love the flea market in St. Ouen.
The Siene river cruise after dinner is nice also, seeing Paris illuminated at night is beautiful.
thanks and welcome to the site, Diane!
Thanks Alan. Long time lurker.
We really like to explore all the neighborhoods. We walk a lot, along the river and also through the arrondissements. Last time we were there we rented bikes and rode all afternoon through all of them.
The cemeteries are really interesting. Père Lachaise and Montmarte are really cool.
Here is a suggestion for the mods; combine all the Paris threads and make them a sticky. It seems as though the topic recurs every week or so, and generates dozens of disconnected threads. It would be lovely to have them combined in a single place.
Passard has been having another renaissance lately and you haven’t been, it seems like a perfect time to go. He’s been tweeting things I’ve never seen before and really seems invigorated.
Go to lunch at Le Comptoir du Relais: 9 Carrefour de l’Odéon
Get there between 11:30 and 11:45 and stand in line for the first seating at noon. They take everyone who is there at noon and fill the tables, so you only have to wait for a bit usually. I hate waiting in lines, and yet I do this at least once every time I am in Paris. It is the perfect bistro. Many classic dishes, but updated cooking techniques and beautifully fresh ingredients. A nice little wine list as well. Seriously - do this.
In this vein, an interesting neighborhood to walk around in is the Marais. In part of this area is an Orthodox Jewish area that is fun to walk around in, get falafel or Schwarma for lunch, etc.
At the Louve, one of my favorite sections is their ancient stuff, from Assyria, Persia, etc. There is a steele there with Hammurabi’s Code.
There is an all day bus tour (Grey Line) from Paris to Normandy where you see Pegasis Bridge, the D-Day museum, Point du Hoc, and four of the five D-Day beaches.
A fun afternoon (although pretty sedate) can be spent at the Musee Marmottan where Monet’s private collection resides.
While I agree with the thought Neal, I’m afraid it’s too much for the mods. Unless people search for the last thread, and append their question to it, anything the mods do will be dated in two weeks.
I always try and find an existing thread to get updated information on restaurants (I do think Alan’s question was the first one in a long while that wasn’t related to food or drink, but fun in Paris ex food and drink…
Arrived here today in time for a lovely lunch at Fish on Rue de Seine. They’re pouring 09 Pepiere Clisson by the glass out of magnum for the princely sum of 6 euros per. They have a cheese course of shaved Comte with hazelnut honey which they pair with an oxidized Jura chard. It’s outstanding.
Will line up for lunch at Comptoir du Relais tomorrow; have reservations over the next few days at L’Assiette Semilla and Arpege. I haven’t been here in three years and it’s great to be back.
Alan- assuming you’ve never done any of the below -
go to the Jeu de Paume to see Monet’s Nympheas. Buy a two for one ticket which also gets you into the Musee d’Orsay and then sail past the schlubs queuing for tickets at the latter.
Pere Lachaise is worth the visit if you haven’t been.
Many years ago I spent a summer living off Rue des Martyrs, one of the worlds great food streets. Start at the bottom and work your way uphill towards Pigalle past the butchers and bakers and fishmongers etc. and just take it all in.
Yeah, it was just a thought, but this one is on page one right now and is primarily about things other than food/drink
Musée de l’Orangerie in the Tuileries Gardens.
Great collection of Monet’s water lilies, plus plenty of Impressionist and Modern Classicists from Picasso to Renoir and Cezanne.
Just as with any museum that I go to, whether here in NYC or elsewhere, going early in the day to beat the crowd is always the best time.
A little different: we took a bike tour out to Versailles (Fat Tire bike tours in this case). It was particularly good because we had our kids (13 and 15 at the time), but I wouldn’t hesitate to do it just as a couple. You ride through Paris for a while (easy riding), then hop the train to Versailles, ride into town, grab lunch at the farmers market (and right there is a fabulous cheese shop, charcuterie, etc.), then ride over to the palace, hang outside on the canal for lunch, then into the palace for tour. One of my best days in Paris.
We’re taking the Fat Tire bike tour around Giverny in October. Train to Giverny from Gare St. Lazare, pick up the bikes and ride around town and visit Monet’s house. We were booked to do it last year, but my wife blew up her ankle and we had to return home for surgery 6 days into our month long stay. Looking forward to an uneventful stay this year.