We went to this restaurant and it was amazing:

Great food, wine, service, neighborhood feel. Just what I wanted from a good Paris restaurant:
https://www.lepercolateur.fr/en/

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks everyone for the great recommendations and ideas! I like the idea of seeing the museums in the evenings. I knew about the Louvre having evening hours, but I didn’t know that the Orsay also did.

Speaking of evening hours, any recommendations for good places to eat? Not too expensive, but good food? We’re not foodies, but of course we like to eat decent meals where we can experience the food (and wine!) of the country we’re visiting.

The problem is there are SO MANY places to eat, and they range from really good to really not so good, and it's hard to tell sometimes in the moment- our first time in Paris we went by the seat of our pants in picking places to eat, and had one great classic bistro, and a couple of "that wasn't very good" experiences as well. But because there are so many it's hard to just say "here are the 10 places you should go!" because there are hundreds.

These sites are good at helping you narrow down by cuisine, location, etc.

https://lefooding.com/en/search/restaurant/place/paris-8246

https://parisbymouth.com/restaurants/

Have not read all the tips, but was in Paris last summer, and the place that pleasantly surprised me the most was when our daughter took us to the Dior Museum. So we’ll done and so interesting. And I am a straight guy. Check it out. You should get a reservation.

Anonymous wrote:We did a bike tour with Fat Tire Bikes last
time we were there that was a lot of fun.

Where did you ride on the tour?

We did a bike tour with Fat Tire Bikes last
time we were there that was a lot of fun.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks everyone for the great recommendations and ideas! I like the idea of seeing the museums in the evenings. I knew about the Louvre having evening hours, but I didn’t know that the Orsay also did.

Speaking of evening hours, any recommendations for good places to eat? Not too expensive, but good food? We’re not foodies, but of course we like to eat decent meals where we can experience the food (and wine!) of the country we’re visiting.

I ate at 6 New York for a really special date night and a view of the Eiffel Tower! It certainly is touristy but it’s really good and the service was excellent!! It’s on the more affordable end for a nice restaurant.

I also like “La terrasse” which is a rooftop bar in a hotel in montmartre. It’s only open in the summer now but it’s wonderful!! Great view of the Eiffel Tower and you could just go for a drink or two to keep it cheaper lots of great restaurants around montmartre- get reservations ahead of time and plan to stay around 2 hours or more. Love it!!

OP here. Thanks everyone for the great recommendations and ideas! I like the idea of seeing the museums in the evenings. I knew about the Louvre having evening hours, but I didn’t know that the Orsay also did.

Speaking of evening hours, any recommendations for good places to eat? Not too expensive, but good food? We’re not foodies, but of course we like to eat decent meals where we can experience the food (and wine!) of the country we’re visiting.

Another vote for Vaux-le-Vicomte. The gardens, the chateau, the story are all amazing. Not that far from Paris, and less of a tourist trap than Versailles.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Saint Chappelle!! It’s the most beautiful little church and well worth waiting in line for. The museum pass let’s you jump the line, but we waited and I was so glad we did - I could have spent all day in that church looking at the stained glass.

+1. Sainte Chappelle is beautiful. If you can, try to time it to see it on a sunny day - the sun streaming through the stained glass is spectacular.

My favorite thing to do in Paris used to be to climb on top of the towers at Notre Dame, which alas is not possible these days.

With 10 days there, you definitely have time to get out of town. Versailles is a day trip, or you can do Normandy or the Loire Valley. We did a day trip to the LV by a bus tour, highly recommend unless you have a particular interest in that area that would necessitate a longer stay. We got to see Blois, Chambord, Chenonceau and something else that I’m not recalling right now. Versailles is very worth it as well.

Yes Sainte Chappelle was surprisingly moving for me as well- and normally stained glass isn't anything amazing to me. But it was so overwhelming in scale and detail.

One suggestion for a second day trip (I think Giverny is almost a must in the spring) is to go to Vaux-le-Vicomte instead of Versailles. It's much more contained and reasonable to see in one day, and the crowds are so so much less. It was essentially the predecessor chateau to Versailles- the backstory is pretty wild. It was built by the finance minister, and when he hosted a huge party for Louis 14th to show it off, Louis 14th became enraged and had him arrested. He then hired the architect, designer and landscape architect to do the same concepts on a bigger scale at Versailles. The gardens are incredible, the highlight for sure.

It's a bit more complicated to get to because there is a 15 minute bus ride after the train ride from Paris, but the bus is timed to the train and it's all pretty seamless.

Anonymous wrote:D’Orsay is such a lovely museum. If I had to choose between D’Orsay and Louvre it would be no contest. But also on my last trip we went to Louvre on Friday when it was open late, which was nice. It’s just such a massive place you need the time.

100% if you can, go to both museums during the night hours. So much more enjoyable experience. You won't need skip the line tickets or Museum Pass or anything if you go for the night hours.

Thursdays for the Orsay:

https://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/visit/admission-opening-times-tickets

And as stated, Fridays for the Louvre:

https://www.louvre.fr/en/visit/hours-admission

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Download the Moovit app. It will give you public transport options, times, prices from wherever you are in the city to where you’re looking to go .

Eiffel will open booking 60 days out so set your calendar to try to get a 9 am slot the first day they open for a date that works for you. Avoid the lines.

Most museums are closed either Monday or Tuesday

OP’s travel partner here. I am, unfortunately, hugely acrophobic so don’t want to go up the Eiffel Tower. Nonstarter. That said, I am perfectly happy to remain on the ground, chat with Parisians and be charming, while OP goes up and has a nice look around. Does that make sense? I don’t want OP to miss an opportunity. Thoughts?

Pretty much never a line if you want to walk up to the first level of the Tower. It's cheaper also and takes about 15 minutes to walk up if you are in moderately good shape. I listened to a podcast about it's construction on the Rick Steves app while I walked up. Look around, take a few pictures, then take the elevator back down, or walk if that line is too long. Best way to go there but not spend too much or take too long.

Thank you. Great answer!

If you like guided walking tours, highly recommend the Paris Walks company.

https://www.paris-walks.com/index_m.html

We’ve done a number of walks with them as well as their sister company in London. They’re interesting and a number of them are more unique/off the beaten path.

my favorite walk....

LOUVRE to PLACE DES VOSGES to PLACE DE BASTILLE up to CANAL SAN MARTIN (a nice 3.5 mile walk)

here's my final destination in autumn: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/18/9c/41/189c4171343ccd33781dbf692f8cdb42.jpg

somebody already said this, Louvre Museum at night is magical!

We were just there in August. The subway was great and easy to navigate. Beware of pickpockets though. They are so sneaky.
We did a walking tour with Paul thru Wego walking tours. If you love museums, the museum pass is worth it. We went to 12 of the sites in our 4 days there.

Giverny day trip for sure
Do not miss the water lilies at the Orangerie
Consider a cooking class at https://lacuisineparis.com
The Batobus is a fun way to view the Eiffel Tower from the river and stop off at museums
Musee Marmatton and Jacquemart Andre are smaller museums that are really neat.
The Quai Branly Museum is very unique-I loved it.
Walk as much as you can, then Uber/LeCab/taxis for places just a little too far to walk. Use the RATP app for metro and bus for longer journeys.