Mrs Diz and I are going to Paris for a long weekend. Has anyone got any suggestions on what we can do. Neither of us have ever been to Paris so we are open to suggestions.
Thanks Diz.

Boat trip,
Musee Orsay,
Champs Élysées,
St Chapelle,
Jardins du Luxembourg

To state the obvious:
Eiffel Tower

Marginally less obvious:
Stroll around the Marais

And Sunday brunch:
somewhere by the Canal St Martin (watch Amelie before you go)
(dinner at the Hotel du Nord is pretty nice, and “atmospheric”)

Wander around Monmatre, lovely part of Paris.

Have a menu de jour in a little cafe, cheap but brilliant.

Shoot a hooker in the face.

Eiffel tower can get busy so you might want to get up early to avoid the queues

Rodin museum is fib

Wander round Montmartre

If you plan on going up the Eiffel Tower, buy your tickets in advance from here. This will save a lot of queuing.

To add to the list, Notre Dame and the Pompidou Centre.

Pomidou Centre.
River trip
Dinner next to Notre Dame.
Just walk around. Gives you a feel for the scale of the architecture and city design.

If its your first time then definitely

Eiffel Tower. You don’t have to go up its quite interesting just to walk around a bit. You can go up to just the first level which is easier and less crowded than going to the top.
Arc de Triomphe and Champs Eleysee – worth watching the traffic around the Arc, madness with the “priority to the right”
I like the walk from the Arc to Place de la Concorde then through the gardens to the Louvre (queue always looks long but goes fast) then through to the Notre Dame around the back and over to Ile de la Citie and loop back other side of river. This will take 2-3 hours. Also the place around Grand Palas and the river bridge there is nice (lovers bridge I forget the proper name). You can walk up and down the quay next to the river.
Monmartre and Sacre Cour is interesting with a great view of Paris, it’s quite nice after dark – there is a nice Bistro close to Monmarte – 10 mins walk – called Francencour it’s does a good brunch too.
Don’t hesitate to stop in the classic cafes for a coffee or “un petit verre”

Top tip is you can preload google maps when you have wifi – scroll over the areas you will visit, then you can use the phone gps without mobile data and the maps still work. Very useful for walking about.

I might be there next weekend myself ! Have sent most of the last year in Paris.

Three people have recommended Montmartre! They can’t have been there in the last few years – the place is a nightmare; the steps stink of urine and as you walk around you will be accosted aggressively by Indians who will try to hang bracelets on you then demand huge amounts of money for them. There is a mahoosive queue to get inside the basilica, the nearby streets are full of rip-off tourist restaurants…. it’s a dreadful, dreadful place. I lived there in 1985-1988 and it has gone downhill badly since then.

France is on a big downer right at the moment, we spent a weekend in Paris for last year’s tour and we were shocked at the filthy decrepit condition of the city, the stink of urine around tourist spots and in the metro, the graffitti, the frightening violence between the CRS and the Romanian pickpockets, the only thing Paris has going for it is the coffee and the views along the boulevards. London is a far nicer, cleaner, better run city…. which is why there are half a million French people working there.

I suspect that may have more to do with low taxes and access to markets than the sweet smell of the tube.

Three people have recommended Montmartre! They can’t have been there in the last few years – the place is a nightmare; the steps stink of urine and as you walk around you will be accosted aggressively by Indians who will try to hang bracelets on you then demand huge amounts of money for them. There is a mahoosive queue to get inside the basilica, the nearby streets are full of rip-off tourist restaurants…. it’s a dreadful, dreadful place. I lived there in 1985-1988 and it has gone downhill badly since then.

France is on a big downer right at the moment, we spent a weekend in Paris for last year’s tour and we were shocked at the filthy decrepit condition of the city, the stink of urine around tourist spots and in the metro, the graffitti, the frightening violence between the CRS and the Romanian pickpockets, the only thing Paris has going for it is the coffee and the views along the boulevards. London is a far nicer, cleaner, better run city…. which is why there are half a million French people working there.

+1

Between 2000 and 2008 I was in Paris most months with work and it definitely lost its ‘sparkle’. Amsterdam was the same too, the ‘dregs’ crime/drugs/booze etc of Europe seem attracted there.

Or maybe I’m just getting old?

Mama shelter hotel

You can thank me later!

@diz download the app la fourchette / the fork – its great for restaurant discounts – you make bookings via the app for 30%+ off, you can even walk past places you like the look of and make a booking then walk in. Check when you pay they’ve given you the discount

If you are in the neighbourhood of the Tower there is a typically French bistro I like called bistro saint dominique on rue saint dominique on small square with fountain, the street has some nice small shops/bars too. link

The place near Monmarte I mentioned is here

To those above, yes Paris has a grubby side and an issue with pickpockets just like London

A few useful tips here diz: Linky

We’re going in May with kids, our itinerary will be:
Eiffel tour (tickets booked in advance, or prepare for long queues)
Lunch cruise
Walk Canal St Martin to Parc de Villette
Visit Citroen and Renault showcase dealerships on Champs Élysées (my son is car mad & they always have something intersting on show)
Visit Place des Vosges

Try googling The Guardian top 10 free things to do in Paris – loads of good tips in the comments below the article.

Have fun!

I went with the wife last November. We stayed in a hotel near the Arc De Triumph. We started at the Arc, strolled down the Champs Ellysse (the Christmas market was on so had a saunter around there), over the place de la Concorde and upto the louvre. Wandered around the louvre (didn’t go in). We then headed to Montmartre and Sacre Cur. It is a hole around there, got hassled all the time by dodgy street vendors, but not bad in the immediate area around Sacre Cur.

Day two, we went down to the Eiffel Tower via the Trocadero, then took in a boat tour. We then headed over to Notre Dam, went in for a look around, then crossed the road over to the Latin quarter and had a good wander round there. When wandering up the bank of the Seine we got hassled a lot by people trying to rip us off….stopped by a random person who says you dropped a ring, you deny it, they try to talk you into keeping it ready to ask you for some money for a sandwich. etc. best to just ignore everyone.

That evening we went on the Ferris wheel at the place de la Concorde at dusk which was nice.

The next day we just had a wander around the area, revisited some of the places from the previous days. We did a lot of walking and really enjoyed it, but unfortunately for Paris it does look a bit tatty and in need of a good overhaul. I was amazed at the sheer amount of dog shit around the place – watch where you walk! I was disappointed with the food -if you’re after the proper, decent French cuisine then do your research before you go because picking places in and around the tourist trails, even a little way off the tourist trails, even if they look ok from outside, are not that great. Not awful, but not living upto the reputation.

If you go to the Musee d’Orsay have lunch in the restaurant there, the food is excellent.

Mama shelter is great, bit of hike out of the centre but everything is just a metro ride away ….got to Montmartre and walked to sacred couer from Barbes rochechuart to see 2 homeless guys trying to glass each other with broken bottles …. Lovely
Abbesses which is just above pigalle is a cool place to chill
Pere lachaise cemetery is great ..go early
Walk from arc de triomphe to the Louvre ..take it all in
Trocadero area has great views
The catacombs is a place I didn’t go to but should of
Try and catch a PSG game and be an ultra for the night !

I would agree with @wobbliscott’s post (similar routes as my suggestion plus more besides). Also this is why the book is called “A year in the merde”, Parisiens love dogs but they do not clean up after them.

Thank you for all your advise, I will look at it all in detail and plan our trip.

Bit more outside the box than above.

Hire a bike, cycle about the place.
Take the tube. Bizarrely this is an experience.
Go up the arc de triumph, better view than the tower for some reason.

No public toilets which is why everywhere smells of piss.

Actually there are plenty of public toilets. Saw a guy having a pee in my street about 10 metres from the local one just the other day.

+1 for Montmartre though, just draw an imaginary line along the metro line, and in a straight line between Anvers metro and Sacre Coeur basilica, and stay away from that line to avoid wee smell, scammers and tat shops. Other parts around Montmartre are nice, my favourite resto is L’été en Pente Douce near the basilica.

The main thing I would disagree with in glabalti’s post is the coffee. It’s terrible if you’re a fan of espresso. Whatever the stuff the French call “expresso” is, it’s not espresso.

If you get bored of the tourist trail, you could do worse than to seek out the mayflower on rue mouffetard, quality belgian beers for 6 euros a pint until 9.30.

Last thing: google maps cache, it should be the very bottom option if you click on the search bar on the smartphone app and then scroll down without typing. Do it at home to have maps straight away when you arrive.

Just got back from Paris today, I didn’t see any Romanians in Paris but I did see hundreds on our ferry, and hundreds getting on the ferry in front of us too coming to England. Not a very nice crossing when the staff are on high alert because of all the shoplifting that was going on in the duty free (which I witnessed first hand).

Anyway, to keep it quick in my opinion the arc de triomphe is better to visit than the Eiffel tower. The views are better and you get more history from visiting the arc. The metro system is brilliant, we all felt safe and it’s great value. Just hopping off at stops and exploring is great fun.
There are many, many beautiful parks to walk in. Oh the cakes and pastries they really are as good as they look! We did and saw lots of things in the last five days but if I had to recommend one place to visit it would have to be the arc de triomphe. Yes it’s even better than Disneyland! (For me anyway but I’m not sure my kids would agree)