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Posted

<csb> good recs in this thread though I'm no foodie.  flew Austin to Lyon 5 years ago on Aeroflot in business class through Moscow one-way for $2200.  annoying how hard it is to find decently priced one-way tickets from here to Europe in J but had no idea at the time it'd be my last time flying a Russian airline.  had a great time seeing friends living in Grenoble </csb>

the stairs at Montmartre suck but I love that there are random dudes selling beers unless I'm misremembering other huge sets of stairs in Paris.  F TABC

to add something of use to this thread Hotel Du Jeu De Paume in Paris was in a great location a very short walk from Notre Dame on the other little island on the Seine.  I'm also uncultured and had some beers at Galway Irish Pub

Posted (edited)

We are here now. Just went up the Tower at 9:30. No line whatsoever for the stairs. Short line for the elevator. Stairs are the way. An average person should be able to get to each level in 5-6 minutes without trying to go fast. 
 

We are in an apartment between the Tower and Invalids. Great location. Lots of markets nearby for baguettes, meat, and fruit for a quick meal at the apartment.   Several casual meals at neighborhood restaurants and brasseries. 

Notre Dame this afternoon. Then the train to the coast for the next 3 days. 

Edited by Your Mom
  • 1 year later...
Posted

Heading to Paris and then Nice next month with the family.  Any recs on beach clubs or restaurants in and around Nice?

  • 4 weeks later...
Posted
On 5/8/2025 at 12:27 PM, field said:

Heading to Paris and then Nice next month with the family.  Any recs on beach clubs or restaurants in and around Nice?

Love to hear about Nice when you return. I've got a trip there in August. Will spend a few days there and then I'm wide open on what to do. No limits, just have to be back in Nice 10 days later. Head east along the coastline into Italy towards Genoa? up to Switzerland? Anyone have suggestions? 

Posted

Full sending on an e-bike through the streets of Paris last week was a top 5 thrill I’ve had traveling. Highly recommend. They’ve done an amazing job getting cars out of the center of the city. 

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Posted
19 hours ago, 4th and 5 said:

Love to hear about Nice when you return. I've got a trip there in August. Will spend a few days there and then I'm wide open on what to do. No limits, just have to be back in Nice 10 days later. Head east along the coastline into Italy towards Genoa? up to Switzerland? Anyone have suggestions? 

Go to Antibes if you feel like heading west, if not take a day trip to Monte Carlo to look at the the $$$.  Train to Genoa then up to Milan.  Wonderful sights in Milan...of the female type.  From Milan go to Lake Como and work your way back.

Posted
On 5/8/2025 at 12:27 PM, field said:

Heading to Paris and then Nice next month with the family.  Any recs on beach clubs or restaurants in and around Nice?

We loved Villefranche-sur-Mer, a short train ride or taxi from Nice. Great, laidback scene at the beach (pebbles, not white sand, but beautiful). We enjoyed the restaurants along the water, near Welcome Hotel. Fun to walk around the hillside town.

Lunch at Le Grill, at the top of Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo isn’t cheap, but food and views were great.

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Posted
On 6/4/2025 at 11:45 AM, Litig8r said:

Go to Antibes if you feel like heading west, if not take a day trip to Monte Carlo to look at the the $$$.  Train to Genoa then up to Milan.  Wonderful sights in Milan...of the female type.  From Milan go to Lake Como and work your way back.

yeah I'm doing Antibes and Eze for sure, Saint Tropez, then San Remo, Italy and thinking about taking the train to Cinque Terre for a few days

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
Posted
On 6/3/2025 at 2:32 PM, 4th and 5 said:

Love to hear about Nice when you return. I've got a trip there in August. Will spend a few days there and then I'm wide open on what to do. No limits, just have to be back in Nice 10 days later. Head east along the coastline into Italy towards Genoa? up to Switzerland? Anyone have suggestions? 

Just got back from Paris and Nice.  Ended up enjoying Nice a bit more than I expected.  Did a beach club day at Castel Plage which we enjoyed.  Highly recommend if you want to do a beach day in Nice.  Beaches in Nice are rock, which takes some getting used to.  Water is warm and nice.  There are sand beaches a train ride away, but we didn't feel like making the trip.  Bocca Mar is another nice beach club on the boardwalk in Nice.

Toured Eze, which is cool, and had lunch at La Chevre d'Or.  Expensive but kick ass views and food (Michelin stars and all).

Boat day to Cannes and the islands was probably our favorite.

Restaurants - we'd heard about La Cucina and decided to try it.  It only has like six tables all serviced by one waiter and doesn't take reservations.  We waited an hour for a table with a bottle of wine.  Best meal on the trip.  Totally worth it.  Also ate at Carmela twice.  Very good food and highly recommended.  Had seafood at Peixes and hated it.  Nice is so close to Italy that it felt like more restaurants were Italian than French.     

Posted
5 hours ago, field said:

Just got back from Paris and Nice.  Ended up enjoying Nice a bit more than I expected.  Did a beach club day at Castel Plage which we enjoyed.  Highly recommend if you want to do a beach day in Nice.  Beaches in Nice are rock, which takes some getting used to.  Water is warm and nice.  There are sand beaches a train ride away, but we didn't feel like making the trip.  Bocca Mar is another nice beach club on the boardwalk in Nice.

Toured Eze, which is cool, and had lunch at La Chevre d'Or.  Expensive but kick ass views and food (Michelin stars and all).

Boat day to Cannes and the islands was probably our favorite.

Restaurants - we'd heard about La Cucina and decided to try it.  It only has like six tables all serviced by one waiter and doesn't take reservations.  We waited an hour for a table with a bottle of wine.  Best meal on the trip.  Totally worth it.  Also ate at Carmela twice.  Very good food and highly recommended.  Had seafood at Peixes and hated it.  Nice is so close to Italy that it felt like more restaurants were Italian than French.     

I greatly appreciate this report sir. We are doing Nice 4 nights, Cinque Terre 4 nights, then Sanremo one night and Nice again the last night.

Posted

So we're thinking of an October France trip and I'm favoring 5 days in Paris and 3 days somewhere else in France that's smaller but close enough to get back in time to fly out.

My wife thinks 5 days in Paris is too much (bear in mind she's been twice without me, first time for me).  I can't imagine 5 days is nearly enough time in one of the worlds greatest cities.  

Anyone want to make recommendations on anything in particular?  @PenelopeWitherspoon?  We don't really have a budget but I'm not spending $3k a night on a hotel that we'll be using to sleep and shower and that's it.  

Posted

I'd venture to say five days in Paris is plenty and, if she's already been there a few times, I can totally see how your wife wouldn't want to do five days.  Paris is beautiful architecturally but it can be one hell of a big city tourist trap and once you've seen the Eifel Tower or Arc, you've seen it.  We just did three days and could have done four, but that would have been about all we needed.  To each his own, though.  We didn't do it on our last trip, but I'd love to do Normandy for a day if we ever went back.  We did do a bike tour of Versailles and actually really liked it.     

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Posted
36 minutes ago, field said:

I'd venture to say five days in Paris is plenty and, if she's already been there a few times, I can totally see how your wife wouldn't want to do five days.  Paris is beautiful architecturally but it can be one hell of a big city tourist trap and once you've seen the Eifel Tower or Arc, you've seen it.  We just did three days and could have done four, but that would have been about all we needed.  To each his own, though.  We didn't do it on our last trip, but I'd love to do Normandy for a day if we ever went back.  We did do a bike tour of Versailles and actually really liked it.     

The last time we went to Paris, we made it a point to take a day trip somewhere.  Since most people were going to Versailles, we went to Chartres and loved it.  Very peaceful - beautiful city.

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Posted
3 hours ago, LCHorn said:

So we're thinking of an October France trip and I'm favoring 5 days in Paris and 3 days somewhere else in France that's smaller but close enough to get back in time to fly out.

My wife thinks 5 days in Paris is too much (bear in mind she's been twice without me, first time for me).  I can't imagine 5 days is nearly enough time in one of the worlds greatest cities.  

Anyone want to make recommendations on anything in particular?  @PenelopeWitherspoon?  We don't really have a budget but I'm not spending $3k a night on a hotel that we'll be using to sleep and shower and that's it.  

I think 5 days in Paris, if you have been there before, is fine.  But if it is your first time, I think that is not enough time.  I would stay in Paris the whole time and take 2 or 3 day trips.  Then you have more time in Paris, but get to see other things as well.  Also, you lose time traveling.

With that being said, and something I did not know on my last trip, you HAVE to go to Notre Dame.  And it now requires a reservation unless you want to wait in a massive queue (I chose not to knowing I would be back in Paris soon).

If you are doing Notre Dame, you should hit up Sainte Chapelle as well.  There is a great restaurant right near Notre Dame (Les Deux Colombes) where I have whiled away a few hours with a bottle of wine. 

For hotels, my go to is Le Roch Hotel & Spa in the 1st, though I want to stay in Hotel Marquis Faubourg Saint-Honore (in the 8th but just...right where Rue Saint-Honore flips from the 1st to the 8th) and Voltire (also on Rue St. Roch near the first hotel).  

I have a lot of other recs, but I need to sit down with them.  

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Posted
19 hours ago, LCHorn said:

My wife thinks 5 days in Paris is too much (bear in mind she's been twice without me, first time for me).

 I can't imagine 5 days is nearly enough time in one of the worlds greatest cities.  @PenelopeWitherspoon


I don’t want to step out of line here, but…

Your wife sounds like she sucks.

 

17 hours ago, field said:

I'd venture to say five days in Paris is plenty and, if she's already been there a few times, I can totally see how your wife wouldn't want to do five days.  

Paris is beautiful architecturally but it can be one hell of a big city tourist trap and once you've seen the Eifel Tower or Arc, you've seen it.  We just did three days and could have done four, but that would have been about all we needed.  To each his own, though.  We didn't do it on our last trip, but I'd love to do Normandy for a day if we ever went back.  We did do a bike tour of Versailles and actually really liked it.     

With all due respect, you sound like an idiot  

 

15 hours ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

I think 5 days in Paris, if you have been there before, is fine.  But if it is your first time, I think that is not enough time.  I would stay in Paris the whole time and take 2 or 3 day trips.  Then you have more time in Paris, but get to see other things as well.  Also, you lose time traveling.

With that being said, and something I did not know on my last trip, you HAVE to go to Notre Dame.  And it now requires a reservation unless you want to wait in a massive queue (I chose not to knowing I would be back in Paris soon).

If you are doing Notre Dame, you should hit up Sainte Chapelle as well.  There is a great restaurant right near Notre Dame (Les Deux Colombes) where I have whiled away a few hours with a bottle of wine. 

For hotels, my go to is Le Roch Hotel & Spa in the 1st, though I want to stay in Hotel Marquis Faubourg Saint-Honore (in the 8th but just...right where Rue Saint-Honore flips from the 1st to the 8th) and Voltire (also on Rue St. Roch near the first hotel).  

I have a lot of other recs, but I need to sit down with them.  

PW knows of what PW speaks.

I’ve been to Paris twice, but those two visits were in the ‘90s. I am going again for a week starting this Saturday and I am contemplating adding a few days before I’m supposed to arrive on Saturday or after I’m supposed to leave next Saturday, because I am bouncing around Europe on a Eurail pass for a couple of months.

”5 Days in Paris is Enough”

🤌🤌🤌

Who is the budget Instagram influencer that you’re following who preaches that?

This trip I will definitely see:

Versailles (I have done the gardens, but lack of planning and need to deposit a 💩 cut my visit early)

Pompidou 

Musee d’Orsay (again)

The Louvre (again)

Wine tasting

Chocolate tasting

Escargot on the left bank (again)

Panthéon

Hôtel des Invalides (maybe)

Roland Garros 🎾 (gift shop and/or tour)

Sacre Coeur (again)

Cemetery (that is over the top)

Compare & Contrast Pain au Chocolate et Croissant 

Crépes avec Nutella

… and more.

 

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Posted
5 hours ago, Napoleon said:
23 hours ago, field said:

I'd venture to say five days in Paris is plenty and, if she's already been there a few times, I can totally see how your wife wouldn't want to do five days.  

Paris is beautiful architecturally but it can be one hell of a big city tourist trap and once you've seen the Eifel Tower or Arc, you've seen it.  We just did three days and could have done four, but that would have been about all we needed.  To each his own, though.  We didn't do it on our last trip, but I'd love to do Normandy for a day if we ever went back.  We did do a bike tour of Versailles and actually really liked it.     

With all due respect, you sound like an idiot

I guess I missed that.  There is so much to Paris than the two most popular tourist sites.  Seriously.  I mean, I hear that garbage about Rome.  I've been there over a dozen times and there's still stuff I haven't seen (in part because I try to avoid the tourists).   Now, granted, I might stop there for a few days than hop an overnighter to the Alps to avoid the crowds and the heat but that's me.

Posted
So we're thinking of an October France trip and I'm favoring 5 days in Paris and 3 days somewhere else in France that's smaller but close enough to get back in time to fly out.
My wife thinks 5 days in Paris is too much (bear in mind she's been twice without me, first time for me).  I can't imagine 5 days is nearly enough time in one of the worlds greatest cities.  
Anyone want to make recommendations on anything in particular?


We once did 5 nights in Paris followed by 3 nights in the Loire Valley. We stayed in Amboise, which we found to be a nice town with good access to nearby chateaus. If you find that kind of thing interesting, I would specifically recommend visiting Chateau Chambord and Chateau Chenonceau. The surrounding countryside is really beautiful as well.

I would highly recommend renting a car in Paris so you have the freedom to explore on your own. I think it’s about a 1.5 hour drive from Paris.
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Posted
10 minutes ago, wild_turkey said:

 


We once did 5 nights in Paris followed by 3 nights in the Loire Valley. We stayed in Amboise, which we found to be a nice town with good access to nearby chateaus. If you find that kind of thing interesting, I would specifically recommend visiting Chateau Chambord and Chateau Chenonceau. The surrounding countryside is really beautiful as well.

I would highly recommend renting a car in Paris so you have the freedom to explore on your own. I think it’s about a 1.5 hour drive from Paris.

 

We spent a week in the Loire.  I agree on the two castles, that is enough, those are the best.  We drove to Chablis, that was cool, watched a stage (the finish line) of the tour's first day.  Would recommend.

 

Posted
7 hours ago, Napoleon said:

I don’t want to step out of line here, but…

Your wife sounds like she sucks.

😄In her defense, she'd rebut that's she's not a museum person and has already seen the top 5 or so touristy things.  

By comparison, I could easily curate a trip simply around eating 5 meals a day in Paris and wandering around.  

8 minutes ago, wild_turkey said:

If you find that kind of thing interesting, I would specifically recommend visiting Chateau Chambord and Chateau Chenonceau.

You're speaking my language--I found a website years ago that advertises Chateau and castles for purchase and that's my wildly unrealistic dream.  

Please buy LCHorn a castle here

Posted
On 6/30/2025 at 9:26 AM, LCHorn said:

So we're thinking of an October France trip and I'm favoring 5 days in Paris and 3 days somewhere else in France that's smaller but close enough to get back in time to fly out.

My wife thinks 5 days in Paris is too much (bear in mind she's been twice without me, first time for me).  I can't imagine 5 days is nearly enough time in one of the worlds greatest cities.  

Anyone want to make recommendations on anything in particular?  @PenelopeWitherspoon?  We don't really have a budget but I'm not spending $3k a night on a hotel that we'll be using to sleep and shower and that's it.  

I've been all over France and the least favorite place I went was.....Paris.

Most favorite: anywhere along the south of France from Nimes to Cassis (about to test that theory from Cannes to Cinque Terre)

to answer your question, take the train (with champagne, snacks and a deck of cards) spend a night or two in Normandy, specifically Bayeux (Hôtel Reine Mathilde)

there are fantastic restaurants like La Rapière 

gotta give it two days, a day trip is not enough, this guide is absolutely 5 star https://alliedvictorytours.com/

 

Posted

Last time in Paris was in June a few years ago.  In a nice hotel, but it had weak AC.  This July will be even hotter.

I want to do the tourist stuff, but standing in a line in July kills the deal.  This trip will be mostly Normandy and London.

(Last summer vacation!  Now retired, I'll go whenever I want, just not in Summer!)

Posted
2 hours ago, wild_turkey said:

 


We once did 5 nights in Paris followed by 3 nights in the Loire Valley. We stayed in Amboise, which we found to be a nice town with good access to nearby chateaus. If you find that kind of thing interesting, I would specifically recommend visiting Chateau Chambord and Chateau Chenonceau. The surrounding countryside is really beautiful as well.

I would highly recommend renting a car in Paris so you have the freedom to explore on your own. I think it’s about a 1.5 hour drive from Paris.

 

+1, but recommend not literally renting a car from the city center as that is quite a harrowing experience. 

Last time in the Loire we stayed at an old monastery, Fontevraud Abbey, near Chinon. Would recommend. 

Posted
1 hour ago, Horn_Spanker said:

Last time in Paris was in June a few years ago.  In a nice hotel, but it had weak AC.  This July will be even hotter.

A lifetime ago, I used go to Paris/St. Cloud on business in the summer... imagine summer heatwaves while wearing a suit.  It sucked.  I was dying and, yes, even got to enjoy a taxi ride to Orly with a non-deodorant wearing coworker.  Good times.   

Posted
+1, but recommend not literally renting a car from the city center as that is quite a harrowing experience. 


Yes, this is absolutely true. My dumbass rented a car from a place in the basement of the Louvre, thinking it would be easy to find because I know where the Louvre is, plus it was close to our hotel. Won’t ever make that mistake again. Driving in the city center is crazy and I’ve driven all over Europe.

Take a train or Uber to a rental car place on the outskirts of Paris on the day you are leaving the city.

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