Trip Report

We visited the major sites --- Eiffel Tower, Versailles, Louvre, L%26#39;Orangerie, Musee Picasso, Notre Dame.

We also went on an awesome photo tour of Montmartre w/ Barbara.

We used the metro A LOT!

We walked A LOT!

We ate A LOT!

- First night we had dinner at a random bistro near Avenue Ternes. Our concierge said that lots of good bistros are in that area so we went and just chose a place while walking. Food was yummy. The lady was very helpful in explaining each item on the menu. I have to look through my stuff for the bistro name.

- Dinner at the Latin Quarter on our 2nd night. Place was called Le Petit Zinc. It was packed! Good food.

- Best meal for me was at Libresens. It was a random restaurant we went into on Rue Marbeuf off the Champs Elysees. It%26#39;s got a bar/lounge vibe and the food was good. They were big on risottos. The meals all had risotto on it so if you like risotto, this is the place to go.

- Went to Laduree. Decent place for lunch. We went to the one near Rue Saint Honore and did some window shopping after lunch.

- Dinner at Le Bistrot de Marius on George V was eh. I wouldn%26#39;t recommend it.

- Dinner on our last night was at Les Ombres. View was excellent. Food was good. Note that if you%26#39;re a large group and you want to order %26quot;le menu%26quot; which is the set menu, everyone in your party has to order it. Or else, you%26#39;ll just have to order from the regular menu.

Some advice:

- Make sure you have comfy shoes.

- Bring some euros from the US then take money out of the ATM there. I found the exchange to be more favorable.

- We bought the Museum Pass and felt that it worked out for us.

- When you%26#39;re at Versailles and just finished the tour of the palace, catch the %26quot;petit train%26quot; from behind the palace. It%26#39;ll stop at Petit Trianon, Grand Trianon and by the lake. You can get off at any of these stops and just show your receipt when you ride the petit train again. I didn%26#39;t know this before going and we walked the whole way from the palace to the lake and couldn%26#39;t get on the petit train. The guy told us we%26#39;ll have to walk to Petit Trianon and catch the train from there. I haven%26#39;t figured out how many miles we walked but it was a lot (Does anyone know?).

- If you want to go up the Eiffel Tower, get in line early.

- Lots of places are closed on a Sunday so plan ahead.

- Bring an umbrella.

- Bring a warm coat. It can get cold.

If you have any specific questions, just let me know.

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Thanks for a good report and great tips.

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Glad you enjoyed your trip and thanks for the tips - we fly out to Paris tomorrow for a week to celebrate my birthday!

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how many are you and how much did you spend that day?

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Thanks for the details about the restaurants.

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Thanks for the report and mentioning the restaurant Libresens. I absolutely love risotto and will definitely eat there on my next trip to Paris.

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789; Did you make reservations in advance for your dinners? If not, what times did you arrive and did you have to wait long?

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Thanks for the resto reviews!

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For the restaurants, the only advanced reservation we did was Les Ombres. We emailed the hotel concierge a few weeks ago to ask if they can reserve a table for us. As for the rest, we usually would just decide on an area that we wanted to go and kinda wing it. If the concierge has a suggestion, then we%26#39;d go w/ it. Otherwise, we%26#39;d just walk around and see if the menu looked appetizing to us. If you go to dinner at 8pm or maybe even 7:30pm, you should be okay in finding a table even w/o a reservation. They eat dinner there late so going early should be fine.

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Many restaurants don%26#39;t even open until at least 7:30 or 8:00 pm. The earlier you go, the more you ensure that you will be eating with Americans rather than the French. I had a few reservations which I ended up canceling because I have trouble waiting to eat until late. A few nights I went to L%26#39;As du Falafel or ate Picards at my apartment so I could eat according to my own schedule. Since I was there for a month though, I had plenty of opportunities to eat in nice restaurants, bistros, etc.

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