Paris tourism advice?

[BehindBlueI's]

Not much can augment the excellent advice given here; do walk a lot and take in the sights. Strolling along the banks of the Seine is nice, especially on a warm evening (I recommend the 7th arrondissement for this).

Montmartre seems crowded and loud, but it is worth exploring. There's a vineyard there on the side of the hill that makes for a nice walk.

The outstanding Musée de l'Armée and the tomb of Napoleon are near each other and are worth a visit (especially the museum).

Really, it's a great museum.

I recommend the Jardin des Tuileries (near the Louvre) especially after reading about what happened there on August 10, 1792. In general, I think studying a little Paris history before the trip would enhance the experience.

Le Musée Rodin is justly famous, with a nice quiet garden.

French cops can be quite generous with patches (even patches from some special units), and that's a cool souvenir.

That's cool. I'm not much of a patch collector, but that's a neat idea. I'll bring some of our patches to pass out, then. Do you work in Paris by any chance?

[BehindBlueI's]

BBE, you may want to get your wife warmed up to the idea of butter. I'm pretty sure that it is the primary ingredient in all French food, particularly their pastries.

She's actually not opposed to eating butter. She's adverse to paying for real butter when margarine is cheaper. She's, erm, frugal when it comes to groceries. It took me forever to get her to buy chicken without the salt water injections.

[BehindBlueI's]

Flight is booked, apartment is booked via AirBNB (Thanks to Wandering_Beard for the assistance in picking a location.)

[modrecoil]

Nothing constructive to add except an emphasis on watching out for petty crime. 10 minutes after getting off a train at Gare du Nord my wife lost a backpack with most of our valuables to a distraction scam, while I was away for 2 minutes at a ticket booth. This despite growing up in a big city and being told exactly what to watch out for. This was immediately followed by a reinforcement of lazy, racist French cop stereotypes - we reported the incident to station police largely because I lost US GFE and needed a report - as the officer on duty helpfully lectured us at length about avoiding all North Africans in Paris. When pressed about effective identification of the nefarious North Africans (I was in a foul mood at that point) he explained that the only option was to avoid all brown and "blackish" people. Glancing over to my brown-ish wife he clarified that it could be OK if they looked beautiful and oriental(ish) like her.

Great city regardless.

[Le Français]

That's cool. I'm not much of a patch collector, but that's a neat idea. I'll bring some of our patches to pass out, then. Do you work in Paris by any chance?

No, I work in New England. But I've been to France a number of times (my family's from there).

[YVK]

I missed how long you are going to stay and what time of the year it will be.

In addition to many great points made above:

- RER B train from the airport is an easy and inexpensive way to get into the city. Unless the fucking workers are on strike and the service is reduced to almost nothing.

- If you are a foody, go online, do a research, and make restaurant reservations ahead. Better places are usually booked several days ahead. Frankly, most of our Parisian meals were quite forgettable comparing to food in other European capitals. The Opera has a nice summer restaurant outside that is pretty good and doesn't require reservations.

- If you're there for a week or something like that, accept you won't be able to see it all. We've been there multiple times and there are still many places I've not gone to. Picasso museum was being remodeled for years, it seems. My kid couldn't get into the catacombs on three attempts. Make your picks in advance. Look at the map and plan your days in efficient manner. Metro is your friend and a weekly pass was worth it.

- Louvre and d'Orsay are different thematically. Do both if you can, latter if only one. Louvre best to be hit in early morning, before the crowds. There is also a Centre Georges Pompidou, a mecca for lovers of modern and post-modern art, and a questionable experience for those who don't care for that kind of stuff.

Have fun.

[BehindBlueI's]

I missed how long you are going to stay and what time of the year it will be.

A week, and in October.

[YVK]

Never been there in October but I presume it should not be too bad. We were there on Christmas once and the weather was cold and rainy enough to slow us down a bit. One week, counting one - two locations per day given the open hours, and accepting the jet lag effects, will be enough for 5-6 attractions mentioned in this thread plus your nights out.

[Nephrology]

When pressed about effective identification of the nefarious North Africans (I was in a foul mood at that point) he explained that the only option was to avoid all brown and "blackish" people. Glancing over to my brown-ish wife he clarified that it could be OK if they looked beautiful and oriental(ish) like her.

Great city regardless.

France is also super racist, at least viewed from an outside perspective. Imagine if America actually didn't believe in political correctness and throw in about 60 years worth of racial animosity on top of that and you might get an idea.

[LostDuke]

Flight is booked, apartment is booked via AirBNB (Thanks to Wandering_Beard for the assistance in picking a location.)

I think an apartment is going to add to the experience a lot. Make sure to get market recommmedations from your host, days and vendors. Local bread shop, wine store. I hope you are either in the 5th 6 or 7th, all of them are so beautiful to walk. If you share the general area I might be able to recommend restaurants.