Welcome, I've compiled a few notes below that hopefully will be valuable to those of you
traveling to France soon as a first-time tourist Parisian. As for the rest of you, you can
look at the pictures and dream I suppose! Hover your mouse cursor over an image to see its
caption (with most browsers).
The Eiffel Tower
Let's face it, the Eiffel Tower is the number one, must-see attraction in Paris. Then again,
unless you never leave the airport it's rather difficult in Paris not to see the Eiffel Tower. I recommend you visit
the Eiffel Tower on your first day in Paris. If you're arriving after a long trans-Atlantic
flight from the states, visiting the tower is a great way to work off the jet lag, get familiar with
your local subway stop (unless you're staying in the nearby Rue Cler, a pedestrian-only street market
and one of the best places to stay in Paris), and check off one of the top items on your
been-there-done-that list during your very first day.
You have two choices at the tower. The first is to wait in a very long line to buy a ticket, wait
in another very long line to board an elevator, take the elevator to the second level (assuming you
don't get off at the first level), roam around a few minutes, and then wait in line to take another
elevator to the top. A more memorable alternative is to buy a cheaper ticket after waiting in a much shorter line (or often
no line at all) and climb the stairs to the second level. A little sweat-equity always helps build
better travel memories. There are 360 steps to the first level and 359 steps from there to the second
level. It's fun. You get a close-up look at the steel beast, opportunities for creative photography,
and you can rest at the first level along the way.
Once you're on the second level you have to stand in line to purchase another ticket to go all
the way to the top. Can we say "money trap"? The stairs going all the way to the top are normally
closed. Besides, I said a little sweat is good, not a lot of sweat! Spend a lot of time on the second
level with your camera. It's high enough up to provide you some good Paris shots. Unlike those from
the pinnacle, they won't look they were taken from a jetliner. There is also a post office on this
level were you can mail some post cards. They will be postmarked "Paris Tour Eiffel", a cool souvenir
to send to friends and family.
On one of my visits to the Eiffel Tower, having already climbed the stairs on a previous visit,
I decided to stand in line and take the elevator all the way to the top. After waiting in line a
long time I was told the pinnacle was closed due to overcrowding and that I could only buy a ticket
to the second level. Apparently, this is a technique to thin out the tourist heard, get repeat
visitors, and drive people to the expensive restaurants on the second level. I bought my ticket, and
then waited in another line to get on the elevator. Once I was on the second level I simply got in
another line to buy a ticket all the way to the top. And no, it didn't seem very crowded to me once
I was up there.
I recommend visiting the Eiffel Tower about one or two hours before sunset depending on your
shutterbug handicap. The goal here is to get plenty of daylight pictures when the sun is still bright
(if you're lucky enough to have a non-cloudy day in Paris), yet while the sun is still low enough
to provide a good light angle.
You can then wait around for some good dusk and night pictures of Paris and the tower itself. Another
tip: the Eiffel Tower is tall. Life at the top can be a bit chilly.
Finally, if you come out of the Champ de Mars/Tour Eiffel RER C metro stop and can't find the
Eiffel Tower (not that this ever happened to me on my first visit), it's behind the building in
front of you. This may be the only spot in Paris where you can't see the Eiffel Tower. Cross the small
side street, not the traffic-laden one, and keep walking.
Notre Dame
Visit Notre Dame early in the morning when you can really get a sense of the place. When the
tour buses arrive the tourists prod like cattle by the hundreds through the entrance on the right
of the cathedral, nosily grunting along past the pews and behind the alter, back down the left side
of the cathedral, and out the exit door. Don't be one of these people. Visit the cathedral early.
Later in the day come back when the towers and catacombs open.
The entrance to the catacombs is at the front of the Notre Dame courtyard. They contain Roman
ruins that occupied the area long before Notre Dame was built. The museum is interesting and
covered by the Museums and Monuments Pass (described further below), but don't expect to see walls
of skulls and bones neatly stacked by the Hunchback of Notre Dame. For that, you'll need to visit
the Paris catacombs.
The entrance to the towers is on the left side of the cathedral and not accessed from inside,
something I found very confusing. The width of the stone stairs gets smaller as you approach the top.
Be forewarned, there are a lot of stairs, but it's fun! Once you exit the doorway at the top, a famous
gargoyle that keeps watch over the city is immediately on your right. Remember to look for it as soon
as you exit the stairs because the narrow, cable-mesh-enclosed pathway is mostly one-way. It's obligatory
for all shutter-diseased tourists to snap a picture of it.
Before you take the terminating staircase back down the other town, be sure to take the path on
the left that leads to the opposite side of the cathedral. In addition to the additional photo
opportunities on this side, you will find another set of stairs, these wooden, and leading to the
famous Bell of Notre Dame. Forget about the flying buttresses, stained-glass windows, and dull,
faded paintings; getting a bell this huge to this height and keeping it in place is what is truly
impressive about Notre Dame.
Sacré-Coeur
The tourist cattle are prodded through this famous cathedral the same as at Notre Dame (and most
other Parisian tourists hotspots for that matter). Arrive early or in the evening. The Sacré-Coeur
is at the top of an impressively tiring hill. Don't climb the stairs to the top. Instead, spend you
energy walking the streets of Paris and climbing the stairs of Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower. Take the
funicular up. Look to the far left of all the tourists sweating up the steps and you'll find it.
The Museums
I'm grouping all the museums together in this section because there are so many of them. First of all,
buy the Museums and Monuments pass. It's biggest advantage is not that it allows you unlimited visits
to most of the places you'll want to visit anyway, but that it allows you to be a smart traveler and skip
the ticket lines. They are sold at all of the museums. In the peak of tourist season try looking at your
map and picking out a tiny, less popular, yet close to your hotel, museum and buy your pass there. But
if you decide to buy it at the Louvre, don't stand in line at one of the four "normal" ticket counters
in the atrium below the glass pyramid. There's a separate desk on one side of the atrium that sells the
pass and probably doesn't have a waiting line. Once you have the pass, you can skip past the ticket line
at any museum or monument, flash your pass, and go on in, VIP style.
Hopefully, if you have no major foul-ups on your trip, the Louvre will be one of the very best
highlights but also the most disappointing. Yes, it's likely to be both. A visit to the Louvre is
disappointing because without any regard to length of your stay in Paris, you have absolutely no hope
of seeing everything in the Louvre. None whatsoever. After the Egyptian artifacts, enough pottery on
display to simultaneously feed the Greek and Roman armies, endless rows of magnificent statues,
large-format paintings so big they can never be displayed in any museum smaller than the Louvre
itself (once the largest building in Europe), to the Roman ruins beneath the building... your feet will
hurt from the endless walking, you will get lost many more times than you think you will, you'll hate
yourself for not learning anything because there is too much to see and too little time to read plaques
and make sense of it all, and you'll leave vowing to return to Paris so you can do it all over again.
One of the best tips I can give you, having not done this myself on my first trip to Paris, is to
plan out your visit to the Louvre before you go. Give yourself at least one full day in the museum.
If you wake up one morning and its pouring rain, use that day as your Louvre day. Rick Steve's Louvre
tour in his Paris guidebook and the Louvre website can help you plan your
expedition. Create a list, ordered by wing and floor level of the museum, hitting the must-see items
and also the things that personally interest you. Eat lunch in the cafeteria in the Louvre. The food
is slightly high, as all restaurants in museums are, but very good and convenient.
La Grande Arche
La Grande Arche, the new arch in the city's growing business district of La Défense,
is interesting, but don't regret missing it if you're short on time. My best memory of the arch
itself was being the only one in Paris on top of the arch, at least for a few minutes. When I was
there in early November a large number of multi-national vendors were setup in the plaza below the
arch selling every trinket and delicacy imaginable and the winter, night-time atmosphere, complete
with skating rink and Farris wheel, was well worth the subway ride to get there.
And More
Yes, all of the above is only a fragment of Paris, even for the brief tourist experience.
You'll want to visit so many more must-see spots like the Arc de Triomphe, small sidewalk cafés,
and certainly don't miss walking along the Seine. One great walk is to start near the Southeast
corner of Ile de la Cite (the island that Notre Dame calls home) and continue along the cobblestone
path that follows the river. If you're a fan of the Highlander TV series, you'll recognize this area.
Another spot for great views of Eiffel Tower, particularly the Seine with the Eiffel Tower in the
background, is La Samaritaine. This multi-level department store has excellent rooftop access, great
shopping, and some of the most beautiful women in Paris.
Recommended Books
Recommended Links
