Originally Posted by
apodo77
Was purchasing the tickets an issue without a chip and pin CC?
Also if I am staying at the Marriott Champs Elysees will I need to take the subway to a lot of the tourist attractions (Louve, Seine, Eifel Tower, etc.).
Should I wait until I get there or is there an advantage to buying a head of time?
I have purchased a 3 day museum pass as an FYI.
I have a chipped credit card, and I brought my 3-day VISITE PARIS pass from a metro ticket agent (a person), so I can't answer your initial question.
I see no good reason to buy the museum pass ahead of time. As far as I can tell, most of those museums will sell you the pass the same way you buy the regular admission ticket. I did find that getting in some of the places faster with the pass. I brought mine when visiting Versailles. Another reason is: If for whatever reason (sickness, energy, weather), one of your party doesn't want to visit all those places, then you wasted your money.
Walking between the sights: It really depends on your ability and interest in hiking. I've walked a lot in past Paris trips (and this one), but for most tourist, walking from, for example, the Eifel tower to any of the other big tourist attraction is far. i would recommend instead to use the subway to conserve energy and time. If you get a 2 zone day pass for Euro6.6, you don't have to worry about transit cost and just take the fairly simply subway system to where ever you need to go. If you are visiting in the summer, Paris is humid (compared to Portland), so you will get sweaty.
Regarding your museum pass: Are you sure you have a 3 day pass? I think they only sell 2 and 4 and 6 day passes... You must visit Palace of Versailles to make it worthwhile to get your money's worth, since it is by far the most expensive ticket on the list. Other must see places on the museum pass (my opinion of course):
Arc du Triomphe - the view up top at night is very nice
Tower of Notre Dame - the view up top is also very nice. long line up, and the pass doesn't help.... so go early!
Pantheon - Impressive building inside and out.
Orsay Museum - Not counting the art, I think this museum is the prettiest of them all...but no camera allowed!
There are so many other museums on the Pass, and you should pick the ones that really interest you. I am not the biggest art or museum fan, but I walked through most of them on my previous Paris trip and found them to be satisfying just to see the inside of the building. Most are in the central tourist area.