Museums can be free if you time your visit. We just returned from our European vacation (GE, IT, UK, and FR) last night. We had a blast! See the link below. My friend in Paris also told us to time our visit in the future.

http://www.timeout.com/paris/feature...y-of-the-month

Here are some of the lessons learned from our 3 nights/4 day stay in Paris:

1. Purchase train (metro) tickets. The ticket is good for trains and buses. We purchased tickets valid for 3 days. Get a map because the subway (metro) system can be quite challenging if you're not familiar. We live in NYC, so we have a good idea how the subway works but the problem was there are too many exits (better known as SORTIE) when you get off train. Try to find out which SORTIE to take, otherwise, you'll be going in circles. It appears that the closest metro to your hotel is on the 6 line. We stayed at the Hotel Concorde Montparnasse

2. I was warned of pick pockets upon our arrival into Paris. I had a monopod (almost like a tripod) mainly for my camera but also to keep pick pocketers away. The day before we left Paris, I changed pants with snap-ons to secure the pockets. On the subway, two guys got on the train and shortly thereafter, I felt a bump from behind. I checked my back pocket and surprisingly found my snap-on pocket unsnapped. I secured my snap-on pocket again and I felt a second bump from behind on the next stop. It was then that I decided to transfer my wallet to my front pocket. I turned around and was ready to pipe the two thieves when they suddenly left the train in a hurry. They knew that I know they were trying to steal my wallet. Lesson learned - do not wear pants/shorts that snap-on your pockets shuts. Instead, wear a pant/short that secure your pockets with at least two buttons.

3. Taxi or bus to CDG. There were buses that directly left our hotel to CDG or ORLY but the timing didn't work out. We thought about leaving at 4:00 AM on the metro but decided against because we had three bags. In addition, traveling at that early may or may not be safe in the metro. We asked the front desk and they recommended a taxi for a fixed price. I think this is best because we knew what we were paying. If you flag a taxi on the street, you may ended up paying a lot more. From our hotel in Montparnasse to CDG, the hotel contracted for a taxi the night before for 59 EUR for the two of us. We paid the taxi fare directly to the driver with a fare slip given to us by the hotel. The journey took about 45 minutes. From your hotel, the journey should take at least 60 minutes, depending on the departure time.

Feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions. Good luck and enjoy your trip!