scrappinmom

Hello everyone - I am new here to Flyertalk - I've read several of the France threads here and am excited to plan our first trip. I'm, Chris a SAHM of 2 girls (10 & 15). We are planning our first France trip APril 16-May 1st 2010. My daughter is a member of a Theatre on Ice team here and they've won a spot at the World Championships in Toulouse. I am hoping to split our trip into different segments, including Paris, Disneyland Paris, Toulouse, Carcassonne, Sete, and then a final 4 days in London.

I'm having trouble "grouping" our Paris days, I'd like to buy a 4 day museum pass and use one of the hop on/off bus services (batobus?) to get around.

Here's where we'd like to go of the places included in the museum pass (minus the Eiffel tower)

Eiffel Tower (both day and night)
Arc de Triomphe
Conciergerie
Louvre (not a whole day but a half day)
Notre Dame
Orsay (hubby & I are both impressionist art fans, so this one may take awhile)
Pantheon
Sainte-Chapelle
Compiegne
Pierrefonds
Versailles

I believe we will be staying at the Holiday Inn at the airport. We have many points and I'm trying to book Holiday Inns for the whole trip. Partly for points, partly because I need a room that sleeps 4, and free breakfast would be nice.

I am a Disney fan, Going to Disney Paris is not negotiable. Part of my life's "bucket list" is to visit all the Disney parks in the World. So while my girls & I are there, my husband will probably be searching for a golf course, recommendations for that welcome as well.

Thank you all so much for your help! I look forward to learning from all of you the next 5 months!

Chris

DennyO

First, let me say there is no substitute for a good map. If you can find your "must-see list" on the map, they will almost group themselves.
Second, if you are a Monet fan, you probably should include the Orangerie and/or the Musee Marmottan. The Marmottan is not on the museum pass.
You can walk from the Louvre, through the Tuileries (a lovely park) to the Orangerie. Both the Louvre and the d'Orsay get crowded, so you might want to do them separate days and get there at opening. Make sure you already have the museum pass in hand to avoid the line to purchase.
The Saint-Chappelle and the Concierge are virtually next door, so if you intend to do both, it makes sense to do them in sequence. Notre Dame is an active church so you can go in anytime, but the pass allows you to do the tower climb, which was a highlight for me.
The Eiffel Tower is not on the museum pass, IIRC.
A lot of experienced travelers don't care for him, but for a novice like us, I found Rick Steeve's website to have very useful information. He gives sample itineraries of one to seven days in Paris, to which you can use as a starting point and add or subtract as you see fit.
http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/desti...rance_menu.htm

scrappinmom

DennyO - Thanks - I just found the Rick Steves website & I've been reading for hours!...

Yea, I think I need to go to Barnes & Noble here & just get a good detailed map....that's where 90% of my problem is.

THanks for the input.

Chris

mhnadel

It might help to look on-line at the routes of the various hop-on/hop-off bus services and see if that suggests a logical grouping.

I find those services useful for an overview and a few sites, but the Paris metro is easy to use, considerably cheaper, and probably faster most of the time.

Romelle

I'm sure there are lots of other good ones, but I find the Lonely Planet maps easiest to use. There are detailed area ones in the guide books, and I think they also have a larger fold-out map for Paris.

Romelle

oenophilist

I would strongly advise AGAINST staying at the airport. The airport is very far out of town (by train around 45 minutes, and that's assuming you are anywhere close to the train station), it would be a pain to get back and forth, plus quite expensive (17 euros per day per person round trip). You should definitely look for someplace inside the city close to a Metro, as its pretty simple to get anywhere from inside the city as long as you are nearby a metro stop. There are plenty of Holiday Inn's in the city.

Just to overemphasize, the airport is the absolute worst place you can possible stay for seeing Paris. (Hopefully that will be convincing enough )

Also to your original question, I would recommend that you only do one chateau outside of Paris (e.g. Versailles). There are sooooo many things to do inside Paris, taking the daytrips (and they are usually daytrips) kills a lot of travel time.

Luckily, Disney is not difficult to reach from the city, as there is an RER train that takes you from central Paris directly to the front gates of Disneyland!

iff

Yes, and you can buy a combination transport + admission ticket that will save you time by not having to wait in the ticket lines at Disney:
http://www.ratp.info/touristes/index...rir&cat=disney

Note that you'll be here during the French spring school vacation period, so you may want to arrive early to avoid some of the crowds. Also, May 1 is a national holiday, meaning that banks, post offices, and a lot of businesses will be closed (though in tourist areas you can always find open restaurants). There's normally a parade and some demonstrations here and there, so traffic may be disrupted and public transport runs on a holiday schedule.

aamilesslave

+1.

Any location inside the ring road that is close to a metro stop will be much more convenient.

Eclipsepearl

There are tons of Holiday Inn's in great locations in Paris. I've stayed at the one at Place de la R�publique and it was very nice.

http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/hi/...questid=401229

I also don't recommend staying at the airport. You'll be spending the whole visit on the train in and out of Paris. I used to work at the airport but all of us lived in Paris itself. The worst is when you have to take a shuttle, to the train, etc.

I also don't recommend Disneyland Paris. It's fine if you lived in Europe and can't travel far but it's a bit of a shame to spend time and money on something that is second-rate, compared to the Disney parks in the U.S.

You are coming during some of the spring break. I same "some" because that vacation is actually split. In order to not have all French children out at the same time, they have three "zones" (not necessarily geographically together). The zone that includes Paris will be off from the 17th to the 2nd of May but one zone finishes the 25th and the other will be done soon after you arrive. It'll be busy but it wont be like the whole country is off.

http://www.education.gouv.fr/pid184/...=0&annee=5&cp=

scrappinmom

Glad I posted here!!! WHen I went to look for a Holiday Inn, I just picked one...Figured the airport would be close enough. But ok ok! I believe you! I'm off to see about a couple of others...I definetely don't want to spend the day on the train...Any specific neighborhoods to not stay in? other than the airport? I'd like to be centrally located & still be abel to afford to stay.

I went to the bookstore last night, and found a couple of great walking maps...now I just need to magnify them enough for my old eyes to read them!

scrappinmom

I'm essentially back to starting over. It's been difficult to find a hotel that can accomodate a family of 4, most of the places I've found a triple is the max. I've been using TripAdvisor and haven't has a whole lot of luck yet.

oenophilist

What about Holiday Inn PARIS-BIBLIOTH�QUE DE FRANCE?

tom tulpe

"Big" U.S.-style rooms for four are rare indeed. You will probably want two "family rooms", i.e. two adjacent doubles with a connecting door. Quite a few hotels have these.

aamilesslave

I see a few Holiday Inns that accommodate 4 to a room for random dates, including the one mentioned above (which although not in the most lively area, has excellent access via the automated ligne 14 metro). Another good option might be the Crowne Plaza PARIS-R�PUBLIQUE.

I know you're aiming for Holiday Inns this trip, but at least for frame of reference, you may want to do a little research on a site like venere.com to find other hotels that accommodate 4 people.

Good luck. It will be worth it to stay in the city; you would be miserable staying out by the airport.

youreadyfreddie

Hi Chris:

Welcome to FlyerTalk!

I know you want to be able to use points and stay at Holiday Inns, but I recommend you also consider an apartment which will give you much more flexibility than a hotel. I recommend you take a look at the one- and two-bedroom apartments that Vacation in Paris has to offer. You might be surprised at how reasonable an apartment can be compared to a hotel, and you have much more flexibility (and tremendous cost savings options) when it comes to meals if you have a kitchen--especially with kids. A one bedroom will usually accomodate two people sharing a bed in the bedroom and two people sharing a pull-put couch in the living room. With two kids, I'd opt for a two-bedroom place. Many of the apartments have a clothes washer which would enable everyone to pack lighter.

Also, it sounds like the 2010 Rick Steves Paris guide would be a good fit for you and your family for this visit. His hand-drawn museum maps and many of his tips enable you to plan out your museum visits, etc., in advance as it can be overwhelming to plan your visit to the Louvre when you are standing in the Louvre, which is what I did the first time I was there You may also be interested in his free museum tour (Louvre and d'Orsay, as I recall) podcasts that you (and your family members) can download from his web site and put on your mp3 players (assuming everyone has one).

Additionally, you might consider using the Metro to get around--at least during the day. It's cheap and fast, and your kids will probably have fun helping map out the routes.