If you plan on doing anything "touristy" on the weekends, have a plan ahead of time of exactly what, and get there early.
We recently got back from Paris amongst other EU places, and The line at the Louvre was seriously as bad as spoofed in the movie "Eurotrip", maybe 1/4 mile long. The line for Eiffel tower was similar. The line at Versailles was not so bad, but it was crowded and took forever to get there because of trains being under construction. Getting to the top of the Arc du Triumph wasn't bad at all.
We stayed in the 6th Arrondissement (Hotel Seine - ok, not great) at Rue de Seine & Rue de Buci. There were tons of restaurants and cafes around, and its a pretty touristy district.
My wife is enthralled by Paris, but my opinion of it was that it was once a great city, maybe 50 years ago, but has gone steeply down hill, and became a filthy metropolis, but then recently they woke up and realized they should class the place back up and are just starting to do something about it. In short, still a dirty city, and the African jinglers are too abundant and pushy.
I had an increasingly better time in France the further south I was, Beaune is gorgeous, and the few days we stayed in Bonnieux / Luberon were spectacular.
My advice is to hop on tripadvisor and search for what YOU like.
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Originally Posted by recycled sixtie
The last time I was there was with my daughter back in the uk mad cow disease days so that was several years ago. I got a travel agency in the UK to arrange Eurostar train and hotels in Paris. Paris underground was not easily understood by us. I think taxi/walking was more user friendly.
Eiffel Tower of course. The usual sights . Lots to see there in Paris. I have enough use of the French language to get around. Went to McDonalds a couple of times....
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The metro & trains do suck there and are more difficult than Germany, by far, but still WAY cheaper than taxis. Try to figure out how to buy a day pass. The machines are hard to figure out, but its possible.
And Mickey D's is REALLY expensive there. We stopped at one in Austria and the equivalent of 2 combo meals and an extra chicken nuggets was almost 20euros. . . . nearly $28. Try to eat at local places, hope you like good coffee, croissants, and paninis.