France!!!!

We might be going to France, Paris area and who knows, this August.

It's a family vacation, myself-25, brother-22, parents, about 60.

Tips, suggestions, places to see, things to do??

We're not going to be going to clubs or anything but we like history, sightseeing, not so much museums though.

Any suggestion,s places, foods, things to avoid?

thanks!!

woohoo!

reservations made, going to Paris in august!!!

come on guyssssssssss, suggestions, advice, where to stay, super things to do??

You realize that a lot of visiting Paris IS going to museums, right?

just have fun. walk, eat, learn.  paris is wonderful.

Paris in August is pretty quiet because most parisiens usually get out of town then...  mass exodus to the coast to escape the heat!  The museums and galleries should still be open, however.  My personal favourite place to visit is the 'Musee D'Orsay'.. a converted railway station with an impressively accessible collection of impressionist work, amongst other things.   The churches of Paris are fascinating.  As well as Sacre Coeur and Notre Dame there are some lovely hidden gems so keep your eyes peeled as you wander about.  And I'd also recommend checking out some of Paris' many markets.... books, flowers, bric-a-brac, stamps... you name it.   The Marche Mouffetard in the 5th arrondissement is a quintissentially french experience.

The only way to go wrong with food is to eat in a nasty foreign chains like MacDonalds!  Prices are higher & the quality mixed in the seriously touristy spots but, even on busy thoroughfare like Champs Elysees, you can get nice bistro food or a delicious baguette for reasonable prices.   I recommend indulging in a 'crepe' (pancake) freshly made in front of you by a street vendor or small pavement cafe and watching the world go by.   If you get the opportunity, treat yourself to a selection of french cheeses... some of them are truly amazing. 

For a day out a trip to the palace of Versailles is well worth the effort.  There are audio guides but do hook yourself up to a guided tour because the live commentary is often worth the entrance fee alone....

I second gi-jane and I thought of this when I first read your post: Paris is pretty dead in August--not the greatest time to go.

Yes, go to Versailles and walk the grounds. I think they're more spectacular than the palace.

Sacre Coeur is the nicest overview of Paris--great atmosphere too. Much better than the view from the Eiffel Tower.

Restaurants can be expensive, but it's easy to get great food, either sit down, or on the go, from a brasserie.

Wine is practically the same price as water and diet coke.

Shopping high-end, low-end, and in-between is great.

You can walk the entire Ile de France and there's always stuff to see.

If it's something you like to do (I do!) go to Pere Lachaise. Lots of famous people and a beautiful setting.

Original Post by agruskin:

 things to do??

Another, very serious, suggestion.  Learn a little of the french language before you get there.  Parisiens have a reputation for being offhand but a polite 'merci beaucoup' or 's'il vous plait' and a smile helps considerably.   Patience as well...  I once witnessed an American tourist loudly gesticulating in a Paris restaurant.... 'Garcon!! Over here!! Garcon!!!'... and (cringe) actually clicking his fingers in the air at the same time.  Talk about rude.  I dread to think what little additions went into his dinner that night.  LOL!

ha, OFCOURSE i realize its mostly museums, im just looking for the highs, tips, anything else.

GIJANE- we love railroad stuff! well my father at least.  were going to all the standout stuff i think altho we just got the tourist books today so i need to read up bc i dont know many of the things u listed.  i love flea and food markets! lol

for food, everything seems very expensive!  we want to get a taste of the authentic ofcourse.  what would we be able to have for meals, like bfast, lunch, dinner bc i hear each meal is like a 10 course thing which were not going to want everytime.

DHARMA- "dead" might be good, less lines, rt?    i love palaces and gardens, were history nerds lol.    whats Sacre Couer?  i need to do some reading up for sure!  whats the ile de france?

we know NO french!  lol, were not that rude but we know patience is inded needed!  not to sound rude!! lol

oh, and can we drink the water there or no?

thanks sooo much!

If you like history, you have to check out Les Invalides. It's really in central Paris, right next to the Pont Alexandre III and the Grand Palais, and it's where Napoleon is buried. It was one of my favorite things to do, because it's so over the top. And go stand at Place de la Concorde, because that's where Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI were beheaded. I don't think that's were the guillotine was normally, but that's where it was for them. If you're going out to Versailles, you should check out Marie Antoinette's "Hameau." When she married Louis XVI, she was only sixteen, and to please his new wife, he built her a mock, rural village hamlet so that she could play milkmaid in her spare time. And there's the Conciergerie. That was the original palace of the French kings, and there's a replica of the cell Marie Antoinette was held in while awaiting her sentence. I don't know at what level for you history ceases to be interesting and becomes just nerdy, but the Conciergerie is also home to the first clock in Paris. It's on one of the towers on the outside--an interesting tidbit to wow your family.

As for food, you really can't go wrong, so eat everything, and bring an extra suitcase so that you can bring home as much baguette as humanly possible. I haven't had anything even close since I came back...and there's an emptiness in my heart because of it.

Pretend you're not from the USA.  Generally, they do not like us, that is a fact. 

I personally love to shop in Paris, from high end shops to my favorite flea markerts. The smaller, alley way cafe's are ah-mazing but it took some getting use to to have patrons and their pets in there! [Most allow people to bring their dogs/pets into the cafe's]. I was in Normandy when I was younger and still would like to go back there as an adult.  I have very good friends that live in Cholet -west France - and love it there, as well. Southern France, St Tropez, is my ultimate favorite place...find a variety of people, awesome clubs and much more accepting...and so beautiful!

Have fun!

haha, i know, a friend of the family went to france to study abroad while in college and she said some ppl were rude, were like ALL american so their is no hiding it! lol

we love little alleys and small cafes, italy was like that and awesome!

haha, i think we border on 1st clocks on where boredom would kick in but ill have to remember that! 

baguettes, yea, by the time we got home i think theyd be bad! isnr that just a roll tho?   the only thing were sort of worried about is that supposedly meals r like 10 courses and for lunch, well we just want a sandwich, or bfast, idk what they eat so yea...

we want to do lots of walking and see all the "real stuff", as well as the indoor museum art.

thanks, anything else?  we need to do tonssss of research in planning this!

Original Post by agruskin:

 the only thing were sort of worried about is that supposedly meals r like 10 courses and for lunch, well we just want a sandwich, or bfast, idk what they eat so yea...

 Your hotel should provide a basic continental breakfast.  In smaller places (3 star) that's usually some fresh crusty rolls, croissants, butter, jam, orange juice and lashings of coffee.  That should keep you going for a while.  In bigger hotels they might offer a wider selection. 

You can get 10 course lunches if you like but they're not mandatory   Smaller bistros and cafes will serve quite light meals and there are any number of biggish bakeries & patisseries that make fresh filled baguettes to take away.  (Think 'sub' but edible!)  Alternatively you can go for a 'prix fixe menu' or a 'menu fixe'.... where there are just two or three choices for a particular price.  'Steak frites' or 'Salade Nicoise' would be typical fare and french platefuls are daintier than American ones.  It's customary to sit and enjoy lunch rather than eat on the hoof and it's a nice tradition to adopt when busy sightseeing... take the weight off your feet and relax a little.   

To see the 'real stuff' just hop off the Metro (underground) somewhere that looks interesting and wander about...

When I was there, I had a backpack and in the morning would stop at a shop and got a baguette with ham and cheese, a pastry, a bottle of water.   Stash it in the backpack and spend the day walking around (also you will want to master the subway/train.  Once you have that down, you can go anywhere!)

Anyway, whenever I got hungry for lunch, I would plop down and have lunch out of my backpack.  Once I ate on the grounds at Versailles.  Once I ate in the beautiful rose garden of the Rodin Museum.  This museum is a must-see in my book.  The Thinker is there and it has a lot of outdoor sculptures, it's not really "museumy". 

Trust me, the baguettes are not "just a roll". If you love bread, you will die when you taste them.   I have yet to find anything in the states that even came close to what I had in Paris. 

And I'm not ashamed to say my eyes welled up when I stepped into Notre Dame.  It was sooo beautiful!

crepes.  eat crepes.  please, eat crepes.

oh, and more seriously...if you guys want to travel, i really do recommend montpellier...such a beautiful city.

thanks everyone!

STARLITE- what is montpellier, wahts there?  crepes are a meal or dessert or either or?

4KITTIES- wow, sounds beautiful to sit and eat in the gardens there!  oh, and i live on bread if u ever read my menus, lol, its allll bread!  but id need bfast AND lunch lol, not just lunch! never heard of the rodi museum, not yet at least  thats eperate from versailles? can i drink the water there??

GIJANE-thanks!  so i dont know yet but we sometimes stary in hostels where they dont always have bfasts but then i guess wed buy a baguette w cheese or meat sold in a bakey or pateserie, like a cafe i suppose?  the typical bfast u described sounds pretty good tho if they do provide that.  whats steak frites? 

Paris is a little "dead" in August, true, and some famous restaurants and other business may be closed, but it is a nice time for a first visit, because the pace is slower with many of the locals gone.  Parisians have a rep of being rude, but in my experience, even in cities with a rep of being "nice", like San Francisco, people are pretty impatient dealing with foreigners who don't speak a word of English.

Many, many years ago I spent an August in Paris and there was a music festival in many of the smaller churches, and I heard some amazing music.  Also, wandering into some of the smaller churches I often heard someone practicing Bach on the organ -- even made my atheisist heart soar!

The parks are amazing, and the grounds around many of the museums are extremely beautiful.  Go to a good charcuterie, a good fromagerie, and a good boulangerie and take a picnic to the Bois du Boulogne (or any of dozens of other parks).

Walk up to Sacre Coeur for a fabulous view of the city.  Or, walk up the Tour Eiffel for a great workout.

I second the Musee d'Orsay -- it is a beautiful  building and has beutiful Impressionist art that most people find very accessible.  I also love the Pompidou modern art museum as a fun experience.  And of course, you can get lost at the Louvre for days.

Go to Notre Dame for a mass -- it is a great experience, even for the non-religious.

On the left bank, there is lots of street food that is tasty and cheap.  I find it difficult to eat restaurant meals more than once a day.  The crepes, croques monsieurs, and Moroccan tuna sandwiches are all fabulous.  Also, see if you can find a Moroccan restaurant and have couscous.  Or a Vietnamese restaurant to see the "French" take on it (very different than here in the states).

Also, the prix fixe menus, as GI-Jane mentioned are a great deal in modest restaurants.

I love Paris!

montpellier is in the very very south of france.  i don't remember doing a whole lot, but it was really fun to explore, and go to the beaches nearby.

crepes are a meal, a dessert, they're everything that is good in the world.

The Pere Lachaise cemetary is really incredible, all these amazing, elaborate crypts and headstones and there are paths and stairs that wind throughout. I just went to see Jim Morrison's grave but it ended up being my favourite sight. Well after the Louvre, that is...the classic paintings and sculptures are all very impressive and historical, of course, I am happy just remembering it...but the Egyptian display is truly incroyable!! Rows and rows of artifacts, spectacular!