What are some good sites to see in Paris, France?

Question

I'm looking for cool things to see in Paris other than the obvious Eiffel Tower, Moulin Rouge, Louvre... any suggestions? (And please name some places, don't direct me to a website!!)

Answer 1

In reality their called "sights."

Answer 2

You cannot beat the nightlife in Paris......   Go shopping for nice lingerie.. They have the best prices and beautiful items that you cannot buy here... Check out the beautiful cathedrals and many of the museums... Take lots of pictures too....

Answer 3

Paris is a big city, an old city, and a city filled with political, cultural, artistic and literary hisatory. There are enough good sites to see that you could stay there for years and not see them all. (I've been visiting Paris pretty regularly for the last 35 years and I haven't seen everything yet.)

So your question is hard to answer because to completely answer it we'd have to write a book.

Luckily, a lot of people have done exactly that and any one of these guide books is pretty much as good as another.

I know this sounds silly but being a "good" tourist is hard work and you should spend almost as much time preparing as you do actually being there.

So get at least one of those books and read it.

And while you're at it, read some of the books written by people about their experiences in Paris. there are a lot of these type of books too. Hemingway's "A Moveable Feast" is a great one but even a funny book like Art Buchwald's "I'll always have Paris" is worth reading.

Make a list of what you want to see based on your personal interests and the amount of time you have. Of course, its fine to come back to this forum with more specific questions after you have had the time to do some research of your own.

There's also a lot to Paris that is beyond the tourist sights. Its the ambience and the attitude of Paris which need to be lived and felt.

You should spend some time just strolling around the city to appreciate its architecture and to get a feel for its medieval layout, the Belle Epoch improvements of Baron Hausman, and the modernizations seen in places like the Les Halles Forum and the new Opera in the Place Bastille.

You should take a little time to just sit in a cafe in the Latin Quarter or St. Germaine and people watch.

Enjoy some of the nightlife of Paris. Not the tourist ripoffs like the Moulin Rogue or the Lido but the vast number of fantastic music venues, from the jazz joints to discos.

Eat! And be a bit courageous. Go to places that don't cater to tourists and don't have English menus. Just point to things on the menu or, better still, walk into a cafe at lunchtime and ask for the daily special which you'll almost always see displayed on a chalk board. don't worry if you don't know what it is! Try it! The worst that will happen is that you'll have a hilarious story to tell about how you got served a calve's head with cream sauce or something else too weird for you to eat.

Don't listen to the half wits who tell you Parisians are terrible people or adivse staying in a tight little tourist cocoon..

Strike up conversations with strangers, be open minded, put your map in your back pocket and just wander around, get lost, experiment, learn, take the time to really look at things.

There are a few nifty things that you might not come across in the usual tourist guides that I suggest you try.

1) Have dinner with an icon of the Hippie era.

Jim Haynes is one of the founders of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and founder of the London Traverse Theatre Company. He started Suck, the sexual freedom newspaper, in Amsterdam in 1969 and taught Media Studies and Sexual Politics at the University of Paris 8.

He throws a dinner party every Sunday night. The crowd will include college professors, artists, the occasional rock star of famous actor. Give him a phone call or send him an email and you'll be invited. Details are on his website at: http://www.jim-haynes.com/index.htm

2)Go Rollerskating

Every Friday night except when there is rain, the City of Paris and the Paris Rollerskating Association organize a skate thru the streets of Paris from about 10 PM till 1 AM. Details are on this website: http://www.pari-roller.com/index.php?p=1...

3) Become a member of the least exclusive club in the world

The Café Metropole Club meets every Thursday after noon. membership is very exclusive...you have to show up. The people who do show up are a coolection of expatriates and tourists. A good place to meet some nice people and get some good advice about current events. Details can be found here: http://www.metropoleparis.com/aclub.html

4) Become part of a street performance

Check out the big plaza in front of the Centre Pompidou (Which contains the Museum of Modern Art). On most sunny afternoons you'll find all sorts of street entertainers there. Among these will almost always be some guys doing big involved audience participation comedy bits. When they call for volunteers (and they always do) don't hesitate to stand up. The fact that you probably don't speak French will be NO problem. These guys tend to be very good and very funny. You'll have a great time and if you can have someone snap a picture you'll have a great story to tell when you get home (and a photo to prove it).

Have fun!

Answer 4

These are the best things to do in Paris besides the things you mentioned:

1. Bike About Tours

2. Fat Tire Bike Tours Paris

3. Musee d'Orsay

4. Palais Garnier-Opera National de Paris

5. Hotel des Invalides

6. Notre Dame Cathedral

7. E. Dehillerin

8. La Madeleine

9. Musee Rodin

10. Luxembourg Gardens

Answer 5

you are so lucky! ive heard the palace of versailles is gorgeous...and im pretty sure that you can take transportation from there to marie antoinette's "cottage" or summer home. Have fun!!!