- Sacre Couerr Basilica: gives you a great view of Paris for free (though you can pay to take a funicular to the top).

- Eiffel tower. Go see it, but don’t waste time or money going up it…besides the view from the top doesn’t include Paris’ most famous structure – the Eiffel Tower!

- Mountparnasse tower: You can ride the elevator to the top of this modern skyscraper and get one of the best views of the city.

- Bateaux Miouche: One of the best ways to see paris is from a boat. I like to go at night when the city is lit up. http://www.bateaux-m…

- Parks: Because most parisians live in tiny apartments, they tend to spend a lot of time outdoors (either at cafes or in parks). My favourite park is Luxembourg Gardens (the Paris equivalent of Central Park). The Tulieries Gardens is also pretty nice…buy some bread, wine, pate, cheese and have a picnic

Pere Lachaise Cemetery: Loads of famous folks are buried here…Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, Chopin, worth a look if you’re into dead celebs.

Well, as I’m sure you know, it depends entirely on what you like to do. What interests you about Paris? art? history? nightlife? all of the above?

Not knowing what you’re looking for, here are some of my highly subjective opinions:

Since you’ll be there in August, take advantage of Paris-Plage! They block off the road on the right bank of the seine, fill it in with sand and even put up palm trees. There’s no swimming, but it’s fun to walk around or lay out in the sun for an hour or two. And it’s free.

The Louvre is a beautiful museum, but it can be overwhelming. Between the enormous crowds and it’s sheer size, if you don’t have your heart set on seeing it. You may end up standing in lines for half a day just to see the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and Winged Victory, so you might want to consider whether or not that’s how you want to spend your time. The Musée d’Orsay, on the other hand, shouldn’t be missed. It is by far my favorite thing to see in Paris, and I go back every time I’m there. It’s full of 19th century art, open, airy, navigable, and less crowded than the Louvre with an amazing collection of Impressionist works. You can also purchase a combined ticket to the Orsay and Musée de Rodin, which is nearby. The Musée de Rodin is a nice little museum with beautiful, relaxing grounds.

My favorite Cathedral in Paris is Saint Chapelle. Some of the most beautiful stained glass in the world. Notre Dame is fun. Climb the tower for a beautiful view of Paris.

Le Marché aux Puces (flea market) is great for a few hours. Wander through stalls of antiques, old books, vintage clothing, etc. Great place to window shop or pick up an inexpensive, unique souvenir.

Great picnic spots: the base of Eiffel Tower, the park on the very tip of Ile de la Cité, on Pont des Arts.

Finally, if you have four days, consider taking a daytrip. Versailles is over the top, and probably the most popular day trip from Paris, but if I had to chose, I’d say go to Reims for the day. It’s a 45 min train ride (less than 10 euro). Tour a champagne house (and taste some ), walk around, see the lovely cathedral, etc.

Place de L’Alma: Tunnel where Princess Di snuffed it. Lots of little homemade memorials placed by the tunnel entrance. Kinda cool, but kinda weird too

We were planning on taking a day trip to Versaille…we were thinking about splurging on a Versaille bike tour…which is going to end up costing around 100 bucks, do you think that’s worth it? It includes the bike rental, and entrance into the museum?

I’ve heard that the louvre is disappointing…I just feel like seeing the Mona Lisa is a must do for some reason. But I really don’t want to spend the whole day standing in line.

I’ve also heard that the Catacombs are pretty awesome, I think I would like to see that. Any idea on the entrance fee?

I love the idea of having a picnic in the park, I will probably end up doing that on a daily basis. I want to experience the city, not necessarily follow a guidebook around.

Quai Saint-Bernard – Tino Rossi Square: This one is a bit weird. Next to the Seine River, there’s a square where couples (young and old) go to dance in the open air. Most of the dancers are very good (i.e ballroom, tango, etc.) but anyone is welcome to get up. It’s also fun just to sit and watch.

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$100 for a bike tour is not at all worth it IMO. If you’re going to splurge on something, buy a bottle of champagne, eat a nice meal, etc. There are some notable exceptions, but in general, things like “group tours” will not be the most memorable part of your trip.

As for the Louvre, I wouldn’t say it’s disappointing… it’s crowded. There are lines. It’s enormous. You have to go with realistic expectations. If your heart is set on going, get there early. I’d say be in line before it opens. Look at a map online before you go so you have an idea of where you want to go within the museum.

I’ve heard mixed reviews on the catacombs. Some of my friends liked them, others thought that the tours were sort of a tourist trap. But it’s not expensive…. 4 euro for students, 8 for adults.

Well, as far as Versaille goes, I didn’t want to get there, and be overwhelmed by how massive it is, and not really see it. The bike tour I found gave you a full tour of the grounds, entrance into the museum, and they toured you around the “must see’s.” I suppose I could probably rent a bike and take it there myself for half the price My only issue is that I like to know what it is I am looking at in museums, or it’s really not that interesting to me.

I can see the appeal of doing the bike tour. However, if your main concern is knowing what you’re looking at, remember that an audioguide is included in the price of your 20-25 euro “passport.” It is massive, but if you have all day, you won’t be rushed to fit in all the “must-sees.” Personally, I would read up a little about the chateau, grounds, and “must-sees” online, take the free audioguide, and wander around at my own pace, for half the price.

I looked online and I think I found the tour you’re talking about. It seems very convenient, but my gut reaction is that it’s a lot of money for something like a tour. In addition, you have to remember that Versailles is set up for millions of tourists every year. Nothing is that difficult to get to or understand. The “must-sees” aren’t hidden. If it was a lot of work or super overwhelming to tour the grounds and various buildings, why would so many people visit every year?

Reims is a great day trip, and very cost-effective.

The Louvre is open late (around 9, 9:30pm) on Wednesdays and Fridays. (But it, like so many other museums in France, is closed Tuesdays.) There is going to be a line no matter what, especially in August, but if you take the rue d Rivoli entrance, at the Louvre mall, underneath the museum (other side of the glass pyramid) it might reduce your wait time.
The Mona Lisa is on the first floor with the other Italian renaissance paintings.
There is plenty to see, you’d never see it all in one day, so just pick your favorites and prioritize.

I’m going to disagree with Finnegan about going up the Eiffel. We went up at night and it was magical. But I agree about the cemeteries. It is free and it is very interesting.
Yeah, it’s a bunch of dead celebs, but Pere la Chaise and Montparnasse cemeteries are a nice shady walk on a hot afternoon—lots of history there, all for free.

I completely agree with Cil and other posters about Pere la Chaise and Montparnasse being worth a visit. As an Californian, the cemeteries in France were much different than what I was used to. It sounds strange, but the beauty and size of the grave markers are really a sight to see. Well worth a few hours of walking and viewing, in my opinion.

What is most worth seeing in Paris are the places, the least worth seeing. By that I mean, the streets of Paris where people live and work and shop, for the most part away from the din of tourists. When there I always make it a point to pick two touristic sites separated by 5-7 ks, and then spend most of the time walking between them. For example, it’s an easy walk from the Musee D’Orsay to the Quai D’Orsay (sp?), past the Ritz and the Opera to Sacre Coeur, maybe 3Ks or less. Along the way there are many small shops, with relatively low prices and nice stuff, and French greasy spoons where you can pop in and have a steak with egg or steak and fries, and lovely buildings and garden and churches and the Opera of course. Try that. Walk until you drop!

Enjoy Paris.

Well, I wouldn’t miss the Eiffel Tower if given a chance

Don’t miss seeing the Eiffel Tower, just don’t waste you time and money going up it

I ‘think you can get a three-day museum pass that includes the Louvre and the Orsay, and dozens of other features. The Louvre is only crowded in certain rooms and at certain times; at other times you can walk right up to the Mona Lisa without being elbowed. With the pass, if it is crowded, you can just go across the river the the Orsay and come back to the Louvre at another time. I recall that one time the Mona Lisa is not crowded is right at opening time, before the late risers get there and while everyone else is mulling around looking for the gallery, so some planning can help. Near Winged Victory are one or two of Michelangelo’s slaves, which are awesome, but don’t seem to draw a crowd. Another advantage of the pass is that you can break up your visit (the Louvre, particularly, is huge) by leaving for lunch and coming back.

Versailles is huge and opulent, but also very crowded, with a lot of lines. We went, but I wouldn’t mind having missed it. I would rather commute to Giverny and see Manet’s garden. There is no art kept there (the Marmottan has a lot of it) except for some woodcuts that Manet enjoyed, but the garden is a virtual composition and you see what he saw as he did his paintings. Right across the street from the entrance was a nice rural cafe where we got a good reasonably priced lunch; I hope its still there.

Be sure to leave some free time to wander interesting neighborhoods; that’s one of the best parts of Paris, and its free. You can always find an informal vendor to get lunch and save some money that way. Get a sandwich and a small bottle of wine and eat in a park.

Monet’s estate at Giverny is quite beautiful, but if you aren’t an art fan, it’s probably not that high on the priority list. The water lily gardens are quite amazing though. His house is pretty quirky too… entire rooms are painted and decorated all in one color (lavender, yellow, pastel blue).

Versailles is great if you have all day and skip the lines (buy a “passport” at FNAC in Paris for 1.50 euros more and skip the 2+ hour line… totally worth it!). My favorite part was not the Chateau itself (which is nice, but once you’ve seen one room, you’ve practically seen them all. exception: hall of mirrors which is fantastic!) but the gardens and Marie Antoinette’s hamlet. That’s where we spent more of our time when we went.

For the Louvre, about the most amount of time I could spend there was 3-4 hours before everything starts to look the same. We ended up going 4 times during the month I studied in Paris and still didn’t see everything, but got the big things in. If you grab a map at ticket entrance, it shows you where all the big deal things are, plus you can pick out areas that interest you and head towards them, like for me, it was Egyptian, Etruscan, Roman, Greek, Persian, etc. which are all in the same “wing” (but different floors and rooms).

As for the Eiffel tower, I definitely think it’s worth it to go up. But don’t take the elevator from the bottom (12 euros! ouch). You can climb the stairs to the second level for 3.10eur and then take the elevator from the second floor for 4 euros. Save 5 euros, get a serious workout (it’s about 30 floors to the second level) and a great view! There are some gift shops on the first and second floors too which aren’t TOO overpriced (about the same as any other tourist shop around the city). You can even send a postcard through a post office on the first floor which will have a special Tour Eiffel postmark on it.

wow this has been so informative!! im so excited to research some of these places!! doesn anyone know about the paris opera house??? Mona and I really want to go there and we would like to know if any of you know stuff about it.
so:
go to the louve buy a special pass
go to versaille buy a “passport”
hit up other museums while around the louve
do picnics
head up the eiffel tower(im doing the elevator and Mona is doing the stairs)
does it cost to take the elevator down??
in total for doing the elevator with out stairclimbing and sending a postcard and maybe a trinket how much would the eiffel tower cost?
also how much are trinkets and “replica” prints at the louve??? like I went to the LACMA and to the getty and replica prints were pretty inexpensive.
is $175 good for an all day tour & food thing good for the Loire Valley??
I really want to see it, but i dont know if a tour is the best route or a self guided tour?? what are your thoughts???
thanks everyone here on eurotrip!
-sammi and mona

For the Loire rent a car for a few days and do it yourself

for the valley we would only take a day trip…would renting a car still be good, and also we have a rail pass the really big one that spans like countries and stuff…so you think we could just go over there ourselves see the castles we want to see and be done in half the time??
if that works hell yeah! plus we dont want to spend our time with tourist even though we are too…this whole trip is about independence not staying uniform with other clueless tourist.
thanks finnegan for the advice!
-sammi and mona

If you only have a day I would suggest the following 3 Chateau: 1.5 hour train ride to Blois (Blois has a really great chateau right in the city). From Blois its a short bus ride (20 mins) to Chateau Chambord (one of my top 2 fav chateaus). Return back to Blois and grab a train to Chenonceau (the train stops across the street from the chateau). Chenonceau is my fav chateau – rent a rowboat and paddle under the chateau and along the river – maybe have a riverbank picnic. After Chenonceau take the train to Tours (there’s a chateau there too but nothing special). From Tours grab the train (1.5 hours) back to Paris. Of course you could also do the trip in reverse (arrive in Tours depart Blois). For most of the time you’ll be travelling beside the Loire River. The entire distance between Tours and Blois is less than 75 miles so it should be doable in a day. From Blois I know you can grab a bus tour if you feel like riding in a big tour bus with other tourists. Also most chateau (chenonceau definietly) have self guided tours that you can download onto an ipod in advance so a tour guide isn’t really necessary. Given the short distances, I would personally train it to Tours rent a car, visit the chateaus I’ve mentioned (plus there’s lots of smaller ones along the way if you want to take some minor detours). Return the car back in Tours. Tours is a larger city with more trains running to Paris

The Loire is already pretty touristy, but it is beautiful, and a car gives you independence.
If you can read a map and know what you really want to see, it’s worth it.
(I knew that I really wanted to see the gardens of Villandry as well as Fontavreud Abbey.)
We spent 2 days in the Loire, and saw 2 chateaux, plus Villandry and Fontavreud Abbey.
That sight-seeing includes our drive in to, and then out of, the Valley.
Don’t forget to stop at vineyards and do some wine-tasting, too.
If all you can do is a day trip, paying for a tour is not the end of the world. Just try to find a tour that accommodates what you really want to see.

If you travel beween Blois and Tours (or even as far as Amboise – where Leonardo Da Vinci is buried) you can’t get lost when driving…just keep the river on one side and the chateaus on the other

Finnegan u are a Loire Valley smart cookie!! your advice is so awesome and totally helped me decide on the sites!!!(since France is all up to me ) about how much is renting a car?? we would love to figure that into our budget and send all the infor to our travel agent! i really want to see chambord and (your favorite the bridge looking one) also divinci (well his grave) would be amazing to see since he is my co-favorite painter!! also Cil your advice was very enlightening as well! with eurotrip i know i cant do wrong on our trip!!
thanks so much guys!
-sammi and mona
p.s. finnegan how much are boat rides at your fav chateaux?? well the rowboat thing i mean.

i also forgot to mention if we leave around 7:30 am and go as far as amboise and see the chateauxs what time will we arrive back to paris??? We are planning to do a late moulin rouge show and if we arrive semi-late we could just go back to our hotel and get ready to see the moulin rouge show…thanks again
-sammi and mona

car rental prices depend on whether you can drive a stick (the norm in europe and way cheaper) or if you’ll have to shell out to get an automatic. There’s also the matter of gas, which is much more expensive in Europe as well. When I was in France last summer, it was around 1.30 euros/liter, there are 3.785 liters in a gallon, and the exchange rate at the time was around $1.68 per euro. Thus it was around $8.90/gallon!! Some cars run on diesel, more so than in the US, and diesel fuel is a bit cheaper. Cars in europe also get WAY better mileage than many in the US, often because they’re quite compact.

Rowboats rent for about $3 US for 1/2 hour at Chenonceau. Chateau Amboise has sort of a daVinci museums with replicas of some of his inventions, etc. Train from Paris to Amboise is over 2 hours (stops at every town). When I went a few years back we took a highspeed train to Tours and it took half the time. Given your limited timeframe, I would recommend using the Tours area as your arrival and departure base and place to rent a car. Actually it would probably be best to get off of at Gare St. Pierre De Corps (train sation) which is just outside of the main city of Tours. You can rent cars right from the station. They have Avis there and I’ve rented from Europcars there also. From Tours Amboise is a short drive (about 15 miles), then another 10 miles to Chenonceau then onto Blois and Chambord. Personally I would skip the Moulin Rouge thing ( a bit of a tourist trap thing – on par with a cheezy vegas night club act) and spend an extra day in the Loire region and experience real french culture

thanks for the advice guys!! so i will mention to my travel agent about a car…its only for one day so i couldnt imagine it being like super ridiculous.. if its over 175 american dollars im not going to rent one…well just go on the tour. and as for moulin rouge we have never seen a vegas show…but we really want to go to the moulin rouge its our fav. movie and its like other tourist traps..they well trap us lol also the loire valley is my thing not so much hers…so i dont want to drag her on a 2day my day thing…plus once youve seen a castle they might all just blend together..so i want to appreciate them and then leave..but i think its a must see
again thanks for the advice…im super stoked now!
-sammi and mona

I suspect the car will be around $60 US. Sorry to burst you’re bubble, but the real Moulin Rouge is nothing like the movie. The place is a bit dingy, they pack you in like sardines (i.e you will be knocking elbows with the people sitting on either side) and its expensive. If you do go, my only advice is to go with the dinner package – it costs more but you’ll get better seating than the “drinks only” ticket holders.

Is the 60 for the car and gas or just the car?? and thats so doable!! about the moulin rouge thats fine..we are considering the dinner package but its a lot more…and we were going to ask around about best resturants that arent ridiculously expensive…but do cost a bit more than the average meal in paris, because we are looking to eat a fancy dinner in paris, italy (well a few in italy) and one in greece. prefferably not more than 75 euros for both of us. and were not really going to be doing that much clubbing we want to spend our money on trinkets and such!
Also can we get some more details about versaille…like how much is the ticket to go in….and how early should we arrive?? can it be done in half a day? sorry for so many questions its just i want paris to be really wonderful!

the ticket into Versailles for the whole grounds is 25 euros. If you buy it in Paris at a FNAC store, there is a 1.50 euro service charge but you get to skip the line (which can be more than 2 hours long)! If you go in the FNAC, ask someone where the service desk is and then ask for a passport ticket for versailles (really simple to do, ppl speak english there if it gets confusing). Also, you will take the RER out to Versailles and it costs for round-trip maybe 3 euros or a little more? not expensive. It should really be done in a whole day, if you want to see everything. Honestly, the best parts of it is not the palace but the gardens and marie antoinette’s hamlet (in my opinion anyway, that’s what I would recommend). But it takes a good while to go through everything because unless you pay to ride the little tram/bus thing, you have to walk everywhere.

what is a fnac?? and yeah im all about paying a little more and not waiting in line!! what is the RER?? i feel really dumb for asking these questions but id rather sound dumb and get my questions answered lol also how much is the tram/bus thing??? ok let me just ask:
Versaille:
versaille ticket + the service no wait fee
RER whatever that is
and the bus tram thing??
so i can tally it all up and add it to our budget

also the loire valley:
automatic car rental + gas for about 150 miles
entery to the chateauxs (do they charge?? idk)

also i asked about restuarants in paris… one night in paris we want to eat at a fany resturant…we dont want to spend more that 80 euros.
and one night in paris we are going to stay up all night can anyone suggest what to do with our time??
what about the catacombs?? sunrise/breakfast at the eiffel tower??
thanks guys

FNAC is a music store chain, they sell concert tickets, CDs, etc but they also sell tickets to like Versailles and I think some other tourist sites maybe. they are several in Paris, it should be pretty easy to find one from your hotel/hostel. I just googled FNAC store paris and came up with at least three locations. ( http://www.google.co… )
The RER is the Réseau Express Régional, it’s the commuter train in Paris, like the métro sort of but it goes out to the suburbs and only makes a few stops in the center of Paris. These lines are lettered (A-D I think) while métro lines are numbered (1-14). Versailles is a suburb of Paris, it’s only about 15 miles outside the center of town, and the train is really convenient to get out there. If you take the RER out there, it takes maybe 30 minutes depending on where in the city you are. RER C goes to Versailles. Once you get off the train, it’s super easy to walk to the palace entrance from there. There are signs but really just all you have to do is follow the crowd. It’s a short walk.

Here is a .pdf RER map: http://www.ratp.info…
If you’ll see, C5 ends at “Versailles-Rive Gauche/Chateau de Versailles”.
We got on at “Javel” station, but you can get on at any RER C station (sometimes within the métro stations, sometimes not. you may have to take a métro to near a RER station, leave the métro, and cross the street or something to get to the RER station. that’s what we had to do.) Also, here is RATP’s interactive metro/RER map. It’s in French but really easy to navigate even if you don’t know the language. http://www.ratp.info…

If you fly into Paris, you can also take RER B from CDG airport into the city as well.

thank you so much that was very informative!! all the abbreviations made me feel so dumb…but now i got it!! thanks for explaining it, our travel agent is kinda b****y so yeah i dont really like to ask her many questions….i ask her a simple question and because shes old i guess she feels seasoned in the ways of the world and she tries to make mona and i feel like idiots! any ways enough about me complaining about our travel agent lol I am going to for sure check out your links! Tues is Mona and my travel planning day so we will look over all the links then! i swear eurotrip is so helpful its crazy!! idk what i would do without the help of this site and the people on here!!

It’s fine, Sammi, that’s what we’re here for! I know a lot about Paris because I studied there for a month last year but I don’t know anything about many other cities in Europe so I know how you feel!

yeah its really overwhelming when i think about it! 10 countries 30-32 days….thats a lot of time and money and i want to get it right! how was your experience studying over there?? i really want to study abroad but i heard its a whole lot of money and this trip is already draining my funds lol

Oh I absolutely loved it, I wish I could’ve stayed longer but the only program through my school was the 1 month summer one, and my mom didn’t want me to go with an outside program. I would’ve LOVED to go on a semester program, for sure. One of my friends is going in the spring and I am so jealous of him!
Paris is BEAUTIFUL in the summer and the weather is so nice there (aka not steaming hot) compared to summers where I’m from (alabama)! I swear it might have rained maybe three times the entire month. On the days it rained it was a bit chilly for me, low 60’s Fahrenheit, but most of the time it was sunny or at least partly sunny/cloudy, and warm but not hot (mid-high 70’s, occasionally low 80’s). This is in July, btw. At home, if it is not in the 90’s for 2 months straight, I’m lucky LOL. It’s less humid there as well.
And well, it’s Paris! What’s not to love right? I wasn’t sure I would be that impressed with the Eiffel Tower close up, but oh man, it’s awesome. We climbed the stairs to save 5 euros and it was ridiculous but totally worth it. Notre Dame is pretty badass in person too, and the gargoyles ROCK!
If you’d like to see some of my pictures, I can PM you the links to my France facebook albums.

oh wow luck that you get 90s! where im from in California it get into the 100s!!! i wonder if i will feel cold over there lol oh yeah spring time (amazing or at least it should be lol) mona really want to go in the summer but i cant because i have school and it would interfere with her college program too but yeah im super excited to see all the touristy things in france i dont care about if its touristy i want to see it lol and i sent you a facebook friend request…but the pm you sent it only had the link to one facebook album…so yeah, that was really cool of you to send the link!!

dang, sorry that didn’t work. I thought I sent 3… oops! probably the html got screwed up or something. Well, anyway, I friended you back on FB so you can look at them all now anyway! lol. I have like a million albums because I took about 1300 pictures during that one month, haha, but to be fair, they are from Paris, Versailles, Giverny, Strasbourg, AND Amsterdam, soooo…. yeah, 1300 is still a whooooooole lot haha.
What month are y’all looking to go? I am hoping to go in May (if I get my funds together by then).

we are planning to go in july…like july 5th lol right after our independence day! and honestly i know im going to fill up plenty of memory cards so 1300 pics is a lot but its memories so i wouldnt have an qualms about taking that many pics! another reason we are going in july is because thats when i have summer vacation…i so wish we could go in the spring..oh well. when i was looking at your albums i about died when i saw Versailles!!!!!!! Omg i love Marie Antoinette and all of the Parisian crap i just absorb it all and i live and breathe it, im a bit obsessed lol
i kinda have a problem tho, i havent told my dad im going to europe yet and hes not so high on the idea since im only going to be 19 when i go, he is really protective…but i think i can get through it!

You should buy a cheap USB memory card reader, that way you can go to an internet cafe and email the photos back to yourself and also clear your card so you can take more photos.

My 2gb memory card holds over 1300 pictures anyway, so I wouldn’t worry so much now but I didn’t have it when I went to France last year, I only had a 512mb which would only hold like 400 at a time. However since i was studying, I had brought my laptop and just put pics up every couple days. I think if I were traveling all over though, I would just buy a 2gb (or maybe even 4gb) instead of a card reader. Mine was really cheap off amazon.com, only like $10! But if you want to upload pics as you go along, Finnegan’s suggestion is a good one.

As for your dad, well, yeah my mom was super crazed about me going last year, even though I was going with a group from my school and I was rooming with a good friend. It was the first time I’d been out of the country and she freaked out like, the entire time I was there, she even missed my cousin’s birthday, my cousin that she helped raise! …and I didn’t miss home at all, LOL. She would ask me if I was ready to come home and see everyone and I lied and said, “Yeah, I miss people” even though I could’ve stayed in Paris forever haha.
I was 19 when I went last year too. But, well, if you have the money and stuff, why not? You ARE an adult now… This summer I went to Fiji for 6 weeks on an archaeology dig and next summer I am going back to Europe by myself for 3 weeks too (I just turned 21). After last summer, when I got back safe and sound, and not in a body bag, she chilled out a little and after this summer where I had no contact with her for 4 weeks (I was on a tiny island in the middle of the ocean LOL), she’s like, “okay, i don’t care what you do next summer, just do something where I can actually talk to you every couple days!”

My camera came with a cable so uploding is easy. Of course upgrading my 256 mb card might be a good idea too

haha. whatever works for you! I’m just saying, my 2gb card was super cheap on Amazon so look into it….

i think im just going to buy a really big memory card like a 2gb or a 4gb, also do any of you know about camcorders running on memory cards not little tapes?? we are going to film our trip and we would like to know any tech stuff about camcorders…also where are they allowed?? can we take them in at versaille, catacombs, the louve(other places too ) umm yeah about my dad im just going to like make it seem like it was a too good to pass up thing cause he is really not big on me leaving but i dont care, i am an adult and he needs to respect that…i mean its not like i do crazy stuff or anything in fact im a good, for lack of a better word, kid. thanks for all the help guys…and kay how was figi??
also….good resturants guys!! give me the dish on the best dishes..oh that was cheezy lol

I took a sony camcorder that ran on miniature disks, they were easily inserted into my laptop and uploaded or put in a DVD player and watched. I have a couple of those disks from france last year.
I took video in the Louvre so that shouldn’t be a problem, also versailles and giverny (inside monet’s house, no pics/video allowed though, just in the gardens). I’m not sure about the catacombes as you aren’t allowed to take flash photography there and it’s very dark in the tunnels. If you do want to take pics there, I suggest bringing a small flashlight. I think anywhere you are allowed to take regular camera pictures you should be allowed video but trust me there will be guards or someone letting you know if you aren’t allowed to do it.
One more thing, if you are in amsterdam, don’t take pics of the prostitutes in the windows, they will send big mean guys after you to delete the pic or take your camera completely (I saw this happen to someone else, not my personal experience). Also some sketchy dude yelled and me and my friends for taking a picture of the Bulldog Coffeeshop sign… I have no idea why, it’s not like they’re doing anything illegal. Luckily some crazy fool ran out of an alleyway yelling at that moment, we skedaddled and I got to keep my pic lol.

oh cool that sounds uber amazing!!!! im so excited that i can video and take pics!! yeah i can prolly get a cheap flashlight for the catacombes and be good, and i totally know about the prostitutes in amsterdam…i was reading something and a guy said they shot his friend or something…so thats a no go! so do most camcorders run on disks? i want to get like a 10 pack of disc and fill them up cause im not taking my laptop with me to europe. also cant your camcorder double as a picture taker my dads camcorder does that. hmm so much to think about and research…whats the average price of a decent quality camcorder…how much is too much so im not getting screwed lol i dont want to spend more than 375..i could go up to 400 if it was an excellent one.

I’m not sure how much the one I used cost, as it is my mom’s and she bought it around 4 years ago. I want to say around $500 then, but would probably be cheaper now. That one also takes pictures but I’ve never used it for that, I always have my tiny digital camera (with 2gb card) on me. http://www.sonystyle… <—- this very similar to the camcorder my mom has. It works very well, easy to use as it is not too much bigger than a regular camera. You probably wouldn’t need 10 discs as the ones I used had 60 minutes of tape space. Do you really think you’ll make 10 hours of video??? Maybe 5 at the most.

yeah your right i dont think i will need that many tapes…ill prolly take like 7 just in case i lose some or something, im really looking for a nice one that is compact and cheap im going to search for a long time…
i was going to say do you know anything about the paris opera house?? we are planning to go there.

Not really, I’ve never been there. But unless there is a performance going on, I don’t think you need any sort of tickets or to dress nice, to go inside. I’m pretty sure some friends who were studying in Paris with me last summer went and just walked around inside in regular clothes for free. Don’t quote me on that though. From the pictures, I recall it being very pretty.

oh its cool, gotta google some stuff on that…we are for sure going to do that…oh i was going to say we are getting the global pass for 21 days we are hoping thats going to be good enough we have to talk to our travel agent.
so i was going to ask do you think we are good on our schedule for 5 days or do you guys think we are trying to see too much in paris and the surrounding cities??

day one:
eiffel tower
arc de triumph
notre dame

day two:
museums and stuff

day three:
versaille..fany dinner clubbing

day four:
loire valley
cheap dinner
stay up all night in paris
find some stuff to do and film…maybe do the catacombes

day five:
have sunrise/ breakfast in front of the eiffel tower
paris opera house
souveniors
flea market
emerse ourselves in europe
day six belgium

do you all think our schedule is good? is there a good amount of stuff? should we add something? take away something??

I wouldn’t make such a detailed plan if I were you, especially without looking at a map. A lot of the things you have planned to do in one day are pretty far away from each other. It doesn’t make sense to be running around on the metro all day. Plus, personally, I love museums, but I never like to spend an entire day going from museum to museum. My attention span for for things like that tends to be about 3 hours max. Otherwise, everything just tends to blend together by the end of the day. If I were you, I’d make a list of the sights and museums I want to see, and when I got there, I would look at a map, and see what’s in the same area. I would plan to see a mix of sights and museums each day to avoid getting bored.

Also, another reason not to make such a detailed plan: you don’t know for sure what will be open, if certain museums will have a special exhibit you want to see, etc. For example, the catacombs are currently closed due to vandalism. They have not yet announced when they will reopen. Also, most museums are closed on Tuesdays. By all means, plan the days you’ll be out of the city proper. You need to plan those days well in advance. However, it doesn’t make sense to plan every minute of every day you’re sightseeing.