Honeymoon in Paris, where to go while there?

oboeguy

Diamond Member
Dec 7, 1999
3,907
0
76
Hello everyone! My fiancée and I are getting married this summer and are going to Paris for the honeymoon. I would love to hear suggestion for what to see and do, not only Paris, but the rest of the country as well.

I speak French pretty well (though I am a bit rusty) so language shouldn't be a big problem. We're definitely visiting the big museums (Louvre, Orsay and Rodin, for sure) and sites like the E. Tower and Notre Dame. I am an oboe player (duh) so we also are planning to visit some of the big makers of oboes.

I've been to Paris before, once as a kid, and once visiting a buddy of mine, so I know my way around a little bit. However, as we are planning for a two week honeymoon, we need lots of things to do. This includes perhaps going to Normandy to see Mont Saint Michel, for example. Any other suggestions? Thanks in advance!

FYI, I've arleady found some super-useful sites to complement my handy Paris guide (an authentic French one :) ):

France.com

The Mapquest of Western Europe?
 

RSMemphis

Golden Member
Oct 6, 2001
1,521
0
0
Oooo, Paris. Good choice.

Suggestions:

* Boat trip on the Seine
* Visit the castles in the Loire valley
* One day to stroll around in the center, maybe do some (window-)shopping

Depending on how much time and/or money you want to spend - a day trip (with one night) to London might be cool, too.

Good luck for the wedding and the marriage.
 

Bluga

Banned
Nov 28, 2000
4,315
0
0
Paris is AWESOME for honeymoon. There're so many stuff to do while there. Louvre, Paris tower, Le' Defense (pardin my spelling), and of course that street everyone knows.

There's also a Beatiful castle @ Fontain Blu which is only a hour away from Paris. DON'T miss that.
 

Doggiedog

Lifer
Aug 17, 2000
12,780
5
81
Bateu Mouche or how ever you spell it.

Buy some French bread, brie, nutella and strawberries go to some park and eat them on the grass.
 

RSMemphis

Golden Member
Oct 6, 2001
1,521
0
0
Fontaine Bleu is very beautiful, and part of the Loire castles (IIRC).

La défense, however, is just funky due to the building with the whole through the middle, but not exciting for any other means, IMO.
 

oboeguy

Diamond Member
Dec 7, 1999
3,907
0
76
Wow, such a quick bunch of replies; you guys are great! :)

Everyone so far is saying to go to Fontaine Bleue, eh? It's going on the list, then. Do you all figure there are tours and the like to visit these places? We will be going when all the French are in Spain (August, I would know, having spent many summers there myself), so I wonder how hot the tourism season will be.

Upon your suggestions, I've just checked for la Défense, and found another interesting site:

Paris.org

Keep those ideas coming...
 

MadRat

Lifer
Oct 14, 1999
11,909
229
106
If its during Holiday then simply stay awake and enjoy. Paris never sleeps and there is never a dull moment during the party hours. ;)

I highly recommend the main drag with the Garden of the Royale Palace, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triumph, Louvre, Hotel de Ville, Hotel Les Invalides? (Napoleon's tomb), Bastille, etc. Just a hint, but the Louvre is best enjoyed over two days, preferably only a couple hours each visit. (Its a major walk around the place!) You don't have to be Cathloic to enjoy Basilica du Sacre?, Saint Chapelle, and Notre Dame. If Cathloic then surely don't miss the shrines dedicated to saints. (May even be worth it to glide down to Lourdes for a enchanting evening!) Don't forget the HardRock Cafe, although the food wasn't exactly my cup of tea.

Take a jacket and tie. The better joints to eat require them. ;)
 

oboeguy

Diamond Member
Dec 7, 1999
3,907
0
76
Ah, the comment by MadRat about the food reminds me of something important: we're both vegetarians. Will we starve? I was veggie when I was last there and mostly lived off of the good pastries, bread and an occasional Italian restaurant. I'd like to do a little better this time around. :eek:

We've mastered Barcelona pretty well, having found a couple of great vege places. Paris, though... I hope we can find the same sort of thing.
 

Static911

Diamond Member
Nov 24, 2000
4,338
1
0
NOOOO! But if you have to go...well...

But make sure you go to the museums in the morning, like as in 9AM! Or you will be waiting for 2-3 hours in line. OR, get a 3-day pass and you can skip all the lines at the museums.

This pass can be purchased at any underground rail live attendent booth (it comes in 3-5-7 days I believe)

At the Orsey, if you have the pass, you can go through the "backway" through the bookshop. Apparently, when you purchase a pass, you don't get a ticket...you just show your pass at the gate and they let you in.

Definately go to the E. Tower...at night, it is really cool too.

Have fun

Static911
 

luv2chill

Diamond Member
Feb 22, 2000
4,611
0
76
Don't forget a trip to Versailles. It's only an hour train ride outside of the city, and is well worth it... the gardens at that place must be seen to be believed!

Aside from that, everything else that I did in my three days in Paris has been covered. Make sure you spend some good quality time sipping coffee at a genuine corner cafe... that city has such an awesome ambience to it...

And I would worry about the menus... I saw lots of meat-free stuff there. Obviously yeah you could just eat pastries, but you won't have to.

Have fun planning it. I'm dying to get back to Europe.

l2c
 

b0mbrman

Lifer
Jun 1, 2001
29,471
1
81
I don't care how cliché it is...eating *on* the Eiffel Tower is so damn cool :)

Also, I think Sacre Coeur is the best-looking building in the city :)
 

oboeguy

Diamond Member
Dec 7, 1999
3,907
0
76
I visited the gardens at the palace at Versailles during the summer when I was a kid and thought it was great then. The second time was in January... no flowers, but at least I learned to take one the yellow line trains to get there (IIRC). :( It's definitely a planned destination -- perhaps a good one for the Nutella pic-nic? :)
 

Fausto

Elite Member
Nov 29, 2000
26,521
2
0
My wife and I took a day trip to Beaune and had a great time. The town in beautiful and there are about a zillion wine "caves" to tour and sample the wines...we bought several bottles back that are still in the basement maturing. Had a plate of beef burgundy for lunch of course....what else would you order in the heart of the Burgundy wine region (doesn't apply to you guys obviously)?;)

If you do this, pony up the extra loot to take the TGV.....going 200mph through the countryside while sipping coffee was really, really cool.:D

Fausto
 

MadRat

Lifer
Oct 14, 1999
11,909
229
106
<<Ah, the comment by MadRat about the food reminds me of something important: we're both vegetarians. Will we starve?>>

Meat is not a European staple. :p

If you intend to go to a beach, avoid pebble beaches like Nice!! Cannes is much better.
 

b0mbrman

Lifer
Jun 1, 2001
29,471
1
81


<< Ah, the comment by MadRat about the food reminds me of something important: we're both vegetarians. Will we starve? >>


You can get pasta all day long
 

luv2chill

Diamond Member
Feb 22, 2000
4,611
0
76
Yikes, I just re-read your post... I hadn't noticed you were planning a trip to Normandy... very cool! That's where I went after my short stint in Paris. I really wanted to see the D-Day landing beaches and the American Cemetary. IMHO, the best place to do this is in the city of Bayeux. I stayed in a hostel there (I was backpacking), but there are lots of cool little hotels and B&Bs that would be perfect for couples.

Bayeux is SUCH a cool little town. It was the first city to be liberated from the Nazis, and also has the famous 230 ft. long Bayeux Tapestry, depicting the William the Conqueror saga leading up to the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Also, Bayeux's Notre Dame is gorgeous.

But for me the best part of Bayeux is it's charm. It's what I picture most little french towns to be like. I got in on a Friday night and woke up early on Saturday and went down to the main street in town. There was a street fair going on (I imagine they do that fairly regularly) with little boutiques and bookstores and antique shops and boulangeries with the smell of freshly baked baguettes and coffee wafting through the air.

There's also a cool little park in the middle of town with green grass and lots of trees (there's a statue of Charles De Gaulle there). I really liked that park... seemed like a perfect place for a picnic.

Then of course there's the tour vans that will take you to all the D-Day stuff. There are a couple of different companies (you can get lots of info at the Bayeux tourist center, which is right on the main drag there)--Normandy Tours and Bus-Fly. I took the former just because they guaranteed me a spot whereas Bus-Fly said it would be hit or miss depending on whether anyone canceled. I met some really cool people on the tour, and overall it was a good experience... It was cool (and sobering) to see those beaches where so many soldiers died to ensure my freedom. The French treat them like normal beaches (as they should)... so you'll see people lounging, sunbathing (topless :)), and children playing amongst heaps of iron from the artificial harbor that washed up on the beach. Life does indeed go on.

I spent two days in Bayeux, but could easily have stayed another day or two. So many people don't ever leave Paris, and come away with this horrible impression of french people (it's like how some foreigners base their entire opinion of America on NYC). There is so much more to France than that, and visiting Bayeux showed me the "small-town" France I hadn't seen in Paris. The people there were VERY friendly (although many don't speak much, if any, English), and although there were tourists, it wasn't overrun like Paris was--even in August at the height of tourist season.

DEFINITELY take a trip to the Normandy coast, and see how different it is from Paris. I can't recommend it highly enough.

l2c
 

oboeguy

Diamond Member
Dec 7, 1999
3,907
0
76
luv2chill, what a great idea! It never would have occurred to me to go to Bayeux in particular. I read quite a bit about the Bayeux Tapestry my first year in college (dang, almost 10 years ago now!), so that alone makes a trip worth it. Of course Omaha Beach is another must-see.

Ismap tells me that Mont-Saint-Michel is only an hour and half away... excellent. The plan is taking shape...
 

b0mbrman

Lifer
Jun 1, 2001
29,471
1
81
Ah yes...and if you're a Military buff, there's quite a bit of cool WW2 stuff in the Hotel des Invalides
 

SpecialEd

Platinum Member
Jul 18, 2001
2,110
0
0
I will also vouch for the palace de Versailles... very beautiful. You guys probably won't be up for this, but the club scene in Paris is insane!!! If you like intense dancing there are plenty of awesome clubs on the Champs. However you'll probably be surrounded by the immature, crazy youth of paris... so scratch that idea.

La Defense if VERY modern, on the out skirts of Paris. its okay... there is a very nice contemporary art museaum on the top floor. However, it is very removed from the traditional feel of Paris. I'd recommend checking out the country side or staying with in the heart of Paris. Also don't try to do too much... Paris is very exhusting city.
 

oboeguy

Diamond Member
Dec 7, 1999
3,907
0
76
This post serves as a bump, and a question: has anyone been to Giverny? That's where Monet had his gardens which painted so much. That's a big attraction for us.