Paris

It sounds a bit weird but you must visit Père Lachaise Cemetery. It's a lovely place to wander around and has the graves of lots of famous people including Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf, Chopin, Jim Morrison and Maria Callas.

Sorry Lillie.

Yes, jinglebellsfrocks, his name is in my posting above the photo!

I've never been to Bordeaux, but am checking flights for a visit.

There was a programme on BBC2 last night about a chef (that fish one) going to Bordeaux to cook. I have only spent one evening there. Would like to go again for longer.

Bordeaux is one of my favourite cities in France!

Yes, annsixty, a good pair of walking shoes is de rigueur for all the walking, I think Welshwife mentioned this too! Paris is smaller than London and more compact, so you should be able to cover most of it on foot, if it is just a taste of the city you want. Take a break in a park or in a café to "people watch." It's fascinating.

Ww ..... last night there was a programme on BB2 about Rick Stein in Bordeaux. Did you watch it? He said it was a bit like Venice, though some of the roads did look like Paris too.

Sainte Chapelle for the most glorious medieval stained glass. The colours are a real treat to behold on a sunny day. Just walking round Paris is fun. Don't forget Versailles.

My advice is not about what to do when there but to go while you are young and fit enough to enjoy it.
We went with family about 6 years ago and were never still. We had 6 days there and did and saw everything. I came home exhausted. I wouldn't have missed it for anything but had left it too long to go. It is wonderful.

Buy a guidebook. Open top bus tour to orientate. Walk everywhere in central Paris. WALK up to the top of the Eiffel Tower and admire the view (as long as you don't suffer from vertigo....or acrophobia). Drink lots of wine. Eat lots of good food. Just sit around and enjoy! Oh yes....and speak French to the locals. They prefer that!

Oh, and there's that moment when all the little lights come on on the Eiffel Tower, at midnight.

You must hire a car and make a male member of your party drive around the Champs Elysees after dark, with the window down. You won't believe the number of fingers you get, or the number of swearwords the French can come out with.

We went a few years ago. It rained the whole weekend, there was some demonstration going on and armed police everywhere! Then to top it all in a perfume shop the assistant swore he'd returned my husbands credit card to him, we refused to leave the store until we'd seen the store manager and his credit card was found....it had somehow "slipped" down the side of the till. Never again!!
Give me Rome any day

Didn't know there were others in Paris but know about Giverny. - but Musée d'Orsay has so many other mainly impressionist painters and I find the building very interesting

Hey Welshwife there are Monets in several galleries in Paris. The huge waterlilies ones are at L'Orangerie. As well as Musee D'Orsay there are others at Musee Marmottan. Or take a trip to Giverny to see where he found his inspiration.

My advice- go by train and get right into it straight away!

Daddima I agree, I'll come with you! It's one of my favourite cities.

Aquagran, I've found that over the years we don't need to " do" anything! It's just enough to be in the city and enjoy whatever's going on. It's one of the best places for people watching. We stay in the 5th arondissement, where Rue Mouffetarde and Place Monge have fabulous street markets, and you're walking distance from Notre Dame and the Seine.

I want to go now!

You need advice on what to do in Paris!??? Amazing!

We have a Navigo Decouverte travel pass, which is valid from Monday to Sunday, so is good value depending on what days you visit. It costs an extra €5 the first time you buy it, but can still work out cheaper.
Definitely take a tour bus, and a Bateau Mouche boat trip is good too.

It just depends what your interests are, but Hello Paris website has lots of offers.

You could go shoe shopping!

Gran spammy strikes again???

We visited the Louvre, Monmartre, The Sacre Coeur, Notredame and took a boat trip along the Seine - plenty to do.

Most of the restaurants do a good priced menu at lunchtime - 12 till 2 - the Monets etc are in Musee d'orsay which is the converted railway station. Pompidou Centre has exhibitions. The Tuillerie Gardens outside Louvre are lovely to sit in as are the Luxembourg Gardens - lots of lovely shady trees there and opposite are cafés. Montmartre is a lovely area too and of course Sacré Coeur is there - lots of steps up to the church.
Paris is dotted with parks to relax in and on Sunday's you will families out walking in them together. It is worth taking a tour bus - the last time we went into the centre there were two companies doing tours. One has a stop near the Opera Metro station. If you do this early on it will give you a good idea of the place and you could make notes of the places you would like to see more of.
You can get books of Metro tickets from the Tabac shops - a book (carnet) of ten is I think slightly cheaper. Be aware when you are travelling on het metro as some young fellows try to get onto the out gate as you are leaving a once on the system there are normally no ticket checks and you just dispose of your used one on the way out. Make sure you know the direction you are travelling N S E W as it will make it easier to use and also the number of the line you need.
There is also an overland railway going into Paris the RER ( Monparnasse is usually the terminus - very busy place ) it goes much deeper than the Metro I believe. - I have only used the overland section from the Eastern suburbs.
The Seine is always lovely and all sorts go on along the banks - a bit like the Embankment .
I would say make sure you have very comfy shoes! Invest in a small sized guide book and map as you can walk to many places.
Have a great stay there - I love the place - Bordeaux is like a smaller version of Paris.

Don't miss L'Orangerie! If you do nothing else go and see those Monets.
Les Bateaux Mouches are worth a trip too. Any pavement cafe for a light lunch and watching the world go by. All lovely. Enjoy yourself and Bon Vacances!

Try the internet. Lots of info on there.