[kipperfan]

Originally Posted by driveway

I can give you some advice on Paris:

1) Don't bother with Versailles. It's not as impressive as you would hope.

2) The art museums of Paris are incredible. Specifically The Louvre, the Musee D'Orsay and the Centre Pompidou. Each one is huge, architecturally amazing, and covers a different period of history. If you have the energy, all three are worth a visit, but if you're not the kind of person who enjoys looking at Art I would suggest visiting whichever most appeals to you.

The Louvre covers the history of Art from Egypt - Early 19th Century. It's an utterly unbelievable building too. If you're a history buff, this is the one for you.

The Musee D'Orsay covers the period from around 1850-1910 or so. It's got your impressionists, expressionists and the birth of modern art. Van Gogh, Matisse, Monet are all heavily represented. The building is an old train-station and is amazing.

The Centre Pompidou is Modern Art. The building is incredibly modern in design and the collection is almost overwhealming. Duchamp, Calder, Pollock etc.

If you are not a museum person, but still want to experience some of the Parisian art scene there are two awesome places to check out. The Salvador Dali museum up in Montmartre (very close to Sacre Couer, the big church on the hill) and The Orangerie at the West end of the park that the Louvre fronts onto (about fifteen blocks from the Louvre). Both are small, cheap and can be viewed in their entirety in under two hours.

Finally - if you are a museum person and want to see it all, Paris offers a Museum Pass. It gives you admission to basically every museum in the city (dozens and dozens) as well as access to the towers of Notre Dame. You can get a 2 day or 4 day pass for about 30 or 50 euros. They are sold at most major metro stations.

3) EAT. Eat anything and everything. It's all good.

4) Visit L'Eglise St. Eustache. It's the second largest church in Paris (after Notre Dame) and has a minuscule crowd. I think there were about eight people in it when I went there.

Beautiful advice, thanks a ton - this is exactly the kind of stuff I was hoping for with this thread!

That museum pass sounds amazing and I think I will be looking into it ASAP!