<p>If you have a less mobile person who is willing, s/he could wait in the NOtre Dame to-the-roof line while others explore.</p>
<p>I would skip Versailles…it is way too crowded and not worth it. Surprisingly, we loved the tour of the Opera House, our day trip to D-Day sites, Eiffel Tower, sitting in cafes, Montmartre and surrounding area in the evenings, and Musee D’Orsay. The Louvre and Versailles were incredibly crowded and not necessarily worth it.</p>
<p>My kids loved poking around the thrift shops…</p>
<p>Probably not for everyone in your group, but my kids loved visiting the catacombs. :eek:
[url=<a href=“http://www.catacombes.paris.fr/en/homepage-catacombs-official-website]Homepage”>The Paris Catacombs | Catacombes de Paris | Official website]Homepage</a> The Catacombs: Official website | Catacombes de Paris - Mus</p>
<p>I’ll third the Seine boat ride. It has an audio tour available in English which you can listen to as you float along.</p>
<p>Maybe not for first timers but a couple of suggestion for returnees: </p>
<p>La Defense, on the extreme western end of the city, is a modern, purpose-built business district with scores of skyscrapers. It’s modern Paris, and it has la Grande Arche–the 20th century’s Arc de Triomphe, although it’s a monument to humanitarianism rather than militarism. </p>
<p>Going back in time, on the eastern end of Paris, is Vincennes Castle, which dates back to the Middle Ages. </p>
<p>For street food, my guilty pleasure was the merguez, a deep fried sausage on crusty bread smothered in fries. The French do make the best fries–no contest. </p>
<p>For the less mobile, and the tired mobile, nothing beats sitting at a sidewalk cafe watching the world go by.</p>
<p>Just got back from France with a group of 13, ranging from 10 to 75 years of age. So very similar group as the OP. We spent about 3.5 days in Paris - we did the usual touristy places - Louvre, Versailles, Montmartre, Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel, Notredame, Opera, walked around everywhere, took the Metro but no taxis. </p>
<p>What really helped was: </p>
<p>(1) Tour guides. Tours have a separate entrance into places and lines are usually shorter than the regular lines. We were able to skip wait times at all places like Louvre, Versailles, Eiffel, etc. These places were crowded and many lines snaked on and on, some in the hot sun outside. Since our group was large, our tour also included a bus so that made transportation much easier. Tour guides can talk about interesting information and historical facts about a site, which makes it a great learning experience for all - especially the younger ones. For the older folks, this would be less tiring and definite a plus.</p>
<p>(2) Bring walkie talkies with you. We did not have phone service except for data plans for select members of the family for emergency purposes and looking up addresses, etc. Not everyone loves them but if you have some form of communication between family members so that you don’t get lost, or separated it would be helpful. We all had walkie talkies and kept our group together. The point for making our trip was to have a family trip so we went everywhere together and didn’t want to be separated, unless it was e.g. a trip to the mall/shopping. </p>
<p>(3) Dining. We had no problem finding places to eat with our large group. You will have the very teeny tiny adorable cafes (skip unless you are divided into smaller groups) but you will also find larger restaurants, especially around areas with hotels. We usually ate at larger restaurants at night and did informal sandwiches, baguettes, crepes, etc. for lunch. There is lots of green space everywhere so you can just buy some sandwiches for a picnic. Enjoy their beautiful gardens, flowers, etc.</p>