I think our evening bike ride in Paris last summer was about the most fun thing I’ve done my entire life. 
I will never forget it.
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We really enjoy museum, but we like to see other things too. So when we finally got to Paris, we stayed 7 nights. We were very close to Notre Dame, so we saw it many times outside (day and night) as well an inside. This was before the big fire.
One day we took the train out to Versailles - lovely! I guess that sort of qualifies as a museum, but it is a grand experience for anybody. We took the little tram train to see more, but it also looked fun to rent a bike to see the grounds.
There is a really interesting free display around Notre Dame highlighting all the renovations/restoration happening. Worth taking the time to walk around the cathedral!
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Totally agree!
Note–Some of the entrances to other landmarks like St. Chapelle that are close to Notre Dame may have alternate entrances due to the renovation (at my last visit). The St. Chapelle looked totally closed off but was not–the ticket station was down a different block and the the entrance was on a different side that you’d normally enter. In fact a guard was at the street where you’d enter the chapel. You needed a ticket to pass him. Very confusing so if you’d like to see something that’s blocked off–ASK!
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could you tell me more about your bikeride? like details:
- where you rented a bike (shop? street stand?)
- if you had helmets,
- how you knew where to go
- was there traffic to deal with?
- bike paths? streets?
It sounds fabulous; but i wouldnt know where to start. we are going to be there in a few months and would love to do this!
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We also did an evening bike ride in Paris several years ago, with Fat Tire. And I agree it was one of the most wonderful times I’ve ever had.
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As posted above, we did it with the group Fat Tire. They take care of bikes, route, helmets etc. the ride was combined with an evening boat ride on the Seine. Whole evening was magical.
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Yes, we did the tour with Fat Tire as well. Turned out to be just a small group - 2 couples with a guide. They had vests, helmets, great new bikes. You are biking around with traffic all around you - I thought I’d be terrified, but I wasn’t. Some of the streets we biked along were smaller, no traffic but if you hit all the main sights, you end up with some traffic.
It was just wonderful - a completely different way to see the city. They also take you on the boat tour along the Siene - with a bottle of wine! After the boat ride, we rode back to the shop through the gardens and got a fabulous view of the Eiffel tower , all lit at night. And there was no one else around - so we got great pictures!
Magical - loved the experience.
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I did post a few pictures from our bike ride on the pictures thread.
Sunset at the Louvre, night time lights at the Eiffel…no words.
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We do like museums as well as off the beaten path activities. One of the best was a street art tour. At the time we did it was only in the Belleville neighborhood which was very interesting. Our one regret was we didn’t take it earlier in out trip. We noticed so much more street art after.
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Yes, we did the Fat Tire tour, also. I think we chose it based on a CC (@garland maybe?) recommendation.
I WOULD recommend riding a bike a little before you go, ha. I’d been riding an indoor bike for a year or so, but hadn’t been on a road bike in a LONG time. I was a little shaky at first!
Our guide was really great at leading us through the traffic. He would hold up his hand to signal whether we should ride single file, in pairs, or taking over the whole street. It worked great.
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I think you mentioned this above, or somewhere else. It’s definitely on my list. Thanks!
I may have - some days I have a hard time remembering what I had for breakfast.
H and I are art lovers, so we spent a fair amount of time in art museums when we went to Paris. We spent a day at the Louvre (went with a tour guide), but we really like modern art and loved the Musee d’Orsay and the Musee d’Picasso. We also went to the Centre Pompidou. Even if you don’t go inside to see the art, go see Centre Pompidou for the architecture.
We stayed at the Hotel Le Meurice, which is very close to the Louvre; it was pricey and this was 15 years ago. That being said we felt very pampered and received great recommendations for restaurants from the concierge; the hotel also arranged several tours of the city for us.
One evening we went to a restaurant the concierge recommended and had an amazing meal and wine. We went to pay with a credit card and it turned out the restaurant didn’t take cards; we didn’t have enough cash. Wasn’t a problem–the people at the restaurant called the hotel and put it on our hotel tab!! We started chatting with the owner and he was very excited when he heard we were from Massachusetts. His cousin (or some relative) was going to the US to run a French restaurant on Cape Cod. We went to the restaurant (Chillingsworth in Brewster) a few years later and told the waiter our story. The owner came over and brought us a bottle of wine!
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d’Orsay was our favorite 
We also, surprisingly to us, loved the crypt at the Pantheon. We went when our kids were in high school and reading the works of some of the greats that are there. Luxembourg Garden is worth a stroll through before or after.
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We went to a David Lebovitz recommended restaurant - Le Colimaçon - in the Marais for lunch on our last Sunday in France. Absolutely delicious. I’ve never been steered wrong with one of his recs.
With LeForché and other on-line reservation sites, it’s easier than ever to make restaurant reservations.
Another site for restaurants is HungryOnion.com. A number of former chowhound posters are there. Many good recs there as well.
I think I was on a best of confit de canard tour haha.
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We ate at Colimacon too! Fabulous dinner!
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100%. We are going to be in Europe this summer for a few weeks. D loves Paris (we all do) and wanted to include it on the itinerary, but refused.
We’ll catch on the next trip. No way I’m dealing with all of that.
Le Meurice is $2,000/night this summer!
Even after Olympics, I’m assuming it’s at least $1,000/night.
Looks lovely.