During my previous visit to Paris in February 2005, I didn’t really get the chance to visit any other museum but the Louvre, and I only did one Salle, (hall) which was the Denon Wing thanks to the Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. (Click here for the Da Vinci Code section of the Louvre website.) The Louvre has three main salles so we have two more to go through, and we intend to visit one during this trip.
This will be our first time visiting the Louvre together, so it is something we are looking forward to other than it means visiting THE hottest museum ticket in Paris. I have pictures a plenty of the pyramids in daylight and I would love to take pictures of the pyramids at night. Fortunately, we’re staying at a hotel nearby so this is one of our first stops during the weekend.
Since this is also a business trip for Alan and his meetings begin Monday, we’re doing Versailles on Saturday. Although I’ve read that weekends can really be crazy, it’s really the only choice we have since we arrive Friday AM. (We’re taking a redeye out of JFK like I did the last time.) We will be purchasing a One-day pass to cut the long lines and have better ease commuting from Paris to Versailles. I’ve been reading up on the various attractions and history of the main attractions we hope to visit, and for Versailles, I have found the notes on Virtual Tourist most helpful. (Particularly for Versailles and Chartres.)
We are lining up visits to Musee D’Orsay and Musee Rodin. We were thinking of buying the Paris Museum Pass which provides free access to participating museums, but they come in 2, 4 or 6 day passes, but with the attendant cost for each compared to how much time we want to spend going around, the €30 for a 2 day pass would mean devoting two full days to seeing at least 4 museums. With the three Paris museums we intend to visit, the Louvre ( €8.50), Musee D’Orsay ( €9 including the Maurice Denis exhibit currently running) and the Musee Rodin ( €6), we would not be making full use of the face value and we would have to postpone Versailles for Sunday which might make things worse. It is tempting to plan on visiting a fourth museum but our itinerary is packed as it is.
I would love to see more than what we planned but I have only a week to devote to this trip. The New York Consulate of France was generous enough to give me a multiple entry visa up to December 1 which makes it tempting to go to another neighboring Schengen country, but again, I don’t have the time to spare during this trip.
Thank you for the suggestion to visit Brugge, Gala1208. Perhaps next time if it’s anywhere between Paris and Lyon. I will keep that in mind. (I just discovered Brugge is in Belgium which isn’t all that bad because Alan goes there, too..- 11/22/06)
There is just so much of France to see. I am in no hurry. With luck, we will be back there next year. Unless I end up consuming my vacation allotment on another trip to Manila (which I won’t even think twice about), it may even happen next time that we will bring Angel along.
