Friday itinerary suggestion (about 50 minutes of walking time and about 4 kilometers to the Passage Richelieu of the Louvre, then 2.4 km or 1.5 miles and 30 minutes home):
After settling in to the hotel, walk toward the Seine on Blvd St. Michel and visit Ste. Chappelle. (Buy tickets before you go: http://sainte-chapelle.monuments-nationaux.fr/en/#). The lines can be long and you can avoid them by getting your ticket in advance. From there head across the river to Notre Dame. If you have the time, you might want to look at the archaeological site at the west end of the square in front of the church. Very cool – you can see where the first church was built in the 400s or something. Walk along the south side of the church – nice park there – and behind the church.
From there, walk along the Quais (banks of the river) on the north side of the island, then turn left into the pretty Place Dauphine. Carry on through to the Pont Neuf, turn left, cross the street and walk up Rue Dauphine to Rue de Buci. From there walk to the corner and turn right on Rue de Buci and maybe have an aperitif at one of the sidewalk cafes, then have dinner at Fish La Boissonerie on Rue de Seine. The staff speaks great English, food is good and at good prices. Nice atmosphere. When you leave the restaurant, turn right and walk down Rue de Seine, toward the river and enjoy the windows of all the art galleries. When you hit the river, look for the bridge (Pont des Arts) with all the locks attached to it and cross to the Louvre. Turn left and walk along the Louvre until you can turn right into the courtyard.
From the pyramid, walk north into the Passage Richelieu (under the arch) and check out the sculpture gardens. So cool at night. Come back into the courtyard and walk west toward the little arch if you’d like. Another very cool thing to see at night. From there, walk back east along the river (stay on the north side) and cross to see Notre Dame at night. Amazing. Then head back across the river to your hotel and enjoy a good night’s sleep. 🙂
Passage Richelieu (north end) to Notre Dame to Hotel. Or go back through the Louvre to the river and follow the map from there.
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SATURDAY
Saturday option (a bus ride to start, then about 1.4 hours of walking time – 6.4 km) The map shows 2 hrs 18 m of walking, but the first hour is actually a 10-15 minute bus ride from the hotel to Alma-Marceau.
Catch the 63 bus where you got off yesterday and take it to Alma-Marceau and wander around in the fantastic outdoor (mostly food) market on Ave. President Wilson. Maybe even pick up something for a picnic later… From there, walk over to the Eiffel Tower through a corner of the Trocadero gardens. If you go up into the tower, you don’t need to go higher than the first or second level. The third level is actually too high to see very much. From there, walk toward Les Invalides, and carry on through to the Rodin Museum. This is a wonderful little museum with a fantastic “back yard” for a picnic!
Rodin Museum to Gerard Mulot and Luxembourg Gardens
After lunch, walk down Rue Varenne to Rue de Bac, turn left, then turn right on Rue Grenelle. At 51 Rue de Grenelle is the fantastic Barthelemy cheese shop – my favorite. Tiny little shop with the best cheese in Paris.
Continue down Rue de Grenelle, take the little jog across the square at Rue Dragon, cross to Vieux de Colombier and continue east in the direction of St. Sulpice and have a look inside. Quite beautiful.
Then continue east to Rue de Seine/Rue de Tournon and turn right and look for the incredible pastry place, Gerard Mulot. If you’re so inclined, get one of their beautiful, tasty treats.
Continue south along Rue de Tournon to the Luxembourg Gardens. Sit a bit and enjoy your pastry, wander a bit, but be sure to see the Medici Fountain on the east side of the Senate building, and also have a look at the big World War I map on the south side of the Senate building. Also, there is always a fabulous exhibition of some kind (big photos) hung on the outside of the fence on the east side, as well. When we were there it was pics of battle sites as they look now, and under them are views of what it looked like during the war. Pretty moving, some of them…
Luxembourg Gardens to Hotel
From the Luxembourg Gardens, cross to the Odeon and walk around the front, turn left on Racine (Mark’s favorite knife shop is Ceccaldi at 15 Rue Racine – handmade knives), left on Monsieur le Prince, right on Antoine duBois, right on Rue d’Ecole de Medecin and see the beautiful entrance to medical school. When you get to Blvd St. Michel, look right for the bookstore Gibert Joseph. In the basement is a nice collection of toys and puzzles if you want something for the grands. 🙂
From the bookstore, continue to Rue Thenard (the beautiful courtyard entrance to La Sorbonne will be on your right), turn left on Rue Thenard, then left on Sommerard to the entrance of the Museum of Middle Age (Musee de Moyen Age). Take a peek inside the courtyard, then retrace your steps back east and turn left at the end of the building, into the garden gate. Just beautiful, serene, etc. Walk around to the front and enjoy the gardens. From there you are across the street from your hotel.
Back to your hotel to get ready for dinner. Try for Bistro des Gastronomes at 10 Rue Cardinal Lemoine, or La Ferrandaise, also a few blocks in the direction of the Luxembourg Gardens at 8 Rue Vaugirard. Let me know if you’d like help with reservations at one of these or at Fish La Boissonerie on Friday.
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SUNDAY
Louvre and Tuileries
Just in case, here is a link to the map for Friday (hotel to St Chappelle, Notre Dame, dinner, after-dinner walk):
click here.
Map 2 for Friday (from Louvre to hotel):
click here.
Saturday map:
click here. (The 2nd and 3rd maps of Saturday are just zoomed-in versions of the big map)
Hither, Yon and Skies 