Don't worry too much about the language...the tourist attractions are well used to English speaking tourists. I've been all over Europe, with only HS French.
Well....Sweden was difficult.

A few years ago, i took the chunnel train from London, early one day, and went to Paris, and came back on the evening train.

This ride on the Seine was well worth the very nominal price.
Take the one hour boat cruise up the Seine, past Notre Dame, the Louve, etc.....as I recall, the boat dock was in walking distance to the Eifffel Tower. The attached link sounds like it.

Go to the Louve, to see the Mona Lisa.. i was surprised to see how small the Portrait is.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bateau cuise on Seine.

The Metro subway system is one of the easiest in the world to use. Besides seeing the tower and Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay is a must see. It's just over the bridge across from the Louvre. It's a bit more contemporary than the Louvre.

A particular neighborhood that I personally loved was Montmartre near the Moulin Rouge.

Jodi-

Goodness! This sounds like that 1969 movie "If This is Tuesday, It must be Belgium". Travel light. Less Amsterdam; more Paris.

The only thing I have to sugest is your DH keep his wallet in his front pockets all the time. No matter what country you go to, even here, people will try to pick his pocket. My DH said in France and some countries, groups of kids would come up, gather around as if they wanted to be friends, only in their case, they tried to pick the men's pockets and snatch the woman's purse. Don't take traverlers checks as your ATM card will work in most big banks.
Have a great trip and I am sure your travel agency will give you some additonal tips.
Marie

If I were pressed for time, I would probably skip the Louvre and head to the Musée d'Orsay where many Impressionist paintings are housed. Get there when the museum opens and start on the top floor, working your way down.

I've linked some fun walking tours for Paris below. The Metro is easy, but I prefer to walk as much as possible. It helps offset the calories from the wonderful cheese and bread sold in Paris that I cannot resist.

Here is a link that might be useful: Walking Tours

I was going to mention the same thing as Marie.

I was in Paris in July 2003, the hottest summer on record in Paris. I was standing at street level by Metro stairs with my then 18 year old daughter waiting for my best friend and her daughter to come up the stairs.

As we stood there. My body was facing away from the actual stairs so I turned my head to watch for my friend. I had a fanny pack on with the purse part right at my belly. It had my camera, passport and money in it. We were renting an apartment so I didn't have a hotel safe to leave everything in.

All of a sudden a nearby woman with two small kids starts screaming. I turn and realize she is pointing at me and talking a mile a minute. She didn't seem angry, just concerned. I had not a clue what she was saying. Finally at that moment my friend, who speaks French arrived so I asked her to figure out what this woman was so upset about. A brief conversation took place and finally my friends said, check your fanny pack to see if anything is missing.

What? I'm a short person so my fanny pack was sitting on my waist only a few inches below my eyes. I look down and omg, my fanny pack is wide open! But everything was still there. I always made certain it was closed at all times.

In the brief moment I turned my head to check the subway stairs, some guy ran up to me and unzipped my pack. Apparently the woman yelling and pointing at me scared him off.

This was broad daylight, on a somewhat busy street, standing next to my daughter, who also saw nothing. I turned my head away for just one moment and bam! It all happened so fast.

Keep purses, fanny packs, wallets, etc. well out of sight. It may not help 100% of the time but might slow them down.

Oh, and lock your doors when you're in a taxi in Buenos Aires. That's another story for another time. :-)

Jodi-

Ditto on keeping belongings safe.
Dinner cruise on the Seine was delightful!
You have until Spring I suggest if possible learn some French. That will help you in Switz and some in Italy as Italian has the same roots. Take a class, listen to tapes. Learn the basics at least. People are much more friendly and inclined to help if you at least make an effort to converse in their language.
Americans can be so resistant to this sometimes. They think everyone should speak English. And quite often they do but don't admit it until after you make the effort in their language.

My friend's advise: beware of the skate boarders in Paris!

She knows!

I was going to suggest learning some French but someone else beat me to it. Ten years ago I went to Italy. I took a 6 week course in Italian for travelers. I could at least understand some things and it was a big help. I did not carry a purse with me. I bought something that had a cord that went around my neck and could be worn under or over my clothing. Since it was early spring and I knew I would be wearing a blazer, I wore this over my clothing. It held money. passport and other small flat things. I put my lipstick in my blazer pocket. An elderly gentleman in our group got his backpack sliced and his wallet taken while riding a train in Rome. An English/French dictionary would also be handy for you.

Thank you for the wonderful information, everyone! Please keep the ideas coming.

Chisue - lol !
Thank you to Marie, Jodi and Glenda for safety tips. That sounds like it was a really scary experience, Jodi.

Kacee - I am in Canada, so I do get exposed to some French, but my 10 y.o. g-daughters know more than I do! I have almost no French at all, so I think you have an excellent suggestion to learn as much as possible before our trip.

Linda - as I said to Kacee, good idea for me to learn some French before we go. I'm especially grateful to be getting helpful hints from people about security - it would be traumatic to lose money, passport, etc. when in a strange city.

In Paris put on your shoes and just walk. The metro is fine but walking is better. A really neat walk, because it's so iconic is to walk from the Louvre along the Champs Elysee to the Arc de Triomphe. Walk along the Seine and look at all the artists work.
Sit in a coffee shop and watch the world go by.

I envy you. I love, love, love Paris.

If you do go to Montmartre (take the funicular up the hill), go to Rue du Tertre to see the "artists". Although it's very commercial, it's fun to walk through the square and see the sites. Also, don't miss Notre Dame stained glass windows. I think the riverboat is called Bateau Mouche, sot sure, and, we used the Metro and also taxis. Walking in Paris is an experience because it is such a beautiful city. My son also wanted to to to Pere Lachaise cemetery to see the grave of Morrison of the Doors, so we went and it was an interesting place.

Such good advice!
Go to the Louvre early (before it opens, don't try to see everything) but see the Mona Lisa. Definitely see the Musée d'Orsay .
After the Louvre, go to Angelina's for hot chocolate - it will ruin you for all other hot chocolate.
Notre Dame really surprised me - I'm not religious, but it moved me.
Yes - walk, walk, walk - the best thing to do in Paris.
Get to the Eiffel tower well before it opens and the lines will still be LONG - but ya gotta do it.
have a great time!

I would LOVE to go back to Paris. The subway system is great. Everyone we had to talk to spoke English (even at the sidewalk cafes.) Besides the usual tourist places, make sure you go to Sacré-C�"ur Basilica -- it's gorgeous and the view of Paris is breathtaking. Don't forget to see the Arc de Triomphe de l'ÃÂtoile -- it's also great viewed from the Eiffel Tower. Enjoy your trip -- Paris is wonderful.

I just previewed this message and Sacré-C�"ur Basilica comes out as gibberish. I hope it posts ok

Here is a link that might be useful: Sacré-C�

I used to live in the area you're visiting and I go back very regularly. North American tourist "pickpocket targets" can be spotted by people who are legally sightless. A good start is anyone speaking loudly, anyone over primary school age wearing loud colors, anyone >30 years old wearing white athletic shoes, and (sorry) anyone with a fanny pack, just for starters. If you want to blend in, wear darker colors and if you need to wear athletic-type shoes, get black or brown (like table-staff wear in restaurants).

On one hand, this is an excellent routing because you will see small tastes of many different places. On the other hand, your time is really very limited to see much. Some people spend a week visiting the Louvre, or many days at the Musée d'Orsay, so to add an extra day or two to a Paris visit still doesn't allow much time. Do your homework, find what interests you personally, and view the trip as a sampling to help you choose which places you'll enjoy going back to.

To study a language from scratch for a visit of a few days is really not worth the time, you won't add appreciably to the experience. Instead, learn how to say Hello, Good Bye, and Thank you with good pronunciation. Say them with a soft voice and a smile whenever you have the opportunity, and leave it at that.

Have a good time.

When we were *young*, DH and I did a short bus tour through the Loire Valley. The chateaux and churches sort of blurred together, but we very clearly remember our guide, who had to have been recruited from the Gestapo. "You vill haf yr luggage autside yr bedroom doors at fife a.m." (Today we'd drive and do self-catering.)

BTW: Try to sit near the front door in the bus. Don't sit over the wheels.

I've been to Paris 4 times. Unless you have lots of time stay out of the Louvre, your visit will be over before you know it once you get in there. Love the Louvre but you need to go more than once to see everything. Mona Lisa looks just you see her in magazines but only smaller and you would be lucky to get close enough to see it. Just pick up a map, or look online and go to places that might interest you like Snidely above mentioned. The Metro is really easy to use. I like to get off the beaten path and see things that I am not familiar with. Make sure you go into a few patisseries and sample some wonderful baked goods - to die for. or if you like chocolate the chocolatier. So much to see and do, you are so lucky. You will see many sites from afar if you take the Baton Mouches down the Seine, same for Amsterdam.

Wear a money belt especially if you are near the Louvre of any other popular tourist spot. Pick pockets have pretty fast hands. More so in Amsterdam. I had one guy walk by me and quickly run his hands up and down my sides as he walked by me. Lucky for me I was careful. We did have our rental car broken into while in Amsterdam on the last day of our trip and lost our luggage and all the rolls of film I had from our trip through Europe.

If you don't know the language a smile goes a long way so just learn to say please and thank you. I could speak French but my sister had a bad experience in one restaurant. Enjoy the experience of sitting at an outdoor cafe, eat a crepe from a street vendor if they still have them. All restaurants post their menus outside their doors with the prices. Every time I have been to Paris I have stayed at the Hotel California on Rue Berri just off of Champs Elysees just a short distance from the Arc de Triomphe. Quaint little place and they remembered us on our return visits. I loved Germany too, so clean. Driving along the autobahn it was just like driving in the county where I live, fields of wheat and flat except a few castles or villages on hills in the distance until you get to the Black Forest. as you near France.

Have a wonderful trip and don't worry about knowing the language. Most people will speak English to you.

I love, love, love all these ideas. I feel so excited about our trip from reading about everyone's travel experiences. I'm happy that food has been mentioned, because I'm hoping to have some enjoyment there as well! I would love to hear more suggestions if anyone has some.

This is a trip of a lifetime! Fantastic! I know you'll just have a great time. Hope you will be able to share a few pictures.

This isn't about Paris, but may be helpful to you---
Be sure to take an extra credit card. Once when traveling on the East Coast, we got a phone call from our credit card company asking if we were charging items in Russia!! Well, no! So they cancelled the card immediately, and luckily we had a different card with us to use for the remainder of the trip. Also, let your CC companies know that you will be in Europe and the dates. They want to protect the use of the card, and this helps them know when something is not right.

Have a great time. Good suggestions from everyone here. I will be there myself for about the 8th time next month.

You do know that we will expect to be traveling along with you, vicariously? LOL

Tell us where you will be stopping -- besides Amsterdam and Paris.

Re: Smiling. Europeans tend to be 'private' and find it odd that we walk around smiling at strangers. Looking pleasantly attentive is fine. Don't expect big smiles from waiters, etc. They are not being rude.

If you have the time.....try to get down to visit the RIveria. We stayed in Monte Carlo for a week, and visited Cannes, Nice, San Tropez, etc. The Mediterranean is so beautiful.

Many thanks to everyone! I will post some photos on our return.

You're so lucky, Fran, to be visiting Paris again. Are your impressions of the city very different from the first time you went?

Chisue - I'm happy to have KTers come virtually along! After Amsterdam, we stop at Cologne, Heidelberg, Rhine cruise, Rothenburg, Munich, Ettal, Neuschwanstein, Innsbruck, Conegliano (Italy), Bolzano (Dolomites in the Alps), Venice, Lake Maggiore, Zermatt (Switzerland), Lausanne, Paris. I like this tour because it covers so many wonderful locations.

This post was edited by stacey_mb on Fri, Sep 13, 13 at 17:11

Wow, all the way down to Venice! The Italian Lakes are my favorite on your route. We had two nights at Villa d'Este.

You will be happy to be in the bus in the Dolomites. I had to pry DH's hands off the steering wheel after we reached our destination -- too many hairpin turns, and our Hertz rental could have had more power.

Bring a book for the Rhine cruise. (Well, that's just *me* -- and I was 14 at the time.)

DH and I were in Paris on our honeymoon. (Only 49 years ago this month!) It rained a lot. We flew to Nice for a couple of days and visited the casino at Monte Carlo. Went there again on a cruise -- DS was with us. He'd just truned 21 so he could go in. Another world.

It is very good etiquette to begin any conversation with "Bonjour, madam" or Bon Soir, monsieur" and "merci" and "au revoir" ("good day, ma'am" or "good evening, sir", "thank you" and "goodbye", whichever the situation calls for). Even if you don't know anything else in French, these polite greetings and phrases will get you far.

We are the "ugly Americans" because so many Americans rudely walk up to someone and say "hey, where's the Metro?"

I have never once had a bad experience in France or Italy, they enjoy it when you at least attempt their language, no matter how bad or broken it may be. Remember, you are their guest!

Get yourself a small translation dictionary to carry with you to help when there is no one to translate for you, although most Europeans in the service/hospitality industry know at least the basics.

Enjoy the trip, it sounds wonderful.

Stacey, what company is hosting the bus tour. I ask because I am interested in taking such a tour.

Chisue is so right about the smiling. One time we were walking up the Champs-ÃÂlysées and walking towards us was the most beautiful woman I have ever see; I could not stop looking at her she was so awesomely beautiful. We made eye contact and I smiled at her, and, just as we were passing each other, she hit my arm with her fist. It hurt really bad and my arm dropped toward the street (I think I might have fallen if my husband hadn't grabbed me) and I was shocked and dropped my purse and camera. I learned my lesson never to look and smile and a European walking down the street. I was actually being rude and just did not realize it. Anyway, I wish I had not been a rude American.

But Paris is breathtaking. I would love to go back and at one time considered buying a home in France.

Cornsnakelover - thank you for the advice and good wishes. I do plan to practice some basic French language. LOL my 10 year old granddaughters are in French immersion classes at their elementary school, so I will be asking them for help!

Walnutcreek - thank you for the information. Punching someone, even though they may be staring, seem a little drastic! The company we are going with is Globus and the trip is called European Charm, if you plan to look for it on their web site (link is below). We chose it from their 2013 travel literature, since 2014 wasn't yet available. We just booked the trip today, since (here in Canada, anyway) they are unveiling their 2014 season this week and are offering a discount until tomorrow, September 17. Not sure if the same is true for the U.S. P.S. Love your food-themed postings and enjoy reading your recipes!

Here is a link that might be useful: Globus

This post was edited by stacey_mb on Mon, Sep 16, 13 at 17:25

Stacey, thanks so much for the link and the info. I am going to look at Globus right now.

Thanks for your nice comment about the recipes. I have enjoyed doing them, but am close to running out of recipes.

This post was edited by walnutcreek on Tue, Sep 17, 13 at 16:25

DH and I just returned from a trip that included Paris and Amsterdam! I had great suggestions from GW. You can read those by searching Amsterdam. You can get a Paris Museum pass for 2, 4 or 6 days. It allows you to skip the regular lines at the Louvre and D'Orsay. It includes many sites you could just pop in for a look see if you're organized.The Louvre and D'Orsay have days when they stay open late. They both have beautiful views at night. I videoed the Eiffel Tower doing it's night light dance from the Louvre. the window glass reflected the room full of paintings with the Eiffel Tower glittering in the middle. From the D'Orsay you can see Sacre Coeur lit up. Wear good walking shoes, break them in and build up your endurance. If I had one day, I would start in the centre of Paris with Notre Dame. You don't need to go inside to enjoy it's beauty, the lines are too long to spend the time. San Chapelle is nearby. When people climb the stairs(brief climb) they gasp when they see they are surrounded by high walls of stunning stained glass. Does your bus include tours through Paris? If not look up reviews of Hop on and off. Bus #67 runs from the Eiffel Tower all the way through Paris to Notre Dame at the other end. You can't hop on and off though, with the same ticket. If you transfer to a different line within a certain amount of time you may use the same ticket. I would also take the trip down the Seine like others said. Have a wonderful trip!

I agree with cornsnake lover. I think Americans are seen as being quite rude. We seem to think the world should speak English, and often forget we are visitors in THEIR country.
I knew about dressing to avoid having a neon sign on us, saying "we are tourists, come and try to rob us." I found every establishment we went into in Paris, we were greeted, and told "au revoir" when leaving. Granted, salespeople do that here too, but not as often.
Sounds like a wonderful trip.
May I suggest not carrying a purse of any kind. For your peace of mind, use little pouches that you can attach to a belt. It's about the size of a small camera case. You can pull your shirt/sweater over it, and be safe.

Walnutcreek, Toytheatre and Foggyj - Thank you so much for your suggestions. I really appreciate them. Toytheatre, our bus trip will take us to a limited number of tourist attractions, the Eiffel Tower being one of them. But now I have talked DH into staying in Paris for two extra days, so the suggestion for hop-on-hop-off buses is wonderful. That's what we plan to do. Foggyj, I also think it's polite to at least use some native languages wherever we happen to be. I will definitely be learning some basic Dutch, German and French. I appreciate the suggestion regarding security for money and passport. I have been concerned about how to handle that.

Stracey, are you Canada? If you are you will be surprised how many words you do know just from remembering what you learned in high school and the labels we read on our food packages everyday LOL. After all my visits to Paris I thought I would want to go somewhere different but now after reading all these posts I would go back in again.

I had a cloth money belt for my passport that goes under your clothes. If I remembered where it was I would send it to you. Also if you are bringing any electric hair appliances like a curling iron make sure you get electrical adapters for them. Some hotels do offer hair dryers in the bathrooms but not all. I took a portable curling iron with me that had little butane cartridges.

I remember going to Paris 40 years ago during an airline strike. We had to get back to London to make our connection to the USA. During the strike, we had to switch our travel plans to using the trains and the ferry. Interestingly, no one at the train station or ferry could speak English during this strike. They were not friendly nor helpful. Thank goodness for my 2 years of high school French.

Yes, Cherryfizz, I'm from Canada, so as you say, I know some French just from being exposed to it so often. I didn't take French in school though, alas, so will look to family and other resources for some tutoring (such as my 10 y.o granddaughters! LOL).

Sheilajoyce - Yikes, that was some experience that you had! Thank you for the "heads-up," it's a good reminder that language is important for the unexpected that can happen.

My husband & I visited Paris last month & found this site very helpful:

http://parisbymouth.com/

Enjoy!

great site!

Here is a link that might be useful: Paris by mouth

Thank you for suggesting this web site, Chefmom. I am definitely looking forward to sampling some good food while in Paris.