Paris Travel Answers

I forgot to add: This is during late August.

1) both both day day 5) day preferably, but good at night day day 8) have not visited 9) have not visited 10)day Look through VT pages on each attraction, see how many have night photos, might help with your choice.

2- Both, but very different 3- Day. Preferably sunny, for the windows 4- Both, but day for shopping... 5- Day. 6- Day (but good lighting at night) 7, 8, 9, 10, 11- Day.

I would first ask you for things like 1,3,6, do you want to go up or in them or just see from the outside ? No 9 will have finished before nighttime and no 7 will close at dusk

@Mariajames, did you read my post, or did you just copy/paste it ?

1. Eiffel tower (climb during the day; view from elsewhere at night) 2. Seine river cruise (fun during the day; spectacular at night) 3. Notre Dame/Saint Chapelle (DAY so you can see the stained glass) 4. Arc De Triomphe & Champs Elysees (both, but night is more fun) 5. Latin quarter (any time is busy and fun) 6. Sacre Coeur (Day for views over Paris; Night for views over Paris) 7. Jardin Du Luxemborg (closes at night so go during the day) 8. Cite Des Sciences et de L'Industrie (Check opening times for various parts. I'd go during the day) cite-sciences.fr/en/cite-des... 9. Saint Ouen Flea market (closed at night) 10. Printemsp or Galeries Lafayette malls (close at 8 PM most nights) 11. Allover bus tour (check hours to see when they are running.) parislopentour.com/paris-acc... carsrouges.com/content/circu... Obviously, anything you want to photograph will require light. None of these places are safety issues. There will be crowds nearly everywhere depending on the time of year you are going. River cruises are not much fun in bad weather. I notice you don't have any museums on the list but if you run into rain or snow, museums are fun and dry. Most are open at least one night a week and that is usually a good time to visit. You can also type all these places into the VT Search Window and do a Keyword Search (pulldown menu next to Search Window). That should bring up a lot of information and photos of both day and night. Enjoy Paris.

Let me add to your list: Cour Napoleon at Musée du Louvre during the night to see I.M. Pei’s pyramids lit from within; this is really quite stunning. Go there to see as well the Louvre’s façade lit; the sculptures on the façade take on a rather spooky/fun look when lighted. In Cour Napoleon there is also a lead reproduction of Bernini’s equestrian portrait/sculpture of Louis XIV. It too is lit at night.

1. Eiffel tower (climb both, but the view of the tower is best at night especially with the illumination) 2. Seine river cruise (both I think at night is better) 3. Notre Dame/Saint Chapelle (day) 4. Arc De Triomphe & Champs Elysees (both, for shopping day, for sightseeing at night) 5. Latin quarter (both) 6. Sacre Coeur (day) 7. Jardin Du Luxemborg (day will be closed at night) 8. Cite Des Sciences et de L'Industrie (day) 9. Saint Ouen Flea market (day) 10. Printemsp or Galeries Lafayette malls (for shopping; day, go on the roof for sunet @Printemps on Thursday since it is open until 10pm (8pm the other day) the terasse of Lafayette closed at 6pm) 11. Allover bus tour (day)

Thank you for the suggestions Mikebb, micolett, pfsmalo, mariajames, Beausoleil, von.otter, Michael 89. To pfsmalo, mariajames: My plan is to climb them up Perhaps I can do shopping at night. My plan is to try out Sacre Coeur during sunset followed by walking through Montmarte at night. – Is that okay? I’m going to skip Notre Dame but go to Saint Chapelle instead – Is that okay? Is Latin quarter safe at night? I mean after 8:00 pm. What time Saint Oeun Flea market closes at night? I thought a visit to Cite Des Sciences et de L’Industrie (being indoor) should be done during evening/night time. But any particular reason why all of you have preferred that as a daytime thing?

St Ouen flea market closes at 18h00 Sat/Sun and at 17h00 Mon. Cité des sciences (La Geode) closes at 20h30 evry day except Monday when it is closed. Montmartre and Sacré Coeur can be done at sunset and after, just be very careful of your belongings and wary of the scam merchants. I say this because Sacré Coeur is not very close to the metro so better to know which way you will be leaving. Latin Quarter is fine all day and all night, but I would recommend very early morning walking along the Seine to watch the sun come up on Notre Dame and the Ile St Louis. Personally I wouldn't bother to go up the Eiffel tower (but I've lived here for 40 years). BTW the lights are on the tower only at every hour for 10 mins and from sundown which in August will be pretty late. Sainte Chapelle there are always big queues to get in, as is the visit to top of Notre Dame so plan accordingly.

"Perhaps I can do shopping at night." Most store close at 7 or 8pm (only tourist shop stay open late) "My plan is to try out Sacre Coeur during sunset followed by walking through Montmarte at night. – Is that okay?" Yes, just note that the surrounding like Pigalle maybe be more or less safe at night "I’m going to skip Notre Dame but go to Saint Chapelle instead – Is that okay?" You can't do both? They are close to each other. Like pfsmalo said there is a (long) queue to both Sainte-Chapelle and the Tower of Notre-Dame but to visit inside Notre-Dame the queue is usually not too long and fast (and it is free) "Is Latin quarter safe at night? I mean after 8:00 pm." Yes but if it is for sightseeing it is better in the day. The Latin Quarter at night is best if you plan to go out (resto or pub) "What time Saint Oeun Flea market closes at night?" around 6pm "I thought a visit to Cite Des Sciences et de L’Industrie (being indoor) should be done during evening/night time. But any particular reason why all of you have preferred that as a daytime thing?" Because the museum is closed at night (most museum closed around 6pm you can try to check sometime they have a special day where they make "nocturne" close later)

From the Cite des Sciences web site: The Cité des Sciences is open Tuesday to Saturday from 9:30am to 6pm and Sunday from 9:30am to 7pm. We are closed on Monday." "Note: the Géode is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10:30am to 8:30pm, and some Mondays." I posted the web site above in a previous reply and you should check the opening hours for each section or at least for the sections that interest you. BTW, I would miss nearly anything in Paris EXCEPT Notre Dame. It is glorious; even the floor is beautiful. There is so much history there that you can actually feel it. If you are there on a Sunday, there is a (free) organ recital at 4:30 PM that is amazing. You are transported to an entirely different world. We were in Paris three or four times before we visited Ste. Chapelle and the stained glass is amazing. However, we've only been back to it three or four more times but we visit Notre Dame every time we're in Paris even if it's the only thing we get to visit. Paris is amazing day or night. Enjoy it.

There are always events going on in Paris and around. Many are free and change every week. You can have a look at the website autour2moi.fr ("around me" in French) which shows an Interactive map of all events in Paris. (in French but still useful) Exists also on mobiles (search "autour2moi" ) : useful when you want to know whats going on around you. Have a nice trip.