I went to Paris in December. I gotta to tell you, the city is very huge. When I arrived there, I was in total shock. Do to the fact that it not what I imagined. It look like any other big city. But I came to the to the realization that as an individual you must look for the beauty yourself. Which I did. Going on top of the highest point of Paris "Montmartre was breathtaking, a feast for the eyes. Then going on top of you guessed it the Eiffel Tower was so fantastic,but due to the fact it was freezing up there, I could stay outside for two minutes. Then the next day going to the Louvre Museum that quite ant experience. You have to practically stay five weeks I think it was to properly see every piece of artwork in the museum. As me and my dad we stayed the whole. We probably only 1/4 of the artwork. At least we saw the "Mona Lisa" For my last day I went to the Pantheon, its where a few French philosphers Victor Hugo, Voltaire and more also some buried and French Revolution soldiers are buried also. Neat place. Then we went to Notre Dame Cathedtral what an amazing structure it is. I know I barely scratched the surface but I loved it. Rule thumb I highly suggest you learn some of the language. Just simple phrases go a long way.tommyprincess@charter.net

I've been to Paris about 5 or 6 time -- mainly as an entry point to Europe from the States.

It wasn't until the most recent visit that I *actually went* to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Partly because I had the outlook of it being just another tourist trap and put it as a low priority on my to-do list. To my surprise, the experience of getting to the top was a lot better than I expected. We (an ad hoc group of 8 from the hostel) got there about 45 minutes before closing, so we headed directly for the top level (skipping the two mid levels). Taking a few beers (on the sly) helped too!

Eiffel Tower Recommendations:
1) Try to get there earlier (ie, before closing)

2) I heard the best time to be is at sunset

3) Send a post card from the mid level. The postage stamp will be cancelled with the unique Eiffel Le Poste stamp

Recommendations in general:
1) Don't dedicate a full day at the museums (Louvre, D'Orsey, Versilles (sp!), etc.) -- your eye will want to pop out of your head after 3-4 hours.

2) Get a travel card for the metro. Discounts on museums, etc.

3) Check out the catacombs. It's hard to find, but definately trippy. Not like any other catacombes that I've seen in Europe.

4) In the morning, get up and hit a bakery for some *fresh* pastries. Yum!!!

If you have the time and the leg power, take the stairs up the Eiffel Tower.

You can save a couple of Euro and not many people can say they've climbed the Eiffel Tower!

I visited Paris in March of 2004...for one day. We departed London on the Eurostar through the Chunnel. About three hours later, we arrived in Paris. None of us spoke French, so it was a challenge to buy a gaufre, whose pronunciation I butchered. We visited the Paris Catacombs and Notre Dame, then had dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant. The staff was extremely kind and patient--they spoke English to us the whole time and was thrilled to learn that we had sampled Ethiopian food countless times in our native Los Angeles. We ended our day-trip with a visit to the cemetery where Jim Morrison and Abelard and Heloise are buried.