Paris

[blueshell]

Hi! For anyone who has recently been on the ABD London/Paris trip, can you tell me approximately how long the Louvre tour was and what time lunch on your own time began? The itinerary shows the Lourve tour taking place in the A.M. with lunch on our own…there’s a particular place I’d like to go for lunch that day but I don’t know what time would be safe to make the reservation. I know the exact time can’t be guaranteed, but I’m curious to know approximately how many hours is usually spent doing the Louvre tour so I can figure out the lunch reservation around that Thank you for any help you can give!!

 

[JackieT1182]

Hi again! Looking at the time stamps on my pictures, we had about 1.5 hours for lunch.

We were at the Louvre for about 2.5 hours, then we made a few stops before we were dropped off for lunch, which was at 1 PM. Our meet up spot was at Square René Viviani across the Seine from the Notre Dame. Of course, the tours might be different now, but hopefully this gives you a general idea!

 

[blueshell]

Hi again! Looking at the time stamps on my pictures, we had about 1.5 hours for lunch.

We were at the Louvre for about 2.5 hours, then we made a few stops before we were dropped off for lunch, which was at 1 PM. Our meet up spot was at Square René Viviani across the Seine from the Notre Dame. Of course, the tours might be different now, but hopefully this gives you a general idea!

Thank you so much - this is so helpful!!
Did you do the tour of the Opera House? I see it listed on the itinerary after lunch, and I’m wondering if it’s a must do, or if that time would be better spent doing other things on our own that day (there doesn’t seem to be a lot of on your own time built into the Paris leg of the trip). Would love to hear your opinion!

 

[JackieT1182]

You're welcome!

Yes, we did go to the Opera House, but honestly, if this isn't your thing, I'd totally skip it. Lots of people on our tour did love it though, but I wish we would've done something on our own instead. We did go there right after lunch, and when that tour was over, we just walked back to our hotel and had the rest of the evening on our own (not sure where the Paris hotel is now, but we stayed at the Hilton Paris Opera).

Both day 5 and 6 we were done by 4 PM, so there's a decent amount of on your own time those 2 evenings.

 

[blueshell]

You're welcome!

Yes, we did go to the Opera House, but honestly, if this isn't your thing, I'd totally skip it. Lots of people on our tour did love it though, but I wish we would've done something on our own instead. We did go there right after lunch, and when that tour was over, we just walked back to our hotel and had the rest of the evening on our own (not sure where the Paris hotel is now, but we stayed at the Hilton Paris Opera).

Both day 5 and 6 we were done by 4 PM, so there's a decent amount of on your own time those 2 evenings.

So helpful to know this! Perfect!!

 

[Chris931]

I just did this trip in September. The Paris Opera House was a sleeper hit for me! I really loved it. That said, a few couples on our trip decided to stay longer in the Louvre and a few decided to go to Disneyland Paris for the afternoon and skipped the Opera House.

Between the Louvre and the Opera House we hade a few hours of shopping / lunch on our own time in the Latin Quarter (after we walked over to Notre Dame for photos as it was not open yet.)

Our hotel was not the Hilton Paris Opera so we did use the motor coach to return to the hotel but we were back around 4 pm.

 

[YYC-adventurer]

Just did this trip, Louvre, like JackieT1182 said is just under 3 hrs,we went from ther to Notre Dame ans actually went inside as a group (no vox boxes allowed). From there the time for lunch at the Latin Quarter was around 1.5 hours. Depending on what you want to do you might want to do your restaurant reso and go back to Notre Dame a different afternoon.
As for the Opera house, we loved it but there were a couple of people in the group that skipped it. We stayed at the Hilton Opera House so it is a short walk back and you can stop by Lafayatte stores on the way back.
Hope you have a magical trip!

 

[blueshell]

Thank you for this info! Since you just did this trip with the same itinerary, I’d love to know where you’d recommend fitting in a visit to La Galerie Dior exhibit. The latest ticket time available for admission is 5:00pm each day. So I’m trying to figure out if would work better to purchase tickets for 5:00pm on either Day 5 (the Louvre/Opera House day) or Day 6 (Eiffel Tower/Macaron making day)….or if I should try to fit in a visit during the day instead (during a lunch break)? I’d love to hear any input!
Thank you!

 

[YYC-adventurer]

Thank you for this info! Since you just did this trip with the same itinerary, I’d love to know where you’d recommend fitting in a visit to La Galerie Dior exhibit. The latest ticket time available for admission is 5:00pm each day. So I’m trying to figure out if would work better to purchase tickets for 5:00pm on either Day 5 (the Louvre/Opera House day) or Day 6 (Eiffel Tower/Macaron making day)….or if I should try to fit in a visit during the day instead (during a lunch break)? I’d love to hear any input!
Thank you!

Lunch break would be quite tight. Depending on your preferences you might have to forego either the Macaron or the Opera House. I liked the Opera House quite a bit. Both days ended at around 5 PM, taking commute into account you won't be ale to make it to the Galerie Dior on time (traffic is insane, we didn't take the metro but that would be faster).
Hope that helps.

 

[blueshell]

Thank you! Did you enjoy the macaron making class? I’m also curious if you could tell me what the timeline looked like for your trip on Day 4 (London to Paris day). Do you recall approximately what time you arrived in Paris, what time the Montmarte portion of the day concluded, and around what time the Welcome to Paris dinner was held? I wonder if I could squeeze something in that day! There’s so much that I would love to do in Paris and it doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of on your own time for that leg of the trip…did anyone choose to skip the group dinner to do their own thing?

 

[YYC-adventurer]

Thank you! Did you enjoy the macaron making class? I’m also curious if you could tell me what the timeline looked like for your trip on Day 4 (London to Paris day). Do you recall approximately what time you arrived in Paris, what time the Montmarte portion of the day concluded, and around what time the Welcome to Paris dinner was held? I wonder if I could squeeze something in that day! There’s so much that I would love to do in Paris and it doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of on your own time for that leg of the trip…did anyone choose to skip the group dinner to do their own thing?

Macaron class was fun, but not something I would have terribly miss had it not happened. I believe we took the train close to 10:30 AM, trip is under 3 hrs but you change time zone so end up getting to Paris at around at about 2:30 PM. After Montmartre (around 5 PM) you will have just under 2 hrs before the Paris welcome dinner, you can definitely do something during that time. Most of the On your Own time blocks during the day are short and mostly during lunch.
As for the group meals, most people went to them but we did have a couple people opting out of some (partial groups mostly)

The one thing I will suggest is be ready for huge crowds, there is a lot of comments about pickpockets but, personally, never felt unsafe, just be mindful when in very crowded areas. Also, if you have a restaurant that you definitely want to visit, make a reservation and know you'll be there for at least 2 hours (more if you are doing a fancy place)