There's just so much to see in Paris that you have to accept that you're going to miss some things unless you're staying a month. We were there a week and were exhausted when we left. I'm going to have to look at a French travel web site just so I don't butcher the spelling of these places too badly.

That brings a saying to mind: "Nobody likes the French, and the French don't like the Parisians." While we were generally unmolested during our stay there is definitely some anti-American sentiment in Paris. We experienced the usual snotty waiters who refused to communicate with us if our French wasn't perfect, but for the most part we found that attempting to speak French was enough to show them that we were trying. We still had a great time.

Don't rent a car in Paris. Not only do they drive worse than the English, but the Metro is excellent public transportation as long as you're staying in the city. It's pretty cheap too if my memory serves correctly. Between the subway lines and the bus lines you can get anywhere in a few hops and a relatively short time.

I recommend getting a hotel room near the Champs-Elysées. It's one of the main streets with lots of shopping, food, night life and the Arc de Triomphe at one end. As a bonus you may get to see couples having sex on the park benches at the other end as we did. :o We were a bit shocked. We saw "Titanic" in the theater there and watched a car show parade one morning from the second story window of a croissant shop. It's true that they make the best croissants there.

The Champs-Elysées is also somewhat central so you can get to anywhere you want to go fairly quickly. Just don't try to talk German as we also did (coming from Switzerland). When Hitler defeated France he had his troops goose-step through the Arc de Triomphe just to upset the French and they're still sensitive about it.

There are of course some great museums. My favorite was the Musée d'Orsay for it's works of the impressionists which I really like. You can see everything there in a half day. The biggest collection resides at the Musée du Louvre and you'd be remiss if you didn't go. It's got so much that the only way you can see it all in less than a day is if you run or just don't care about missing entire wings. It's huge. It's so overwhelming that I wouldn't schedule other museums on the day before or after just to give yourself a buffer and break. We never got to see the Cité des Science et d'Industrie, but it's supposed to be a fantastic science museum.

There are tons of religious sites of course. Most of them have blurred in my memory, but I remember a few that were nice to see: Notre Dame, La Sainte Chapelle and Saint Sulpice. Notre Dame was especially impressive. The "Hunchback" stories made more sense after seeing the location too. :) I don't think we went to see Le Sacré Coeur, but that is also supposed to be nice. There are probably a dozen more I don't know about.

I think the Tour Eiffel (Eiffel Tower) is highly overrated, but it wouldn't be a trip to Paris if you didn't go see it. Block 15 minutes and do it. I wasn't about to spend the $100+ for the trip to the top (each), but you're certainly welcome to.

The government buildings have some great architecture. I don't know if Le Panthéon is government or not, but it looks like it. We didn't go in, but we walked around the square that has the spire. I can't remember the name. I believe it's just on one side of the river Seine, which is neat to see. There's a lot of history around that river.

The Cemetery of Père Lachaise is Paris's most famous cemetery and there are many statues and fancy tombs throughout. It's not creepy at all and was an afternoon well spent. Make sure you leave a marajuana cigarette on Jim Morrison's grave so he can get high in the afterlife. Then again, there may already be plenty there.

What do you do when cemeteries get full? You have to remember that unlike the USA space is limited in Europe, so after about 20 years or so they dig up your bones and put them under the city. The more money you have the longer they let you stay in the ground. Pretty bizarre huh? Why not visit them! A trip under the city in the catacombs IS creepy, but very enlightening. It makes you appreciate the space we have here. It's not scary or gross - just creepy with all the thigh bones stacked in one pile, arms in another, sometimes in fancy designs with a skull in the middle. You won't believe it until you see it.

We went to open markets and textile markets and tons of other places I can't remember right now. Great fun. Definitely worth the trip.