A day trip to Versailles is absolutely recommended! For whatever reason, the tourist books make Versailles seem farther away than it really is. It's only about 45 minutes by suburban train, and (contrary to the books) no shuttle bus is needed to get to the palace...just a 15 minute walk from the station.

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The hotel charges very reasonable prices: a double room is under $100 per night, even in what they consider to be peak season. The clientele seemed to be a mix between local business travelers and European tourists. The staff speaks English, and all major credit cards are accepted. If you search for the hotel online, you will find contact information for them (both email and phone).

The rooms are on the small side, as you''d expect in a tradition French mid-scale hotel. All rooms have a TV with some satellite channels. Rooms have private bathrooms, including both the shower and the toilet. Normal maid service was provided daily. Once you get over the fact that French hotel rooms are quite small by US standards, you''ll find that this is a pleasant, quiet hotel.

You can opt to have breakfast in the hotel lobby each morning for a small, additional cost (I think it was about $5 per person/day). We didn''t take this option, simply because there was a very nice bakery down the street.

Finally, we were able to watch a brilliant sunset from the top. The sun was setting directly behind downtown and made for some spectacular photographs (which I will attach once I have a chance to scan them).

The walk to the top is good exercise to say the least! There's a small museum inside the Arc, and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is at the base.

The book couldn't have been more wrong! Yes, a change of trains is required for most people - but the change is simply from the Metro to the RER (Suburban train). The trains run every 15 minutes or so, and Versailles is only about 40-45 minutes outside of central Paris. Finally, you do NOT need to ride any shuttle buses or take a taxi. From the train station, walk to the right for about a quarter mile until you reach a large thoroughfare. Turn left and you will see the palace about 3/4ths of a mile away. Total walk: 15-20 minutes. (Of course, you could take a taxi or bus if you really wanted to.) UPDATE: I've been kindly informed that there is a second train station elsewhere in the city of Versailles - from there, you'd probably need to use a bus or cab to get to the palace. If you are taking the RER train out to Versailles with the purpose of visiting the palace, make sure you take the C train to the Chateaux de Versailles station.

We chose to visit Versailles on a Sunday, and were treated to a wonderful afternoon display of fountains. On Sundays, they turn on dozens of foutains all over the palace grounds for about 2 hours. After taking the normal tour through the rooms of the chateau, we spent the entire afternoon outside wandering the grounds. I believe the fountain display is only on Sundays, but I could be wrong (check at an information center if this is important to you).

I'd definitely recommend allotting a full day for Versailles - especially if the weather is nice. Give yourself plenty of time to walk through the gardens. You could probably even have dinner in the town of Versailles (it looks quite nice), but we took a train back to Paris at about 6 o'clock.

Before you make the trek out that way, make sure you check with a tourist info center or your hotel concierge to see if the Catacombs are open or not. BTW, there is not much else to see in that area of town.

I've heard that the Catacombs are "highly recommended," so I'll rate it that way. Either way, I "highly recommend" that you find out the status of this site before you make the journey...

The boat trip was about 90 minutes long, and it covered the Seine from Ile St. Louis to the Statue of Liberty.

Other alternatives include doing a lunch or dinner cruise. Most of these require jackets for men and can run over $100 per person. We felt the $90 boat trip (for two) was sufficient, and then we had a nice dinner on land.