Long Weekend in Paris

Quick Tips:

Paris McDonald's has a great deal on breakfast, 5 euros gets you a ton of food, muffin, juice, yogurt, and a few other things.

The Louvre is seriously discounted, half price at least in late afternoon, but it is huge so if you plan to see a lot of stuff this is not a good option. Try to do the Eiffel Tower early in the morning, before the crowds hit, Sunday is best.

Best Way To Get Around:

Very small all the way around. We had to fold up our baby stroller just to enter the front door! The room was equally small. There is an elevator to get to the rooms, all are on the second floor or higher, and the elevator was actually more roomy than the stairwell for getting luggage and such upstairs. But on the bright side it was one of the only hotels in Paris close to attractions but also affordable. There was a nice pub around the corner and it was short walk to the metro station, and not a bad walk at all to the Eiffel Tower, maybe 15 minutes.

The room had the standard TV, bathroom, window opened to the outside, and I believe an iron, if I remember right. There was a sitting room in the lobby and it was on a nice typical old Paris street with food markets right on the corner. I would advise not driving here, the hotel is on a street only wide enough for one car, not to mention that the traffic on the main road is horrible. Everything is in walking distance or at least to the metro.

A must do while in Paris, even if just to say "I went up the Eiffel Tower." Yes, you can take the stairs; my sister opted for this option and it is a good one if your legs will hold out, as it is less expensive. Or do like the rest of the lazy Americans and take the elevator! You will have to wait in line for tickets either way, and the shortest line of the four days we were there was Sunday morning.

The elevator will take you first to the middle landing where there is a place to eat as well as an observation area. You then hop on another elevator to take you to the uppermost level. This is where you can get the views of Paris! I had never realized how large a city Paris was until this. From up here you can pick out most of the major sights, and also see the transition from Old Paris to the newer business districts of Paris.

The Eiffel Tower is really much larger and taller in person than I would have imagined. The elevators are an experience themselves, as they travel at an angle, and you get a view of the inner workings of the construction, though I would guess that taking the stairs would provide a better view of this.

I was told the restaurant on the first landing is rather expensive, but there was such a crowd there that we never could find out. There is also a restaurant at the base of one of the pillars; I grabbed a peak at the menu and it was incredibly expensive (in the range of 30 euro per person and up). The price for the elevators was €12 per person, though we did not have to pay for our 1-year-old.