6 Days in London/4 in Paris - First time visitor - what to see? - Page 3

Musee d'Orsay.

Period.

The best museum in London, hands down, is called "Sir John Soane's Museum." It's near the Holborn (British Museum) tube stop and is a public museum, administered by the London Museum Authority (or whatever it's called), but is completely unknown. Some eccentric Victorian gentleman dedicated his life to collecting paintings, sculpture, fragments of architecture and the like. He then turned his townhouse into a museum with every surface crammed with the pieces of his collection. I've been at least a half dozen times and would go back a half dozen more. It's damned near the British Museum, so take a few minutes after you've gone to the BM and visit it. As for tickets to a football match, it varies with a few factors. Both Ashburton Grove (also called Emirates Stadium), where Arsenal play and Stamford Bridge, where Chelsea play are in nice parts of town and are easily accessible by tube. However, as they're Premiership clubs, the tickets are very expensive and often hard to come by. You can get lucky occasionally by showing up at the ticket window, but I wouldn't leave it to chance if that's a must-do for your trip. Other options include West Ham United and Charlton Athletic, as well as second-division teams like Queen's Park Rangers (QPR) and Crystal Palace. If you are, however, a true connoisseur of the beautiful game, you'll of course get to Liverpool and see the mighty Reds play at Anfield. If you have other questions, don't hesitate, etc. etc.

I'm sure there a lot of us here with similar experiences, but I lived right outside of Paris for a month this summer and did a lot of (non-touristy) exploring. Shopping: The Galeries Lafayettes and Printemps are sort of must sees, even just for the architecture. There is a café on one of the higher levels of Printemps with a beautiful domed stained glass roof worth checking out. Most Parisians, however, will probably tell you to check out le Bon Marché. It's a "market" of mid to high end fashion boutiques that has some nice stuff. There is a considerably larger selection of women's boutiques, unfortunately. You'll find out that French "mall" shopping is nothing like it is here. Both les GL/P and le Bon Marché are really just big open spaces with a bunch of small boutiques all over, as opposed to the kind of individual store setup you see in America. Additionally, a lot of the best shopping will probably be found just on the streets of the city, especially if you're looking for SF approved clothing. The St. Germain des Près area has some of the best cafés in the city and some good shopping. Soccer/Football: the Stade de France is a great place to see a game, however it's not in the greatest area and a little hard to get to if you don't have a car. A rugby match there or anywhere else would probably be more fun though--the French love rugby. Sightseeing: I'm sure you know of a lot of the hotspots, but there are a lot of hidden treasures in Paris. Right behind Notre Dame, on the tip of the Ile de la Cité is the Place Dauphine, which is a nice little block to walk around that doesn't get frequented by a whole lot of tourists. You said you're not into museums, but that does not fly in Paris. You can't go there without going to any of them. I promise you that the Louvre, Musée d'Orsay, etc will each in their own right trump any museum you've ever been to in America or probably anywhere else. Sorry this is late, but I hope it helps. Enjoy your visit. -Alex

You have to envy the virgin gaze upon these two cities.... regardless of probably being constantly torn between tourist site and great shopping opportunity.
I believe the Tower of London is a rip off for the money. a conveyor belt glimpse for 5 or 6 seconds at some (fake) jewels for something like 20 quid. Maybe give a miss to such tourist tat, IMHO.
For me, Paris hands down; but yes, just ABSORB the places; walk around and take in everything. Do some sights, free museums if you want, but don't feel obliged; I'm sure you'll have the opportunity to return in the future. Try something you feel only lukewarm to at the moment: you might be surprised. Go to Lords or The Oval for a Test (joking); do a famous museum; a famous bar and cafe etc..
Try to interact with the locals a bit, if only slightly superficially; just enjoy being a tourist, safe in the knowledge you don't have to live in these goddam weird countries.

^+1 and skip bullshit like Madame Tussauds. You wait ages to pay 20 pounds to get in to see a wax sculpture of Posh Spice. She looks enough like a wax sculpture in real life.

If you want some specific restaurant /pub or whatever advice just ask. Great fish and chips, curry, Guinness, etc...

K

See the similar thread of Get Smart's some months back; tonnes of specifics.

The GBP/USD exchange rate (as well as Euro) is pretty good right now, the best it's been in many years. hoping this trend continues to years' end!!!

and was it just me, or are there far fewer fish n chips places in London than there used to be?

this one?

I'll def make a better thread after this years' trip with more pics and stuff. I'm not much of a photo taker when I'm out so the wife is gonna make sure I take tons of photos this time

would like to see the OP post pics as well when he gets back from his trip, always nice to see things from someone else's perspective

I highly recommend checking out Notre Dame cathedral - not for the tourist trap value, but if you're there on a Sunday, they have an organ performance at 4pm every single Sunday. The plaster-shaking organ combined with the gorgeous acoustics and aesthetic of the catedral itself is breath-taking. Worth spending an hour. I made it every Sunday I could, even though the church in my own neighborhood was a heck of a lot closer. +1 on renting a bike and exploring the city. The city is huge, and tons of neat alleyways, tiny streets, excellent under-trafficked cafes and neat architectual and cultural finds throughout the city. There are museums tucked away in what look like private homes, stores selling awesome things at great prices in back alleys and neat people to meet all around. I also recommend taking some time to stroll in the "jardins des tuileries" and grab an espresso and a chair at one of the little cafes. It will be gorgeous in the Fall. Stroll through Les Invalides. If you take the metro, I recommend getting off the line 8 at La Tour-Maubourg and patroning the crepe stand kiddy-corner to the metro exit escalator -- great guy, wonderful crepes, cheap prices, no tourists. Plus, the absolutely beautiful stroll from there to Les Invalides is worth the 5-minute walk. You can eat your warm Nutella Banane crepe (highly recommended) while you walk. Really, there's a LOT to Paris that is just downright awesome outside of the touristy areas. Spend your few days there getting the chance to scrape the surface of what Paris and Parisian life is really like and you'll enjoy it a lot more than having sat on tour buses driving by monuments, statues and building edifices while hurriedly snapping photos of and in front of buildings you know nothing about and will forget in a week. YMMV.

yea I think the most important thing is to limit "touristy" sights to a bare minimum. Try to just use ONE day to see all that, and no more. Maybe take a bus tour so you get to see the usual stuff in a small amount of time.

Try the Golden Hind in Marylebone. Excellent fish and chips, friendly owners, big vintage fryer in the corner. And its BYOB, so you can bring in a couple of beers.

Fryers Delight in Holburn and Rock and Sole Plaice in Covent Garden are also good.

K

that's where we ended up going, it was great. thanks for the Golden Hind rec' too, we'll try it next time