Paris, France and Seine cruises Expert

Rooftop view from Galeries Lafayette

Paris for me is definitely my favourite city. It has everything you could possibly hope to find for a perfect city vacation. Fantastic museums, spectacular galleries, exciting nightlife, beautiful parks, cozy cafes and bistros and so, so much more. I could write pages here about the museums and other sites we visited. The Louvre (I’d recommend a private or small group tour), Musee d’Orsay, Place Concorde, Sainte Chapelle. Other places of interest like the unique Shakespeare book store or the Catacombs are so worth some of your time. Spend a relaxing few hours in one of the many gardens like the Tuilleries or Luxembourg gardens. Go shopping in an awesome department store like the Gallerie Lafayette or a football match. We went and watched Red Star FC, a third tier team, founded by Jules Rimet. He’s the guy who invented the World Cup.Like most older European cities most of the ‘must see' historical attractions are clustered in a relatively small area and, weather permitting, you can stroll from one place to another with ease. Alternatively, if you’d like to get around more quickly you can always get a 1 or 2 day ticket for the Batobus which cruises up and down the Seine and alight at any one of the 9 stops conveniently located on both banks of the river. Simply get on and off as many times as you want during the length of your pass. The farthest point to the west is at the Eiffel Tower and in the east at Notre Dame Cathedral.It is also a wonderful city to just walk around without any plan or itinerary. You can just wander off in any direction and take in the superb architecture or find a unique clothing store and stumble on a couture dress at a bargain price or a quaint patisserie where you can sit and enjoy a cafe au lait with your pastry and watch the world go by.When in Paris you really have to make the time to make a trip to the Palace of Versailles. We just bought our own train tickets and spent a lovely day exploring the Palace and some of the grounds. Disney is only 40 minutes away by train from the centre of Paris. So that would be a real adventure to take your kids to see European Disney. If you have more time why not not take a cruise along the Seine towards Normandy. Visit Giverny, Honfleur, Rouen and other places along the river until you reach Le Havre. This, and other cruises, can be done as an all inclusive add-on to your stay in Paris.There are also all inclusive river cruises from Paris to cities like Zurich and Prague.