Paris

Planning a weekend trip to Paris. Things to see:

1. Notre Dame Cathedral
2. Musee D'Orsay
3. The Louvre
4. Eiffel Tower
5. Au Printemps - beautiful department store (http://www.printemps.com/)
6. Galeries La Fayette - beautiful department store, if open in the evening you can watch the sunset from the roof (http://www.galerieslafayette.com/)
   
7. Montmartre - romantic artistic neighborhood
8. Champs-Elysees
9. Arc de Triomphe - walk to the top for a great view of the city without having to wait the hours to get to the top of the Eiffel Tower
   
10. Place de la Concorde - at the bottom of the Champs-Elysees; small shops and some embassies
11. Centre Pompidou - contemporary art museum
12. Le Marais (Jewish Quarter) - a great place to wander on Sunday, since most of the city is closed but this area is busy and many stores are open.
13. Jardins du Luxembourg
14. Montmartre and Sacre Coeur Basilica - artist quarter, nice cafes; there is a creperie called La Tire Bouchon (a red building on the corner up the top near the main square) that sometimes has a pianist playing; Sacre Coeur has a great view of the city and is beautiful in the evening
15. Saturday flea market: the flea market right off the metro stop is pretty average, although you can buy cheap shoes there in some stalls. but if you continue past, you will find an antique market that is charming. there is lots of antique jewelry, knick-knacks, furniture, posters, magazines, etc. for you to poke through. some of the stall owners will bargain, some will not.
    
16. Recommendations from a friend: Check out the Latin Quarter around Sorbonne University. I felt like it was less touristy and had a good variety of Parisian and ethnic restaurants. We went to a bunch of cafes in this area but I couldn't name one if I tried.
    

FOOD:

Falafel: there are a few falafel restaurants on Rue des Rosiers (M1-st.-paul) in the Marais district (closed on Saturdays). You can sit or take your food to go. One of these places had a long line when I was there, which probably means it's one of the best - so walk down the short street before deciding which falafel joint to eat at.

Fauchon: a foodie will really enjoy this place, although might not be able to afford too much! there are two buildings, just around the corner from each other. you can browse through large displays of spices, pate, mustard, tea, cookies, etc. in one location. the other location has pre-made food that is just beautiful. in this building is a cafe that would be a great place for lunch because you can have the Fauchon bread, cheese, desserts, etc. without paying the high prices of the other pre-made foods.

Travel advice from a friend: I recommend upgrading to First Class if you haven't already. It's about 5-15 euro more depending on the train, but we were fed a meal and an endless supply of wine. Technically, you have to pay for wine that isn't being offered with the meal, but our "steward" was pretty generous. After paying 10 euro, we probably had 6 mini-bottles of wine (usualy cost 1.40 each) and then he gave us 3 for the road. The seats are a lot nicer too.