Hi, we will arrive in Paris early in the morning, I figure by the time we get through customs, baggage claim and get to the hotel should be 9:30 am. I am not planning on sleeping, so my question is how would you spend your first dazed, zombie-like day in Paris?
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Store my luggage at hotel. Go to a cafe and have a coffee.
Wander around site closest to my hotel,,, have a leisurly lunch. Window shopping, pick up some brochures from hotel lobby to look at while having a drink at a cafe overlooking the Seine, or Notre Dame, or what ever site makes you think %26quot; WOW I am HERE!
Or, have a coffee , and then board one of those hop on and off buses( do a search on this site, many posts about them, a brainless and / but very relaxing way to be ushered around at your own pace , as you will be as you said in a %26quot;zombie like%26quot; state)
Alot depends on how long your stay is, if you are only in Paris for 3 or 4 days I wouldn%26#39;t waste too much time doing nothing, but, if I was there longer then 5 or 6 days I might just enjoy my first day doing nothing much, wandering around ,, eating ice creams, etc..
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At least an hour of reasonably brisk walking ASAP (or less of more strenuous exercise if you prefer) to get the blood circulating again and re-oxygenate it.
Re-hydrate. I don%26#39;t care how much water you drank on the plane. You are dehydrated. Trust me on this...
Get lots of fresh air, heaps and tons and scads of it. Don%26#39;t even think of going to an indoor museum even if it is blowing a gale and raining, sleeting, snowing and hailing all at once...
Don%26#39;t sit too much. You%26#39;ve spent too much of the last 15 hours sitting. Walk for a bit and rest for a short while then walk some more. pick an area that you really want to see and explore it. You may have to go back to see it properly but if it%26#39;s somewhere that isn%26#39;t a crashing bore for you, you won%26#39;t be quite so likely to turn into zombies.
Eat frequent but small and easily digested meals. The key here is to re-stabilize the blood-sugar level. if you haven%26#39;t eaten well on the plane have a good light meal ASAP and then eat every three or four hours until about 8:30 p.m. Go easy on both alcohol and caffeine.
Go back to your hotel in the mid/late afternoon. have a shower and change. if you feel you *must* have a nap, make it a short one.
Build the things you want to see into this framework. Don%26#39;t decide that you *must* do thus-and-so because you have it pre-programmed.
And get to bed at somewhere close to your normal hour, not early or late.
So anyway, that%26#39;s what is ideal for me. For you? Maybe this will work, maybe you%26#39;ll do better on some totally different regimen...
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When I get to my hotel it is usually after a long 28 hours trip including transfer and layovers and shuttle ride early in the am. I put out my luggage items that I will need then I take a shower.
I head to the nearest ATM machine. Then I go buy my metro tickets or pass. I head for a grocery for water etc. and fruit. I take all this back to the hotel room. I try to do this before I get a tired mind!
I always take ther metro or a bus to the Notre Dame area and walk around in the fresh air. I then decide where and what to have for lunch. I try to either do something that is not too tiring either a bus ride on #69 or the Seine River tour.
I usually have an early dinner and return to my room by 8:00 pm ish. I call to let hubby know I am ok. Then I need to hit the hay for the next day.
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Stay busy! Our first day looked like this (I%26#39;m lazy - this is a copy/paste from my trip report!):
Day 1 (Fri, 3/9):
We and our two friends (whom we travel with annually) arrived CDG around 8:45a, headed to our apartment (located 3 blocks from the Eiffel Tower), unpacked, and were out the door by noon, full of excitement as to what Paris had in store for us! It was cold, windy and drizzly, but who cares? We were in Paris after all – so what if it’s raining!?!
We started at the Point de l’Alma RER station where we purchased a carnet (10 rides). She spoke no English, we spoke very little French, and she was quite busy so this was not an easy purchase. We muddled our way through it nonetheless and hopped on the train for Ile de la Cite. The first order of business was lunch. We stopped at the Notre Dame Patisserie for lunch before crossing the Seine to the island. Suffice it to say our first dining experience was not our best dining experience, and I would not recommend this restaurant. Regardless, we were in Paris for goodness sake! So we ate our meal (food was good) and off we went.
First stop – Notre Dame. The place was magnificent and the architecture amazing! After seeing it in person I can understand why it took almost 200 years to build! There were small chapels all along the perimeter of the cathedral, each one as beautiful as the next. I was humbled by the fact that I was standing in a structure that was almost 900 yrs old!!! One of the great joys of Europe is care and pride around their old architecture. We don’t seem to quite understand that importance of that here in America, but I digress. It did feel awkward walking around talking photos of the perimeter while people were in the nave for mass, but everyone was doing it so I got over it and snapped away.
We left the cathedral and wandered both islands, stopping for café crème and Berthillon ice cream at La Brasserie de I’lle St. Louis where we were surprised by the 42 euro price tag for three café crèmes and four ice creams! By now the rain had stopped so, though chilly, it was nicer out. The treats were yummy and we were enjoying the view.
We wandered over to the Conciergerie and bought our 6-day museum passes (no queue!). From there we hopped the RER back to the apartment neighborhood where we did a bit of grocery shopping. That in and of itself was quite a fun experience! We bought some assorted meats and cheeses, stopped for a baguette, and headed back to the apartment for a light dinner. We forced ourselves to stay awake until 9p, then fell into bed for a good night’s sleep.
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Also if your flight is late it could be 10-10:30am, and also allow 20-30 min or so to check in. My flight was 1 hr late from Newark by the time we exited the plane. I would also suggest you pack a fresh set of clothes that you can access easily from your suitcase for a quick change at hotel or CDG. I think it helps wake you up if you feel at least somewhat refreshed.
Where are you staying? I would agree to stay close by so you can return easily to the hotel. We stayed in the 1st ARR, so we decided to just go to the Louvre. Although it was a lot of walking in the museum, the excitement kept us going without a problem. Followed it up with a early dinner and bed, and then started the next day bright and early.
T
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This has all been really helpful, thank you! I had planned on visiting ND and St. Ch the first day (I get in early as well) but may scratch the Orsay off my list as a first-day %26quot;do.%26quot; That might be too much!
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Hi --
I use the early part of that first day to locate the little shops I%26#39;ll need every day - where to get yogurt and cheese to supplement a continental breakfast at the hotel, the pharmacy/supermarket for the little odds and sods that may have been forgotten/too heavy to pack, the place I%26#39;ll buy wine for the cocktail hour, the shop with flowers so I can have fresh ones in my room, and etc.
Additionally, I begin my continuous survey to locate cafes, brasseries, or restaurants whose bills of fare interest me for dinner that evening.
I have to add that I%26#39;m not doing this in Paris, yet. I don%26#39;t fly into CDG except under pain of death or divorce. I fly into Amsterdam and spend a couple of nights there to get my act together after the 9.5 hours of flying, and then take a train to Paris (from downtown to downtown, no airport to ruin the day) and I arrive ready to get on with things.
In AMS I fly into Schipol, a much more pleasant experience than CDG, catch a train on the lowest level of the arrivals building that takes me into the Centraal Station for about 4 Euros, and I have the opportunity to get over my jet lag in a less expensive city which is safe and clean, has good food, and where almost everyone speaks English. It%26#39;s a great gateway to Europe.
I understand that I have more time than do most people, but you can all file this away for the days to come when you%26#39;re able to take an extra few days without incurring the risk of gross instability in your life, ie, getting fired.
Bon voyage.
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Thanks all of your replies, you guys are great. My thoughts like most of you are to go to the hotel (hotel Royal Opera, 8th I believe) get unpacked, a shower for sure and like you all mentioned take a walk to get to know my immediate area and stores I will need. I also thought of going to the Latin Quarter, thought that might me fun and funky to just aimlessly wander around. The idea of the red bus is an option, also the cruise along the seine! Of course there will be eating to be done, and yes as mentioned by someone light meals are the order for the day. Thank you all!
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Keep in mind your room may not be ready until the regular afternoon check-in time. Do you know what time that is? However, you can still check in and have the hotel hold your bags while you go out an sightsee.
Best chance to gain early access to room is to request it in advance, depending on availability. Email the hotel and inform them what time you plan to arrive, and request early check-in if available. Then they will know to try to have it ready for you. If none availabe when you arrive, they will know to clean it ASAP.
T
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