one night in paris

[kateclemens]

So, I am arriving in Paris on a Sunday night at 8:30. My friends and I aren't interested in going out to a bar (we are too stingy). Can anyone suggest anything to do past 9PM? I know there are night tours - but we're already planning to take the free New Europe tour the next day. Ideas? Even just a relatively safe area to explore/walk around would be good.

Thanks.

[Mikul]

If you are only there for one night, I would head over to the Eiffel Tower and climb to the top or take the elevator.

Eiffel Tower Hours: www.tour-eiffel.fr/teiffel/uk/pratique/acces/page/horaires.html

[herrbert]

Is this a bad moment to make the joke, that there is a video, about what to do for one night in Paris

If you have no plan, than take a map. Take a look at the monuments you have to see. (Eiffel Tower, Louvre, Arc de Triompfe etc, etc, and stick to the big streets.) As long as you stick to these streets you will be safe. (in a big city, one should always use their common sense. if you are referring to the riots in Paris, than please now that these were in the suburbs far away from the center of town.

[madamtrashheap]

Both great suggestions - wandering Paris by night is spectacular.

As you're arriving at 8.30pm (by train?), by the time you meet up with your friends and check in/drop off bags, you'll only have a few hours before midnight, so if you did want to go up the Eiffel Tower then head straight there (until mid-June the last elevator is at 11pm, 10.30 for the 3rd floor, after that until August it's later) so you have time to get up and down without rushing.

If you don't want to spend the money to climb it, but still want to see it lit up at night, a great place to view it is from the platform up at Palace de Chaillot (above the Trocadero Fountains). You can reach it by Metro (stop:Trocadero) and if you get there just before the hour, once it's dark, you'll see the "mating firefly" display as 20,000 bulbs twinkle for 10mins.

Another place good for views of the city is the observation deck on Montparnasse Tower. The deck is on the 56th floor of the tower and looks all over Paris, including at the Eiffel (the tower is higher than the Eiffel). It's not free, however, and costs around €10, but the evelvator ride is great (38 seconds to reach the top) and it's open until 11pm.

Failing that, you can do as herrbert suggested and wander areas between the Eiffel, Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Elysees and Place de la Concorde. All are well lit and there are things to see along the way.

[sapl]

What is the free new Europe tour?

[lia80]

I would definitely go to the Sacre Couer hill: a great overview of the city and a buzzling safe area packed with bistro and cafes... ;-)

[lia80]

I was almost forgetting!!!
try the Bob Cool at 15, Rue des Grands Augustin; Metro Station: Odéon or St-Michel; ph: 01-46-33-33-77) It's a laid-back left bank bar, that attracts the kind of crowds you’d expect from the left bank-old style. Writers, poets and artists are said to gather.... ;-)