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Paris orientation tour on Normandy, Brittany, . . . tour

6explore6explore
in Normandy, Brittany, Paris & the Loire Valley
Can anyone tell me what is included in the Paris orientation tour on this trip? Do you stop and visit or just drive by the sights listed in the description? Does Tauck provide entrance to the Eiffel Tower? We plan to travel in June 2013.

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    Francesca KingFrancesca King
    We are recently back from this trip. The orientation tour is a drive by and no tickets to the Eiffel Tower were provided. I suggest you purchase your tickets in advance online and walk right up to the elevators (where you will wait) otherwise you will wait in line for several hours just to get to the elevators. There is an Official Website for the tower, www.tour-eiffel.biz.
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    Francesca KingFrancesca King
    Unless things have changed you will start this trip in Versailles?? Tauck provides a general admission ticket--good for one day. It takes 2 to 3 days to see Versailles and you can purchase tickets for other activities there. They also have their own website where you can see the offerings and choose what you would like to see. The town of Versailles itself has an open market on Sundays from around 10 AM to 1 PM. You may enjoy this. We had two full days and were not able to do so, but heard that it was lovely.
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    Francesca KingFrancesca King
    Failed to mention that we arrived in Paris 4 days before the trip. We had 3 days in Paris on our own, purchased the hop on hop off bus tickets for two days and paid a little extra for the river cruise. We used the bus company that offered 4 different routes (don't know if the others do) www.city.discovery.com/paris, but actually purchased our tickets on the bus (the lime colored one). We caught it near the pyramid in the Louvre. It's a great way to see the main attractions and all the other neighborhoods as well. If you haven't done it before, you can get off and visit the site and then back on. Be prepared to walk long distances within Versailles. The tram they have ran so infrequently and was always full, and it cost an additional 7 Euros.
    On day 11 we ended the orientation at Notre Dame and there is plenty of time to go in and then further explore the city as lunch and dinner are on your own.
    Tauck provided a guided tour of the museum D'Orsay on day 12, the last day, and as lunch is on your own there is more time to explore.
    Happy to answer any question you may have.
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    6explore6explore
    Francesca, Thank you so much for the useful information. I will check on the bus tours. We plan to have only one extra night, so we will be busy!
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    Francesca KingFrancesca King
    You are most welcome. Our brouchure did not mention that our farewell dinner would be on the river boat which was really nice, so you may want to check and see if the 2013 brochure mentions that, and you don't end up doing it twice if that is on your agenda for your early day.
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