We went to Paris in August 2009 for two days and it was a fun visit. We covered almost all the major tourist destinations. While in Paris, following are the places one should definitely see.
Museum Pass
If you are planning to go to more than 3 places which are covered by Paris Museum pass, then buying the pass is cheaper. It covers almost all the famous museums, Versailles palace and was very useful. You can avoid long ticket lines and explore more museums without worrying about entry fees 
. Here is the link to the museum pass http://www.parismuseumpass.com/en/pass_tarif.php.
Louvre Museum
Louvre Museum is exceptionally beautiful and is the best museum I have ever seen in my life. I read that it will take you 6 months if you want to see each and everything in Louvre. We spent 4 hours in the museum and took hundreds of pictures. Taking pictures without using flash is allowed. So dress in something nice as pictures are going to be amazing . Don't forget to see Mona Lisa painting there. Museum opens at 9 am and it closes at 5 pm. If you want to avoid long lines at the museum entrance then try to reach early.
Once you are done with Louvre, head to Musee D'Orsay. Don't try to walk from one place to another in Paris. Paris is very big and places which look very close in map are usually very far. Subway stations are always near you. Just hop on a train and moving around Paris will be a piece of cake.
Musee D'Orsay
Musee D'Orsay is another museum with exclusive art collection and cannot be missed. Make sure you go on top floor and take pictures of the beautiful city. It took us 1- 1.5 hours to see the museum.
Notre Dame
Notre dame Cathedral tower is a beautiful church. I saw lot of churches in Europe but this is my favorite. Entry is free here unless you want to go on top of the tower. This is not included in Paris Museum pass.
Eiffel Tower
Eiffel Tower do not need any introduction. I was very excited to see Eiffel tower for real. You always see it in movies and books and it looks awesome but I think movies and books don't do justice to its actual beauty. You can see Eiffel Tower from everywhere. Try to reach at Eiffel tower at dusk. Once it is dark, they turn on thousands of LEDs on the tower every hour for few minutes which looks marvelous. An elevator can take you to the top of Eiffel tower and will cost you 12 Euros. You can choose to go upto first floor or upto second floor or all the way to the top. You can also climb stairs upto first floor. Looking at the city from top of Eiffel tower will be an unforgettable experience.
Few tips for exploring the city
- Besides beautiful museums, cathedrals, palaces and Eiffel, city itself is very beaufiful. The whole city looked like a big museum to me because of its beautiful architecture. Take a walk in the city and you will know yourself how incredible the city is.
- You will find lot of tourists and residents riding bicycles. There are lot of bicycle stands knows as velib and you can rent a bike from there. You can pick bike from any Velib stand and drop it at any other. They are everywhere in the city.
- Metro system is very fast and is the best mode of transportation in Paris. Take some time to understand it. You can buy tickets from any station and 1 ticket is good for 1 journey. While purchasing tickets, select language at first page and it will make your life easy. We had a hard time figuring how to buy tickets from machines which had a roller sort of thing which you can roll to select different options. Major tourist destinations in Paris have metro stations named after them. When train stops, you need to press green button on the door to open it. We missed our station once because of this as we didn't know .
- If you want to use cab for transportation, then cabs are not very expensive there.
- Wear very very comfortable shoes, you won't even realize how much you to walk in the city.
- Don't worry about dressing. Wear whatever you like. I was very tensed for my clothing but after reaching there I did not feel out of place in my US style clothes.
- Food is very delicious in Paris, but quantity is less as compared to what we get in US.
Accommodation in Paris
Hotels in Paris are pretty expensive. A small room will cost $100-125 which won't be too close to center of the city. If you are looking for a good hotel and at a decent price, go for a location away from city center and use metro to travel from hotel to city center.
Usually it takes 1 day to understand a city you visit for the first time. So I will suggest staying minimum of 3 days to enjoy the city. Overall Paris is a great place to visit and even to live. I personally loved it and would visit it again. I will go in little bit more details in future to help other travelers.
Live life to full of it.
Enjoy…
Neha
I know nothing about Paris except from research which suggests we want to stay somewhere 3-7. Can you suggest your favorite neighborhood to stay based on the following, We’re designers from San Francisco, 37-44, with a 2-year old. 50-100 years ago we would have gone straight for St. Germain (6), but we’re having a hard time finding apartments in that area for the week. I romanticize the history of the area, like a million other people.
this was a good site to tell me about some of the places in paris :-]
Thanq u somuch for the information ur guidance is so helpful.