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• Set a wake-up alarm, at least for the first few days of your trip while you get over jet lag.  I usually wake up like clockwork at home, but the time change sent my system in a tailspin for the first day or so.
   

• When using the Paris Metro, locate your destination station, then take note of the route number and color, and the name of the last stop on the route moving in the direction of your desired stop.
   

• Remember that once you buy a Metro ticket, you can change trains as often as you wish if you stay within the metro system, but once you pass out of the turnstiles, you’ll need to buy another ticket to get back onto a train. Purchase tickets in sets of 10 can save time. 
   

• The walk from the Arc du Triomphe to the Louvre is about 2.5 miles (5 miles round trip).   Although the experience was fantastic, it may have been a bit much to tackle after a full day of traveling.   
   

• There were a few times when we left our Rick Steves guide book back at the hotel and ate at the first place that "looked" good.  While our brasserie dinners were okay in Paris, we regretted not using Rick’s recommendations and planning for a dinner cruise on the Seine.   
   

• If you go on a Rick Steves’ tour that starts in Paris, ask if your museum pass will be available for your use on the first day.   The trips seem to start in the mid-to-late afternoon, but passes were available in the morning.