My wife and I are thinking of taking a weeklong trip to Paris. We've never been and there's a chance that her parents may come as well.

I know this is broad, but does anyone have suggestions on where to stay (part of town and hotel), what sites not to miss and if a day trip to London via the chunnel is too much to try?

Her parents are definately used to American hotels, so somewhere that is fairly big, but not too expensive would be great.

Hopefully board member pedmar (from Versailles) will respond to this question, but in the meantime, I'll give you my two cents. As far as "must see" places to see in Paris, you have the obvious ones: Louvre, Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, Montmartre and the Arc d' Triomphe. However, if you're an art lover, you may want to try to visit the Musee d\'Orsay which is a huge collection of Impressionist art housed inside a beautiful old train station. Also, if you like modern art, you may want to visit the Centre Pompidou .

The building itself is worth a view, as you can see here .

You could stroll by just to see it and the nearby whimsical, twirling Stravinsky Fountain.

Also, one nice way to see the city is to take a boat ride on the Seine. It's particularly beautiful at night with all the lights. I have to say that I think the Eiffel Tower is more beautiful at night than during the day, so if you get a chance to go there at night, I highly recommend it.

Regarding a trip to London, you certainly could do a day trip there, and the Chunnel is very easy (now less than 3 hours door-to-door), but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for one day. I have been to London several times and it's one of my favorite cities, so I don't know how you would choose what to see and do for just a few hours as it's so massive and there are so many fantastic things to see there! If you could spend two days there, it might be worth it, but then you wouldn't really have the chance to absorb the wonderful city of Paris and its surroundings. You could do an easy day trip to Versailles, instead.

Have fun planning your trip!

La historiadora, you gave a pretty good introduction yourself,and nice photos. Paris is a movable feast, so many many things to do, not knowing the poster likes and dislikes is difficult.
But those to comes to Paris, swear they have to see the Tour Eiffel,walk down the Champs Elysées, and up the Arc de Triomphe;visit Montmartre and Sacre Coeur church, take a boat cruise like the bateaux Parisien at the foot of the Tour Eiffel. Another past time is to visit museums , Louvre is huge, Orsay is great, but many other places have exhibitionis like the Grand and Petit palais.Climb up the stairs at NOtre Dame to see Paris with a view. and by all means walk walk this beautiful city, you will be amazed, and will come back again.

As the tunnel Eurostar, take it often for business trips, its less than that now but then what to do in LOndon for one day; big ben, thames, piccadelly, vinopolis the wine showcase of all the worlds great areas...you will have so much to see in paris in one week that better keep it for the city this time. YOU will come back.

Side trips yes of course Versailles, a wonder city, royal to the hilt, and cheaper than Paris with easy connection by train or bus. nice rooms there try the Cheval Rouge off place de marche notre dame,a huge market indoor and outdoor.

As far as Paris, you should look into the chain mercure generally very good i use it for my trip in FRance. other wise stay in the Marais section of Paris, and you will find nice places google it hotels in the marais, paris.
bon voyage

This past summer, we went to Paris with my in-laws and my parents. One thing to do that has not been mentioned yet, is taking one of the double decker sightseeing buses. You can hop on and off at all the major points of interest.
We took the bus on our first day to get our bearings on the city and it allowed us to go at our own pace. (It is NOT a guided tour).
It is also cheaper than a taxi......so I recommend a two day pass.
The only down side, was that the buses stop running at 6 pm and this was in the summertime.
Check into it! It is a good overview of the city!