I'm not sure of the convenience of buying a museums and monument pass from the likes of RailEurope or http://www.ticketsto.com since they can be purchased in a few minutes from most Metro and RER stations in Paris. I notice that at the web site above a five day pass costs $85 (it's not clear if there's any sort of service charge). In any case, the five-day pass costs EUR 60 in Paris, or $72, so it's quite a bit to pay for the convenience.

Do take note that the prices of the pass may be going up: http://tinyurl.com/bm3c7

My wife and I got five day passes a few years ago and, for us, it turned out to be a bit of a bum deal. We headed for the Louvre, and after about four or five hours we began to suffer museum burnout, and never used the passes again; there is just too much to see, do and savor in Paris to use most of our time looking at paintings and statues, no matter how great. We saw the Mona Lisa, we saw the Winged Victory, we saw rooms full of Velasquez, and that was it for us. Another time, when we've exhausted the joys of non-museum Paris, maybe we'll hit the museums again. Not excluding a visit to the Orsay at some point before then.

Regards from sunny Tucson, where it's expected to be 77F today.

Dave Hatunen Tucson AZ