PARIS — I never made it to the top of the Eiffel Tower.

The dramatic ascent was scheduled for the final night of our whirlwind tour — a lasting memory of the City of Light from 984 feet aloft before heading back home in the morning.

Claude Paris (ENLARGE)

If you want to see the beautiful works of art inside the Louvre, consider buying a museum pass that will save euros on this and other attractions.

Laurent Baheux (ENLARGE)

The Arc de Triomphe (seen here during a military parade on Bastille Day, 2007) offers fascinating views of the city and the traffic circle underneath the arch.

Amy Laughinghouse (ENLARGE)

The Champs-Elysees is noted for its upscale shopping, as well as some brand names you can find in the States.

DETAILS: Planning for Paris Getting there: I paid about $1,200 for my nonstop flight from Cleveland to Paris in late May. Fares in July and August are running at least $100-$200 higher. Where we stayed: We bedded at two different budget hotels in Paris, both of which I'd recommend. For the first four nights, we slept at the Hotel du College de France in the Latin Quarter, just off Boulevard St-Germain (about $155 per night; go to www.hotel-collegedefrance.com). Our last night, we moved to the neighborhood near the Eiffel Tower and stayed at the Hotel de France Invalides (about $173; www.hoteldefrance.com). Where we ate: We dined pretty modestly in the city to keep expenses down. Among our best sit-down meals: fondue in Montmartre at Le Refuge des Fondues; scallops and creme brulee at Le Petit Prince in the Latin Quarter; goat cheese salad at Tribeca on Rue Cler near the Eiffel Tower; and $23 sea bass at Cafe Constant, the economical eatery owned by French megachef Christian Constant. Other memorable eats: Berthillon ice cream, at numerous locations on Ile St-Louis; the falafel sandwich at L'As du Falafel in the Marais district; and the banana and Nutella crepe I bought on Rue Mouffetard in the Latin Quarter. Top experiences: Biking around Paris at night with Fat Tire Bike Tours (www.fattirebiketoursparis.com); the informative walking tour through Montmartre with New Paris Tours (go to www.newparistours.com); and the chamber orchestra concert at Saint-Chapelle (for a schedule, go to www.classictic.com, but buy tickets at the door). Research resources: I'm a big fan of Rick Steves' books (Paris and France) and also used Frommer's and Lonely Planet guides in planning this trip. I researched hotels meticulously on tripadvisor.com and searched traveler forums (both Tripadvisor and Frommer's) for restaurant and tour recommendations. The language issue: I remember a bit of high school French, but found I didn't need it much. Almost everyone we came in contact with spoke English (and those who didn't apologized!). My advice: Learn a few French essentials (merci, bonjour, parlez-vous Anglais?), be polite and you'll be fine. International travel stories Cheap fun in Rio means, beaches, mountains  Top five beer festivals in Europe  Travel groups for solo seniors  Buddy passes can leave you stranded if you're unprepared  Curacao a melting pot of diverse cultures, attractions  Photos: Travel / International Galleries Latest deals! Back to: Travel | U.S. and international destinations

But after a harried drive through the city (not recommended), followed by a leisurely last French meal (highly recommended), we arrived at the ticket booth 10 minutes after it closed.

So we settled for a view of the elegant iron lady from below.

"We have a reason to come back," my husband said.

Indeed we do.

My husband and I joined the mayor of Cleveland and other dignitaries on Continental Airlines' recent inaugural Cleveland-to-Paris nonstop flight, a 7 1/2-hour trip that got us to Paris in time for a full day of sightseeing (jet lag notwithstanding).

Of course, the longer you can stay, the better — a month isn't too much — but if all you can spare (or afford) is a long weekend, then start packing.

DAY 1:

After a schlep through Terminal 2 upon landing, we easily found the RER, a suburban train line that links Charles de Gaulle International Airport to central Paris. My husband bought our tickets ($12 apiece). Forty-five minutes later, we arrived at our hotel in the Latin Quarter, fully five hours before check-in.

I picked the 29-room Hotel du College de France, just off the busy Boulevard St-Germain, first because it was cheap (99 euros, about $155 per night) and also because of its terrific location.

Paris is divided into 20 arrondisements, or districts, which form a clockwise spiral from the central city. We stayed in the fifth district, also known as the Latin Quarter, so labeled because Latin was the official language in the neighborhood until the late 18th century; it's home to the University of Paris (the Sorbonne), as well as several other colleges.

The city is also separated by the Seine, the mystical waterway that literally and symbolically divides the city in two: Left Bank, south of the river, more funky and free-spirited; and Right Bank, north of the river, more chi-chi and sophisticated.

To kill time while our room was readied, we walked south from our hotel to Rue Mouffetard, a centuries-old cobblestone street that has been turned into a pedestrian market, with all manner of fruits, meats and flowers lining the sidewalks.

It was here that I had my first crepe — a dreamy concoction of thin pancake wrapped around a sliced banana and Nutella (a creamy chocolate-hazelnut spread), a bargain at 3 euros (about $4.65).

After a two-hour nap, we headed toward the river and its islands — Ile de la Cite and Ile St-Louis — a five-minute walk from our hotel. It was midafternoon, and the line to enter Notre Dame was long, so we admired "Our Lady" from the outside, a singular lesson in French Gothic architecture.

Later in our trip, we scaled the 255 steps to the cathedral's Chimera Gallery, where we got an up-close look at the gargoyles and other stone creatures that decorate the roofline. As I toured the church's narrow upper passages and belfry, I felt like an observer in Victor Hugo's famous tale, with Quasimodo and Esmeralda holed up in these very same crevices.

For dinner: an omelet at a cafe overlooking the cathedral and the Seine for the not-so-bargain price of 15 euros (that's $23 for three eggs and cheese), but the real estate was priceless. Dinner was followed by a sweet treat at Berthillon, the famous ice creamery on compact Ile St-Louis, home to some of Paris' priciest real estate. (Try the salted caramel — out of this world.)

We finished the day with a flourish — a chamber music concert at Saint-Chapelle, a modestly sized church two blocks from Notre Dame that many consider the most breathtaking of Paris' many historic houses of God.

The church, built in 1248, is best known for its soaring panels of stained glass, which tell the story of the Bible in vibrant reds and blues. The columns of the church seemingly exist only to uphold the fragile works of art.

The sun was beginning to set as we sat down in the Upper Chapel. When Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" filled the intimate space, the walls aflame with color, I was simply overcome by its all-encompassing beauty.

DAY 2:

First stop: the Louvre. I wasn't even planning on going in, having seen the highlights (the Mona Lisa, the Winged Victory) on a two-day tour of the city in 1984.

In my pre-departure planning for this trip, I had determined the Louvre too massive to appreciate in a short visit. But there was no line when we walked by, and our museum pass got us in for free (well, not really for free, but without any additional expense).

If you plan to visit more than a few of the city's paid attractions, the museum pass is a must. Available in two-, four- and six-day increments, the pass not only gets you into museums — it gets you in without waiting in line (which can stretch for an hour or more at the most popular destinations). We paid 45 euros (about $70) for each four-day pass and used them eight times, which saved us at least 30 euros combined.

Inside the Louvre, we did a walk-by of the Mona Lisa, where an already-crowded gallery was filled with amateur photographers taking snapshots of the smiling Italian diva through glass.

We were more leisurely in our tour of the Michelangelo sculpture gallery, including his famous "Slaves"; and the Napoleon III Apartments, several opulently decorated rooms inside the former palace where the 19th-century emperor briefly resided.

When the marble floor started to bother our feet, we headed outside, where we strolled the length of the Tuileries Garden to the Place de la Concorde, the public square that was the site of nearly 3,000 beheadings during the French Revolution.

We headed north to the Place Vendome, the spot where French royalty would be hanging out today if the revolution had merely evolved. We continued our Right Bank promenade at Place de la Madeleine, the block surrounding la Madeleine, a church that looks like a Roman temple and was built as a monument to Napoleon's army in the early 19th century.

From the Madeleine, we circled back to the Champs-Elysees, the grand avenue that was once the city's most prestigious shopping district.

Alas, today, the avenue is home primarily to a string of worldwide chains — Adidas, Gap, the Disney Store and, yes, at least two McDonald's. The 10-lane boulevard struck me as congested and noisy, but an unavoidable landmark of contemporary Paris. We walked the distance — from the Place de la Concorde to the Arc de Triomphe, the massive war memorial built by Napoleon in the early 19th century.

Visitors must access the massive arch via an underground tunnel — the traffic circle surrounding it is far too frenetic to permit pedestrian traffic. For a fee (included with the museum pass), visitors can climb the 384 stairs to the top of the arch, which offers a commanding view of the city's main landmarks: the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Seine and Notre Dame.

But the most compelling scene from above is of the traffic ebb and flow directly below. We stared for a full 30 minutes (in the rain) at the teeny Smart cars negotiating for space with the massive tour buses while the bicyclists slipped in among them. A tour guide mentioned later that an accident occurs on the circle every eight minutes — a fully believable figure given the chaos we witnessed.

DAY 3:

Fed up with $6 coffee for breakfast (there were no coffeemakers in either of our hotel rooms), we headed to McDonald's for our morning jolt and paid a reasonable $2.05.

But there's no way an Egg McMuffin was going to pass my lips in Paris, so we sprang for some higher-price pastries around the block and took our breakfast picnic to the Luxembourg Garden, a perfect spot for Sunday morning people-watching.

From there, we strolled through St-Germain-des-Pres, the famous Left Bank neighborhood where French existentialists Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir debated the meaning of life.

By early afternoon, we arrived at the Musee d'Orsay, a former train station and now a fantastic space for displaying 19th-century art. Following the recommendations of a friend, we started our tour on the top floor, where the bulk of the Impressionist collection is featured.

If you have time for only one museum in Paris, this would be my recommendation. The architecture itself is worth the price of admission, and the views from the rooftop are stellar. The collection includes many pieces even the most cursory student of art history would know and the place isn't so huge as to be overwhelming.

From the Orsay, we walked the few blocks to the Rodin Museum, housed in a 300-year-old mansion where the French sculptor lived in the early 20th century. Before he died in 1917, Rodin donated his entire collection to France, with the condition that the estate be converted to a museum devoted to his works.

The result is exquisite, particularly the outdoor gallery on a beautiful day. Here, you'll find "The Thinker," "The Gates of Hell," "The Kiss" and "Eve."

After Rodin, and a quick dinner, we decided to ride bikes through the streets of Paris in the dark.

It wasn't quite that spontaneous — I had scoped out the Fat Tire Bike Tours before we left — but it was an adventure.

The English-only company leads daytime and nighttime bike tours, as well as Segway and walking routes throughout the city.

Our group of 14 would-be Lance Armstrongs left our Eiffel Tower meeting place shortly after 7 p.m., pedaled to Notre Dame and through the Louvre courtyard, across the Seine and alongside the Tuileries, bumping along the cobblestone streets and dodging traffic as we went. (Whose bright idea was it to combine the bus and taxi lane with the bike lane in this city?)

The tour included a ride on the Bateaux Mouche, one of many boat companies that sail along the Seine, packed with tourists. We glided past the islands and the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower and Paris' small version of the Statue of Liberty.

The price of the bike tour, at 28 euros (about $43), seemed reasonable, given that it included the 10-euro boat ticket, as well as a bottomless glass of wine during the sail (but watch out — there's more biking to do after the vin).

A nighttime boat trip, in any case, is a must-do for all first-time visitors to Paris, whether or not they're also willing to mount a bike. The city sparkles at night, and a trip down the Seine fully captures the glow.

DAY 4:

On our last full day in the city, we headed across the river to the Marais, the historic Jewish district that has, in recent decades, also become the city's gay neighborhood. The narrow streets, funky stores and street-side cafes gave this neighborhood a feel similar to the Latin Quarter, but with a bit more sophistication and without the strong student presence.

We popped into the Pompidou Center for a brief history of modern art. The building itself is part of the lesson — built in the mid-1970s from the outside in, with the pipes, heating ducts and escalator on the exterior, painted in bold colors.

The Musee National d'Art Moderne takes up the fourth and fifth floors, with a vast collection of 20th-century art, from Matisse and Picasso to Marcel Duchamp, whose upside-down urinal ("Fountain") confounded my husband (and the public, for that matter, when it was created in 1917).

We refueled at L'As du Falafel, famous for its two-fisted falafel sandwiches. We rested our feet at the Place des Vosges — Paris' oldest square — where we found protection from the rain under the sculpted linden trees.

The surrounding red-brick pavilions, 400 years old, are filled with art galleries.

From the Marais, we traveled by Metro to Montmartre, the artsy hilltop neighborhood north of the central city that is home to both the elegant basilica of Sacre Coeur, as well as a long strip of sleazy sex shops.

For a quick lesson on the neighborhood's history, we joined an organized walking tour of the neighborhood with New Paris Tours.

Guide George Kleuser filled us in on the neighborhood's storied history, from the artist studios where van Gogh and Picasso created masterpieces to the restaurant, Cafe des Deux Moulins, where much of the movie "Amelie" was filmed (a must-see before any trip to Paris).

During the tour we befriended a young woman from Indiana, Bethany Stopher, who was backpacking through Europe. We invited her to join us for dinner and let her choose the restaurant: a hole-in-the-wall fondue joint just down the hill from Sacre Coeur.

Le Refuge des Fondues was exactly the kind of touristy place I generally try to avoid. They serve wine in baby bottles, for crying out loud. The restaurant features two long, communal tables, with benches on two walls, accessible only by climbing over the table (and the food). And I was wearing a skirt!

I was sucking on the wine bottle (literally), trying to keep an open mind, when three native Parisians were seated next to us. Though they spoke English about as well as I speak French (that is to say, not very well), I was insistent on finding out what they were doing in such an obvious tourist trap. Their answer (in rough translation): Le Refuge is a Paris institution, a place locals often go for a fun night out.

THE LAST NIGHT:

After a two-day trip to the French countryside, we headed back to central Paris in our rented Twingo, a runt of a car made by Renault.

At one point — somewhere in the Montparnasse neighborhood — I went eyeball to eyeball with a bus driver, whose vehicle was perpendicular and about 12 inches from ours, while impatient motorcyclists squeezed into nonlanes next to us and bicyclists moved in and out of traffic with utter confidence that no one would harm them.

On top of this chaos, we couldn't find the parking garage where we were to return our car. So we drove around in circles, which, combined with a traffic tie-up on the A-6 outside of Paris and an unplanned adventure earlier in the day on the Loire River, got us to our hotel near the Eiffel Tower much later than we planned.

Famished, we finally sat down to dinner at the very Parisian-appropriate time of 9:30 p.m. Afterward, we walked the half-mile or so over to Gustave Eiffel's iron spire, completed in 1889 for the Paris Exposition.

The lines, which can stretch for two hours or more, were gone. And so were the tickets. We arrived at 11:10 p.m., 10 minutes after the ticket booth closed.

Ambivalent about ascending the structure during my pre-trip planning, I had grown increasingly excited about the ascent since seeing the glittery beauty from afar.

I asked a guard at the tower exit if there was any way we could go a portion of the way up, even offering to walk part of the distance.

"Non," was his response. "Come back tomorrow, madame."

Not tomorrow, alas. But soon.