STUDY ABROAD STUDENTS/TEMPORARY RESIDENTS/TOURISTS, LOOK HERE FIRST AND ASK YOUR QUESTIONS IN THIS THREAD: Forum Libre // Open Forum -- 02 Mar, 2015

I assume he's going to the Juventus-Dortmund game (hope he's got your tickets already)!

Yeah, this is true. If you're only doing the tourist things to take a selfie (don't forget your selfie stick), you could enter and exit most of them fairly quickly if you purchased advance tickets. However, if you actually intend to go through them, I'd budget a day for any museum you intend to visit, unless they are quite small. Things like Notre-Dame (towers) and the Sainte-Chapelle aren't long visits, but the lines are hours long. For small things, you could do 2-3 a day, as long as you enjoy walking (quickly), waiting in line, and are competent at getting around (and have advance tickets as much as possible). Keep in mind that you also have to factor in time to eat, time to see the actual city other than the attractions, picnic, snack, drink, etc.

As a history major, you probably have plenty of non-touristy ideas of where to visit. If you're interested in the revolution, maybe you'd want to see some of the places or things associated with it. This site has carefully inventoried a number of places, along with their significance (it's in French, though): http://www.parisrevolutionnaire.com/spip.php?rubrique1

Even somewhere like Porte Dauphine has numerous interesting historical things to check out. These ones are quicker, as they're more sites than sights, but for someone interested in the history of the Revolution, it could be more interesting than, say, a boat ride on the Seine.

The one thing I will say: some of your "day" trips aren't really that feasible, unless you just run around and don't see anything. If by Normandy, you mean beaches, then that really isn't a "day" trip (unless you are very creative with your train schedule). If by Normandy, you mean Normandy: no. If you by Normandy, you mean one small town, maybe. A real day trip is Fontainebleau or Versailles (which isn't a 0.5 day trip unless you've run through the chateau and barely touched the gardens).

If you actually intend to look at things, or truly do have an interest in history, you're seriously rushing yourself. Quantity over quality. Plus, the best part of Paris isn't being pushed through the meat grinder sights; it's wandering, seeing interesting things, living slowly. If you want to experience a historical version of Paris, it's imperative to "flâner." This is what Paris is about (with sights on top of it, of course).

/r/paris Thread