Alan,
one thing to bear in mind is the location.
In Paris (and many other cities), the wide angle lens is indeed more suitable for photographing buildings and street scenes, whereas in California wide spaces, a 50mm or longer lens might get more use.
I'm only there for two full days. One of the goals is to take pictures of the houses where my parents lived (2) and my granmother's duplex (she moved to California in 1918). My dad was a partner in an architectural firm and I want to get as many of his buildings as possible (it would really take about four days to get them all as they are spread out all over San Diego county). The biggest structure is the fishing pier that the firm designed that is located in Ocean Beach but that's long rather than high. I"m still debating what to take as I don't want to be weighed down with lots of camera gear.
EDIT: If I had the Sony A6000 that I'm contemplating getting it would be a lot easier because of the smaller size and weight but that purchase is still a month or so away.
