Paris
We spent 8 days exploring Paris at the end of October. We visited Versailles, the Louvre, Eiffel tower, went to a Crazy Horse Cabaret show, had a dinner cruise on the Seine, dined at a Michelin Star restaurant, and more! To get straight to it, we didn’t love or hate Paris. Find out in this blog what we did and some tips so you can have a great trip!
Day 1
We arrived to our hotel around 11:30am, our room was not ready yet so we killed some time by walking around, shopping, and eating at cafes. We went to Place des Vosges, a beautiful park near Carette that was also one of the filming spots in Emily in Paris! It’s surrounded by the gorgeous European buildings, has multiple fountains, statues, and benches. Great place for a picnic.
Afterwards we did some window shopping and had our first Parisian croissant at Tout Autour du Pain, I believe it’s a more local place, croissant was good! We needed an actual meal so we then headed to Carrette. Very pricey! It was good but I don’t think it was worth the price.
We were finally able to check in at 3pm so we settled in and relaxed for a bit before heading to dinner at Au Bon Accueil. I booked an early dinner so we could go to bed early to catch up on our sleep. We took the metro to the restaurant, this spot was by the Eiffel tower and had an amazing view. The food and wine were great as well and staff were friendly. I’d recommend this restaurant especially for the view! They have outdoor seating but we ate inside because it was pretty chilly. While we were eating the Eiffel tower started sparkling so I ran outside to watch, it was my first time seeing it sparkle and let me tell you, watching the Eiffel tower sparkle is one of my favorite things to do in Paris!
Day 2
We headed to Versailles in the morning, we took an Uber and it was about a 40 minute ride. Train was about an hour and 20 minutes. From where we were staying the Ubers kept canceling on us, I’m not sure if it’s just Paris or the area we were staying in but it was difficult to get Ubers from our hotel, a lot easier though if you are by a tourist attraction. Because of this we were late to our timed entry to Versailles but thankfully we were still able to skip quite a bit of the lines and get in quickly.
We got the audio guide, we usually do this for most museums that way we can learn more about the art, I always recommend this! Versailles is absolutely beautiful. There’s so much gold everywhere and the interior furniture is so intricate and beautifully crafted. The interior design was my favorite in Versailles. We also saw the famous Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. I loved this hall but I also love mirrors and chandeliers. However Versailles is packed with so many people! For us, we can only spend a couple hours at these kinds of museums because we get over stimulated and the amount of people we’re around exhaust us to be honest lol.
We took a break at one of the cafes and grabbed coffee and a sandwich. We were planning on exploring the gardens but it started pouring so we decided to pass. Thankfully we were able to see parts of the gardens from the palace, the landscaping is truly breathtaking. I would definitely recommend a trip out to Versailles and hopefully the weather is better for so you can explore the beautiful gardens!
We caught an Uber pack to Paris and we were dropped off at a leather bag store I really wanted to go to called Polene, I got a cross body purse there and then we did some more shopping around the same area. We got some coffee and then headed towards the Eiffel tower.
On the way we passed by a huge garden called Garden des Tuileries, we explored and looked at some art. There’s more modern art in this garden, a much different feel from Versailles. We walked more and decided to get drinks and food at a cafe called Champagne a la Coupe, I got my first glass of Champagne in France and we had some pasta. Loved this cafe! Great area, great food, and great service!
Then we headed to our guided tour to the Eiffel tower, we booked tickets to go to the top (really it was just a lady guiding us to the top) and then we were free to explore up there. I had gotten a lot of feedback during my research to not do this and go to the top of Arc de Triomph instead but I still had an urge to do this and I hate to admit it, but it’s really not worth it. At least not worth the money. It was about $230 for the both of us to go to the top. I just wanted to at least do it once in my life and it is pretty cool but there’s soooo many lines! If you do choose to do this, I recommend going during sunset/at night. During this time of the year the sunsets around 7pm, so I booked 6:30 time slot tickets but we still missed the sunset because of the lines so I would book a time slot an hour before sunset if you do want to see the sunset on the Eiffel tower. Plus you can stay up here for however long you like. They serve wine and champagne as well! I was really wanting to see the wax figures of the meeting between Gustave Eiffel and Thomas Edison so that was really cool! I think this is worth it if you want to say you’ve been in the Eiffel tower just to check it off your bucket list, you have the funds, and/or want to see the wax statues. But for good views of Paris, I think the Arc de Triomph would be best (however I did not do this).
We then headed to dinner at Chez Dumonet, an authentic French restaurant. We had an amazing mushroom appetizer, the food was great as well as the wine. Service was pretty good. I’d recommend coming here.
Day 3
We went to La Favorite for brunch, it’s an adorable pink cafe that’s very instagram popular. The food and drinks were good, servers are nice, and it’s a fun/cute atmosphere. This was probably my favorite cafe we went to in Paris. Totally recommend a visit! We actually came back a few times during this trip.
For lunch we decided to do a picnic under the Eiffel Tower. We headed to Rue Cler street to pick up all the goodies, cheese, baguette, sandwiches, wine, and desserts. Rue Cler is the perfect street to pickup picnic necessities.
We then walked over to the Eiffel Tower and got situated on a bench. We saw another couple nearby that had a whole beautiful picnic set up with the baskets, blankets, stands for the food, flowers, and more, it looked awesome! Ours was definitely not that fancy but I’m sure there’s companies out there that can provide the whole picnic experience set up for you. We just decided to go the cheap route and this was our reality lol.
After our picnic we took the bus to Champs-Elysées and the Arc de Triomph. The Arc is amazing and definitely a must see in Paris! We did some shopping and then headed to our dinner reservations at Chez Savy.
This restaurant was amazing, my favorite one we went to in Paris (probably next to the Michelin Star restaurant). The waiters were so kind, probably the nicest Parisians we met in Paris and the food was very good. It’s reasonably priced and inside it just looks like a cute, small authentic French Restaurant. It’s within walking distance to Champs-Elysées. Definitely check out Chez Savy!
Day 4
Today we went to the Louvre museum in the afternoon. The Louvre is the largest museum in the world, we barely covered a fraction of it but of course saw the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, and Venus de Milo. We also saw the gigantic painting of Christ turning water into wine (right across from the Mona Lisa) this piece of art is absolutely stunning and the size is impeccable. I’m not going to sugar coat it, the Louvre is extremely busy, there’s so many people! The property is gorgeous especially on the outside and it’s massive. It holds some of the worlds most famous works of art and for this reason, in my opinion, it’s a must do in Paris.
Afterwards, we headed to Palais Royal, next to the Louvre. We walked around the park, got some great pics on the checkered looking things in the square, and we got lunch at Villalys in the gardens. It was a good lunch with a pretty view.
Then we did some more shopping nearby, I bought a trench coat which is a must have this time of the year end Paris (end of October). We then headed to Galaries Lafayette, another popular place to shop in Paris. It’s extremely busy here, there’s all the high end brands and some other less expensive but still expensive places lol.
We headed back home and then practically had to leave right away to go to a show. I didn’t like how far away everything is here but it was probably more my fault for shopping too long lol. Give yourself plenty of time to get from place to place. We headed to a Cabaret Show, we were in a bad mood going in because we were just exhausted but this show quickly got both of us out of it! lol. I didn’t realize what kind of show I got us tickets to, I thought it was just women dancing, maybe a little scandalas but they were butt naked most of the time LOL. I really didn’t mind, it was actually a great show and one of my favorite things we did in Paris. I enjoyed a few glasses of wine during the show and sat back and relaxed. This was such a cool and fun experience, I totally recommend it (for adults obviously).
After the show we went to a very elegant and delicious seafood restaurant called Marius et Janette just a few doors down. The service was great and we were able to meet two people that we chatted with during most of the dinner. If you’ve read some of my other blogs you know I love meeting people abroad, experiences and relationships is truly what life is about! After dinner we headed towards a bridge nearby and had amazing views of the Eiffel Tower sparkling. It ended up being a lovely night.
Day 5
This morning I had an appointment to try on wedding dresses (we are getting married October 2024) and I figured we had plenty of time in Paris, so why not try on dresses! Anyways, my fiancé surprised me by flying my sister to Paris for the day so she could watch me try on dresses! This was one of the sweetest things ever and I am truly so blessed. I was so shocked, my jaw just dropped and I was speechless. I did end up saying “yes to the dress” or I guess “oui à la robe” in Paris!
After dress shopping we headed back to our hotel and relaxed before going to lunch at Cafe de Flore. I have to admit, I did not love this place. The food was very average in my opinion and of course it’s expensive. I didn’t get the hot chocolate though. There was a lot of people as well and we sat upstairs and it was burning up. If you go, try to sit outside if it’s nice out.
After lunch we walked about 20 minutes to Shakespeare bookstore. I love reading and love books, so I was really looking forward to going here but honestly I was underwhelmed. We waited in a line to get in which did go by pretty fast but the actual bookstore was a lot smaller than I expected and didn’t have a large variety of books. We had passed a lot of other small bookstores in this area, I’m sure those are good or even better than this one. However it was a cool experience but I definitely could have passed on this.
The Notre Dame is very close to the Shakespeare bookstore so we headed over there afterwards and it was absolutely beautiful. At the time we went the Notre Dame was still closed but seeing it from the outside is still such an awe moment. I feel bad for the huge tragedy that happened there a few years ago. It’s truly a beautiful monument.
The people towards this area are also not very kind, from my experience… However we headed back to our hotel, relaxed for a few hours, then I said goodbye to my sister and my fiancé and I headed to our dinner cruise on the Seine.
The dinner cruise was one of my favorite things we did in Paris. We were seated right by the window, we started with a glass of champagne, we had a 4 course meal with wine pairings, there was live music, and we just cruised along the Seine for about 2.5 hours. The food was actually really good too! Sometimes on experiences like this the food is just okay but I really enjoyed it. We also got to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle a few times and they had a photographer go around and take great pictures of everyone. There was even a dance floor on the boat! It was very romantic, beautiful, comfortable, and got great views of Paris and the Eiffel Tower. I loved this experience and highly recommend it. It’s on the pricey side however there are different packages you can get, we went with the middle package, I forget exactly what it’s called but it’s well worth the price! We saw a lot of couples but did see some larger groups of friends/family/coworkers.
Day 6
Today was a beautiful day! We spent the morning working and then went to an Italian Restaurant in the 5th arr. called La Capannina. Very good! We were right by the Pantheon and Emily in Paris filming spots. This is a gorgeous area. We saw Emily’s apartment, the bakery, and Gabriel’s restaurant. We then headed to get some ice cream and coffee nearby then walked to Jardin du Luxembourg. I absolutely loved this garden, it is breathtaking and it was the perfect day to spend some time there and take in the beauty. We really loved this area of Paris.
Emily in Paris filming spots
We then made our way to Musée d’Orsay, I had forgotten we had a timed ticket entry for the museum so we were extremely late however they still let us skip all the lines, definitely wasn’t mad about that! I noticed that for a lot of the museums we went to, if you were late, it was okay.
We spent an hour or so looking through some of the art and we also had tickets to the Van Gogh exposition so we were able to see some of his works, it was awesome! Musée d’Orsay is a lot smaller than most museums which we liked. Definitely a good museum to check out! I’d recommend booking tickets in advance.
We walked a few minutes to the Seine river where we spent the next few hours chilling, walking, and drinking some hot cocoa. We then walked down along the Seine to the Pont Alexandre III bridge, it’s a very popular/famous bridge in Paris with views of the Eiffel tower and great photo shots. The bridge is massive and the detail is amazing. However I think some of the other closer bridges have better views of the Eiffel tower.
We walked about 30 minutes to our dinner reservations at La Machon d’Henri and had steak and bone marrow. It was a good dinner and the staff were nice.
Day 7
We had a pretty chill day. I got some macaroons from Laudrée, we went to La Favorite again, and then went to the famous L’as du Fallafel. This wasn’t my favorite thing to eat in Paris to say the least but I did get the veggie option, I think the meat options would have been better! Just keeping it honest with you guys.
We did some shopping and stopped at a small restaurant known for wine nearby our dinner reservations, I can’t remember the name but the wine was great, it was in the 1st arr.
We had dinner reservations at La Plume, it’s a Japanese style rooftop restaurant, the interior was beautiful, however our experience here was not great. The servers were rude, they definitely do not like Americans. I was ordering our food in French because I had been studying the language and the waitress behind me straight up laughed behind my back, and not in a nice way lol. The food was good but it was very pricey here and overall the staff treated us poorly. I highly do NOT recommend you come here especially if you’re American.
Day 8
Our last day in Paris! We went to Montmartre in the afternoon and had lunch at Pink Mama. A very popular place, known for the Italian food (you can tell we love Italian food lol). You typically need reservations but I was too late in booking them, I recommend booking reservations 1+ month out. However I saw online if you come at the right time you can get in, we came around 12:45 and were able to get right in at the community table which I didn’t mind at all. The food was really good, but the tiramisu, absolutely amazing! As we left we saw a huge line so I definitely recommend coming around 12:30-12:45 if you don’t have reservations.
After lunch we headed over to this famous street that’s popular on Instagram called Rue de L’Abreuvoir, also an Emily in Paris filming spot. I got some pics in front of the pink restaurant, La Maison Rose but don’t just stop for this spot! There’s other adorable houses like this with beautiful greenery that makes for great photo ops. Then just walk a few minutes up this street and you’ll be at Sacré-Cœur, the huge famous monument in Montmarte.
Sacré-Cœur is breathtaking. The best thing to do is to just sit on the stairs and take in the views of this monument as well as the views of Paris. I’d recommend setting aside a half day to go to Montmarte so you can have enough time to eat, shop around, and take in the views.
We hung out for a little bit at our hotel before our dinner reservations at a 2 Michelin Star Restaurant called L’Oiseau Blanc. First, we stopped by the Arc de Triomph again so we can see it at night. You guys, this area at night is so beautiful. Then we walked over to our dinner reservations, BOUJE. The restaurant was situated at the top of this very elegant hotel that had some fancy small bars and I’m assuming extremely expensive shops, I’m talking brands we don’t even know of because they are that bouje.
We got to the top and the view was absolutely perfect, amazing views of the Eiffel tower, everything was exquisite. We probably had 5 or so courses plus a few glasses of wine. We had never tasted anything like this before, it actually tasted like art in your mouth. Very different from what we are used to.
The wine was some of the best wine I’ve ever had. The staff was amazing, every dish was picture perfect, and of course the views… You can’t beat it. I know this is completely out of budget for a lot of people and it’s definitely not a must do in Paris because there’s food in Paris that’s just as good or better, but the way the dishes were prepared and the flavors they put together was unlike anything I’d ever tasted. It was an amazing experience, if you have the extra spending money, might as well go to a Michelin Star restaurant in Paris with amazing views! It was the perfect way to end our trip.
Summary
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Summary ~
Overall we didn’t love or hate Paris. So far out of my travel adventures it has been my least favorite place I’ve traveled to. Here’s a few ways I think we went wrong on our trip to Paris: We didn’t really like the area we were staying in, I wish we would have stayed more central, the 6th, 5th, 1st, or even 7th or 8th arr. We stayed right in the middle of the 3rd & 11th arr. It just felt more local and the French aren’t the nicest to Americans lol. We didn’t have many options that were within our budget and I’m assuming it was because we only booked this trip 2 months out, it was a more spontaneous planned trip. The other area I think we went wrong is we stayed too long.. There’s just so much to see here so I honestly thought 8 days would give us enough time to see everything we wanted but after the first 5 days we were just kind of over the city. We ran into a handful of instances where the people were just extremely rude and their actions were just uncalled for so a combination of that, staying for so long, and not being in an area we liked made our experience not the greatest.
However I would totally come back, for a long weekend trip with the girls would be so fun! Paris also has the best shopping in the world and I love to shop so this is a big reason why I did like Paris. I would also come back with more money, because it sure is pricey! Also I wish I had been more prepared for how long it takes to get to each place, so take this into consideration when planning your Paris trip.