La Ville Lumière, City of Lights

My Husband and I had a perfect one week before we both were starting new jobs. We knew we wanted to go to Europe but did not have enough time to cover more cities, somehow we both looked at each other and said “what about Paris?” and that was it, booked our tickets and found spots for our Airbnb’s and booked a couple of small guided tours so we can get a bit more content on history and experience it.

Our main discussion point was where to get our Airbnb, we did not want to be so close to Touristy areas that we are unable to breathe but also did not want to be too far that we need to take transportation to get there. We settled on 6th and 4th Arrondissement and decided to get our Airbnb’s there. If you are looking to book Airbnb, you can use the following guide:

Saint-Germain-des-Prés (6th Arr.): The consensus favorite for travelers. It offers classic Parisian atmosphere, world-famous cafes, and is highly walkable to the Louvre and the Seine.
Le Marais (3rd/4th Arr.): Artsy and historic, this area is known for cobblestone streets, boutiques, and excellent dining.
The Louvre (1st Arr.): The geographic center of Paris, perfect if you want to be steps from world-class museums and high-end shopping.
The Eiffel Tower Area (7th Arr.): If your priority is iconic views, staying near the Champ de Mars is hard to beat
Montmartre (18th Arr.): A beautiful, village-like area popular with budget travelers for its quaint streets and lower prices.

I would suggest that you should avoid the northern areas of 10th, 18th, 19th and 20th as they may be too loud and not too safe.

Here is what we covered while we were here - Louvre, Notre Dame, Sainte-Chapelle, Pantheon, Montmartre, Palace of Versailles and Champagne. We of course visited Shakespeare and Co, bookstore. I picked up 2 books and got them stamped with their own stamp, you won’t find it anywhere. Also bought one of their jute bags because why not. Cafe de flore may be touristy, but it was so worth it and so was Angelina for a hot chocolate and Mont Blanc. I later got to know that Coco Chanel used to have Mont Blanc too, gosh, how iconic.

The Louvre

Ok so a hot take, Mona Lisa is amazing but it is overhyped. There are so many other pieces that we absolutely loved and would go back to Louvre to see more. The museum is the most visited museum in the World and has over 350,000 pieces so there is not way you can finish it all in a few days. I would suggest taking a skip-the-line small guided tour for good attention and cover the museum. We spent about 3 hours and saw beautiful pieces like Napolean’s crown moment, Nike, Greek sculptures, Jesus’s water to Wine painting. And once the guide tells you the stories, you can totally relate to why it’s so impirtant to see it with your own eyes.

Notre Dame and Sainte-Chapelle

For Notre Dame, I would suggest to go inside as well. A lot of people usually just take the photos from outside but it is equally peaceful and beautiful inside. Though not planned but we reached at the time of the Mass and it was a very peaceful just to exist there. The line outside tends to be long but it does move pretty fast so just hold on and stay in the line. A Pro tip - You don’t need a guided tour with a guide inside and many a times the guides are not allowed to speak inside. Get an audio guide from Viator or Getyourguide for $6 and listen it at your own pace. When you enter, the guard will ask you to take out your headphones, take them out and once inside, just put them back on.

Sainte-Chapelle, I am not sure why this was not on our radar mostly because people did not talk about it. The entry here is by timed ticket only, you can also buy a combined ticket to see the Conciergerie which has a unique history as it served as both a lavish medieval royal palace and the notorious “antechamber to the guillotine” during the French Revolution. But back to Sainte-Chapelle, it is mostly famous for housing Christ’s purported Crown of Thorns and its breathtaking Rayonnant Gothic architecture.

Montmartre

In Paris’s 18th Arrondissement, you will find this beautiful town. A hilltop district which is renowned for its artistic legacy, steep cobblestone streets, and the iconic white-domed Basilica of the Sacré-Cœur. We booked half day guided tour and were deeply impressed with the City’s history. Note - The walk and climb is not for the weak so if you have knee pain or issues with climbing steep streets, you may want to take alternate tours. The tour lasted about 2-3 hours of active walking and we passed some amazing site. We also got to see the original Moulin Rouge and not just the one that became popular. If you have a few hours to spend, Montmartre is a must.

Amazing fact about the town - Picasso worked here before he became popular.

Palace of Versailles

Versaille is about 40mins train ride from Paris and can take about half a day to cover this town. We booked a guided Tour for this palace too so we can understanding history and significance of the Palace, we were not disappointed. It is a historic Chateau and served as the principal residence of the French king. The palace is huge and no easy way to cover everything so the guide will take you through the most historical rooms. Afterwards, you can take walk in the Gardens of the palace by yourself if your ticket includes that.

Fun Fact, it took roughly 40 continuous years for this palace construction to be completed.

Pantheon

We took a little different approach here. Instead of taking the guided tour with a guide, we bought the ticket directly from Pantheon website along with the Audio guide. The ticket was about $20 per person and audio guide was about $3-5 per person. This helped us cover the ground with our own pace. I would highly recommend Pantheon in Paris, it is as not as old as the Italian Pantheon but is very historic. It is the final resting place for France’s greatest citizens like Victory Huge and Marie Curie and as the site where Léon Foucault proved the Earth’s rotation. You can visit their site in the crypts, you just need to make sure your ticket includes the Crypt visit otherwise you won’t be allowed in that area.

Champagne

I will actually write a more longer blog on Champagne in my Wine education section but I still wanted to cover here because it is important that I share this here. Champagne is only 45mins train ride OR about 2 hours ride from Paris, make a day trip and go. Don’t skip this fantastic place.

Our Guide took us to a boutique independent grower for Champagne Tasting and we ended up buying our wine from him. We also went to Pommery and saw how humongous everything is in this winery. We loved getting lunch and our day was so well spent here in Champagne. More to come in the Champagne blog.

and lastly no Paris blog is completed without talking about food and wine. I relished the pastries and hot chocolate both at Cafe de Flore and Angelina. We loved a small French in Le Marais called, Le Colimacon, their escargot is a must try. You can’t go wrong with a Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Beef bourguignon at a small bistro, overlooking the Seine river.

Get your Baguette, butter, Chocolate and cheese, pick up a bottle of wine and sit by Seine for a relaxing evening.