Paris, France
- Martin @ofriceandcities
- Jul 11, 2019
- 8 min read
Updated: Aug 23, 2019
Introduction: Paris
I hope you're as excited as I am to make Paris my first blog post! Before we get started, I wanted to give you a brief background. In 2016, I was accepted to study abroad in the Netherlands. I spent one semester in Maastricht (article coming soon!) the southern most city in the Netherlands. I attended Maastricht University School of Business and Economics, during my time there I traveled all over Europe but I did not get the chance to go Paris! Fast forward three years post undergrad, I found myself planning my summer vacation. I wanted to make it special as I had worked hard throughout the year and I had also completed my first semester of my graduate program. I used Google Flights to help me find the best deals and Paris was definitely within my budget. My girlfriend joined me and we set off on our European trip just two days after my last final of the semester! This is what the Of Rice and Cities team found!
We spent a total of five days in Paris. A perfect amount of time to give yourself time to enjoy the city. Four to five days is the sweet spot for this city!
Pro-tip #1: Plan only two or three tourist destination sites or a certain section of the city per day. Enjoy each site, sit at a bench and take the moment in. Give yourself time!
Here is our itinerary outline:
Our Stay
We stayed in one of the budget friendly hotels "Excelsior-Batignolles" near the 18th Arrondissement. We both enjoyed the room which was reviewed to have bigger space accommodation compared to the standard Parisian hotels. Breakfast was extra so we skipped it each day to stay within our budget. As for the neighborhood, as long as you stay away from train stations "Pigalle" and "Barbes-Rochechouart" infamous for pick-pocketing you will be safe in this area. Other Hotel pros: budget friendly, walking distance from Moulin Rouge, lively at night, and somewhat of a central location as it was only a short train ride to most tourist sites. What I would suggest is budgeting a little extra to stay in a better hotel or airbnb in the Saint Germain (6th Arr.) or La Marais (3rd Arr.) neighborhoods. These two Arrondissements have an amazing and buzzing night life, you will find many bars and restaurants that stay open until midnight! Perfect after a day of walking around the city!
Pro-tip #2: give yourself a modest $100/day budget for food/souvenirs/water/etc. Per person if you want to overestimate, and per couple if you want to stay within reason.
Musee Louvre
Our first stop was Musee de Louvre, the world renown museum that also homes one of the most famous art pieces in the world, The Mona Lisa, painted by Leonardo Da Vinci. The museum entrance is free every Friday after 6pm for people under 26 so keep your passport handy! The museum is very big so give yourself 3-4 hours to see a good portion before heading to the next site. We went to the Louvre twice, on Friday to see the Mona Lisa with smaller crowds and on Saturday to enjoy the rest of the art we had missed. Our favorite was "Napoleon's apartments" you can get great pictures here and enjoy the rich, opulent rooms. Lastly, buy your tickets online and print them to avoid the long ticket lines!
Pro-tip #3: Use the public transportation. Before your trip make sure you have data and access to Google Maps. Google Maps is very accurate and detailed in describing what train to take, what platform and gives you multiple routes as well as time estimates. Do not drive as it is very chaotic and parking is perhaps the most problematic obstacle you'll face. Live like a local and save money!
A day in Paris
Once we had enough of the amazing art we walked over to the Tour Eiffel. This is a long walk but we actually enjoyed it! We walked along the Seine river and crossed over using the beautifully decorated Alexandre bridge. This bridge is very reminiscent of the famed Charles Bridge in Prague. We used the south-east entrance to the Tour Eiffel, skipping yet another long ticket line by buying the tickets online and printing them out. Expect to spend 2-3 hours here if you're going all the way to the top of the Tour. From the top, you can enjoy great views of the city, perfect for pictures!
After we headed towards the Seine River again this time to catch a boat ride provided by "Bateaux-Mouches" buy your tickets online or in person. The boat rides takes off every 30 minutes or so and you can see the city and especially the Tour Eiffel from an amazing angle. This was well worth the money and I would go at night next time I am back in Paris.
Pro-tip #4: The Tour Eiffel lights up at night and as a bonus shimmers/sparkles every hour for about five minutes or so.
Palace of Versailles
We dedicated an entire day to the Palace of Versailles. The palace is beautiful and MASSIVE! I definitely did not know how big it was but luckily we planned to be here all day! We took the metro line to Versailles and skipped another long line by buying tickets online and printing them out. The Palace is filled with decorated rooms and art once occupied by Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Our favorite was the garden, specifically the Queen's Hamlet. A village town constructed for Marie Antoinette. Allegedly used to pretend to live like a commoner and to hide romantic encounters. It is a good walk from the palace to the hamlet, so consider the trolley that makes your life easier!
Pro-Tip #5: Take some cash with you. France uses the Euro. In Paris, we had no problems with our Chase Sapphire Travel Card at restaurants, grocery stores and metro kiosks.
Palais Garnier
One of the locations we had not anticipated visiting was the opera house "Palais Garnier"! We were exploring around this area before we found it and decided to go in. Unlike our other activities we did not buy the tickets online so we were stuck in line! Well worth the wait as the Opera house is one of the most stunning venues in the world. It is as if the Napoleon apartments or Palace of Versailles transformed into an opera house. Palace Garnier offers incredible photo opportunities and in my opinion looks a lot better than the Hall of Mirrors inside the Palace of Versailles. You can plan better than I did and book a show!
Moulin Rouge
The last memorable activity we did was to watch a show at the iconic Moulin Rouge! I had no idea this place existed and I had never seen a cabaret before this. My girlfriend, an avid fashion designer from Fresno and lover of the arts made this a MUST during our trip. Tickets are a bit expensive but it is definitely a fun time and they provided us with a free (and strong) bottle of champagne. It was fun for us to dress up for this show and to sit back and and relax! Next time we would plan better and buy an earlier show. My girlfriend was ecstatic that she attended a show she had admired all her life! It was cheeky, camp, and very very flashy.
Food Game
Lastly, I want to talk about the amazing food we had! Before you judge me know that we come from the California Central Valley our food options are very limited in our towns! In Paris we had a little bit of everything, my girlfriend is vegetarian so the options listed in our itinerary are vegetarian friendly!
I want to first talk about the amazing up-scale dinner we had at “Le Colimaçon” It was the best introduction to French cuisine we could have asked for. Reservations are a must, we tried walking in twice with no luck, finally we made reservations due to its popularity. I had an amazing rib eye steak with mushroom sauce served with seasoned potatoes and a lightly dressed salad. My girlfriend was given the vegetarian meal consisting of potatoes, salad and a risotto. We spent the most money here for a meal from our entire trip but we absolutely loved this restaurant! Another favorite food find was “Holy Belly” an Australian-styled breakfast cafe. Holy Belly serves amazing pancakes that were perfectly sweetened, scrambled eggs that mimicked Gordon Ramsey’s preferred egg cooking method and Garlic-thyme roasted mushrooms that were to die for! We loved this place so much we went back multiple times. We recommend you arrive before they open as it also attracts a big crowd.
One cold night we walked around the St. Germain area we encountered a ramen restaurant called “Ippudo”, the perfect comfort food. We were incredibly impressed with the taste of the broths, I had the chicken while my girlfriend had a mushroom-based vegetarian broth. Their spicy sauce is a MUST have add-on as it complements the flavor delightfully! Ippudo also has US locations so definitely try it at home or abroad! I want to also express our love of “Cojean” a grab-and-go type of smoothie shop. Cojean offers tasty, cheap and healthy selections of snacks, sandwiches, coffee and smoothies. We came here to save money and to start the day in a healthy way.
Dessert time! We loved the gelato from “Amorino” who also has locations throughout Europe and in California. After walking so much we relaxed almost every night with a cone from Amorino. The gelato was incredibly refreshing, they go a step further by decorating the cone with the gelato shaped like flower pedals! At “Le Colimaçon” we also had a dessert, French toast made from baguettes. We found an awesome pastry café name “Laduree” and “Angelina” the pastries here were highly decorated and were so delicious! They both have multiple locations around Paris.
Final Thoughts
Paris is an incredible city, it is filled with amazing art, beautiful architecture, delicious Insta-worthy food, and serves as a leading fashion hub. Paris has a little bit of everything for every traveler so if these things sound go to you, definitely add Paris to your bucket list. Something I wish I had done before traveling to Paris was to watch youtube videos on how to use the metro kiosks. It took a minute but I eventually figured it out (it has an English version you can choose before use). I also wish I had known how important reservations are to certain restaurants. Whether you go to the restaurants we found or not make sure you read the reviews others may warn you to make a reservation. Pick-pocketing is perhaps the most common crime throughout Europe so just be mindful on your surroundings! It is a good habit to google the recent news of the cities you plan to visit.
What did I pack?
Apart from toiletries and underclothes, I packed regular business-casual outfits which consisted of All Birds shoes, jeans and a untucked button-up shirt. I had a jacket just in case and I also carried a sports bag like this, which helped me carry a water bottle, tissues (Paris was giving me allergies), iPhone camera lens, and a portable battery pack.
What were people wearing?
Parisians dress modestly, definitely in a business casual fashion. No heels, mostly flats or kicks. Cross body bags and backpacks were very popular.
I was surprised by how many people do not purchase tickets ahead of time. Peeps! its incredibly important to save time and frustration by buying tickets online! Paris is the world's top tourist destination, don't slack on this! Paris reminded me a lot of certain parts of Belgium such as Liege and certain areas of Brussels but that makes sense for they're neighbor countries. The metropolitan feel also reminded me of Madrid, modern architecture often meets with the past. Would I go back? yes and no. I enjoyed my time in this city but Paris makes my 25th European city visited. Currently I feel the need to explore the US more, go on a cruise and look at other destinations in Asia. I would go back to Paris if I ever travel to any nearby destinations such as Belgium, Ireland, or Portugal. If you have always dreamed of going to Paris, save up and go without hesitation! The best time to go is before or after the summer travel season for example, during April-May or September-October.
Email me at ofriceandcities@gmail.com if you enjoyed the article, if you went to Paris and tried anything I mentioned or if you did something I totally missed!
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Here are some Interesting sites we found for amazing photo opportunities.
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