If you’ve been around here a while you will know we went to Paris last year in May as our first stop on our TopDeck tour of Europe. I wrote about it here if you want to read it. Please excuse the early blogging errors and average photography skills. Anyway, way back in May of this year, I was alerted to a Eurostar sale, so I booked tickets for us to go to Paris months later. This trip felt like a long time coming and it was great to finally hop on the Friday night train and go.
Our tickets allowed us a day and a half in Paris and we didn’t need to take any days off work, which was a bonus. Our full day there saw us out in the city for 16 hours and crawling back into our hostel with aching legs and a full camera memory card. The following morning was spent mooching around smaller suburbs in search of crepes and pastries.
No. 1 Touristy thing to do in Paris
Last time we were in Paris, I wasn’t too fussed about going up the Eiffel Tower. I wanted to climb the Arc de Triomf and look at the view of Paris with the Eiffel Tower included. This time James convinced me that climbing the Eiffel Tower was a must do, even if it’s probably the most touristy thing to do in Paris.
I’m not going to lie, it was my favourite thing we did on this visit to Paris. We queued up just at the gates were opening, then got a little lost once we were inside the gates as the ticket boxes weren’t the easiest to follow. We ended up buying tickets to climb the first two levels via the stairs and then the elevator to the top.
Budget Tip: To save yourself €6 each, opt for climbing the stairs up to the first two levels and then elevator to the top. It’s cheaper, it’s exercise and the line is much shorter.
I loved how the view of the city changed each time you went up a level. The view of Paris was just incredible. We were surrounded by beautiful white and cream coloured buildings and straight streets and beautiful churches. We could see the Seine weaving its way through the city. Just through the slight haze Notre Dame was also visible.
Musee de Invalides
This was not in our plan, it was completely by accident. As we were wandering along the Seine, we came across this cool looking building (given most of the buildings in Paris are cool looking, this one was particularly so). James asked, “what building is that?” With a quick Google search, we found out it was the French Army Museum in the old Veteran hospital building. Intrigued, we went inside and spent a good three hours there, with no regrets.
James and I both love a good museum, military history, in particular, are personal favourites. When you can learn all about the Napoleonic wars in Paris while looking at Napoleon’s old suit and hat, it was a pretty great decision. We also walked through one of the largest armoury collections in the world.
Now, a trip to Paris is not complete without a discussion about food. Last time we were in France I had one of the best steaks of my life. I’m not actually sure if France is particularly famous for its steak, but it is to me, so I went down that road again.
We found a gorgeous wee restaurant in the Latin quarter called La Petite Périgourdine. After some confusion about how to be served in Paris, do we just sit down? do we ask the waiter to seat us? do we go inside or outside? We managed to be seated and enjoy a lovely French meal with Aligot (cheesy mashed potato which they serve onto your plate from a great height in the middle of the restaurant). The waiter was friendly and helped me choose a wine that complimented my steak because “you can’t come on holiday and drink the same wine you drink at home”. Fair enough.
Later we went back to the Eiffel Tower to see it sparkle at night time. Although you are constantly hassled by people trying to sell you keyrings and alcohol, the tower is still so magical on a summer night.
It was seriously a dream come true to see the Eiffel tower lit up at night. We waited for ages in the grass to see it sparkle on the hour. Totally worth it.
Montmartre
Our second day was spent wandering around Montmartre district, most of the time in search of food. Unfortunately, the weekend we were there was part of their week-long holiday and most of the places were closed except for the tourist traps.
We still admired some lovely Parisian architecture, ate crepes and eclairs and omelettes.
Is Paris over-rated?
Now for the real question; is Paris over-rated? Now, I’m no expert, I’ve only spent a total of 3 days in Paris over two visits. But I think I can clearly say no, Paris is not over-rated. Paris has something for everyone, from war history, sight-seeing, comic books shops, wine, delicious pastries, sparkly lights, lovely architecture. I’m already, ready to go back and stay a little longer. Soak up a little more culture, there’s still plenty to more to see and plenty more pastries to eat. I do think you need to be prepared for Paris to be over-priced. It is a very expensive city compared to the rest of Europe for food and other bits and pieces.
Paris is a great city, one I definitely plan to go back to. It’s a city you can wander around and end up in the most gorgeous place, indulging in world-class pastries completely unintentionally.
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