I’m pretty sure that Paris is like the center of Europe and every year millions and millions of tourists are visiting that spectacular place. It’s lovely there, even though I’m not in love in France. It is absolutely outstanding to be there and to feel Paris. It was one of the loveliest places I have ever been to and it was really impressing.
Firstly, we took a short 2 hours flight to Charles de Gaulle and then it took us 2 hours more to reach our hotel right next to Musée Grévi just a couple of meters from Boulevard Montmartre and Grands Boulevards metro station. We were using tour agency again, as we weren’t sure if we’re going to make it not speaking French. The hotel itself was poor as expected – like every average hotel in Paris ours was having small rooms, even smaller bathrooms, and not-really interesting breakfasts. By the way – in case you want to spend hundreds of euros for a hotel – Paris is offering you the opportunity to book enormously expensive hotel with average services every day 🙂 And if this is not enough for you, you most probably will have to pay for thin walls, noisy streets, no elevators… but in the end you’re ok with that, and basically you’re ok with everything, because oh, yeah – you are in Paris!
The rest of the first day in Paris we spent walking in the neighborhood reaching Jardin des Tuileries and Musée du Louvre from the one side and Place de la Concorde to the other. It was fascinating, having in mind that the weather wasn’t quite good. For me, this was spectacular afternoon, really astonishing and surprisingly beautiful (even more than expected). Everything was mesmerizing, with outstanding architecture and spirit.
This is the perfect place to let you know that this time I was prepared – I have read numerous of travelers’ blogs and was having a clear idea what I would like to see, how to reach it and the only problem was that I didn’t check where to eat prior going, but as in Italy – we managed to survive somehow 🙂
The next day we took a half-day bus and walking tour through the city. I have to admit it was interesting, but long, uncomfortable, rushing through the top-spots in order to complete the whole schedule. I prefer to walk through those significant cities slowly, to feel the vibes and the atmosphere… However, we reached Basilique du Sacré Cœur and Mons Martyrtum, Place de la Concorde, we went through the Arc de Triomphe, La Conciergerie and Sainte Chappel, Champs-Élysées and of course Île de la Cité with Notre Dame. Above all, of course, we stopped in front of the Place du Trocadéro and the Eiffel Tower.
Honestly, there are so many places to visit in Paris that you would need at least a lifetime to see everything.
We went through the Latin Quarter, Le Marais, Montparnasse and ended (finally) in La Défense (which is basically the Business park of Paris). Guess what we did there? We fought for food because we were hungry (of course) and we didn’t agree on what and where to eat. We took the metro and went back to Notre Dame where we ate in a small restaurant 20 meters from the entrance of the chapel. And you know what – our waitress was Bulgarian 🙂 Till the end of the day we walk through the city.
On the very next day, we visited Château de Versailles. It was magnificent. The whole castle, the gardens, the village itself. It is near to Paris, so we took a half day bus tour but believe me – you need to stay there at least 2 days to see everything. For our half day there we weren’t able to see almost nothing, but still – it was great. We have made a promise that we’re going to return back to that place one day (and I hope we’re going to do that someday). By the way, we told our guide that we don’t want to be part of the program until the end of the whole trip and we’re going to explore the city by ourselves. Those 2 days were the greatest time spent in Paris – following our rhythm – no rush, no groups, just the two of us. We walked through the top-spots and I have visited the Eiffel Tower. Yep, me only. Alone. You read that right – Daniel stood in the park and waited – he is having fear of high places. It wasn’t bad, at all, it was nice, but it was full with couples in love and I was feeling like the ‘looser’ there, but that was ok, my better half was downstairs next to 2 ducks in the park. We have reached the Louvre and we saw Mona Lisa 🙂 I have almost checked the whole list of places I was hoping to see and spent lovely time with my boy in the gardens and streets close to river Senna.
Lessons learned:
- Don’t go with groups – Paris is fascinating, you deserve to see it without crowds and running out of crazy schedules.
- Book at least 5 full days for the main attractions and at least 2 more for additional museums and trips.
- Visiting Château de Versailles is a must and try to be there at least 2 days.
- Go visit Eiffel Tower in the late afternoon, approximately an hour before sunset – there aren’t so many people at that time of the day, entrance and tickets queues are smaller and you can actually enjoy that place.
- Do the same for the Louvre, but have in mind that you need at least 2 hours and a half to see the main attractions and exhibitions there and at least a day to see everything in details.
- I’m really not interested in wax museums – can’t explain it briefly, but I can’t see anything that would put me into place with ‘famous’ figures instead of walking through any spectacular city such as Paris. So, this is just a tip from me, you can enjoy those places no matter my opinion but brace yourself – there are queues there as well 🙂
- Try french goat cheese! With a green salad and sliced pears! And, of course, French croissant, all their delicious confectionery delights, pork and beef meals and do that with a lot of wines (in case you love wine).
One more thing – we decided that we’re also not interested in visiting Moulin Rouge – in case you go there, please write me back how it was 🙂 We have spent our last night in Paris far away from crowded cabarets with expensive tickets and bad wine – we had pretty nice dinner in a restaurant next to the hotel and we walk through Paris’ streets and spent lovely time in Jardin des Tuileries again.
And for a conclusion – go, visit Paris! Do it, book your flights right now! I’m serious, do it!