Welcome to Paris!

We didn’t know what to expect in Paris. We have heard mixed reviews on the city of romance. Some say it is dirty, and some say it is beautiful. Andrew and I settled on the beautiful side of the spectrum. We had a whirlwind of a trip with only two full days to see the city. We focused on seeing as much of the city as possible with the thought that we could make more day trips on the next visit. 

We packed our days to the max, seeing the sights and walking (9 miles/day). The metro system was convenient, and we utilized it a lot. It is very affordable and allows you to access most of the city. Our hotel (Hotel Darcet) was in the 18th district near the Moulin Rouge but far away from the center. We could quickly take the metro to places like the Eiffel Tower. 

How We Got There

Time from Pisa via plane (Ryanair) – 1.5 hours

Airport (Paris Beauvais Airport) to Paris – 1.25 hours via bus 

Metro to the rest of the city – Times vary

You can fly into multiple airports depending on the airline you fly on. Ryanair is a budget airline and only flies into Paris Beauvais Airport. This is fine other than it is over an hour from the actual city, and if you take the bus to the city, you get dropped off in an area where you still need to hop on the metro or grab a taxi to get to the city center. There is a bus that you can take into Paris located outside the airport terminals. Tickets are available online, at kiosks as you enter the terminal from the plane, and at the bus station. One-way tickets cost 16.90 euros, and roundtrip tickets cost 29.90 euros. For children, the tickets are cheaper. 

Once we got off the bus from the airport, we headed to the metro, where you can buy tickets at kiosks just outside the turnstiles. The tickets are less than 2 Euros each and cover all train changes. You can buy as many as you want so that you have more for the future. For some reason, our credit cards weren’t working with the machines, and we had to use cash. I used apple maps to get directions, which worked great for public transit. 

 The Evening of Day 1

On the calendar, we were technically in Paris for four days, but in reality, we had the evening of the first day, two full days, and just travel on day 4. Therefore I am classifying this trip as being 2-ish days long. 

The first step after arriving in the city was to find our hotel. Hotel Darcet is tucked around a busy street corner and has a friendly staff. The room was basic, with just a bed, bathroom, small desk, and a small closet. It was clean, comfortable, and all we needed. After dropping off our things, I was hungry, so we set off to find some food. We stumbled across Les Quidams, which had a cheap happy hour with wine, beer, and cocktails. I decided wine and pretzels would tide me over until dinner. After much deliberation and searching on our phones, we finally decided on our dinner. Thai. Yeah, yeah, I know. It’s a bit weird to go to France and eat Thai food, but we love it, and it was close. The restaurant, Wassana, was charming, with a lovely older gentleman who served us. If you go, remember to order rice along with your meal. 

After dinner, we decided that because it was only 8 PM, we wanted to explore some more. So naturally, we took the metro to the Eiffel Tower. The metro stop is close to the tower and is an easy walk. The tower is beautiful when lit up at night, and you can enter the grounds around it for free. You can admire the wonder of the Eiffel Tower from many different viewpoints. We considered going up to the top of the tower, but we learned that we should have made that decision far in advance because the tickets sold out. Beware of the tower rats! Several rats were hanging around with the waterfowl. 

After visiting the tower, I was on the hunt for a crepe. We walked by a stand that was making fresh crepes with various toppings. Delicious! 

We then returned to our hotel and rested for the next day.

Day 2 of taking on Paris

This was the first full day! The first full day in Paris! Too bad the weather was just BLAH. Foggy and cold equals poor visibility from places like the Arc de Triomphe. The Arc de Triomphe was the first stop of the day. The day before, I bought tickets allowing us to climb up to the top of the Arc for the views. The views are supposed to be excellent, but the weather did not cooperate. The Eiffel tower was just a shadow in the fog. Oh well, it was still cool and a good workout. The Arc is beautiful from above and below. We enjoyed walking around and getting all sorts of angles for pictures. 

After the Arc de Triomphe, we needed to get on a riverboat tour. It started under the Eiffel Tower, so we headed back in that direction via the metro and walked along the river Seine to the beginning of the tour. Even though it was wet and cold, we spent most of the trip sitting outside on the boat to get the best views. The tour was an excellent recommendation from a friend as it gave us views of the different islands and landmarks, including Notre Dame. It was an hour long. We lost the battle against the cold and spent time below in the warmth, looking at the views out of the window.

We decided to continue our tour of famous landmarks when we finished our river trip. What’s more famous than the Louvre? How did we get there? If you guessed the metro, then you would be right! Other than it being the Louvre, another reason I wanted to go to that area is that there was a Christmas market. The Louvre is a gorgeous building with an iconic glass pyramid in the middle. There is a large garden in front of the museum, and I am sure it is stunning in the spring. 

When it came to the Christmas market, I was a little let down. I had imagined little huts with handmade crafts and a more traditional vibe. There was a ton of food, vendors, and people. That was all I expected, but I didn’t feel the cozy Christmas spirit I was looking for. Oh well, that’s okay. I am sure others had a lot of fun, but I don’t do well in crowds. Anyway, I have gotten off track. 

So the Louvre was beautiful and fun to see in real life. Andrew enjoyed looking for the spots Tom Hanks had been in the movie The Divinci Code. We hadn’t planned on going in because of our limited time, but he was inspired, which inspired me to visit. So we decided to add it to our day three itinerary. 

Well, guess what? I was hungry, as per usual. So we found a small place, Happy Caffe, that served fresh crepes. We got ours with cheese, egg, and tomato and enjoyed them in front of the Louvre. Afterward, we made our way to Notre Dame on one of the small islands. Andrew and I often have differing views on directions, but in this case, he was correct and quickly found the famous cathedral. After the devastating fire, Notre Dame is still undergoing construction, so we walked around the exterior, mainly covered in scaffolding. After that, we explored the islands, which had cute streets. We also stopped at a market to grab some simple items for our dinner later. 

We didn’t stop there! The day was still full of possibilities, so we crossed over to the 4th and 3rd districts. These districts are cute and had many shops that I loved, but it was probably for the best that I couldn’t afford anything. I did find a few gifts for family back in the USA. As we wandered, we found a cafe with happy hour and stopped for a drink. I was curious about a more hipster neighborhood which turned out to be the 10th district. So off we went in search of it. It was a lovely neighborhood with little shops and restaurants. 

Now I was craving fries, of all things, along with a beer. Also, my feet were crazy sore. We found a fun bar with excellent service that fulfilled both wishes. After we finished, we called it a night and headed back to our hotel to relax and enjoy our bread, cheese, and olives picnic.

Day 3 of Project Paris

It was off to the metro first thing on day 3. I read about a fun market full of food vendors and thought it would be an excellent place to grab breakfast. So off we went to Rue Cler Market. We found some tasty pastries, but the street was shorter than I expected, and we zipped down it. Oh well, it was still cool. We decided to walk to our next destination, the Louvre. 

First, you should know that we dislike making reservations, especially on vacation. We don’t like having to structure our day that way. It can lead to problems like waiting or missing out on things (like the Eiffel Tower at night). Well, the Louvre requires you to book tickets online for certain times. Luckily they had availability just 45 minutes away (tickets are only 17 Euros!!). While we waited, we headed to a cafe to wait while enjoying warm drinks and more pastries (we were in Paris, after all). 

Fast forward to entering the Louvre. It has a large entry with an information desk where you can get maps in various languages and a room with lockers, so you don’t have to carry your jacket around. It is a free service that we appreciated. Once we scanned our tickets, we decided to head straight to the Mona Lisa. You can’t visit the Louvre and not see her. Well, we only got lost about a dozen times. I swear the museum is like Hogwarts, and the staircases randomly move. We finally found her. Holy moly, there were many people, which we did expect, but it was still overwhelming. We made a quick pass by, opting out of waiting in line to get a close-up view. 

From there, we visited as many exhibits as possible. The Egyptian art was really interesting, and we spent a lot of time in those exhibits. I also really enjoyed the sculptures. There was an exhibit I wanted to visit, but we needed to figure out how to get there by going out and back in. By then, I was tired and decided I wasn’t dedicated enough to get there. 

After we figured out how to get out through a mall, we were hungry. Let’s be honest, I am always hungry. We found a sandwich shop doing takeaway (Micho). Wow! It was one of the best sandwiches we have ever had! Enjoying it in a park off the beaten path was just a bonus. 

I also read on another blog that you can enjoy beautiful views from the rooftop of a very fancy department store, Galeries Lafayette. Silly me thought it would be relatively quiet. I was wrong. To get to the roof, just take the escalators up and up and up some more. The view is totally worth it! You can see the Eiffel Tower along with the Opera house. It was sunset which just highlighted the beauty of Paris. What a way to conclude our adventure. 

We walked back to our hotel despite my tired feet. Once there, we just dropped our things off and returned to the cafe where we had started our adventure on the first evening. We brought our trip full circle by enjoying drinks and discussing our ventures. Andrew wrote about the day in his notebook. I love that he has started doing that so I can look back and remember our days clearly while I write.

Day 4 Saying Goodbye to Paris

We just reversed our tracks from when we arrived to get back to the airport. Metro to the bus to the airport. It was a fantastic trip, and I look forward to visiting again, but I was also ready to go home and see Wally. 

In a nutshell, you can visit and enjoy Paris in a short time, but there are plenty of places I would still like to see. We just have to go back.