This December, we made it back to my all-time favorite city: Paris. We managed to pack in a LOT of the sights in the 48 hours we spent in the city of lights. In the last four years, we have visited Paris three times, so this post will be home to the places which we loved the most. If you have only two days in Paris, you can maximize them using our learnings from the past few years. {I'm not the slightest bit sorry for the picture and information overload below. Paris is the best.}
VISIT:
-Paris is chock full of museums, so we generally choose one to visit when on a shorter trip. The
Louvre is a must-see for a first-time visitor to Paris, but then again, I would say the same thing about the
Musée d'Orsay. We also loved our visit to the
Rodin Museum, which is slightly off the beaten track but in a lovely corner of Paris. Wherever you choose, you can't really go wrong.
-Strolling through Montmartre and seeing the city from
Sacré Coeur make for an excellent afternoon. You can take the Metro there and get in a little exercise while climbing up to visit ;)
-
Notre Dame is near the top of the list of "cliché" tourist stops in Paris. The crowds are bananas, but the amazing rose windows and the overall beauty of the cathedral are incredibly powerful.
-If you have two mornings in Paris, save one to stroll the market on rue
Cler. {It's close to the Eiffel Tower.} My best friend who studied in Paris clued us into this gem. If you want a real taste of Parisian daily life, this is it.
-I will always and forever love the
Eiffel Tower. Whenever I see it for the first time, it literally makes me stop in my tracks. Be sure to pre-book your tickets for this one! If you can only swing tickets to the second level, you CAN get tickets
to the top when you get off the elevator. {We were able to
swing that on our last visit; it felt a little like the Amazing Race.} If you don't love heights, don't worry. Whether you go up the tower or not, I would recommend taking a picnic at sunset to watch the Eiffel Tower start to sparkle. We grabbed a few things from a market nearby and made a little evening of it. {It also makes for a cost-effective dinner option!}
EAT + DRINK:
-If you're down for a good drink,
Harry's New York Bar
is the birthplace of so many drinks {the Bloody Mary, the French 75,
just to name a few}. It's an experience for sure--and is a real
"American" outpost in
Paris. {
Here is a little video I snapped on our trip this December of the 15-second Bloody Mary production...unreal!}
-You must have the hot chocolate at
Angelina
on rue Rivoli. Though by sharing that I may be forever cursing our
future visits, we found that the best time to go is first thing in the
morning
around 8am. If the line is too long for a seat, you can still get the
hot chocolate in a take-away cup in the macaron line. {While you're in
the take-away line, grab a few macarons while you're at it. We did a
direct taste test with the same flavor from Angelina,
Ladurée, and
Pierre Hermé--and we liked Angelina the best.} One other tip: If you're
planning on a visit to the
Louvre, Angelina would be an ideal stop
before you go.
-
Buvette is a one of my favorite stops in NYC and they just opened an outpost in
Paris. In addition to being perfectly quaint and cozy, the food is super tasty.
-We found
Willi's Wine Bar on our honeymoon, thanks to a sweet little guidebook my mom gave us. It was closed on our visit in 2012, but we were happy to find it open again this winter. With a killer wine list and wonderful atmosphere, {cv} and I definitely plan to go back on future trips to Paris.
-Another great friend is lucky enough to call Paris home for the next few years. She recommended we stop at
Candelaria for a few tacos {yes, you read that right}. They were AMAZING. The seating is tiny, but worth the wait. Though we didn't time it right for their hidden bar {literally through a nondescript door in the back of the restaurant}, she tells us phenomenal tales of their drink selection.
EXTRA TIPS:
-Always book tickets ahead. Always. For the Eiffel Tower, I would hop on to book your ticket the same day you book your flights. When time is at a premium, 30 minutes here and there spent in line add up. You'll be glad you took a few minutes on the front end to pre-book.
-Leave your giant purse, tote, or backpack at home. I carried a small
Longchamp and never had to check a bag at a museum. It helped me look
slightly less touristy, as many French women also carry these bags. You can also keep a better handle on access to your bag when in crowds. I may sound like a crazy person, but I always keep the zipper in my hands on whatever side I carry it. Knock on wood: I've never been pickpocketed.
-I know Paris is a fashionable city and you want to look chic, but you must bring a comfortable pair of shoes. One day, we tallied up our walking to discover that we walked more than 13 miles {equivalent to a half marathon!}. Doing that kind of distance in heels or strappy sandals just isn't a good plan if you want to be mobile for your entire visit.
-While we're on the topic of fashion, I maybe one of the few women who would prefer sightseeing over shopping. If I only have two days, I don't need to be doing it inside a boutique. It is my preference, though it may not be yours. We can agree to disagree ;)
-Plan some unplanned time. Some of our best memories from Paris are from strolling through different corners of the city and just taking it all in...
Do you have one city which will always rank as your favorite? Paris is, without a doubt, mine. The city holds so many incredible memories for us--and I'm already dreaming of our next visit. If you're planning a visit soon, bookmark this post for later consumption and report back on your favorites. xoxo {av}
