We were on a week long trip through Europe and the first stop was Paris. I was thrilled- I have been wanting to see the Eiffel tower since I was a kid. Paris is known as the city of lights and truly comes alive when the sun goes down.
We flew into Charles de Gaulle Airport and landed in Paris in the early afternoon. We breezed through customs, grabbed our packs, and set off. The public transportation is incredible. We were able to take metros and trains the entire time we were in Pairs- it was easier (and cheaper) then using Uber/Lyft’s.
From the airport we took the RER B, it’s the train from the airport to the heart of Paris. The public transportation is incredibly easy to use but if you want to make life a little easier use google maps! If you choose the train/metro icon it will tell you which train to use and exactly what stop to get off at. It was a lifesaver for the entire trip and especially helpful one night when we were trying to find our way back to our Airbnb after a night out drinking.
Rather than stay at a Hotel or Hostel we chose an Air BnB. The hotels were expensive and the hostels didn’t have what we were looking for. The Air Bnb we stayed in was inexpensive, simplistic, and in a great location! The key things when you’re spending all day outside in the city. It was located above a Boulangerie (bakery) and across from a metro stop. The apartment was up on the top floor and we had some pretty spectacular views. Here’s a link to our Air Bnb and here’s a coupon for up to 55$ off your next air bnb booking! That’s a free night stay and what’s better then that.
After dropping our bags off at the Air Bnb we set out to explore our neighborhood. We were able to walk the streets for a few hours before it started raining. Once the rain started coming down we slipped into a restaurant for dinner. The restaurant was a classic French Restaurant called Le Robinet d’Or. The food was exceptional, the service even better. It was our first experience navigating the French language which proved to be extremely comical for us and our waiter. Leah accidentally ordered Liver Pâté when she thought she ordered Duck.
After dinner we took a siesta while the weather cleared before heading out to experience Paris nightlife. We walked to Le Marais known as the Gay district of Paris. We sat at a cafe, drank wine, and people watched. We were exhausted so we called it an early night. On our walk back we passed a Crepe cart and couldn’t resist. So we were those people eating massive crepes with nutella all over our faces while everyone else was headed into fancy clubs. It was fantastic.
Day 2
We set our alarms for a 7am wake up call which is a power move when your internal clock is off and you’re sleep deprived. In addition to the Jet lag the bar across the street was bumping a mix of Dua Lipa and 2001 Brittany Spears until 1am. It was a weird flex but the people dancing seemed to be having a great time. The bar shut down at 2am and the lovely neighbors the floor below us decided they needed to keep the party going so they took over until the even earlier hours of the morning and 7am rolled around shortly after the music stopped. We peeled ourselves out of bed and set out to explore. It was our only full day in Paris and you’d be damned if we weren’t going to make the most of it.
The plan for the day was to start early and try and walk as much of the city as we could, after all that’s the best way to see everything. There’s always the option of taking the metro but you miss a lot when you’re underground. The first stop of the day was seeing The Centre Pompidou, walking to the Notre Dame Cathedral, then meandering our way to the Catacombs where we had a tour booked, after the tour we headed to the Eiffel Tower to spend the rest of our day. The pin on the map was our Air Bnb and where we started our self guided walking tour.
After checking out the Centre De Pompidou we wandered the streets toward center city in search of coffee & croissants. We mapped our route to cross paths with the Notre Dame Cathedral. Unfortunately due to the fires the week prior you couldn’t get close to the building and the best view was from across the river. Despite all the damage the outside of the building was in amazing shape. Our grumbling stomachs forced us to leave and find some coffee and food. About a block from the cathedral we stumbled across a shop that boasted a sign saying they had the #1 croissant in Paris and for less than €5 were able to get two croissants and two cappachino’s. With coffees in hand we strolled back toward the Cathedral and continued to continue take in the views.
We left our cathedral views and headed towards center city. We stopped at another shop for more croissants and cappachino’s. We couldn’t stop ourselves! The coffee was strong and croissants were delicious. With our second round of breakfast in hand we wandered into the Jardin Du Luxembourg, the Central Park of Pairs, and watched kids race sailboats in the pond, and enjoyed the morning sun.
Our next stop: The Catacombs. The gardens were about a 20 minute walk from the entrance to the Catabombs and we had over an hour until our tour. So we left the park and wandered the streets of Paris meandering our way to the Catacombs entrance passing the Panthéon on the way.
The Catacombs are a network of tunnels that run under the city of Paris that are 200+ miles long and filled floor to ceiling with human remains. The section open to the public is 1.2 miles long and located down a 130 step spiral staircase under the city. I would highly recommend booking a tour in advance! We were able to jump to the front line (which was ~2 hours long). It’s a self guided tour that cost 30 USD and takes about an hour. As an aside, where the tour starts and end are different locations! For us it worked well, it put us closer to the Eiffel Tower which was our next stop.
After our Catacombs tour we headed to the Eiffel tower. Before heading to the lawn we did some shopping for a picnic on the lawn. We got everything for Charcuterie, a loaf of bread, wine and then stopped next door at a bakery and got a half dozen macaroons. With our food in hand we walked to the lawn of the tower, laid out, and took in the views.
To finish off the day we crossed river just north of the tower to see more of Paris. We wandered for hours before our feet grew tired and we settled into a cafe to enjoy some warm food. Following dinner we set out to buy a bottle of wine and headed back to the Tower to watch it light up.
After walking 26 miles (!) touring the city we opted to take the metro back to our air bnb with one stop on the way to check out the Louvre.
Day 3
After a great night sleep we checked out of our Air bnb and walked downstairs for coffee and Pastries at the Boulangerie that was located on the first level of the building.
Our train to Germany wasn’t until 4pm and we wanted to take full advantage of the day. We left our Air bnb and walked to the train station where they had a 24 hr luggage room. We were able to store our packs until our train for around €10. From the train station we walked across the city to go see the Arc De Triomphe.
From the Arc we walked back toward the Eiffel Tower stopping on the way for lunch- one last caprese sandwich. We took our sandwiches and laid out under the tower and took in the beauty one final time. After lunch we retraced our steps back to the train station and were on our way to Germany.
