Paris, Île-de-France

bar • restaurants • shopping

Ô Chateau

I loved it so much I’ve done it twice. Its an English speaking sommelier who teaches you about wines and cheeses and French things like that. It’s a little pricey but its SO worth the money. I did theone where you taste 5 wines and a champagne and it gives you a perfect pre-dinner buzz ☺ A great thing to do with your friends one night before dinner! Also you have to book it online in advance (www.o-chateau.com)

Paris, Île-de-France

experience

Louvre Museum

you have to, you wouldn’t be doing Europe right if you ddint’ see the louvre while you were in paris. I advise you to either go early morning (I’m talking 10am) or some nights its open after 6pm. The Louvre is a huge tourist attraction and if you go at the peak hours you will likely get run over by asian tour groups and your experience here with overall be less interesting. As you exit, pose on top of the cement blocks to take one of those cliché picks with your finger on top of the glass pyramid!

Paris, Île-de-France

outdoors

Tuileries Garden

paris is full of gorgeous gardens and this is the easiest one to find because its right in front of the Louvre. On a sunny day grab a crepe and just lie on the grass and listen to the cute little French kids babble.

Paris, Île-de-France

experience

Gare du Musée D'Orsay RER C

the impressonist museum, my favorite art gallery in all of Europe. Its an old train station turned into a museum and its just a cool place to hang out and wander.

Paris, Île-de-France

destination

Eiffel Tower

Make a reservation to go to the top in advance online. It costs like 11euros and you can cut the lines. I would suggest going at night when the Tower is all light up maybe at like 7:30 or 8, that’s when its prettiest in my opinion. If you don’t make a reservation be prepared to wait for over an hour in the ticket line.

Paris, Île-de-France

destination • experience

Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris

the famous cathedral is a must-see but you also must walk around it. Walk all the way around to the back of it, see the gardens and then wander onto Ile-Saint-Louis. The second island on the seine, its so quaint, so cute, and they have delicious ice cream!! Also climbing to the top is supposed to be really cool because you can see all of the details in the architechture up close I never did it though ☹

Paris, Île-de-France

destination • experience

Sacré-Cœur

this is a really cool young and artistic area. You can take the funiculaire up to the top of the hill and go inside the basilica then walk around the back of the basilica and youll find this square filled with cafes and artists selling paintings and portraits. Its really cool to sit with the crowd on the stairs of the basilica overlooking all of paris on a sunny day and watch the performers and singers all in front of you.

Paris, Île-de-France

destination

Champs-Élysées

known for its expensive shopping this street leading up to the Arc de Triomphe is now filled with commercial stores like Abercrombie and H&M I would recommend getting off the metro at stop Franklin D Roosevelt or Champs Elysees Clemenceau and walking up the champs elysees towards the arc de triomphe. The arc de triomphe is really pretty impressive, I always forget how big it is until you see it and youre like oh, hey that’s big.

Versailles, Île-de-France

destination • experience

Palace of Versailles

if you have a spare day in paris go see this incredible castle. It literally is breath taking and you could wakl around the gardens forever…its hard to go to Paris and say you didn’t see Versailles but it is outside the city so you need to take the train to get there

Giverny, Normandy

destination

Giverny

again only if you have lots of time in paris, this is the house where Monet did most of his painting. You can see the waterlillies that hes so famous for painting and all around gorgeous gardens. In September is was overflowing with flowers so I can only imagine that in the spring it is even more incredible!

Paris, Île-de-France

destination

Paris

by notre dame/Saint michel you can find small litte kiosks called bookinistes that sell lots of cute things and the seine is beautiful

Paris, Île-de-France

destination • experience

Bateaux-Mouches

there are lots of dinner cruises and things like that on the river. It’s a lot of fun and you can find some inexpensive ones. Also a great way to see the city if youre tight one time!