First off, thanks so much for all the TA advice--it helped so much! Our background: We are in our early 40s, have never been to Paris, and speak only a bit of French. Our goal: just get a feel for the city, and make plans for a longer trip someday. I hope this isn%26#39;t too long and/or boring, but I%26#39;m going to try to include some of the details for people who might be feeling as anxious as I was about planning a first trip here.
Day .5: Friday evening
We arrived at Gare du Nord after 4 days in London on the Eurostar at 7:30. It is easy to find the taxi stand--just follow the signs. There is an ATM right before the doors to get some euros. The ride from Gare du Nord to our hotel, Hotel du Champs de Mars, in the 7th was about 15 euros. It was worth it for us not to try to navigate the metro and its stairs with luggage.
Our room was on the 4th floor and we lugged our suitcases all the way up a narrow spiral staircase only to discover an elevator on our way out that evening! The hotel was quiet and clean. Our room was small, but quaint and bathroom was great. We could see the tip of the Eiffel Tower from our window. I know some think the 7th is boring, or that tourists with Rick Steves%26#39; guidebooks have overtaken the area. I found neither to be true (though, total disclosure: I am a bit boring and did have a Rick Steves guidebook with me...). Anyway, as a first timer, I felt this was a fabulous place for a home-base.
Our plan was to eat dinner at Cafe de l%26#39;Homme, but we were already running late for our 9:00 reservations and decided it might be easier to eat closer to our hotel anyway (tackle the metro later!). Next choice was Cafe Constant recommended by many TAers. After a couple of wrong turns, we felt a sense of victory when we found it, but then...we chickened out! It looked, well, too intimidating for our first meal. Back to Cafe du Marche we went. Yes, we were seated by another American couple, and yes, the waitress replied to our feeble attempts to order in French in English, but the food was great--we had a Caesar salad with tandoori chicken (strange combo, but good) and mushroom pasta that was outstanding, and most importantly, it built our confidence.
Next, we headed over to the Eiffel Tower. It was dark now, and the tour was lit a brilliant blue so it wasn%26#39;t too hard to find. We were worried that it might be too late (i.e. dangerous) to walk around at midnight in an unfamiliar city, but our fears were completely unfounded. We stood and took pictures in Champs de Mars park along with many others lying on blankets, drinking wine, pushing strollers. It was a fun, carnival-like atmosphere. I felt very safe. At midnight, when the tower started sparkling, everyone cheered and clapped. I stood there with tears in my eyes--I was finally in Paris!!!
Day 1: Saturday
It rained today, so a good day for museums. We took the metro to the Louvre. The metro is easy. We bought a carnet of tickets. Unlike London, where we needed to keep our ticket to exit the tube, we never did in Paris, though during one trip, we were stopped in the metro tunnels by police who politely asked to see our tickets--so be sure to hang on to them!
We had not yet decided to buy a Museum Pass or not, but the sight of the long lines (at both the glass pyramid outside and the underground entrance) persuaded us to go for it. We bought a two-day pass at a Tabac in the shopping mall beneath the Louvre. I wasn%26#39;t sure how many museums we%26#39;d get to, and in the end, it would have been cheaper for us to not get it, but with the amount of waiting time it saved us on a short weekend trip, I%26#39;d do it again in a minute. We went back outside and in through the group entrance at the side of the pyramid. The guard hardly glanced at our pass and waved us right in.
So, yes, the Louvre is huge. We saw our must-sees, enjoyed much of the art in between our must-sees and moved on. The Mona Lisa is disappointing. Not because she%26#39;s small or even because she%26#39;s buried beneath layers of glass and roped off. It%26#39;s the crowd around her, snapping and flashing their cameras and jockeying into position to pose with her. It%26#39;s not only annoying, but really is sort of sad. We saw this throughout the Louvre. I%26#39;m not a serious art fan, but is anyone even really experiencing the art?? I had a moment with her from afar, but never got very close.
Lunch today was supposed to be at Angelina%26#39;s. Alas, I could not find it! I%26#39;m sure I was standing right in front of it, but the crowds on rue du Rivoli were a bit much, and we were tired, so we settled for Cafe Nemours instead (save the awesome hot chocolate for next time!) I had a delicious croque-monsieur and a glass of wine, so I wasn%26#39;t feeling too sorry for myself. After lunch, on to the Orsay. It was an easy walk by the Tuilleries garden to the Orsay, and once again, we just walked past the crowds and flashed the pass.
I understand now why everyone loves the Orsay--it is a beautiful space. We took the stairs and escalators all the way up to see the Impressionists first and then worked our way down. I felt like more people were looking at the the art here. My favorites were Van Gogh%26#39;s self portraits. By the time we worked our way down, it was about 4:00. We had planned to fit the Orangerie and Rodin museum in as well, but we had hit the museum wall at this point, and added the others to the next time list.
We then took the RER to Notre Dame. The RER is just like the other metro trains except for fewer stops and a second level. We walked by Notre Dame, decided against waiting in the huge lines to get in or up to the towers (the Pass does not let you line-skip here) and settled for snapping pictures of the outside instead. We walked around back to the lovely garden where children were playing and a band was performing at the gazebo. We crossed over to Ile St. Louis and had some Bertilion ice cream. It is as good as everyone says! The first order (yes, we stood in line for a second!), I had pear and strawberry, my husband had cherry and raspberry. The second, though, was my favorite: salted butter caramel. Yum.
Paris is full of such great scenes. You never know what%26#39;s going to be around the next corner. As we were eating ice cream and walking the streets of Ile St. Louis, there was a grey bearded man who had %26quot;parked%26quot; his piano between the lines on the street and was playing for the crowds. It was just magical.
We headed back to our hotel to rest before dinner, but first stopped at Cafe du Marche for a white beer and peanuts and watched as people came home from wherever with baguettes in hand and fresh produce from the markets. The mega-sized grocery store I stop at on my way home from work has never seemed so depressing!
Tonight, we took the metro to Concorde and walked the Champs-Elysees. Bleachers were being set up on the street, I think for the Tour de France end. We ate at Relais de l%26#39;Entrecote on rue de Marbeuf. We waited in line for about 40 minutes as they take no reservations. We had great all you can eat steak and frites and the best dessert I had in Paris! Some said this place was touristy, but we didn%26#39;t %26quot;hear%26quot; any Americans. Was it worth the wait? I guess it depends on how much you hate to wait, for us, it was.
We continued our walk to the Arc de Triomphe. It was 11:30 by the time we reached it, and closed. I don%26#39;t know that we would have chosen to go up after such a big meal and wine even if it would have been open, but so far we hadn%26#39;t seen Paris from up top. Again, it felt completely safe to ride home on the metro at midnight. We collapsed into bed, tired but happy.
Day 2 and 3 coming soon...
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Wow, I thought I was reading the whole trip report.
Can%26#39;t wait to see what you packed into two more days
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Can%26#39;t wait to read day 2/3. Great report.
Thank you for taking the trouble to write one.
k
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Day 2: Sunday
We had booked a Fat Tire Bike Tour to Versailles for today. I just read on another post about the disappointing aspects of this tour, and I would agree somewhat. We arrived at the Fat Tire office and were greeted by college-aged students who were friendly and efficient. We chose our bikes (my bike%26#39;s name-tag read %26quot;Buttercup%26quot;; husband had %26quot;Lance%26quot;) and off we went. It was so fun to be riding through a virtually empty Paris to the train station on a Sunday morning, not so fun to carry bikes down the stairs and onto the train, but it was doable. Our guide was willing to help if we needed it.
After a 20 minute ride to Versailles, we got our bikes off the train and rode into the huge street market in town. We chose items for a picnic later that day, found an old box and strapped it on the back of Lance as a make-shift basket. I would bring a backpack for the food--the site doesn%26#39;t say to do that. We rode through the Versailles gardens, by Marie Antoinette%26#39;s house, and had a picnic by the canal. It was a beautiful day, and sitting there by the canal, looking up at the palace, sharing wine with those we met on the tour was yet another magical moment, and truly the best part of the tour.
Our guide gave us a very brief background of the history of Versailles, mostly in surfer-dude talk (at one point he actually said, %26quot;And Louis was like WTF?%26quot;), gave us our passes and in we went with audio guides and no directions. Unfortunately, I had assumed we would be guided through the palace and had not researched it. So, we went in and spent most of our 1.5 hours in the (relatively) underwhelming Dauphin%26#39;s apartments. When we realized we only had 30 minutes left, we finally found the Hall of Mirrors and the King%26#39;s rooms. Frustrated at our lack of time, we sprinted through these and fought the crowds to get back to our bikes in time to leave.
We did tell our guide he needed to give more direction before just sending people in. Like the previous poster, we were also disappointed that we did not get to see the fountains (a reason we chose to go on a Sunday). I would definitely go back to Versailles on my own and experience it at my own pace. I can%26#39;t say, though, that I wouldn%26#39;t do the tour again or that it wasn%26#39;t worth the money. Riding through Paris and Versailles, finding the market, picnicking with others--these are all wonderful memories. Just know what you%26#39;ll be doing.
We got back into Paris around 4:30, and spent time around rue Cler before our dinner cruise with Bateaux Parisiens. This was our big splurge and I was very nervous about whether it would be worth it. Some here had reported the food was awful; others said it was the best experience in Paris. Happily, I am among the latter camp.
We boarded and were seated by a window (we paid a bit extra for Service Select and am glad we did). The dinner was very good. I%26#39;m not exactly a foodie, but have eaten at some good places, and this was right up there. Husband tried frog legs and sea bass; I am less adventurous and had asparagus and chicken. Great desserts and more wine than we could possibly drink (one cocktail each + white bottle with apps. + red bottle with entree). The music was good--excellent violin player and singer. Some have complained about the music being loud--I didn%26#39;t notice this at all. For me, it was just wonderful to ride along the Seine, looking at Notre Dame all lit up, listening to Edith Piaf%26#39;s songs, smiling as the tipsy German man next to us sang along...an experience that will stay with me forever.
But, that wasn%26#39;t the highlight of the evening. This actually occurred in the metro on the way home. As we were waiting at midnight for the train, we heard a strange neighing. Everyone waiting looked around and then heard a rooster. These incredibly realistic noises were coming from a man sitting on a bench cracking himself up with this little performance. Honestly, I don%26#39;t know why this was so funny, but the entire crowd started laughing every time he made a noise and applauded him heartily when the train came. For me, I guess, it was just this wonderful spontaneous moment of both acceptance and appreciation for this man and connection with all these other strangers, so far away from home. It%26#39;s just something I can%26#39;t experience in the suburb where I live where everyone has cars and big yards and we never seem to connect.
We returned to our hotel, so sad that we had only one day left...
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Day 3: Monday
Since we had not made it up the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame OR the Arc de Triomphe, we decided we%26#39;d better go up Tour Montparnasse for a look. I can%26#39;t compare this to the other views, of course, but I thought it was amazing (plus it involved no strenuous climbing in a claustrophobic stairwell!). You could walk around for a clear view of most of the city, and there were signs that helped identify everything. One of the most interesting views from this vantage point was of the Pere Lachaise cemetary. I wonder if those who visit on the ground can get a sense for how incredibly huge it is!
On our last afternoon, we were overwhelmed with too many choices--so many things we had not seen, but ultimately we decided on Montmartre. The tube ride out took about 25 minutes or so. We got off at Anvers and followed the signs to the funicular. I had read here that it is not always open, but luckily it was--the stairs looked brutal! You can use metro tickets, but we were out, so we just bought them at the window and up we went. Sacre Coeur is beautiful; we took a walk around the inside and the outside and headed for Place du Tetre. I was prepared for hordes of tourists and people trying to sell me things, but it wasn%26#39;t bad at all.
The best part of Montmartre is simply walking around the village. The winding cobblestone streets, small shops, and surprises (we happened upon the Man in the Wall sculpture totally by accident) made it one of our favorite places. We had pizza at a place near Amelie%26#39;s cafe on rue Lepic, and continued down to Moulin Rouge before heading home for our luggage and then a taxi back to Gare du Nord.
There were so many other things on my itinerary--I laugh now when I think about how much I thought I could do. I ignored posters here who said, slow down and don%26#39;t try to do so much, but now I realize they were right. So, I didn%26#39;t make it to the Marais, or Luxembourg Gardens, or any of the other museums I planned to see. I didn%26#39;t get a L%26#39;As Falafel or a crepe or to any of the hundreds of other wonderful places to eat. But, truly, as I write this report, I realize the best moments of the trip: talking with the older Parisian man who went out of his way to ask us if we needed help, sitting at a cafe people watching, laughing at that funny guy in the metro--none of these were on my itinerary anyway.
I%26#39;ll be back, that%26#39;s for sure. I was nervous and anxious, and didn%26#39;t know if I could order at a restaurant or navigate the metro--but I did it and I loved it!
And now--sigh--back to the real world.
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sabrinab...
That%26#39;s a wonderful first-time trip report.
You%26#39;ll be back.
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That%26#39;s a marvellous trip report. I%26#39;m so glad someone else has caught the Paris virus and will be back, and that you enjoyed yourselves so much. Well done.
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SabrinaB
Thanks for sharing such a wonderful trip report. It sounds like you were able to experience the heart of Paris and that is great.
Nana
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What a great trip report, thank you for sharing, and you did a LOT in your time there, so don%26#39;t feel bad if you had to %26quot;bag%26quot; something because time would not allow it. I agree with you on the Mona thing. It%26#39;s the crowd acting like they%26#39;ve just spotted Brad and Angelina or something, the pictures snapping, and the art itself isn%26#39;t very big so it gets lost in the protective glass and the hoardes. You feel like you%26#39;re in Art class 101. The rest of the Louvre made up for it. And I laughed out loud at your surfer dude at Versailles. Glad you had a good time and got the feel for the city and its people.
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What a great report - thank you so much for sharing it with us.
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