Paris Travel Guide
SUMMARY
RESTAURANTS
L’Imperial Rivoli
Le 17.45 République
Le Marceau
Relais Odeón
CAFES/BAKERIES
Les Deux Magots
Gana Boulangerie
Ladurée
Au Cadran Voltaire
SIGHTS
Notre Dame
Tuileries Gardens
Bastille
Pont Alexandre III
Eiffel Tower
Trocadero
Champs Elysees
Arc de Triomphe
Montparnasse Tower
Garnier Opera House
ACTIVITIES
Musee L’Orangerie
Louvre
Palais de Tokyo
BARS
Yellow Mad Monkey
COMMENTS
Restaurants
L’Imperial Rivoli
· My first food in Paris!
· Definitely Paris prices but honestly not too expensive
· I got the French onion soup and frites, and a cappuccino
· Super cute, upscale, typical classy Parisian interior
· Atmosphere is a little more sophisticated but very lively
· GREAT lunch spot, close to L’Orangerie and Louvre
· I wore leather pants, turtleneck, scarf, and my black rain booties; dress is upscale casual
Le 17.45 République
· AMAZING! Can’t recommend this place enough
· Build-your-own charcuterie board + cocktails/wine
· SO affordable for Paris, was surprisingly cheap
· Would recommend the brie, goat cheese, cornichons, smoked ham (everything we got was good, I just can’t remember it all HA)
· Lively, younger vibe; lots of people our age up til like early 30s
· Definitely make a reservation because it’s small
Le Marceau
· Incredible lunch spot
· In between Eiffel and Champs (good spot to stop on the way)
· We split camembert with walnuts and a baguette
· I got creamy salmon pasta with parm and it was SO good
· Would definitely recommend
· I wore jeans, turtleneck, sweater vest, and sneakers; felt totally fine, dress is European casual
Relais Odeón
· One of Paige’s favorite spots in Paris, they’re ~regulars~
· Loved this place
· Expensive but like not horrible for Paris I guess
· I got a chicken Caesar salad and split a charcuterie board and would recommend both (but there are a few weird meats, I just didn’t eat them, the rest was great)
· There’s some drink that ends with -ita (I think it was Raspberrita) and it was very good, blended
· Porn star martini is SO good, and everyone will laugh when you order it if you’re as immature as we were🥰
· My salad, 1/5 of big charcuterie board, and 2 drinks was like $55
· I was wearing my jeans, turtleneck, sweater, sneakers because we went straight from sightseeing; felt a little underdressed; I was fine but would recommend dressing up just a bit
CAFES/BAKERIES
Les Deux Magots
· We stopped here for a drink and dessert post-Notre Dame at like 6 PM
· My wine was really really good (first wine in France!)
· We got the apple tart with something like mascarpone I think..?
o Interesting but so delicious
· Typical Parisian café atmosphere, I LOVED it
· Older, more sophisticated crowd
· I wore leather pants, turtleneck, scarf, and black (rain) booties here too and felt totally appropriate; dress is sophisticated casual
Gana Boulangerie
· Amazing bakery right by Paige’s apartment
· LOVED the croissant
· Lots of locations throughout the city
Ladurée
· OH MY GOD MY FAVORITE PLACE IN THE WORLD
· So beautiful inside
· Have to wait for a bit but SO so worth it
· HAVE to get some macarons
· Could go to the café/restaurant but would def recommend making a res because it was really busy and the line was long (I mean we were also there on a Saturday late afternoon)
Au Cadran Voltaire
· Love love loved my croissant and marmalade
· BEST croissant I have ever had
· I don’t like jam or marmalade but I ate it with my croissant here and it was so good
· Cappuccino was very good!
· Great spot for breakfast
SIGHTS
Notre Dame
· Obviously a must-see
· Just saw the outside but was so cool to see and so beautiful
· Good location for walking by lots of famous sights and convenient location for finding food and cafés
Tuileries Gardens
· Walked through on way to Louvre/after L’Orangerie
· It was the first week of February so obviously not the prettiest time ever but I’m sure it’s beautiful when things are in bloom
· Able to do a quick walk-through, might as well
Bastille
· Not much to see but cool spot to see/walk by!
· You can get some really cool pictures too
· Sooooo I fully thought it was an actual building and was intent on seeing it, it was simply like a tall cool pole with a statue on top and some inscriptions
Pont Alexandre III
· THE most beautiful bridge in Paris
· Gorgeous views of Eiffel Tower – great for pictures
· Easy to work into a loop
· The bridge itself is also very beautiful and incredibly ornate
Eiffel Tower
· OBVIOUSLY a MUST
· So cool and iconic and beautiful
· Walk to the big open grassy area to take pics – they’re much better from over here and there won’t be anything obstructing the view at all
· We saw it first from Trocadero and then went as close to the base as we could
· Didn’t climb to the top but was totally okay w that
Trocadero
· Super busy
· Where we first saw Eiffel Tower from
· Really cool view and would definitely stop here so you can see a view from farther away but still close
· Don’t need to spend much time here because it was packed, but if it’s less busy a picnic would be cool
Champs Elysees
· Iconic shopping street
· Wish I would’ve had more time to go into multiple stores
· Would recommend getting food on the way here because there’s lots of great spots and it’ll be way more expensive on the actual Champs
· The Ladurée here is a must even if you only go to see the inside
Arc de Triomphe
· Obviously also a MUST
· We went at sunset and it was INCREDIBLE
· Saw it from the base and took pictures
· Then we went to the top for sunset and would 10000/10 recommend doing that
o Especially because we didn’t climb to top of Eiffel
o Still got to see an amazing city view
o Arguably better because you can also see Eiffel
o Awesome for pictures
· Would recommend buying tickets online/ahead of time if you can so that you don’t have to wait in the long ticket line
Montparnasse Tower
· Amazing view of Paris
· Really cool at night because the Eiffel Tower was sparkling
· Had to pay to go “ice skating” at the top; it was fake ice skating
· Still worth it though just for the view
Garnier Opera House
· SO incredibly beautiful on the outside
· It was closed for tours the day we went so we couldn’t see the inside but I would definitely recommend going in
· If you can’t go in, walking by the outside and seeing it is still def worth it
ACTIVITIES
Musee L’Orangerie
· Loved this museum!
· Had some of Monet’s water lilies, which I love
· Some other cool art as well, and gift shop has really cool things
· Smaller, definitely far less overwhelming art museum
· A great spot to see great art and not be overwhelmed and actually get to see all the art in there
· Lots of Renoir which I love
· I love the name too it’s so cute:)
Louvre
· Well OBVIOUSLY this is a must
· The museum is absolutely MASSIVE
· We only had about 1.5 hours in and it definitely wasn’t enough
· The sculpture garden was one of my favorites if not my fav
· Have to see the iconic paintings like Mona Lisa, famous French paintings, and the one w the French lady triumphing in the Revolution (I forgot what it’s called but it was AWESOME to see in person)
· Would recommend setting at least 2 hours aside if you’re kinda into art, and at least 3 if you really want to see it all
Palais de Tokyo
· Cool spot to see
· Definitely not a must but worth it if you have the time
· It was cool to see more of a contemporary and culturally diverse side of Paris and its art
· I LOVED the Australian plant embroidery exhibition
· Rotating exhibitions I believe
BARS
Yellow Mad Monkey
· This place was fun but PACKED and HOT
· Would recommend going w a big group or at least a few friends because it’s just better
o Harder to talk to and meet new people because it’s so chaotic
· Fun though
· Close to lots of other bars and restaurants as well which was super convenient
· There’s a crepe place down the street that I forget the name of but it was open late and the crepes we got were FIRE
OVERALL ADVICE
Transportation
· DEFINITELY utilize the Metro: just plug it into Maps and it’s really easy to figure out
o Super efficient and the best way to get to places that you can’t walk to
· Scooters are a cheap, easy, and fun way to get around, but don’t try to use your phone while you’re on them lols
o You can fit two people if you’re around Paige and I’s size
· Keep in mind that both Orly and de Gaulle are pretty far outside the city (de Gaulle is 45 minutes – an hour and Orly is about 35)
o Just bite the bullet, suck it up and pay the taxi if you want to save time
o I took a taxi from de Gaulle to the 11th and it was 60 euro
o Ubers to Orly aren’t horribly expensive
o You can definitely take the metro, but it takes 1.5-2 hours so you can choose to prioritize time or money
§ (I was only there Friday-Sunday so I sucked it up and Ubered and taxied)
City Itself
· Walk wherever you can! The city is so beautiful and even the most mundane buildings have such beautiful architecture
o I love love LOVE Parisian style buildings and architecture so I was in heaven
· Yes it’s expensive but you really can find places that aren’t awful
· ABSOLUTELY try all the pastries you can… my must-try list that I ate was
o Baguette
o Brie
o Macaron (Ladurée)
o Éclair
o Croissant
· Be aware of your things and keeping them guarded/safe
o I didn’t have any issues with pick pockets or anything but I held my small backpack on the metro and put it on my side and held it in busy areas
· Just eat everything you can, the food is incredible
· Keep in mind the arrondissements (areas) when picking where to stay and what to see
o They can be pretty similar but some have totally different feels
o Some are quite far from each other so prioritize what you want to see
I stayed in the 11thbecause that’s where Paige’s homestay was and I enjoyed it BUT would’ve probably stayed in the 3rd(Le Marais) otherwise because it’s quintessentially “Parisian” and has lots of sights/attractions there
