Remember when I won a trip to Paris courtesy of Vaseline? Well, I’m jumping on the Eurostar tomorrow and finally taking advantage of my prize… I can’t. bloody. wait!
It’s the first time me and Mr. L have been away on our own in 9 years, so I’m calling it our belated honeymoon… seeing as our actual honeymoon was in Manchester. How romantic?
My little L is looking forward to a couple of nights of endless Disney movies and marshmallows with her Nan and Pops, and me? Well, I’m looking forward to endless steak frites, trips to Monoprix (so classy), and people watching at Trocadero (I don’t even care how expensive the wine is!)
I’ve got a modest shopping list in my back pocket but I’m hoping that some new stuffs might catch my eye while I’m browsing. Our itinerary (planned military-style by yours truly) is pretty packed so I don’t know how much shopping time I’ll be able to squeeze in, I also have to remember that I’m not travelling solo!
Incase you’re interested (and because I’d like some tips), my itinerary looks a little something like this:
Monday: Louvre, Musee d’Orsay, Eiffel Tower, Trocadero
Tuesday: Catacombs, Pere Lachaise, Rodin’s Thinker, Sacre Coeur, Notre Dame, Pont Neuf, Seine Cruise
Wednesday: Champs Elysees, Arc de Triomphe, La Defense
The thought of The Louvre frightens me, I know it’s gonna be rammed but I’m ok with being a philistine – I just wanna spot the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and the Winged Victory of Samothrace. Some of the other “sights”, we’re probably not going to go inside, well… it depends on the queues…
I’ve only been to Paris once before on a school trip, and once with Vexinthecity, so I’m by no means overly familiar with the city.
Any tips for eating (not too expensive!), sightseeing, transport etc. are as always, super-appreciated.
I’M SO BLEEDIN’ EXCITED!
À bientôt mes amies! xxxx
Try enter the louvre via the Porte Lion entrance rather than the main entrance. It’s the quickest entrance to the Mona Lisa.
Download a map to Pere Lachaise as its not well signposted inside if you are trying to find Jim Morrisons grave.
If you look online there’s a boat company that go from Pont Neuf that are one of the cheapest for the Bateaux Mouche cruises.
Thank you! I’d clocked the Porte Lion entrance and the name of two recommended cruise companies (BM was one of them!) – Didn’t even consider the PLC map though, have just downloaded an app (for that!)
Have a fab time, hopefully the weather will smile on you too! The catacombs were ace but the steps at the end were a killer – you then come up into glorious sunshine and we had a bottle of wine with a couple of croque monsieurs at a little cafe by the exit. Hated Sacre Coeur this time round as you were just hassled the whole time, really spoilt it for me. Rather than a cruise, we started a evening walk along the Seine from the Jardin Les Plantes end all the way to the Eiffel Tower with a few wine bar stops along the way – if the weather’s good, there’s loads of people on the river, lots of music, lots of people coming together to relax and have fun, it was lovely. Have a brilliant time and take some stuff to rub each others’ feet – they’ll hurt at the end of each day 🙂
Gah, I’m too unfit for loads of steps atm! Will have a glass of wine on the way in (wine scooter?) 😉 Oh, that’s so disappointing about SC, I remember it being my favouritest thing when I was on my school trip! Ahhh, I’m so excited and am definitely taking a solid pair of walking shoes, fashion can do one!
The only thing I’d say is that we spent an entire day in the Louvre and it wasn’t enough time – so my advice would either be to set aside a whole day, or leave it for another trip. It’s a massive undertaking.
And try and squeeze in a trip around Le Marais – my favourite part of Paris. And, uh, where all the good perfume and makeup is 😉
We did mooch around the Marais, it was lovely… I couldn’t wait to get out of The Louvre to be honest… too busy, too… much. Next time, I’d get there for opening or in the evening on a late-night opening. So hard to appreciate everything when you’re constantly being elbowed or smacked with someone’s bag.
If you’re planning on going to both the Musee D’Orsay and the Rodin Museum, you should try to do them on the same day. They are within a couple of blocks of each other and you can get a combination ticket to see both for much cheaper than the separate tickets.
Yes, definitely! These were my two favourite museums, so I’d second doing them on the sane day! As for Louvre – Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo are luckily in the sane section so you can be in and out and just see them… you can also get a Nintendo DS to guide you around but maybe not worth it if you only want to see those bits (I didn’t use mine) and USE THE TOILET BEFORE YOU GO IN!!! My word I can’t emphasis that enough! There really is a shortage! I queued for 45 mins one time! 🙁
Food – hang around the Latin quarter looking hungry at 8pm-9pm and people will jump out of restaurants and free you free wine.
HAVE AN AMAZING TIME!!! 🙂
Oooh for good Steak Frites find L’Entrecote. Delicious and won’t break the bank xxx
Ahh Janie, we didn’t… but we did have a lovely steak frites somewhere else x
Hate to say it but I was in gay Paris only a couple of weeks back & the queues for everything was shocking ie, didn’t go up the Eiffel Tour & didn’t go inside the Louvre, tres disappointed moi! We just didn’t have the time to stand in the queues in the little time we had. But I hope you have a fab time and stock up on lots of goodies.
The queues “were” bad but I found that most of them moved pretty quickly.
We ended up joining them all (even the longest) and saying to ourselves that if we weren’t at (insert some random point in the distance) in the next 10 minutes, we’d leave the queue. Every single time, the queue surprised us by moving far quicker than we thought it would.
What a great holiday for you, have a great time and enjoy
Thanks tootie!
I looove Paris! Have a good time! If you can squeeze shopping time in, then definitely do it on the Champs Elysees for the ‘high street’ stores, and the best Sephora in Paris!
http://www.northoflondonblog.com
Hi Phoebe, we mooched down the Champs Elysees on the last day but I must admit, I avoided Sephora. I went to Monoprix instead but the makeup selection seemed to have gotten slightly less since the last time I was in there 🙁
I’m with @Rachel. I went to Paris last year and there were massive lines for everything. There’s absolutely no way you’ll visit all the places on your list, I’m sorry to say. Your Monday and Tuesday are both particularly ambitious. Wednesday is totally doable, though.
Yeah, we revised it… but more out of our laziness and bad planning than anything else.
Realised on the train in to Paris that Orsay was closed on a Monday, so we left it out – we did the rest of Monday’s itinerary though, which I was pleased with considerin we didn’t get there until lunchtime!
Tuesday, I was so exhausted that I couldn’t be bothered to get up early for the catacombs! Everything else we managed (plus a trip up Montparnasse tower) and by that time, Wednesday was a breeze!
Have an amazing time!!!
If you are in the area make sure to try the restaurant Chez Prosper, close to the Nation metro station. It is a lovely bistro, reasonably priced, and most importantly, has nutella tiramisu which hands down the best desert I have ever tasted.
x
aww, I got this a bit late for Chez Prosper, I’m home now! It’s on the list for next time though, thank you!