Paris-City of Lights, City of Love

Paris, je t’aime

Even though we live "kind of close" (not really, but it only takes 3 hours by train which is close enough) to Paris it took almost 19 years for me to travel there. But I always knew, that I wanted to at least once in my life. Because I only knew Paris from movies and books, I had pretty high expectations. But luckily, I wasn’t disappointed. But I did cry but out of joy when I first saw the Eiffel Tower. This is one of the pictures of me having my first glance at the Eiffel Tower.

First of all: even if the cliché says that French people only speak French, most of the times that we asked something in French, they responded in English. So that is one thing you don’t have to stress about. 

To get around the city I would recommend the metro, it isn’t that expensive and you can get from one end of the city to the other rather quickly. If you buy the tickets in packs of ten, you can even save a few Euros. 

Accommodation

We stayed in a hotel in the 11. Arrondissement, near the metro station “Bastille”. We liked the area but we probably would stay at a different hotel. 

Since then I have visited Paris again but stayed near the “gare d’Austerlitz”. I have to say that I definitely enjoyed the location of the first hotel a lot more, because you have access to more than one metro line which is quite practical to get around the city quicker.

Food

Paris has a lot of amazing food spots. 

For breakfast I would especially recommend “Café Berry”. I had a toast with beetroot hummus and goats’ cheese. Celine had a toast with peanut butter and bananas, both were pretty delicious. Another breakfast spot we tried was “depot legal” I had baguette with butter and marmalade and Celine had a smoothie bowl with granola. We also shared a pastry with lots of butter and sugar. For this café we had some trouble finding it but we got there in the end.

For lunch or dinner, I can recommend “Titos Burritos” it is located in Mont Martre in the 18. Arrondissement and is near the Sacré-Coeur so we ate there after we visited the basilica. Which food can’t you miss on holiday? For us it is burgers and we ate some amazing burgers at “Burger and fries” in the 10. Arrondissement. Also, how they were packaged was very instagramable in the red little baskets. 

The last food spot that I want to share with you is the “Choco Factory”. It is right next to the Luxemburg gardens. But my tip is to go there with an empty stomach, because they serve freak shakes and if you already ate before, you probably will feel sick after. 

When in Paris you also have to eat a crêpe, we have eaten ours at the “Crêperie Saint-Malo” which was very close to our hotel and the metro station Bastille.

Shopping 

Obviously, you can’t forget about shopping. It has most of the normal stores that you can find almost in every bigger city.  The two stores we were most excited about were the muji store and a store called hema. In the muji store you can stationary and in the hema you can buy all things from clothes to food and décor pieces. You also can’t forget about the galleries Lafayette and especially about the rooftop. Because from there you can see the whole city and even the Eiffel tower. If you like reading and books I would also recommend Shakespeare and Company. It is basically a booklover’s dream with several walls filled with books but sadly it isn’t allowed to take pictures inside.

Sightseeing

When I think of Paris, the first thing that comes to my mind is obviously the Eiffel tower, but I have to say that I only visited it from the bottom. But one place that is definitely worth it is the “Arc de triomphe” because you can visit the top. But first you have to climb a lot of stairs which isn’t easy for people who are afraid of heights. From the top you can see all the roads that meet in the roundabout which is quite cool. You can also see down the Champs elysees to the obelisque. We visited during sunset and I can’ recommend it enough. 

Also, definitely worth a visit is the Louvre it is pretty amazing from the outside but also from the inside, but even if you don’t plan to visit, have at least a look at the outside. The inside was flooded especially near the Mona Lisa (by the way it was bigger than I expected because everyone always told me that she is much smaller than you think, but for me it was the opposite).

Also, a must-see is the Sacré Coeur and it is worth to climb all those stairs and I would rather climb the stairs than take the funicular.  You can’t forget about the Notre Dame I’m not sure when you can visit the inside again, because as you probably know, she burned in early 2019. But she is worth a visit from the outside as well, we also didn’t visit the inside. Right outside the Notre Dame is the so called “point zero” from where all of the routes in France are measured. It is supposed to be a lucky spot and you can wish for something if you stand on it. 

I have created an interactive map which you can find down below with additional food and sightseeing spots that we haven’t visited but wish we had. 

I hope you enjoyed this little guide to Paris and let me know, if you have already visited Paris and if yes if you enjoyed it.