Yay another journey through Paris, France! This was our second time visiting & there was a world of improvement. (You can check out our first experience here!) After our first visit to Paris, I felt that Paris wasn’t what I expected it to be. A lot of it had to do with being cold. A second visit really helped me fall in love with the city. We did A LOT with the few days we were there.
This post will share our experiences and some tips!
Our Airbnb accommodations supplied a GREAT view. Outside our windows we could see the Eiffel Tower & Hôtel National des Invalides (where Napoleon is buried). It was on the very top floor of the building so we had to climb 7 flights of stairs every time we returned, but it was worth it. It’s always nice to have an apartment that has a good view. Our previous accommodations had a view of the Eiffel Tower, too! Besides the view, the accommodations were fine. The apartment was simple and nothing too groundbreaking. The only things that bothered me was it was a little unclean and the kitchen wasn’t very well stocked with cooking utensils. So not that bad.
What the accommodations lacked was made up for by being walking distance of the Seine river, the Louvre and the Orsay Museum (all of which are near each other). (The accommodations were actually on the street that dead-ends into the entrance of the Orsay.) Keith and I spent a lot of afternoon breaks sitting on the banks of the Seine drinking wine and having a little picnic. It’s a great place to relax, reflect on your day and watch the boats float by. (We would wave at the tourist boats that would go by and see how many people would wave back at us. You can see some footage of that in my Europe 2015 video! ?)
The first vegan option for a simple picnic is a baguette. The best baguettes are at boulangeries which are bakeries. There is a French law created in 1993 that baguettes can only be made of wheat flour, water, salt and yeast. Perfect! (In my research, I’ve read that grocery store baguettes are possibly not vegan. You’ll have better success at a boulangerie, which there are plenty.) There is also a lot of produce stores where you can grab some fruit (grapes are always a great option). Wine is widely available and a vegan online directory of wine can be found at Barnivore.com. & olives! But just for me, Keith despises them. More vegan options throughout Paris will be featured in an upcoming blog post!
After sitting at the Siene, we decided to go to check out the Louvre. While just standing outside looking around, a couple approached us and asked if we would like to use their tickets. Turns out the Louvre is open late on Wednesdays and they have reentry. Getting into the Louvre for free?! YES! & because it was around 5pm, the Louvre was a lot less crowded. Worth trying to see if that works for you!
We bought two audio guides which are PACKED with information. We didn’t find English descriptions of any of the art so the audio guides really helped with explaining what we were looking at. The audio guides actually have way too much information to be completely honest. We found ourselves looking at a statue for about 7 minutes and realized it’s time to move on. The audio guides are on a Nintendo DS where there was more information on the screen. It also provides a map of where the VIP art is like the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo. So for us, who were short on time, knowing exactly where to go was very helpful. (A fun feature of the audio guide was it had a GPS feature so the information changes as you walk through the museum.)
Moral of the story: find someone to get you in for free and get an audio guide. ?
If you decide on going to the Catacombs of Paris, be sure to get there early. We waited in direct sun 2 hours to get in. (Also pack some water! But there is someone there trying to sell you water every 5 minutes, too.) The catacombs are tunnels housing 6 million Parisians’ remains underneath the city. These remains were taken from over populated cemeteries and placed underground. Isn’t that fascinating? It’s an interesting walk that takes about 45 minutes to an hour to see a portion of the catacombs. There are more tunnels that aren’t available to the public. It’s a nice little break from the heat because it’s so far underground. I didn’t realize this, but you don’t exit where you entered. It’s not a problem, there is a metro station nearby, but just something to keep in mind.
Back to the Seine you can find the Notre Dame in the Île de la Cité, a natural island in the middle of the river. The first time we went to Paris, we didn’t realize there’s no charge to get into the Norte Dame. Just go ahead & wait in that long line, it moves pretty fast. The Norte Dame is enormous. I can only imagine what it looked like when it was first built. Just this gigantic cathedral in the middle of Paris. We only observed the first main floor. If you go to the south side of the cathedral, you can wait in line again, and pay for roof access.
St. Denis is Keith’s favorite. I say “again” because we made sure we visited him the first time we were in Paris. St. Denis was martyred and then picked up his head and walked and preached for 6 miles through Paris. Pretty badass.
Along the Seine there are book stalls that you can browse. Most of the books are secondhand and in French. You can find more tasteful souvenirs there as well.
There’s also the famous Shakespeare and Company bookstore where you can find many famous books (in English). It’s worth looking taking a browse even if you’re not in the market to buy. Oh and no photos allowed apparently. I took ^^this^^ photo and saw the sign afterwards. Whoops.
Paris is absolutely gorgeous. ^^These^^ are just regular streets!
While walking the streets, we ran into this little guy! ? Nothing more than a cat hanging out at cafe. So cute. We ran into a bunch of cats throughout Europe, so feel free to check out my Cats of Europe post. ?
Musée d’Orsay can ALSO be found on the banks of the Seine. Once a railway station, it was converted into a museum 1986 that houses MANY pieces of art including Monet, Manet, Renoir and Van Gogh. It’s Keith’s favorite museum in Europe.
One of Keith and I’s favorite movies is The Phantom of the Opera. It’s actually one of the first movies we watched together so we were really happy to visit the Palais Garnier. IT IS BEAUTIFUL.
Like the Louvre, the Palais Garnier has a great audio guide. This audio guide is in the form of an audio tour where you are guided throughout the opera house, one room to the next. The guide is on an iPod Touch that also has visuals that aid to the tour.
The street leading up to the Palais Garnier is treeless because the owner wanted it to be visible from far away. Interesting ain’t it?
Paris is truly a unique, beautiful, magnetic city. I cannot wait to return. I hope you enjoyed reading our experience and maybe got a tip or two. Have you been to Paris? Anything in Paris you wish to do?
Also, interested what the vegan options are in Paris? I got your back.
– Christina
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