As I complete a year since my trip to Paris last May (2016), I am finally penning down my experience.
Well, I had planned a summer trip to Paris, however, it really wasn’t summer. It was pretty cold by my standards – I needed a stole and jacket for most part and a rain-coat and umbrella for the latter leg of the trip, thanks to the heavy rain Paris witnessed, eventually leading to floods in the city! I got lucky as I had moved to the French Riveria by the time the floods hit Paris. I got doubly lucky as my flight back to India was from Nice and not Paris!
I had planned this trip with my sister, who lives in California. We decided to meet mid- world and spend some time together. While this was my first visit to Paris, she had been there earlier (about a decade back, but was happy to explore it again, this time with me!)
She flew from California to New York and then to Geneva for business meetings before finally arriving in Paris, tired (as you can imagine!). On the other hand, I had taken a day flight – flew with Air India early afternoon to arrive in Paris late evening – feeling fresh, given I got a good night’s sleep the previous night!
Starting with the bad news, the city is far from the airport, so it took about 45 minutes to an hour to reach. Well, the good news is that Uber runs in Paris, and is very convenient & easy. We were staying at the Westin in the city and the Uber ride cost me EUR 50, not too bad, what say?
Day Zero:
I arrived at the hotel, my sister was already there – eagerly waiting for me! We were elated to see each other! After years, this was a sisters vacation, without our mom, without my sister’s boys (aged 5 and 7…yeah, her husband promised to take good care of them while she was away!)…in short, it was time for the two of us to bond and we were so excited!
That evening, we decided to get a feel of the city. We grabbed a quick dinner and decided to ‘get oriented’ to the city and explore it on foot! We enjoyed some beautiful views of the city – the giant Ferris Wheel, the magnificent Eiffel Tower, the happening street of Champs-Elysees, and finally the gorgeous Arc!
The Arc de Triomphe is a war memorial and honestly looks very similar to India Gate in New Delhi…yeah, I am serious….the design of the structure, the names of soldiers engraved on the pillars, and the burning light in their memory. It was fun to go upstairs to the top of the Arc, not only because it has a really intriguing circular staircase but also because one gets gorgeous views of the city from top there!
Day One: Next morning, we decided to wear our touristy hats and do all that we could, since according to weatherman, the sun would give way to rain, in a day!
This was a bright sunny morning, so we decided to grab breakfast in a typical Paris-style café. Just loved it – outdoor seating, our backs to the restaurant and faces towards the road, the walkways, the bridges…so fun people watching! We then headed to the famous Notre Dame, it was a very pretty church, just like most churches in Europe. The gothic style architecture on the outside and the stained glass work in the inside made it a must-do sight. However, what we couldn’t do here was go to the top, as there was a 2 hour long queue and we didn’t have that kind of time (and patience!).
We clicked a bunch of pictures outside the pretty Notre Dame, and at Pont Neuf, by the River Seine. This was a really pretty area to walk around, with several cafes, crepes places, ice-cream parlors and boutique shops – what grabbed my attention was the scarves and the jewelery at these stores…just simply gorgeous!
In the evening, we headed to the Sacre-Coeur, another church but a different one! It was on a hill top and there were people playing music outside, the entire atmosphere was so lively that you could just sit there for hours, enjoying the music and the view!
Post this, it was finally time to head to the Eiffel – the one thing I was waiting for the most, ever since I put foot on French land! The Eiffel in my mind was just so majestic and magnificent, imagine it having an elevator (that could fit 20+ people) in its leg / pillar…does it give you an idea of its size and scale! The queue to get into Eiffel can be pretty long, but we got lucky. Managed to get up there in about an hour, which wasn’t bad. We got luckier because we got to see Eiffel in both views – day and night. Both truly have their own charm, neither should be missed! And ofcourse goes without saying, the views from the top are best that one can get…view of the streets and those of River Seine…breath-taking!
And here is the icing on the cake – one can grab a drink at the Hyatt Bar. It’s on the 34th floor – not only are the drinks super but more importantly, one gets to see Eiffel shimmer every hour for 5 minutes…what a sight…super ending to a fun day in Paris!
Day Two: Good morning, it’s time to have the best hot chocolate in the world – so we decided to have a hearty breakfast at Angelina. Another reason for us to take time and have a leisurely meal was the fact that it was a rainy day in Paris, so we knew we would largely be indoors! It was the ideal day to visit the must-dos in Paris – the museums.
We decided to go to Louvre, which was just magnificent – right from the entrance, to the size and scale of the museum inside! While one could spend the entire day there, given the number of galleries and artwork, sculptures, paintings, etc., we decided to cap our time to 3 hours and hence looked up online the best things to do in Louvre – amongst the many things, ofcourse, we posed with the Mona Lisa – which ofcourse attracts the biggest crowd! Others to catch a glimpse of were The Winged Goddess of Nike, Aphrodite (Venus de Milo), some of Rembrandt’s work, etc.
The other museum we decided to visit was Orsay…it’s way smaller than Louvre, with a way smaller collection…but what I loved about the museum was the architecture and way it was constructed…it didn’t look like a museum at all, which made it more interesting for me! Not to be missed there was The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh, just beautiful!
We ended the day with a show at Lido, we just HAD to do either this or the Moulin Rouge since we were in Paris, but honestly I felt like it didn’t live upto its hype…having seen similar shows/ performances in Beijing, Dubai, and Vegas…this wasn’t a match unfortunately!
Day Three: Next day, once again, we woke up to a damp morning, so we started to explore how best we could make use of our day today!
Yes, we found an idea, i.e., check out the indoor passages for shopping or window shopping to be more precise :-). While they were cute galleries, but most were shut – perhaps due to the rain day, the owners decided to stay put home and sip a hot coffee instead! We took an Uber and headed to our next to-do location – The Pantheon – ofcourse, if you’ve visited the Pantheon in Rome, then this wouldn’t be as exciting!
Our next destination was the Louis Vitton museum – we saw views of it from the Arc as well as the Eiffel – it was a colourful and interesting structure, however a little disappointing from the inside. It’s fairly new and they are still trying to source artwork from around the world to house in it. Most crowded spaces at the museum were the restaurant and the souvenir shop…need I say more?!?
Thankfully the rain stopped by late evening, so we ended the day and our trip at the Champs-Élysées, walking around the street, checking out the stores, esp the signature Louis Vitton flagship store, clicking pictures of fancy cars for my nephews, and grabbing a drink at the Renault Bar!
Oh, did I miss talking about shopping – the best places in my mind were the boutique stores at Pont Neuf near Siene, stores galore at Champs-Élysées, and everything under one roof – Galeries Lafayette. There is a mall at the Louvre too, but we gave that a skip!
Let me also take a minute to mention some fun places to eat – must do ice-cream at Berthillon, must do crepes at Breizh Café, must do hot chocolate at Angelina, and must do organic healthy veggie food at Cafe Pinson! For the non-vegetarians, perhaps you could try a Michelin Star restaurant!
Alas, there ends my Paris trip – One of the most beautiful cities in the world. Contrary to popular perception, the people are warm and friendly. Language and food is not a problem. Plan your trip and go visit Paris…because…#Paris, we love you!!
Thanks for just being awesome Paris! Au revoir!
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