Paris sera toujours Paris

As you know I am French – born and raised. I am not from Paris, I was born in Saint-Etienne (Loire) and I grew up in a tiny tiny village named Feyzin in the outside of Lyon (Rhône).

However, over the years, for pleasure or for work (but essentially for pleasure let’s be honest), I had the chance to go to Paris quite often. It is so easy to hop on a train and be in the heart of Paris in a couple of hours from Lyon or Bordeaux (where I lived 16 years) that I never really questioned myself to go or not to go, when there was a great exhibit or a show that I was interested in.

Another thing you need to know about me is that I LOVE sharing good tips about the places I went to and enjoyed.

I helped few friends over the years and the last girlfriend I helped with her trip to Paris said that I should actually just share my email on a bigger scale.

That was her 2023 challenge for me so here we are :-)))).

This is what I usually recommend to someone who wants to go to Paris.

Start from :

Arc de Triomphe (triumphal arc) that you can visit

http://www.paris-arc-de-triomphe.fr/

From there go down Les Champs-Elysées

On the right hand side almost at the end of the Champs-Elysées you can go have a look Avenue Montaigne where there are a lot of very very expensive shops.

https://en.parisinfo.com/transport/90939/Avenue-Montaigne

Come back to the Champs and go see the architecture of the Petit Palais/ Grand Palais and the Pont Alexandre III (Alexander the third bridge)

https://en.parisinfo.com/paris-museum-monument/71067/Petit-Palais-Musée-des-Beaux-Arts-de-la-ville-de-Paris

https://en.parisinfo.com/paris-museum-monument/71080/Grand-Palais

Then you are Place de la Concorde.

From there you have options.

Walk on the left had side Rue de Rivoli and look still on the left hand side for :

L’église de la Madeleine

https://en.parisinfo.com/paris-museum-monument/71158/Église-de-la-Madeleine

Place Vendôme

https://en.parisinfo.com/transport/90844/Place-Vendôme

You should go see those places and come back to Rue de Rivoli

Then you can cross the street and go through Le Jardin des Tuileries

https://en.parisinfo.com/paris-museum-monument/71304/Jardin-des-Tuileries

Have a look when you are in the middle of the garden by the fountain.

Cross the garden right hand side and go see Le Pont des arts

https://en.parisinfo.com/transport/73146/Pont-des-Arts-Passerelle-des-Arts

and you can cross the Seine to see (and/or visit) Le Musée d’Orsay (it used to be a train station and now it’s a museum).

https://en.parisinfo.com/paris-museum-monument/71537/Musée-d%27Orsay

Come back to the Jardin des Tuileries and then go straight to the Louvre

https://en.parisinfo.com/paris-museum-monument/71065/Musée-du-Louvre

Even if you don’t want to go in the Museum you definitely should go inside the Carousel du Louvre. You can see a lot of nice shops and La Pyramide Renversée is worth seeing.

There used to be a tea salon inside the Carousel that is now closed but Mariage Frères has multiple location in the City

https://www.mariagefreres.com/FR/accueil.html

(the Marco Polo is a tea signature and it’s really good and the jam made out of this tea is to die for).

Another part of Paris worth seeing is the Opera Garnier

https://en.parisinfo.com/paris-museum-monument/71227/Opéra-National-de-Paris-Palais-Garnier

Then go around the Opera and go to Les Grands Magasins

Les Galleries Lafayette and Le Printemps.

Go inside Les Galleries for the “dôme” and you can go to the 6 (or 7th?) level there is a terrasse when you can see the roofs of Paris.

You can go have a look without eating or drinking there I think.

Go back in front or the Opera and go back towards Le Louvre. You will be in the good direction for Les Halles. It is a very crowded area, let’s say very colorful so I do know that it’s not everybody who like this ambiance.

https://en.parisinfo.com/transport/118359/Quartier-des-Halles

Le Centre Georges Pompidou – Beaubourg. It’s the museum of Modern Art. Just the building worth to be seen.

https://en.parisinfo.com/paris-museum-monument/71538/Centre-Pompidou

And in front of this Museum there is a free art Gallery of one of my favorite artist Brancusi

https://en.parisinfo.com/paris-museum-monument/71423/Atelier-Brancusi-Centre-Georges-Pompidou

Le quartier du Marais. It’s the gay neighborhood with a lot of bars, restaurants and very trendy high-end good quality shops.

https://en.parisinfo.com/discovering-paris/walks-in-paris/exploring-the-marais

WHERE TO EAT/HAVE A DRINK

Restaurant Les Ombres

It’s located on top of the Quai Branly Museum, I think for a drink you don’t need to book a table and the view if the Eiffel Tower is spectacular ***

http://www.lesombres-restaurant.com/

In the same neighborhood 6 New York –  reservation requested*****

http://www.6newyork.fr/fr/

Angelina – Tea salon (AWSOME!!!!!!!!!!) different locations*****

http://www.angelina-paris.fr/fr/

Ladurée – Tea salon. Very famous for their macarons (I am in love with the Thé du Roi Soleil) ***

https://www.laduree.fr/en/

Le Rocher de Cancale

7 Rue Montorgueil Paris

La Coupole

https://www.lacoupole-paris.com/en/?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=GMB&utm_campaign=brasserie009

Le Café de Flore –  I love having breakfast there.

http://cafedeflore.fr/?lang=en

Bouillon Chartier (a real adventure – large tables and it is NOT the place for a romantic tête à tête because you don’t know who you might be sitting next to

https://www.bouillon-chartier.com/fr/

You can go have a drink in every 5***** hotels – it’s fun to do. I love le Mandarin Oriental but I am sure that

Le Ritz

Le Crillon

Le Mandarin Oriental

Le Georges V should be great. You are lucky to go there it has been on my bucket list for years!!!

There is also the Bar Hemingway that I like a lot. It’s expensive I won’t lie to you

https://www.ritzparis.com/fr-FR/gastronomie-paris/bar-hemingway

Le Buddha Bar

https://www.buddhabar.com/restaurants/buddha-bar-paris/

For the rest of the trip there are a lot of other places that worth to be seen like

City Hall

Eglise de Notre Dame

Montmartre

Eiffel Tower

Musée du Quai Branly

Institut du Monde Arabe

Palais de Chaillot

Le Bon Marché (shop)

Rue Saint Honoré (keep your eyes up the Hermes Flagship store has a great facade).

Rue Cambon (The historical Chanel store with Coco Chanel’s apartment’s upstairs – you cannot visit it but you can see “the stairs”at the very far right hand side of the store) store that you can see on your way to Place Vendôme )

They reopened La Samaritaine.*****/ Just go to the top floor to see the glass ceiling this is wonderful.

https://www.dfs.com/en/samaritaine

Le quartier du Marais.

Rue Saint Emilion

Bateau-Mouche to see the City from the water and enjoy the bridges galore that Paris has to offer. You can also have a diner cruise at night on them. It is also on my list (when I will be done with sea sick of course).

https://www.bateaux-mouches.fr/en

Outside of Paris I highly recommend Le Chateau de Versailles (it is an easy ride by train from Paris).

https://www.chateauversailles.fr/

And La Fondation Louis Vuitton if you like modern/contemporary art

https://www.fondationlouisvuitton.fr/en

When I don’t have a lot of time in a city I usually do the Hop on/Hop off bus at least for one day.

Sorry for the rest of the ideas which are less detailed. You can go on this website and look for the point of interest that I mentioned above

https://en.parisinfo.com/

For hotels I cannot really recommend a specific hotel but Ibis hôtel are clean but small and no charms.

Hotels Mercure are a little bit more expensive but they are good too.

I can however advise neighborhoods : Le Marais / Madeleine / Grands Boulevards/ Saint Germain des Prés. You will be able to catch a metro from almost everywhere to go everywhere.

Have fun in Paris. Have a safe trip.