Paris sera toujours Paris!
La plus belle ville du monde
Malgré l’obscurité profonde
Son éclat ne peut être assombri
Paris sera toujours Paris!
I finally got the chance to visit the city of lights and now I can see why in Zaz’s song, Paris sera toujours Paris (Paris will always be Paris), Paris is said to be the most beautiful city in the world. I still have many cities to see before I can agree with this view, but, after this trip, I definitely think that Paris is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen. I know, people have different opinions towards what is beautiful and what is not, many might agree with the above statement whereas others might disagree, and that is normal. I will never forget Zaz’s amazing performance in Tokyo in 2015, after the sad events in Paris… She remained my favorite French singer.
I always loved French music, movies, art, language, I grew up with them and have been taking French classes from elementary school to university. I had the chance to visit France during high school for an exchange, and it was a great experience, but we haven’t visited Paris at the time. I had big expectations from Paris, all contoured by the movies and photos I saw, the books I read and so on. In Japan, I’ve heard about the Paris syndrome, when Paris is not what one expects. Luckily, I didn’t feel that, but I have to agree I was disappointed with some things (such as the metro…).
For this spring holiday (in Japan it is spring holiday for students during February and March), I decided to come back to Europe and spend time with my family. Since I was here, I thought why not also visit a new place in Europe? It was my sister’s dream to see Paris since she was little and her birthday was in March, and also my dad’s birthday, and my parents’ wedding anniversary, so we decided it would be a nice experience to go together. My good friend and travel partner is also living there at the moment and she helped us a lot. I was responsible for planning the trip, so here is the itinerary we had for 5 days. I think we covered a lot of places for 5 days, despite the bad weather, it was a bit tiring but I’m happy we managed to see this much and reached most of the places I initially put on the list.
The conclusion: Paris did not disappoint. It was definitely a great idea!
Day 1- Île de la Cité
Our first day in Paris was cloudy but sunny so we headed to Île de la Cité, where the famous Notre-Dame Cathedral can be seen. We started our promenade at Hôtel de Ville, where I was amazed and overwhelmed by the Neo-Renaissance style of the building.
Notre-Dame was just across the street from Hôtel de Ville, much more outstanding than I had initially expected, hard to take a good photo of it. The interior can be visited for free but if you want to climb its towers and enjoy a view over Paris, there is a fee. We decided to skip this as I knew of other places where we can see Paris from above for free. But I definitely recommend visiting the interior, even though there might be a queue (there are queues at almost all important tourist spots in Paris).
After visiting Notre-Dame, we strolled along La Seine and went to Le Bistrot des Augustins for lunch. I have been looking for this place to eat near Notre-Dame because it had great reviews on the Internet and has a Michelin star, but it is quite affordable (one gratin, around 10 Euros). Their recommendation was to try the gratins, so we tried two different kinds of gratin and also had the smoked salmon plate. I had the Gratin Paysan and it was the best I’ve ever had! It was creamy and made with fresh ingredients, perfect together with a glass of wine.
After lunch, we stopped at Amorino for a delicious (and instagrammable!) gelato with macarons. Gelato is of Italian origins, but Amorino is based in France, and they have shops in many different locations around the world.
On our way back, I was again amazed by the gorgeous architecture of the Conciergerie, an example of early Gothic architecture.
Day 2 – Tour Eiffel, Musée d’Orsay
We started this day with the Parisian symbol, known all over the world, La Tour Eiffel. We knew that the weather wasn’t going to be great during our sojourn in France, so it was a rainy and gloomy day. However, it was just perfect for photos with a moody atmosphere!
The promenade began at Palais de Chaillot, great place for amazing views of the Eiffel tower from far away, and important Instagram spot, haha. The tower was half covered in mist, and I loved that. We didn’t intend to climb it, so after admiring it from far away and then from closer, we headed to our next objective for the day: Musée d’Orsay.
It was super cold outside so we couldn’t stay out for too long. For such rainy and cold days, spending the day in a warm museum is just perfect. However, the queue before entering Orsay was quite long and we had to wait one hour in the rain, which was not very pleasant. But the museum was worth the wait. I discovered works by my favorite artists, Van Gogh and Monet. Didn’t miss the chance to take a photo with my favorite work Les Coquelicots by Monet.
Tip: Lunch at the museum’s restaurant. It is not a tourist trap!
We had lunch at the restaurant of Musée d’Orsay and it was the most beautiful restaurant I have ever seen. Despite the luxurious setting, the restaurant felt quite cozy and prices were affordable, 22,50 Euros for a lunch menu for adults and 7,90 Euros a menu for children. I had French onion soup with Beaufort cheese as a starter and suggestion of the day for the main dish, which was steamed fish with vegetables. It was a delicious lunch!
After Musée d’Orsay, we went to Galeries Lafayette to admire its beautiful architecture and see Paris from above from its terrace at 7th floor. Unfortunately, because of the bad weather, the terrace was closed. We found some nice souvenirs there and Pierre Hermé macarons! A must-try for macarons lovers. I wanted to try them and the ones from Ladurée. Which ones were better? I will tell you my opinion later in this post 😀 .
Day 3 – Pont de Bir-Hakeim, Versailles, Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Élysées, Tour Eiffel
This day was originally reserved only for Versailles Castle, but due to the bad weather, we couldn’t see its famous gardens so we visited other places in Paris instead. When I thought of March, I expected flowers, spring, maybe a bit of rain but not snow… It snowed during 3 of our 5 days in Paris, which made long walks almost impossible, mainly because we were not properly dressed. So I crossed off the list gardens such as Tuileries or Jardin du Luxembourg but still went to Versailles for its interiors.
Versailles is actually not in Paris, so we had to take an express train from Pont de Bir-Hakeim, and with this occasion, I got the chance to see the famous bridge, also known as the ‘Inception Bridge’ thanks to the movie.
With an express train, it took us only around 30 minutes to get to Versailles. Palace of Versailles is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, an important symbol of the French monarchy, nowadays popular tourist attraction. The Hall of Mirrors represents the most magnificent part of the castle. I loved that compared to the interiors of other castles, photography was permitted everywhere here, so it was mandatory to take photos here.
Tip: Take an express train, but check that your tickets are available outside Paris. If not, you have to buy new ones.
As we couldn’t spend too much time in the gardens because of the cold, we returned to Paris and went to Champs-Élysées, saw the Arc de Triomphe and started looking for Ladurée Paris Champs-Élysées. I wanted to try their macarons for a long time, and this was the perfect place and occasion to try them. We strolled along Champs Elysées, singing another song by Zaz. Still couldn’t believe I am in the place I read so much about and saw so many movies of. That feeling was the best feeling ever!
It wasn’t hard to find Ladurée as a lot of people were already queuing outside. They have both a boutique and a tea room in Champs-Élysées, with different queues, so you should decide in advance if you want to visit their cafe or just buy something to take away.
Tip: If you love macarons or sweets in general, go to Ladurée Paris Champs-Élysées. It might be a bit expensive and touristy, but it is worth it for the experience.
After going to the most beautiful restaurant the other day at Musée d’Orsay, this was the most beautiful tea room/cafe I have ever seen. They have different salons, decorated in different colors. It felt as if eating in a museum, which made me kind of nervous and careful. I tried their Ispahan macaron with white coffee and it was the best macaron I’ve ever had. And I also tried other flavors such as salted caramel and strawberry cake, they were all really amazing. The white coffee was more like tea for me, but I also tried their hot chocolate which was so rich and creamy. I know, this isn’t a food post but I just wish to stress out how amazing this place is, it really lives up to the hype it has.
Ladurée is the place were macarons were born. The first macarons were simple cookies, born in Italy and made of almond powder, sugar and egg whites. They were introduced in France from Italy during the 16th century by Catherine de’ Medici. But only in the 20th century, did they get the form that we can find them today. Pierre Desfontaines, the grandson of Louis Ernest Ladurée, had the idea of sticking two macaron biscuits together with cream. From then on, they gained huge popularity and today they are one of the most expensive sweets in the world. They are quite hard to make and require the finest ingredients. I tried making them at home many times, but almost always failed… So, after trying macarons in different places, I can say that Ladurée ones are the best.
After Ladurée, we went to see La Tour Eiffel at night. Every hour, it sparkles for around 5 minutes, it feels like magic. I recommend waiting for this view!
Day 4 – Montmartre, Palais Royal, Musée du Louvre
First of all, we went to see Moulin Rouge, then found Amélie’s cafe along the street, Cafe des Deux Moulins. I wanted to try their crème brûlée but unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to stop there, as we were on a tight schedule. They have good prices, one crème brûlée and a drink for 10 Euros.
I loved the atmosphere in Montmartre, the artists’ quarter. Many chic boutiques and souvenir shops can be found along the way. I found myself a beautiful beret here, to add to my collection, an original French beret by Laulhère. If you have been following me for a while, you might know I have a thing for berets, so I am very happy about this finding. You’ll see it a lot in my photos from now on!
We found Le mur des je t’aime, another pretty spot in Montmartre, and then went to the famous Sacré-Cœur. The queue for going inside was too long, so we only admired its architecture, admired the beautiful, frozen view over Paris and headed to Louvre.
I initially wanted to spend a whole day at Louvre but my friend told me it is too much, so we only spend half a day there and it was enough. Before Louvre, we stopped at Palais Royal‘s inner courtyard for the famous Les Colonnes de Buren by Daniel Buren.
We spent around 4 hours in Louvre, and to be honest, it was quite tiring. It was huge, and in my opinion, it wasn’t condensed enough so we had to walk a lot in various rooms, go upstairs, go downstairs, even for the same exhibition (for example the Egyptian one, too many stairs…). But it was impressive, of course.
Day 5 – Disneyland Paris
No trip to Paris without a visit to Disneyland Paris, especially when traveling with kids (or kids at heart, myself included). It has been a childhood dream of mine to come to Disneyland Paris with my family, a dream come true. We were blessed with beautiful, sunny weather, perfect for a day there.
Tip: buy your tickets in advance on the Internet! Not only were they cheaper, but we didn’t have to wait for too long before entering either.
It was a long post, with music, many photos, a few tips and my impressions from Paris. Hope you liked it 🙂 Follow my blog and Instagram for more adventures coming soon!
