If you're just tuning in, we were back in Europe in Summer of 2024 to celebrate another wedding in France. We extended our trip to spend a month kicking around the UK and the continent. This part of the story picks up where we had just left Charlotte in Germany, and planned a couple of days in Paris, mostly because hubby wanted to return the rental car back to Gare du Nord where we had rented it 10 days earlier.
It had been many years since I'd been back to Paris. I've been 4 times that I remember. We go to France pretty frequently, and we've taken to skipping Paris, since none of us are the biggest fans of this city...or so I thought.
I was wrong. I still love Paris. Every visit has been such a different experience, and this time I booked us in a different neighborhood from the Marais where we usually stay, in a little love nest apartment that sits on the square at Bourg Ti-Bourg. This visit would be a quick one before heading to Rome for 10 days, and we were going to visit sites and explore areas that we didn't know as well.
We arrived on the Fête Nationale/le 14 juillet, or what you might know as Bastille Day. We checked into the absolutely fabulous Hôtel Belleval in the 8th Arrondissement, near the Gare Saint-Lazare. I HIGHLY recommend this hotel, and wrote about it in my blog post about my Top Hotel Recommendations. Seriously, if you're going to Paris, go read what I had to say about it! It was reasonable for Paris, close to the metro, the room was clean and comfortable, the ac kept us cool, the bathroom was really luxe, with the plush bathrobes, Nuxe products, and the whole place had a very fresh & cool vibe.
After chilling in our room for a while, our plans for the evening were to catch the end of the Alcaraz v. Djokovic final Wimbledon match at a bar down the street while we had an apéro, and then we had dinner plans at Le Sancerre in Montmartre to watch the Euro Cup final of Spain v. England. I enjoy watching both these sports, and I was excited for a fun evening.
No one at the first bar could care less about the Wimbledon match - it was just the 2 of us watching! Maybe the French Open gets more interest? We had really nice wine and snacks, then walked down the street to the metro station and headed towards Montmartre.
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| That's Le Sancerre with the black awning. |
It's always nice to visit Montmartre! Hubby had picked Le Sancerre as he eats there when he's in the area with his French students, and it has a great retro vibe in a gorgeous setting. He had called to make sure they'd be showing the Euro Cup final match. What I spotted upon being seated, was that the Caudalie Montmartre location where I'd been considering booking a facial, is located right across the street! (I should have booked it. It's so much cheaper, even with the exchange rate, to get treatments in France. Next time, and bonus that I know exactly where it is. Thanks to French friends who introduced me to this French line of skincare, I've been a fan for decades!)
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| The screen set up to watch the match. |
The place was hopping, and we quickly made friends with the people around us who were also there to watch the match. Hubby is the super out-going one, who easily strikes up a conversation with anyone around him. In this case, it was a family from Australia, two French guys, and a friendly Belgian on his own at the table next to us. It may be a stereotype, but the French were definitely rooting for the Spanish over the English. I couldn't tell you what we ate, but it was delicious and we had a great time watching Spain take the victory.
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| Scott chatting up the guy next to us! |
Afterwards we spilled out into the streets, climbing the steps higher on the hill, hoping to catch the fireworks over the city, but we had just missed them, and all that was left was smoke in the sky and throngs of people headed towards the metro.
The next day we were going visit places that were new to us! We didn't have any set plans, other than I wanted to stop at Shakespeare & Company, and hit a pharmacy or two.
The city was in final preparations to host the Olympics (Les J.O. as the French call them) and there was a flurry of activity installing seating along the Seine, viewing platforms on bridges, closing roads, and putting up event spaces and signs! My favorite part was that the city was cleaner than I'd ever seen it, and I didn't step in any caca de chien (IYKYK!)
We walked to Ile de la Citê to see how things were looking at Notre Dame Cathedral, which had burned since we'd last seen it. They were getting ready to reopen after years of repairs. Nearby we walked past a museum we'd never visited, La Conciergerie, which is a UNESCO site, and decided to visit to see if it might be something hubby's students might enjoy on their visit in 2025. This is an iconic former palace you've probably seen from the Seine, and was also used as courthouse, and prison, and is where Marie Antoinette was imprisoned (the chapel built at her cell was one of the highlights of the visit for me.) Robespierre spent his final hours there as well as many others. The gothic architecture was impressive. They give you an iPad with the history that pops up as you go from area to area of the palace. I enjoyed the courtyard as well. While it wasn't my favorite museum in Paris (it's a toss up between Musée d'Orsay and Musée Carnavalet) for only €13, it was a nice visit.
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| The chapel next to Marie Antoinette's cell. |
We ducked into another Paris icon, Shakespeare & Company I'd wanted to visit the famous bookshop on past trips, but hubby never had an interest. It was lovely and historic and crowded. I grabbed a tote bag and we sat outside their attached café in the shade with cold drinks.
We made our way to Le Marais neighborhood, where we usually stay, and found the youth hostel where hubby will be staying with his students, and found an outdoor table at one of the Middle Eastern restaurants in this Jewish section of the city. We ordered a selection of interesting items to share, and got lucky when the downpour started that we were covered just enough not to get wet!
Miraculously, the rain stopped right as we finished eating, and we explored some more. We looked in the funky vintage shops, walked some more, and came upon the Musée des Archives Nationales, which is a hidden gem of a free museum housing the national archives, with a lovely garden area. I was moved by the display original letters from people like Jeanne D'Arc, Marie Antoinette, Robespierre, and Voltaire. Jeanne D'Arc lived in the 1400's. Let that sink in. I never expected to see a letter she had written, or to see Marie Antoinette's own handwriting. There were other displays, and some rooms to visit. I would give it about an hour to see. The building is air conditioned and the bathrooms were clean.
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| Scott walking into the National Archives |
What we hadn't really seen much of was the Eiffel Tower, decked out in her Olympic Rings. To remedy that, and to give our tired feet a break, we headed to the Bateaux Mouches. Yes, we've done them several times, but it felt like a good idea. It was a madhouse getting onto the boat. I've never experienced this type of crushing mob before, and I didn't like it. I finally felt like I could breathe again once we were seated on the upper deck. It was interesting seeing the city decked out for the Olympics though.
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This was a day of so much walking! Somehow in the course of the afternoon, we managed to cover so much of the city just by wandering around, and hubby showed me a couple of neighborhoods I hadn't really seen. There are still so many places I'd love to go to, and restaurants I'd love to try. At one point I begged for a gelato stop and ran into the famous Amorino Gelato for one of their rose-shaped gelato cones. It was delicious and so refreshing. I wish I'd made time to go to one of the chocolate mousse shops!
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| Le café gourmand. Honestly I've had better though. |
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| 9:39pm still light out and walking back from dinner to our hotel. |
We were booked on a Ryan Air flight to Rome that cost us only $36pp, out of the lesser known Beauvais Airport. I don't know how they keep the flights so affordable in Europe, but I understand why everyone travels so much. To get to Beauvais, first we needed to get to the La Défense Terminal Jules Verne to catch the shuttle bus that would take us to the tiny airport. The bus terminal was a bit confusing, but we figured it out. Beauvais itself is really small, and had very little seating, but we still found decent food, places to sit, and a duty-free shop selling a couple of items that I needed. Interestingly, they also had flights to the city in Romania where our Romanian exchange student lives - it was tempting to go back to Romania to see him!
This might be an unpopular opinion, but I actually like getting on the planes on the tarmac. I'm sure that would change if I had to do it in bad weather, but we've always had warm days and sunny skies.
I have to say, this visit to Paris did make me realize that I like the city more than I remembered, and has me thinking that I will likely go back again. Both Scott and Charlotte will be there on separate trips this March!
Merci, Paris! À la prochaine!
A few Travel Tips for Paris:
France is a very polite society. Always say bonjour when entering an establishment, a shop, bakery, etc.
In restaurants, you can pretty much stay at a table as long as you like, unlike in the US. It's up to you to ask the waiter for your bill. As servers are paid a living wage, you don't have to leave a gratuity, but it is appreciated, and we always leave a few Euros.
This one bears repeating. Order the café gourmand for dessert. I ask for un café allongé with it, so you're not just getting a shot of espresso.
Seek out some of the lesser known museums, like the excellent & free Musée Carnavalet about the history of Paris, located in the Marais near Place des Vosges (and walk though Place des Vosges as well!) We were bummed it was closed on this trip. They've been renovated it and we haven't seen it since it reopened.
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