I took my daughters (10 & 13) to Paris last week and we LOVED it! Parisians seem to prioritize life differently than Americans. They optimize for taste, beauty, relationships, and leisure, while we optimize for career and money. It was an entirely refreshing look at how to live and I am taking note. I thought I’d share a bit about my experience for those of you thinking of traveling to Paris soon.
The Food
Nothing else about Paris is more delightful than the food. Parisians take great pride in their food and in eating. My cousin, Nick, who has been living in the city for the past three years tells me that they have banned certain foods like high fructose corn syrup and meats from the US because they value taste and good ingredients. France is an agricultural state and a lot of what they serve is grown nearby. Croissants really do taste better in France and though there are many reasons for this, the local flour and artesian butter in France, which is much higher quality than most ingredients we get in the US, may be the reason they are so darn good.
The downside to food in Paris is that it is very expensive, except for the baked goods. We could stop into a boulangerie (bakery), buy six croissants or pain au chocolat, and spend around 10-12 Euros ($11-$13 USD). Whereas lunches or larger brunches would run the three of us around 70-80 Euros and up if we were in a tourist area or fancy restaurant. Dinners were almost always well over 100 Euros.
We had an amazing French dinner at a restaurant called Georges that sat at the top of the Centre Pompidou, Paris’ modern art museum. It had an amazing view, lots of outdoor seating, and food/drinks that were to die for! We did an entire French dining experience which started with cocktails, and an appetizer of escargot. Followed by a main course, a bottle of wine, dessert, and then digestifs (alcoholic beverages you sip after your meal to “cut through the grease”). I was a fan of everything except the digestifs.
We had many more leisurely cafe experiences in Paris as well. You really can’t beat an open air patio seat, a croissant, and some tea. We loved our experience at Les Deux Magots, a higher-priced stop, but one with some history. Hemingway and other artists / authors used to be regulars here.
Getting Around
I was nervous about communicating in Paris as my French is very limited. It turns out, I didn’t really need it. The French seem to appreciate a “bonjour” when you enter and “merci”. I even tried to order a few times in French. But, the reality is that your English will get you wherever you need to go.
We stayed in an AirBNB near the Saint Lazare train station and either used the trains or walked the entire time we were in Paris. The trains are wonderful and even on weekends always come within 5 minutes. Nick told us to avoid the buses as they typically run late. For the trains, you can get per-trip paper cards, day or week passes, or for 2 Euros you can purchase a plastic card that you can load up with several trips at once.
Paris has train zones, so take care to pay the proper fare if you are traveling between zones. We did not do that when we went to the La Défense Arena and got stuck for a second at the train station. If you’re headed to Versailles you can buy tickets specifically for Versailles at the various train stations that service that route.
Paris is a large city, so, while you can walk many places, when we chose to do that, by the end of the day we were very, very tired!
The Tourist Sites
My least favorite thing about Paris was how crowded it got at the famous tourist sites. You need to purchase tickets ahead of time for almost anything you’d like to see. The Eiffel Tower sells tickets 60 days in advance. They come out at midnight Paris time and are gone in minutes. Versailles’ tickets are easier to get, but the palace gets so crowded inside, you can’t even move at times. Try to visit as early in the day as you can. The gardens outside are far more my style and offer enough space for everyone to enjoy!
You need to get Louvre tickets well in advance too. When we showed up last Monday for our 9am ticket slot, they weren’t letting anyone in due to a maintenance issue. They recommended we return in two hours. We chose to wait instead and an hour and 15 minutes later, we got in. Because so many people left the line, we were one of the first inside and got a front-row spot to see the Mona Lisa. That was rad!
You would do well to purchase Arc de Triomphe and Catacombes tickets early too. The Catacombes allows you to buy tickets just seven days in advance and they sell out within minutes as well. I had read that you don’t need to buy Arc de Triomphe tickets ahead of time, but the line to the top when we arrived was a mile long. We ended up skipping it.
The parks in town are a much-needed (literal) breath of fresh air. They’re still covered with people, but you don’t need timed tickets and you still get some space to enjoy the outdoors at your leisure. Each park, from the Jardin des Tuileries to the Jardin du Luxembourg to the gardens outside Versailles Palace are impeccably landscaped and stunning. They are all well-worth a visit.
The Olympics
I can’t imagine what the crowds are going to be like this summer during the Olympics. After all, May is supposed to be a shoulder season for Paris and I felt like we were always packed into attractions like sardines. Throughout the city, they’ve set-up temporary stands and venues so you’ll see those everywhere this summer. Some of them are blocking off key views. We couldn’t see through the Jardin des Tuileries to the Louvre like you typically can, for example.
The Apartment
We stayed in a typical Paris apartment with a view into the inner courtyard. It was really small with a loft that my 10-year-old couldn’t even stand up in. But, Nick told us that it was actually quite spacious for the city. His apartment, he said, is smaller. It was comfortable too. The appliances were easy to use and the water stayed warm for a couple of showers, then got cold. I’m guessing that is pretty typical too.
Shopping
Shopping is not our thing, but it’s a pastime that many tourists and Parisians really enjoy. You can buy any luxury item you want on the Champs-Élysées or in the smaller department store boutiques like Samaritaine. You can also go second-hand shopping in a number of places. We had a lot of fun in this shop on our last day as we were hiding from the rain.
All-in-all, we loved our petit Parisian girls’ weekend and would 100% go back. Next time, I will spend all of my time strolling through the streets, visiting the gardens, and, of course, eating!
