9 Touristy (But Worth the Hype) Things for Your Paris Bucket List
10 days in Paris is simultaneously a long time, and not enough time. While we certainly intended to break up those 10 days in various parts of France, and even head to London for a day, we actually wound up staying in Paris the entire 10 day trip. During those 10 days, we did a lot. While some of it was off the beaten path, we checked a lot of “must-dos” off of our list!
Paris, obviously, is a big city with lots of history, and as such, has lots to do. So finding something different to do each day was never hard, and even then, we didn’t get to do everything we set out to do!
Disneyland Paris
If you follow me on Instagram, you know that part of our Paris trip took Don and I to Disneyland Paris for a few days. I’m not going to go into too much detail here about it, but you can check out what I loved most at DLP by heading to this post. Personally, I thought it was beautiful. Is it my favorite park? No. Do I think it’s worth visiting? Absolutely.
One question I was asked a lot was whether or not one day for each park is sufficient, and I think it absolutely is. Just be sure to check park hours before you go.
This was day 1 of the trip. Literally, we’d been off the plane for a few hours and I’d been in these clothes for a whole day.
Roland-Garros
My parents and Don love tennis. I enjoy it, but not nearly as much as they do. But of course, being in Paris during the French Open meant that we’re absolutely seizing the opportunity to go see a match! So if you’re planning a trip during the French Open, I absolutely recommend taking the time to go!
Eiffel Tower Picnic
There are lots of grassy areas surrounding La Tour Eiffel, so grabbing a spot in a park with a beautiful view isn’t exactly difficult. The first day we actually saw the massive beauty in person, we grabbed a quick lunch in a park just behind the tower, and enjoyed our bread, cheese, and fruit (and crepes, later) and just took it all in.
The Eiffel Tower became my favorite thing in Paris. I know it’s cliche or whatever, but honestly, it’s more beautiful than I ever imagined. Did I cry when I saw it light up at night? Maybe. Definitely, yes.
Champs-Élysées Shopping
Obviously, Paris can be quite the shopping destination. Since my parents stayed on the Champs-Élysées, we were in the area quite a lot. While I can’t really recommend eating there, I will say that the shopping was fun. There’s so much to do, it’s almost overwhelming. But my personal favorite was visiting the flagship Louis Vuitton store. It’s huge, beautiful, and it’s easy to spend quite some time there. My parents actually gave me my 25th birthday present a few months early, and got me the Neverfull I’d been wanting forever. From waiting in line outside (briefly, it moved pretty fast), to the actual shopping (my mom also got something), and getting my initials pressed in, we spent 4 hours in the store. It didn’t seem that long, but honestly, I think when we’d visited earlier in the week, we spent an hour there just walking around the whole thing.
Aside from the LV store, we made a pit stop at Nike, and were surprised to see our hometown 76ers so well represented, grabbed macarons from Laduree on more than one occasion, and did other super American things like go to McDonald’s, Zara, H&M, and the Disney Store.
Shopping aside, I loved how it was just walkable. You could stroll forever and never run out of things to do. At one end, you have the Arc d’Triomphe, and at the other, Place de La Concorde. Definitely be sure to visit them both!
Place de la Concorde (a.k.a. where Marie Antoinette…well, you know).
FOOD: Le Drugstore, La Belle Ferronniere, Cocorico
Truly, I struggled a bit with the food scene in Paris. Basically, anything that wasn’t on the Champs-Élysées was fine, but even then, I didn’t have a meal that I loved. Until Cocorico came into my life. When Don and I were exploring one day, we came across Cocorico, and decided to give it a try. Was it because it was the first restaurant we saw with an English translation? Yes, absolutely it was. But it was the only restaurant that we deemed worthy of a return trip. The risotto I had was literally, *chef’s kiss.* The chicken Don got? Same. We went back with my parents and tried other things, and still, it was our favorite. The staff is also extremely friendly (and our waiter happened to know and like the 76ers, so good on ya, Philly, for giving us something in common).
Oh, and because we almost forgot to do this - seat yourself at cafés. It quickly became easy to discern who was from the States and who wasn’t by the awkward “waiting to be seated” loiterers.
Le Drugstore was our favorite meal on the Champs-Élysées. The atmosphere is great, and the story behind the place itself is really cool! It also offers a great view of the Arc d’Triomphe, and makes a mean banana split. Plus, any meal that starts off with baguettes and wine is my type of meal!
La Belle Ferronniere was probably in my top 3 of what we tried. Just off of the Champs-Élysées, it’s really cute, and the food was pretty decent! The chocolate lava cake was really delicious.
And of course, you can’t leave Paris without getting croissants, crepes, macarons, or chocolates, so be sure to do all of the above.
Macarons from Laduree
Seine River Cruise
We absolutely loved the river cruise! But pro tip, go during the day, when it’s warmer. Though we froze, it was such a beautiful ride down the Seine and it was so great to see so many sites in one trip. The cruise was narrated, so we were able to learn a bit about each location that we saw. Unfortunately, it was the closest we were able to get to Notre-Dame. The cathedral opened for its first mass since the fire while we were there, but on the day we’d planned to go, the roads leading to it had been barricaded by police, and it was completely inaccessible. So I’m extra grateful that we were able to see it on the cruise now! One of the cruise’s main draws is that you pass under several bridges, and not only get to admire how beautiful and intricate they are, but also are able to learn more about their history and construction!
Hop On/Hop Off Bus
Similar to the river cruise, it’s like the most convenient way to sort of see everything at one time. But it’s exactly how it sounds - you hop on, you hop off, you hop back on again, repeat. You just pay one fee for tickets, and then you’re able to take a bus (the company we used had 3 separate lines, all were accessible with our tickets) to wherever you want to stop next. You aren’t locked into it like a big tour group, you’re free to “hop off” wherever you want, and “hop on” a different bus whenever you’d like. It stops at major attractions (Eiffel Tower & the Esplanade, the Louvre, Les Invalides, etc.), but what we got on to see was Montmartre and Sacré-Cœur. My mom visited there on her first trip to France, and wanted to be sure we got to see it too. Sacré-Cœur is absolutely breathtaking. Inside and outside. The view of Paris. Everything about it was just…gorgeous.
We didn’t get to spend as much time in Montmartre as we wanted to, as it was our last day of the trip. But from what did could see, it truly a beautiful village. That’s my one regret of the trip - not spending more time there. It was just so lively and quaint and stunning all at the same time.
We of course stopped for crepes on the way out, which, like every other crepe we had, was perfect.
Sacré-Cœur
View of the Paris from Sacré-Cœur
The Louvre & Fondation Louis Vuitton
Would it really be a “Paris-must-do” list without putting the Louvre on here? Just be prepared, it’s really a whole day excursion. Even then, you won’t see everything. According to our guide, to see each piece of art, it’d take you 6 months. It’s massive. I went in with just two pieces I needed to see in person: Mona Lisa (duh), and Venus de Milo.
The Egyptian exhibit was also really cool to see, but I think we all loved just being there more than anything. The grounds are also beautiful, and there are plenty of places to just sit and soak it all in. Don and I did that one day, and just sat on one of the lawns, listened to a violinist, admired the Eiffel Tower in the distance, and then took our time walking back to our hotel. It was raining, but Paris on a rainy day is still Paris.
After many failed attempts, I gave up on doing the “touching the top of the pyramid” pose.
Visiting the Fondation Louis Vuitton, like the Louvre, turned out to be a pretty long day (in a good day). The building itself is a (literal) work of art, and inside it’s…well, filled with works of art. Contemporary exhibits, architectural exhibits, classic collections, it really had some of everything. Our favorite was seeing the Courtauld Collection, which included beautiful pieces from Van Gogh, Monet, and Manet, among many others.
Of course, Musee D’Orsay is on this list too, but remember how I said we couldn’t even get to everything we wanted to do? Yeah. Well despite the fact that it was walking distance from our hotel, and we walked past it only about a hundred times, our schedule got so full that we never even made it inside.
I guess a return trip is in order!
