Planning a sightseeing for a day in one of the most coveted cities can be daunting. Paris is not something you can just be satisfied with in just a day. Yet sometimes that’s all you have. What do you do then?
How do you travel? Carry a checklist and tick all the boxes? Relax in one place and take your time to soak in the atmosphere, the culture and just go with the flow? I usually fall somewhere in between. My recent trip to Paris leaned more towards the whirlwind side than relaxed. Technically I’m still at the tail end of my journey while gathering my thoughts and writing about my experience. This train ride feels nice and relaxed though. I got the vacation I needed. Despite a rather busy trip, I feel rested and can think clearly.
So, what did I like about Paris? In short almost about one and a half day long time, I can’t say, we covered a lot, yet in a really short time I’d say the city started to grow on me. 🙂 In a very short span of time, I could see the hustle and bustle, the rush hour crowded metro, couples lost in each other under glimmering Eiffel Tower, bustling streets with taxis and tourists heading towards their next destination. A load of thanks to my friend who like all of our other trips, planned this one too almost to the T. For a first time visitor and just one and half day to spend, you might want to cover a few key places. This is my advise –
Sight seeing
Tour Eiffel (Eiffel Tower)
I don’t think there’s anyone who won’t have this on their list. Many of us would want to be there the moment you arrive. It was constructed in the 19th century and still remains one of the most visited historical sites in the world. I recommend visiting it both at night and day. The area is filled with tourists waiting to get their selfies. It is of course an impressive piece of engineering and architecture. Looking at the tower glimmering in the night is a beautiful sight. The lights come on at sundown and they glimmer for five minutes every hour until 11 at night. You can also choose to go up to first, second and top floor for amazing views, a meal at the Michelin-starred restaurant the Jules Verne, many other restaurants and stores and an observation deck.
The Louvre museum
This was one of the top ones on my list. If you like museums, this is one of the most famous ones in the city of Paris. The queue was quiet long despite having a skip the line ticket, it kept moving pretty fast though. It’s a huge museum and even if you plan to spend the whole day there, you won’t be able to cover everything. It would be best if you look at the museum site and already pick the sections you would like to cover. I was happy to see the Greek sculptures and the Italian paintings including the Monalisa. 🙂 A place I will go back to for sure. Paris is a city of museums, so if you are interested you can find the whole list of museums.
Montmartre
This is a hilly area leading you to a square filled with beautiful restaurants and artists sketching and painting. It is mainly famous for the white-domed Basilica of the Sacré-Cœur. Another beautiful historic structure. Since this is a hilly area, be ready to climb a few hundred stairs. We roamed around the streets and happened upon a beautiful store filled with pottery and other clay items.
River Seine
This is the river is France that has beautiful spots to sit and walk next to. If you are in a hurry, you’ll find a few close to Eiffel Tower. You can also book a river cruise with champagne and lunch or dinner. Just walking or sitting by the side is also quite pleasant.
Champs Elysees
The Champs Elysees avenue is known for the luxury stores at either sides of the road. If you like to walk (or shop) on a street with all the possible high end brands then this is the place to go to. We were pretty tired and there was a commotion going on when we were there. Yet it was a pleasant sight looking at the pretty display windows.
Jardin des Tuileries (Tuileries Garden)
This is a public garden very close to the Louvre museum. This was first designed and created in 1564. Right before breakfast it was a nice walk to work up our appetite. If I were staying for a few days I wouldn’t mind spending a few hours in the morning just soaking the sun, getting some steps all surrounded by history.
This is not even the tip of iceberg when it comes to what you can do in Paris. But these were some of the top things on our agenda besides food. That will be covered in a separate post. 😉 Now if you are a first time visitor I would also keep a few things in mind while exploring the city.
Things to keep in mind
1. Getting there and to the hotel / stay
Depending on where you are coming from you will reach by flight or a train. You can get a taxi or a public transport (metro or bus) from the airport or train station. You can also take a pass that will work in both metro and buses. I took a 3 day public transport pass from the authorised machine and for some reason it stopped working the next day. It was not convenient to explain it to the helpdesk after every time I had to board the metro.
2. Be careful of frauds and pick pockets
If you are coming by a train from somewhere in Europe don’t be surprised by an announcement to be careful about the pickpockets. Even for taxi’s make sure to get the official or authorised ones. I was warned by the helpdesk at the train station to not take the taxi from the front as those were “fake taxis”. Be careful of your personal belongings at all times.
3. Book in advance
Any sight-seeing that you plan and the restaurants you plan to eat in. It will serve you well if you book those in advance. It won’t be nice to just walk in a restaurant when you are hungry and there’s a waiting of an hour. Almost all of the famous places had long queues.
4. Wear comfortable shoes
If you plan to explore the city by walking and taking public transport. Covering all the places in a day can become quite hectic before you realise. It will be good to have a pair of walking shoes on if you want to avoid aching feet or blisters. Paris is also full of hilly areas and you might need to climb quite a few stairs while you are at it.
This is a little about what I have to say about Paris. I am already waiting for a few more visits and planning the future posts as well. Don’t forget to check my next post about places to eat in Paris.
Until next week. Ciao!
