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Travelling to Paris. Stories, advice, and tips?
Hey folks! I'm travelling with my wife to Paris for about 2 weeks. If you have any Paris stories, I'd love to hear them! Have any travel advice? I'm all ears. Local knowledge or location tips like awesome places to eat or places to see off the beaten path would be amazing.
Take a day for an outing to the palace at Versailles. It really is worth it, just like the Lourvre and Musée d'Orsay. If you're at all interested in history and arts, these spots are spectacular even though they're rightly tourist spots.
Get a good guided tour when you visit the Louvre. The Mona Lisa is among the least interesting things there. Have enough time to listen to the audio guide explanations for art you're interested in.
The zoo was way less interesting than Musée de la chasse et nature, the hunting and nature museum.
If you're a film buff, there are plenty of guides about movie locations in Paris. Frankly, Paris is so touristy that you can get guides and tours for anything. Search for things to match your interests.
Don't bother going to the top of the Eiffel tower. I much preferred seeing views from both the top of the Notre Dame and one of the city gates (you don't need to pick the Arc d' Triomphe, the most famous one).
Seconding Versailles. Just bring a lunch. The grounds are incredibly expansive and (at least when I went) there was only one small, incredibly expensive cafeteria on the grounds and given the tight schedules of most tours you probably won't have time to go grab lunch anywhere else.
Okay, that's great to know because we are definitely planning on going out that way. Thank you!
Thank you! My wife has been before back when she was still in college so we're super excited to finally get to go together.
I have heard that there are other places to get great views without having to deal with as many tourists.
I absolutely LOVE art and will definitely be going to the Louvre, but from what I've heard I could spend a week just in one wing easily, so we'll have to come back and do a dedicated Louvre trip I think.
When do you think you'll go back next?
Not so much advice for off the beaten path, since it's been almost a decade since I was there so I am sure much has changed, but instead more "tourist trap but still worth it" advice:
The Louvre can be crowded at certain times and around certain popular exhibits (e.g. Mona Lisa, just avoid it), but if art is your thing it is 100% worth visiting IMO. Even the less popular wings have incredible works to see in them. I spent a solid two days wandering around it and barely scratched the surface.
Versailles is absolutely gorgeous and is only a 40min bus ride from Paris. There are plenty of tours that go there daily. I would highly recommend it.
Musée de l'Armée is awesome as well if Military History is your thing. They have some absolutely incredible 13-17th century Armor and Weapons collections from all over the world, Europe to Japan.
The Monet Museum was pretty great too. It has more than just works from its namesake and houses some pretty stunning Impressionist paintings.
The Picasso Museum is virtually all works from Picasso (unless they have another exhibit going while you're there) but it's absolutely staggering how much there is. The man was prolific!
Incidentally, I just realized that my week in Paris was mostly spent in Museums... LOL... so, yeah my advice is kinda limited to that. Sorry. :P
We love museums and will probably be doing that, walking the city, and enjoying cafés. My SIL is living in Paris currently and volunteers at a homeless shelter, so we'll be helping out a couple of days there as well.
Oh man, Picasso was one prolific artist. Haha, do you feel like it was more obsession or dedication for him? (I guess this is off topic?)
Picasso and Dalí are my two all-time favorite artists... both insanely prolific and almost certainly 100% driven by pure, unbridled obsession... no doubt about it.
And off-topic is relative... this is your ~talk thread, after all! :P
Well, in that case, do you have any documentary suggestions on either of them?
Huh... y'know... Come to think of it, I have only ever really read about them (and their exploits) and never actually watched a documentary on either. Isn't that odd? But now you have given me a wonderful idea of what to do over the weekend!
Haha, let me know if you find anything good because I don't watch documentaries all the time but when I do I tend to binge them all in a row.
Part of me still doubts Dali's assertion that no drugs were involved with the making of his works. What are your thoughts on that?
Will do. And Dalí was a seriously weird and extremely eccentric guy so I honestly do believe him when he says no drugs, at least any hard ones, were involved. Although I suppose that depends on your definition of drugs, because he (and Picasso) we’re both known for excessive drinking of alcohol, absinthe among them.
Dalí was known for doing a whole bunch of weird things to get inspiration though... like standing on his head until he would almost lose consciousness, staying awake for days on end or even relaxing in a chair holding a spoon over a plate until he fell asleep and when the spoon clatter woke him up he would rush to his notebook/sketchbook or canvas and begin working. He believed the closer he could get to being asleep while still awake the more creative he could be... and that appears to have worked very well for him.
Have you been to the Dali museum in Figueras? Its insanity in building form.
I have not had the pleasure of visiting Spain yet, unfortunately. :( But it's definitely on my bucket list.
Though I have been to the Dalí museums in London (UK) and Tampa (Florida) which were excellent.
Oh man, I had forgotten he did those things. That jogged my memory though and I had to look it up. My favorite quote of his is "I don't do drugs. I am drugs." It totally fits his "madman" schtick.
I mostly did museums and churches while I was there (for the art, of course) so I don't have any off the beaten path suggestions but that being said:
Hanging with corpses sounds right up our alley! These are some great suggestions. Thank you!
What would you say your favorite thing about Paris is?
oh just being there! walking around, finishing every day tired and satisfied, seeing so much art and history, being in a culture very different from my own. but my favourite part of travelling is just being somewhere.
I hope you and your wife have a great time there!
Thank you so much! When are you making a trip back there next?
unfortunately probably not for a loooong while and there are still lots of other places I want to go to but hopefully I'll be able to go back to Paris some day.
My brother and I took a bike tour through the streets of Paris and it changed our whole perspective on the city. We felt so connected to our surroundings. You should try it.
We love to slow down and try and connect with our surroundings when we travel so we can actually enjoy creating experiences we'll remember.
Bike or moped? Is biking dangerous there?
Depends what you qualify as "dangerous" :) There are a bunch of dedicated cycling lanes nowadays which makes it work-able ( I've a few friends that are daily commuting on bikes now ).
If you're not used to cycling in cities though, take your time, stay constantly aware of your surroundings and wear an helmet.
Okay, cool! Do you remember about how much the rental cost? I'm assuming it can't be too much, right?
no idea about touristy rental bike tours.
I just know that the state of day-to-day bike rentals isn't fantastic right now: Vélib which is a network of stations where you can take a bike and leave it at any other station worked fine since 2007 but was terminated at the end of 2017, I can't remember why, probably some random conflict between the city of Paris and the company running the system. A Vélib 2.0 is in the works but it's in terrible shape: folks are on strikes, delays in delivering stations ...
As for station-free bike sharing, Gobee.bike is now out of the picture in Paris (and Europe I think?) and there are 2 or 3 other companies with similar offerings now. It's relatively cheap afaik, something like 50c or 1E / half hour.
It was a guided tour on bicycles, mine was called "Wheeled Victory". The guide showed us the sites and kept us safe as far the best routes, where to stay on the road, etc. We even had a champagne picnic near the Champs Elysee.
There are places to rent bicycles on your own, but I recommend a guided tour first to get the hang of things.
I hope you have a magical trip!
Cheap hotels are VERY hit and miss. If your budget is low go for a chain place. less charming, but actually sleep and no bedbugs.
There is a much quieter entrance to the Louvre from the shopping Mall Carrousel du Louvre - it is a LOT quicker to get in that way at peak periods. I like the Egyptian part best.
I love the Musee National De Moyen Age at Cluny.
Go to the Cafe de Flore or Les Deux Magots on Blvd San Germain for chic french cafe life and cool history.
I've heard the Egyptian exhibit is super cool.
I started watching a Paris expat (I think it's like Jay S-something on youtube) and that's when I first heard about these "secret" Louvre entrances.
Thank you so much for the suggestions! We'll definitely be living that café life.
Well, time to put on my béret and grab my bicyclette, and trying to stay off-the-beaten path:
I've eaten a few crêpes in my life, but the best ones I've ever eaten at a restaurant were at "Chez Imogène" ( you'll have to book in advance though )
If you're not only looking for French cuisine, I can't recommend enough the "Lao Viet" ( though I've heard some items on their menu aren't great )
If you're willing to go a bit out of Paris into the suburbs, it's worth chasing down a good Guinguette :)
Not sure what's at the Grand Palais currently, but it's worth going in just for the scale of that beautiful piece of architecture.
Probably worth seeing the Centre Georges Pompidou as well and having a nice picnic at La Villette :)
( definitely not that much off-the-beaten path here, I'll try to find stranger stuff to visit :D )
La Coulée verte René-Dumont which starts at Bastille and goes all the way to the Parc de Vincennes
I'll try to edit this if I think of more stuff :)
I feel like we just need to move to Paris for a while. There's SO much history you could spend a lifetime there and still have things to do and see.
Thank you for the suggestions! I have the places you mentioned written down. Do you travel to Paris often?
born and raised there :) I'm not there as often nowadays, less than a month / year mainly to meet old friends and family or to hop between 2 planes ;)
Sacre-coeur is incredibly beautiful inside, and the view from the outside steps is pretty amazing, especially at night. You can also get in for free.
Sainte-Chapelle, where they used to keep the supposed crown of thorns, is also one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever been in.
Thank you for the suggestion! I'm pretty sure we're planning on going to Sacré-Cœur at some point. Is there anything you regret not doing from your trip?
Hmm, not really. I was only there for a few days so there wasn't much time to do everything I wanted to do. I do wish I had made it to the Louvre, but there just wasn't enough time... I would have wanted to spend at least a few hours there and we were trying to see as much as we could in the time we had.
This probably goes without saying, but always hold onto your bags, wallet etc. I had my backpack stolen when I was sitting on the steps of Sacre Coeur the first night we spent in Paris. I had had a few drinks and let my guard down. It was especially painful since I'm usually pretty vigilant. So yeah, don't make the same mistake I did!
In addition to what has been said already (and if I missed something and repeat it, I'm sorry), Rodin Museum is really cool and it's a lovely place to spend an afternoon (and take a couple of pictures with and of the wife). Montmartre, as the sun is setting, is incredible, so go early, walk around the neighborhood to see the sigths, the street performers, etc., then settle in the church steps to watch the sun sink in the horizon.
D'Orsay over Louvre if you need to decide. If you do go to the Louvre, obviously don't buy a ticket from one of the dudes standing outside selling you a way to cut the line. Tulleries is a must when the weather is nice. During the weekend, if the weather is nice, you can see Parisians in the natural habitat, which is always cool.
Versailles, as has been mentioned, is a must, but do take food because it's expensive and honestly not very good there. The guided tour is really cool. Grand and Petit Palais are good, as is the Musée de L'Armé (Napoleon's tomb is there). A walk by the Seine at night is also a must, just be aware that the darker bits could harbour some danger, so keep your wits about you (that's good advice for the whole city, actually).
There's a chapel across the Notre Dame (is I'm assuming you'll visit) inside the Palais de Justice which is a must. It's beautiful, it's not very big (so it can be crowed, last time I was in Paris, about a month ago, it took 2 tries to no stay in line), but it's incredibly pretty.
Eat outside the international chains, for the sake of all that is good in the world. Don't go to Subway, McDs, etc. Almost every small place you eat there will have decent food and wine, so take advantage. It's useless to recommend something because there are so many good options.
I'm definitely going all the way to Paris to eat McDonalds. Why else would I go? ;)
Is there a particular reason you like D'Orsay over the Louvre?
Montmartre sounds lovely. That's where Sacré-Cœur is, correct? I think we were hoping to spend some time there if possible.
Thank you so much!
I'd be surprised, man... The McDs next to the Louvre is always PACKED. It's sad to see, with 3 very decent cafés right next to it, usually empty.
I like a bit more modern art and D'Orsay has some of my favourites. But, in addition to that, I think the pieces at the Louvre, other than the huge enormous paintings next to the Mona Lisa (which no one pays any attention but are more impressive), are not as impressive neither speak to me as much as the d'Orsay collection, which is a bit all over the map (quite literally). Let's put it this way: I've been to Paris many times. Three times to the Louvre (once when I was a kid, once with my daughter, once with my wife). Every time I went to Paris, I went to the d'Orsay (I believe 8 times, but I'm not certain).
Yes, the steps I mentioned are the Sacré-Couer ones.