Hello everyone to all our travel companions, here we are, ready for a new adventure (such a great adventure!). What about you? Are you all there? We have to start immediately because the “mysterious” city we are about to visit is very substantial and it will take us some time, so we will need all your energy and your passion. Pack your bag and let’s go… but we can’t leave if we don’t introduce our parisian city first.

Paris is the capital and the most populated city in France (the fifth most populous in the European Union, after London, Berlin, Madrid and Rome), located right on the Seine river. Grand Paris, another way to call Paris, has influenced politics, culture (with its many museums and its prestigious Sorbonne university) and the economy of the western world, so you will understand the great weight that this city has. However these are just a few examples of the many aspects that characterize Paris; art, history, fashion, culture, the denomination of “romantic city” or also that of the “city of lights” are other characteristics that contribute to make Paris one of the most important and famous worldwide city. It is also famous for the beauty of its architecture, its avenues, its refinement and its elegance… yes, also for the Eiffel Tower. There would be a lot to say about a big and important city like Paris but this is only a short presentation, we will discover all the rest step by step in the adventure we are about to live.

To know more (what to eat, where to eat, where to have fun, things to visit…) continue to read.

It’s time to start, straight to the world of culture and art.

 

PLACES TO VISIT (MUSEUMS/THEATERS…)

Cathédrale métropolitaine Notre-Dame

• Cathédrale métropolitaine Notre-Dame: world-famous cathedral, Notre Dame (much loved and celebrated since ancient times) is the main Catholic place of worship in Paris. Located in the heart of the city, its style is Gothic and like every Gothic church it is made up of two tall towers. Describe its architecture and its meticulous details throughout the structure would be reductive, as well as the majestic interior and its many relics… in one word: breathtaking. Each facade has a different and spectacular view. Obvious but it is right to underline that it is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Unfortunately we have to tell you the sad part that is part of its history. On 15 April 2019 the cathedral was damaged by a serious fire that led to the collapse of the roof, but that preserved intact its beauty and its supremacy.
• Basilique du Sacré-Cœur: located on the top of the Montmartre hill, this basilica (in the Byzantine style) is another important place of worship in the city and is the tallest structure after the Eiffel Tower. The interior is very large and the ceiling embellished with excellent paintings and imposing organs. From its dome it is possible to admire the Parisian panorama at 360 degrees. Furthermore, a heart on the basilica is that the stone with which it is built has the characteristic to prevent dust and smog from passing through, so after each rain it turns out to be even more shining.
  A great example of Gothic art is the Sainte-Chapelle, which we strongly recommend you to visit if you have time because it is very beautiful and important.
• Musée du Louvre: surely it is a museum that needs no introduction, but maybe not everyone knows it, but now is the right moment. The famous museum is located next to the Seine and Rue de Rivoli and is housed in the homonymous palace. The access to the museum is very particular and can take place in different ways. The main entrance to the museum is under the glass pyramid, where there are the ticket offices and the entrances to the three sections of the museum; but, as mentioned before, this is not the only way to get there, you can access directly from the metro to the stop Palais Royal-Musée du Louvre or from the passage Richelieu from rue de Rivoli, from the Porte des Lions and in the end from the jardin du Carrousel. The museum includes a crazy heritage of the most famous paintings in the world. Dear travelers, Louvre is a must.
• Musée d’Orsay: the museum is located on the Rue de la Légion d’Honneur, opposite the Musée du Louvre, in a former railway station. This cultural place is famous for the numerous masterpieces of impressionism and post-impressionism exhibited inside. Its collections include paintings and sculptures by important authors such as Renoir and Monet. In addition, many of these works also come from the Louvre museum. The criterion that the museum follows for the display of the works of art is mainly chronological and some rooms are only entirely dedicated to a specific artist.
• Pantheon: born as a Catholic church, it was designed on the model of the Pantheon in Rome and has been a historical monument of France since 1920. Particularly suggestive, the interior in circular shape includes a crypt and paintings on the sides of the walls. The building is also composed of a dome. Equally suggestive is the view nearby in the rue Soufflot where the wonderful Luxembourg gardens are located.
• Palais-Royal: it is a monumental ensemble (palace, garden, galleries, theater), classified as a historical monument, it is one of the most important places in the history of France. The building also houses the Council of State and the French Constitutional Council. In addition to the beauty of the paintings and works, the gardens are something spectacular and are well cared for. The structure itself is also wonderful, embellished with some external and contemporary installations that enhance the architecture.
• Palais du Luxembourg: now the headquarters of the French Senate, first residence of Queen Maria de’ Medici, the palace is classified as a historical monument of France. It was the first art museum open to the public. Inside you will find galleries, rooms with magnificent paintings on the walls and ceiling (an example is the particular Gold Book Room), then we have the senate room, the conference room and in the end a library. The vast structure is surrounded by the magnificent and famous Luxembourg gardens (which we have already mentioned before). These contain a vast repertoire of plants, flowers and also an orchard with about six hundred different qualities of apples and pears.
• Hotel de Cluny: this is a medieval museum, whose name “hotel” means a typical large and luxurious French home. The museum therefore focuses mainly on medieval art, its history and events and the life of the time in general. An interesting part of the structure is its garden with various types of trees, plants and flowers which have a precise meaning; for example, there is the love garden where fragrant plants evoke the sensual love. Very interesting.
• Now let’s see a complex of museums located in different places but united by the same theme: the impressionism. We have the Rodin composed of works by Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Vincent van Gogh and many others, plus it is located the famous statue of the “thinker”. Musée de Montmartre was the home of several artists including Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Musée Marmottan Monet is a museum focused on 19th century French impressionism and art. It’s up to you the hard choice!
• Château de Versailles: this building doesn’t really need our presentations, at least everyone once in their life have heard Palace of Versailles. Anyway we want to give you some information about it. Former royal residence of the Bourbons of France, it is located 20 km from Paris, a little far from the center just to stay out of the intrigues of French politics, from the citizens (that were difficult to manage). Trying to explain the palace is impossible for all the things that can be seen, starting from its vast, immense garden. Halls, galleries, paintings, vegetation… there is truly everything and everything is luxurious! You can’t go to Paris and not visit this majesty, your eyes will thank you!
• Tour Eiffel: even this monument does’t need to be presented at all, but we have to do it and it is right to give some information to those who have only heard of it. It takes its name from its engineer Gustave Eiffel builder of this magnificence. The structure is made up of three floors that are accessible on foot (till the second floor) or by elevator (mandatory for the third platform). Of course all floors have panoramic areas, a restaurant on the first floor, telescopes to see everything more in detail, anyway we will let you discover all the history and all the rest. Also this stop is a must, maybe the first to be visited! We want to add that on the official website of the Eiffel Tower you can buy tickets and maybe you could also find skip the line tickets. The only warning: hurry up and go fast bacause they end immediately!
• Here are two towers compared to very different eras, one modern and one ancient but both beautiful and worth seeing: the flamboyant Gothic one that is Tour Saint-Jacques and the modern one Tour Montparnasse (the second tallest skyscraper in Paris with a restaurant located on the 56th floor). Always themed towers, if you are interested in castles there is one particularly beautiful to visit, the Château de Vincennes.
• Now let’s see some particular museum to visit: we have the Grevin museum, wax museum for some photos with your dearest idols. Musee du parfum, the museum dedicated to perfume, always highly appreciated and interesting. Then we have ventaglio museum, the magic museum, the carousel museum, the sewer museum (yes, there is also this!) and like these, there are many more, all interesting and nice.

The theaters in Paris are so many, among the most important there are: the Bataclan and the Moulin Rouge (which you will surely have heard of at least once in your life) then we also have Théâtre Le Temple, Comédie Bastille Lido and Opéra Garnier.

Musée du Louvre

 

ENTERTAINMENT (PUB/DISCO/PARKS…)

Arc de Triomphe

Paris, big city, great fun. Let’s see.

• Let’s start with the Île Saint-Louis located in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. It is the smaller of the two islands of the Seine and flanks the larger one the Île de la Cité (which includes the Notre-Dame Cathedral), connected to the latter through Pont Saint-Louis. The island includes the church of Saint-Louis-en-l’Île, the Société Historique et Littéraire Polonaise and two hotels: the Hôtel de Lauzun and the Hôtel Lambert. The Île Saint-Louis is connected to the rest of the city of Paris thanks to four bridges.
• Continuing the exploration of the city we continue with… the famous Avenue des Champs-Élysées. It is one of the largest and most majestic tree-lined avenues in Paris which houses many cafes, luxury shops and so on. The name refers to the Elysian fields of classical mythology. The avenue is also the place where the largest military parade passes every year (July 14). In the evening with all those lights, we are sure your eyes will shine! To end the walk in style, at the end of the avenue the famous Arc de Triomphe will be waiting for you (at the Place Charles de Gaulle) which can be visited inside (of course, the stairs are many, but after this the view will repay you for every effort) and everything to admire.
• And more its wonderful squares including: Place de la Concorde, one of the largest French squares, located at the foot of the Champs-Élysées. It has a fountain and an obelisk in the center. A few steps away there is the Tuileries Garden, it is very vast and well-kept as its immense beauty, absolutely worth visiting. Place Vendôme is a famous square in Paris, very elegant and with several jewelers. In the center of the square an obelisk with a statue on top. In addition, the famous and luxurious Hôtel Ritz overlooks the square. Place du Tertre, how not to love it! It is a picturesque tree-lined square located in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. Here you can breathe art in every corner with lots of views. It is no coincidence that it is the meeting place for painters and caricaturists who make portraits or exhibit their works. Think that this place hosted what was Picasso’s house. The square is accessible through the suggestive and characteristic staircase of Rue du Calvaire. The Marais is one of the most fashionable neighborhoods in the city and home to the Place des Vosges, the oldest square in Paris.
• Walking through the streets of Paris is truly magical (and we could say even more lost yourself around there!). Rue de Rivoli, the shopping street par excellence, there are numerous chain stores located there and home to underground shopping centers. Nearby just a few minutes from this street, there is the Jardin Nelson-Mandela which leads to delicatessen shops, an area famous for its night-time dining options. Saint-Germain is one of the Parisian boulevards located on the bank of the Seine, between Pont de Sully and Pont de la Concorde. This is famous because it is the main street of the latin quarter and for its elegant and refined buildings. Nearby there is the Les Deux Magots café, the brasserie, Lipp which are part of the so-called “Golden Triangle”, famous for being frequented by political people and in addition to this there is also the Café de Flore, a famous literary café and meeting place for poets of all generations. Rue Crémieux this is part of a very particular Paris. It is a street full of colorful houses (very instagramable!). A street not so famous, a “hidden” Paris but it is so beautiful that it doesn’t go unnoticed. Paris is also this, a thousand colors and lots of romance. Nice to visit is also boulevard Haussmann which crosses the 8th and 9th arrondissements of Paris.
  
• Make a note of this street: V arrondissement, Rive gauche. Why? Because here there is the historic Shakespeare and Company bookstore, a meeting place for writers such as Ezra Pound, Ernest Hemingway and many others. The library serves both as a book store and as a reading room. Plus here take place lots of events such as sunday tea, meetings with writers and poetry readings. What a place… Wow!
• The parks here are so many and one more beautiful than the other: Parc des Buttes-Chaumont, this place must be visited! There is so much magic and many beliefs around the park. Of particular beauty is the temple of the Sibyl, the caves with waterfalls, lakes, the small hill for a wonderful view of the city, bridges and lots of fauna (in particular various types of birds) and flora. Parc Monceau a very romantic and beautiful park with bridges, lakes and also a little culture with Roman-style statues and ruins. Another nice park to relax (by bike, on foot, as you like) is the Bois de Vincennes. The walk is in the center but in the green at Promenade Plantée is almost a must. Former railway now a beautiful raised park with wonderful views. The feeling of this unusual place is particular and very suggestive.
• Paris is also full of bridges and canals. The Pont de Bir-Hakeim crosses the Seine in the luxury Passy neighborhood. A place so very suggestive just a few steps from the Eiffel Tower is an “indoor” bridge made up of arches. Above the bridge there is the metro track which runs regularly. The lights in the evening, the view… it must be seen! The Alexander III bridge is a bridge overlooking the Seine, interrupted with gold colored statues and decorations representing some historical and mythological characters. Pont des Arts another bridge that crosses the Seine where there are painters who sell their works to passersby. On one side of the two ends of the bridge there is a part dedicated to all lovebirds, that is the one composed of padlocks to be attached to the railing. A gesture of love of modern times. As for the canals for example there is Canal Saint-Martin.
• Remaining on the theme of “love” here is the wall of I love you (in French le mur des je t’aime). It is a fairly large wall located in the Jehan Rictus garden in the Montmartre district. On this large tile is written the phrase “I love you” 311 times in 250 languages including some rare languages such as navajo, inuit, bambara and esperanto. Your lover will thank you!
• Disneyland Park: if you tell us that you don’t know Disneyland Paris we don’t believe it! But if you don’t know it don’t worry, we are here for this. It is a Disney theme park with rides of all kinds for children and adults but there is more, for example the gastronomic part with the creation of the famous drink, butterbeer. There would be a world to say about this fabulous park, its shows and much more, but trying to describe it would be too reductive, the magic that you breathe in those parts cannot be described if you do not live it. Go there and you will understand. The park is not located right in the center of Paris but out of town; anyway don’t worry there are many conventions or packages to organize all this and enjoy this magnificent adventure.
• Among the usual things to do there is certainly the boat ride or why not, a good lunch in the heart of Paris on board a fully glazed boat to enjoy the magnificent view. But you will not only find this in Paris, there are also many unusual things to do, such as the Boeing 737 simulator (flight simulator), various and interesting excursions, a hot air balloon or helicopter ride or a ride on a nice means of transportation, the tuk-tuk.

Parc des Buttes-Chaumont

With all that we have seen, well now it’s night time! But who stops us? We are very ready to go immediately to know something about nightlife. Among the areas where the fun is very strong we find: Rue Oberkampf, Butte aux Cailles, Rue Mouffetard, Rue Montorgueil and Pigalle that is the most famous red light district in the world.

To get more specific, let’s see which are the places where you can go:

• Oz Club Paris: nightclub
• The 3 club Paris: disco
• Concrete Paris: nightclub
• L’Arc Paris: nightclub
• VIP ROOM: nightclub
• Silencio: disco

 

TYPICAL FOODS

Escargot

We are so sure that in Paris the food is amazing and we can’t wait to know more about it. Here we go!

• Escargot: famous worldwide, snails are the typical Parisian dish and also considered the most refined food. The typical recipe is Bourguignonne escargot, whose ingredients are so simple: oil, butter, salt and parsley. Before being served they are cooked au gratin in the oven so that the butter melts. Advice: take all the time to find the right familiarity to use the appropriate cutlery to be able to eat them without maing any type of damage to you andto the other hahaha!
• Coq au Vin: it is considered a perfect second course to be enjoyed on cold winter days, this chicken meat requires a long preparation. This is left to marinate in full-bodied red wine together with carrots and celery for at least 2 days, in order to take all the flavor of the aromas inside the recipe. After this the meat is browned and served with tomatoes, carrots, celery, spices and a very tasty sauce in which the chicken has marinated.
• Soupe a l’oignon: it is a traditional onion-based dish, more precisely an onion-based soup enriched with meat or vegetable broth. The soupe a l’oignon is served in individual terracotta dishes with toasted bread inside and with cheese (and here the cheese is so so good, have you ever heard the camembert? Gnam!) au gratin on the surface. Onion lovers, it is for you!
• Pain au Chocolat: the simplicity of a delicious chocolate croissant. It is prepared with salted butter, which makes it a dessert halfway between sweet and savory. Very genuine and not at all artificial (as often happens with normal brioches) you will feel like you are eating something very different and not something ordinary like what you can expect.
• Crêpes: you can’t go to Paris and not taste the legendary crêpes. Mother of this famous dessert you can find it in different versions, salted (example: emmental and ham) or sweet or crêpes suzette version that is cooked in the pan with the addition of a sauce based on caramelized sugar, orange juice or tangerine and a drop of orange liqueur.

Pain au Chocolat

 

WHERE TO EAT (RESTAURANTS/CAFE’…)

Where to go to eat in Paris? Eh good question! There are so many choices, but we are here to help you, ready to suggest you the best places.

• JJ Beaumarchais: French, European cuisine.
• Pur’ – Jean-François Rouquette: French, European cuisine, vegan options.
• La Bécane À Gaston: French, European, vegetarian cuisine.
• Le 217 Brasserie Restaurant: French, European, vegetarian cuisine.
• Chez Maxence: French, vegetarian cuisine.
• La Petite Rose des Sables: French, European, vegetarian cuisine.
• Le Baron Rouge: wine bar with French cuisine.
• Les Crêpes de Louis-Marie: French, European, vegetarian cuisine.
• La MiN: pub with French, international cuisine.

 

It seems impossible, but this adventure in Paris is over. Now the well deserved rest and then we will ready to leave for our next Parisian destination.

Let us know your opinions about this place. If you liked it or not, if you’ve been there or you’re going to go there? What you liked the most or least? We’re curious to read your opinions.

A big kiss to everyone.

 

Below we will list the accommodations that you can find in Paris.

Accommodations next to Charles de Gaulle airport

Accommodations in the city

Accommodations next to Champs Elysées

Accommodations in Paris Gare de Lyon

 

Booking.com