Paris is always a good idea.
Audrey Hepburn.
AH THE FAMOUS PARIS !
City of lights, city of love, the symbol of french culture and romanticism… No need to introduce it anymore, Paris’s charm is known all around the globe. Everyone, or almost, has it on his/her bucket list : The art lovers, the food lovers, the fashion lovers… The lovers themselves.
Last week, we had the chance to get there for a short weekend. It was a last-minute decision that turned out to be an amazing getaway from our working routine.
We mainly have been there to get some documents from the Brazilian embassy, but we wanted to enjoy this opportunity to be in Paris and spend our time at the best possible.
This is why today, we are glad to write our first travel guide about such an exciting destination.
So, if you are planning on going to Paris for just a weekend, this article is perfect for you.
It might be pretty useful for people traveling on a budget and looking for handy tips about Paris, or simply for couples that want to enjoy a romantic weekend and take some awesome pictures over there.
Does that sound tempting to you ? Let’s hit the road then !
➳ OUR ITINERARY :
DAY ONE – THE ARRIVAL
Our journey started along the Seine, with the Cathedral of Notre Dame as the first monument on our list. That was the beginning of the afternoon, the docks were so quiet and sunny. You could just hear the boats sailing down the river and the birds. It was full of those cute cafés and restaurants, with their cosy terraces and some jazz music in the air.
After a 40 minutes walk, we finally arrived at the Cathedral. Unfortunately, after the big fire of the 15th of April, it’s impossible to get as close to Notre-Dame as it used to be. However, we found a quite nice spot where we could still admire its 2 stunning towers. This place is worth seeing it, especially if you are a Disney fan.
Then, we headed for the Louvre Museum, which is only a 10 minutes walk from Notre-Dame. You can get so easily to its beautiful pyramids of glass. If you are into art, you should definitely go get a look inside. The entrance is only 15 euros for an adult, a really decent price for the world’s largest art museum. (Booking online is highly recommended)
Want a tip ? What about visiting our dear Mona Lisa by night ? A few nights per year, you can now offer yourself a completely different experience and discover the museum by night. You can see the Louvre with a different eye and 10 times fewer tourists.
From there, you can keep going until the “Jardins des Tuileries”. It’s a great place to walk, chill in the grass, grab a coffee and just enjoy the beauty of the flowers.
Afterward, we met a friend of ours in the 9th district. She brought us to this amazing place for dinner, in “Les Grands Boulevards”. You can read more about it beneath, in our recommendations section.
Want a tip ? If you are looking for a nice party place, this one is actually the place to go. There is a great atmosphere by night, you can find tones of cool bars and clubs and this area is totally safe.
DAY 2 – THE MARATHON
The next day we woke up early, as we wanted our day to start with the iconic Eiffel Tower. We jumped into the subway and stopped at the Trocadéro station, which is only a few meters away from the Eiffel Tower.
Want a tip ? When you arrive early in the morning there, the place offers you a great angle to capture the Iron Lady, with the first lights of the day and almost no tourists around. It makes this spot perfect for couples pictures.
After this nice shooting session, we had a stop for brunch in this great café place nearby the Champ De Mars, once again you can discover more about it below inour recommendations section.
Then, we started to walk along the famous Champs Elysées, witnessing the beautiful architecture, typically Parisian style.
After half an hour, we got to the majestic Arc De Triomphe.
This monument is a beautiful representation of French History. Indeed, it was built in 1806 under Napoléon Bonaparte’s reign, after the Battle of Austerlitz’s victory.
After all those touristic spots, it was time for our appointment at the Brazilian Embassy, so we went back to the 1st district with the subway. Once it was done, we’ve been wandering in the neighbourhood and we found this amazing restaurant street “Rue du Colisée“. There was food for every taste and budget. We got a late lunch in a Chinese place, where they had a lot of cheap and delicious vegetarian options, find out more about it in the recommendations section.
Once our bellies were full again, we were ready for more adventures. We took the subway and headed to the fancy Moulin Rouge. From there, we walked around the charming streets of Montmartre, which is our biggest crush of the week-end. We absolutely loved discovering its cafés and admiring a lot of artwork pieces on our way…
Want a tip ? If you allow yourself to get lost a little bit in those quirky streets, you can find the most awesome souvenirs. Far from all the usual touristic gifts, manufactured in China, that you can find everywhere.
We later crossed the I Love You Wall (Le mur des Je t’aime).
It’s another cliché picture for the couples, but how can you resist to this wall, where you can read “I love you” in 250 languages ?
Finally, we ended up at the gorgeous Sacré Coeur Basilica. This place is a masterpiece, with such an incredible view over Paris.
The cherry on top, for all the fans of photography, you can also find next to it the Sinking House of Montmartre, a great example of optical effect.
In the end, we decided to finish our day where it started. We enjoyed the sunset colors back at the Eiffel Tower, where we stayed over for dinner.
And if you stay a bit longer, the Eiffel Tower will turn on its lights and will be sparkling in the skyline. That’s truly magical !
This was the perfect ending, for a perfect weekend.
➳ HOW TO GET AROUND ?
Traveling in Paris couldn’t be easier.
The Parisian “Métro” can bring you everywhere around the most iconic touristic places. It’s open from 5 am up to midnight for most of the lines, with a train every 2 to 5 minutes.
The one-way ticket will cost you 1,90 euros per person. And if you want to get a pass for the whole day, the ticket is 7,50 euros. That is a good deal.
Our special advice ? If you have two days like us in Paris :
For the first one, define yourself a perimeter around a particular place to cover by walk. This particular place can be a monument near your arrival point or your accommodation. If you start discovering Paris on the same day that you arrived, it would be a shame to pay for a day pass, if your day has already started since a while.
Furthermore, it will give you the chance to discover more about Paris, its little streets, its hidden treasures… Paris has many points of interest close to each other. Just pick up one and give yourself the opportunity to discover more of it by walk.
For your second day, you can get the day pass in the subway, which will help you covering faster the rest of the places on your program.
➳ OUR RECOMMENDATIONS :
During our stay in Paris, we had the chance to discover a couple of great places and we wanted to share it with you guys.
La Crème de Paris – 4 Rue du Faubourg Montmartre
The first night, our friend brought us into this really nice crêperie. Pedro and I aren’t big fans of crepes, but this place made us change our minds. They have delightful options, vegetarians as well, for a decent price. Between 8 and 13 euros for a fulfilling crepe, with a salad on the side. The desserts were also yummy. For 5 euros you could get yourself a delicious crepe or waffle, with fresh fruits and huge varieties of toppings : Just incredible !
Add value : The water is served with some fresh mint leaves, that something we really appreciate when a place is serving flavoured water.
Aux Cerises – 47 Avenue de Suffren
On our second day, we decided to get a nice brunch and we found this cute little place 5 minutes away from the Champs de Mars (near the Eiffel Tower).
The menu options are a bit pricy (It’s nothing extravagant for Paris), but everything is homemade and the products are fresh. We took a brunch plate and that was absolutely delicious. We had also the best cappuccinos, we even took two extra take away.
Add value : The decoration was beautiful. A perfect balance between the wooden furniture and the different touches of green of the plants. The staff was also extremely kind and smiling, they were making a lot of effort to speak in English for Pedro, which was thoughtful.
Traiteur Elysée Gourmet – 12 Rue du Colisée
On the same day, we got a late lunch in this nice Chinese place. The Asian food options in this street were multiple, but we went for this one because of the large choice of vegetarian meals. That was good quality food and really tasty. We had great veggie dumplings and veggie noodles.
Add value : The price is unbeatable. For both of us, we paid 12 euros and we stayed full for hours after this lunch.
Alright, that’s it for this article, we hope it will be helpful for future travellers.
If you guys have some tips or recommendations of your own, feel free to share it with us.
Thanks a lot for reading, à bientôt.
KNYCX Journeying
Ugly Travel
Any thoughts, tips or questions?