As one of my favourite actresses Audrey Hepburn once said, “Paris is always a good idea”, I can completely agree with this lady. Everybody should have experienced the city of croissants, art and love at least once in their lifetime.
There occur many clichés, when it comes to the capital of France, after all, they are served on a silver tablet in every second romance movie or novel. Yes, many couples in love stroll through the streets, yes, many people have baguettes in their bags, and yes, most cafes look like out of a fairy tale book. At least that's what I noticed. And as a tourist who is only in the city for a short period of time, you may see everything through rose-coloured glasses and live in your own romantic comedy. Nevertheless, I think that’s okay to romanticize a little and get into the flair of Paris. Sometimes we just want to escape from reality and like to jump into a movie, isn’t it?
This time I will divide the events into different scenes (like in a movie). These could inspire you what possibilties the city Paris offers.
SCENE 1 – ARRIVAL
We travelled by car to Paris, yes, I know what you may think… isn’t it crazy!? Yah, the original plan was to go by train, but the boys in our group had a different opinion. However, when I look back it wasn't as bad as I expected. The journey was actually very comfortable, and we were more flexible with a car.
HOP-ON-HOP-OFF-BUS-TOUR
After our arrival in Paris, we joined a Hop-on-hop-off-bus-tour. We thought it was the best idea to get a good overview of the city and the most famous sights. We booked the tickets a few days before our departure online. The Notre Dame, Louvre, Place de la Concorde, Champs Elysée were only a few of the stops during the bus tour. Yes, I think I don't have to say more to that, the principle of a hop-on-hop-off-bus-tour is self-explanatory - standard tourist hotspot.
PICKNICK AT THE EIFFEL TOWER
In the evening we decided to have that ultimate kitschy 0815 picknick in front of the Eiffel Tower. We bought all the good stuff, like baguettes, croissants, cheese, wine and so on. Honestly the park in front of the Eiffel Tower was completely full of people and also the grass there is more brown than green because of thousands of tourists, who want to take THAT Eiffel Tower Instagram picture. But after all, the picknick was one of my highlights, just simple and comfortable. Furthermore, the Eifel Tower is hypnotizing when it starts to shine and glitter.
Good to know: the Eiffel Tower glitters every full hour for five minutes.
SCENE 2
L'ATELIER DES LUMIÈRES
The next scene of my Paris trip actually takes you, my readership into a book, this special kind of museum offers a 360-degree projection light show instead of real paintings hanging on the wall. We experienced in L'Atelier des Lumières a journey through the time of different painters and seasons. Within one hour we had dived into the most famous artworks of Kandinsky and Paul Cézanne. This setting will may be well-known to some “Emily in Paris”-fanatics.
VIEW FROM THE 56TH FLOOR – MONTPARNASSE
If you look for a breath-taking view over Paris and an alternative to wait hours to go on top of the Eiffel Tower, I can recommend you the tower Montparnasse. It is basically a 210-meter-high office building. But there is the opportunity to go up on the 56th floor with an elevator. You will catch a grandiose view over Paris and on the Eifel Tower. In addition to the fantastic view, a bar will await you at the top.
SCENE 3
ART QUARTER – MONTMARTRE
Oh Montmartre … a dreamy village with art at every corner. Do you think!? Partly what I said is true, but the art quarter of Paris is unfortunately and not surprising full stuffed with tourists. So, the word dreamy is little bit out of place here – but that is a matter of option. Nevertheless, this lovely district is worth seeing. You can find many little nice art galleries and (overpriced) cafés and restaurants. Montmartre is famous for its street artists and many tourists like to be portrayed by them. Besides the Instagram hotspot number one there, the light pink and green Maison Rose Café, the true attraction is the giant basilica, Sacre Coeur. This fascinating building on the hill of Montmartre is from 1875 and also a very famous architectonic sight of Paris.
BOAT TRIP ON THE SEINE
This point is more optional, but also a great idea to get an overview of the city. We booked an one hour boat trip on www.getyourguide.de. You have a variety of options when it should be and where you start. On our boat trip for example there was one Crêpe per person included.
SCENE 4
LOUVRE MUSEUM
I think it’s self-explanatory that when you're in Paris you absolutely have to see the Louvre - at least from the outside. When you are not really into art, I understand that you won’t wait an eternity to get in. But we personally think it was worth it to wait in the line. The Louvre Museum is impressive and impossible to visit in one day. It is huge! Approximately we only saw a quarter of this massive building full of art. Some paintings fill almost a whole wall. But unlike to some other artworks, the woman with the most famous smile in the world is very small. Yah, good guess I am talking about Mona Lisa. And yes, I can proudly say I saw this lady in real life (a few meters away but still). Another great aesthetic artwork or rather statue is the Winged Victory of Samothrace. It is a headless angel at the top of the main stairs of the Louvre.
SHOPPING ON THE CHAMPS ELYSÉE
What you don’t want to miss is a final shopping tour on the Champs Elysée to get all your souvenirs or at least to dive yourself into the typical Parisian parfums as we did. It is after all the most famous shopping street in the city. We in Austria would say it’s the Mariahilferstraße of Paris ;) At the end of your shopping experience awaits you the Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoilea in all its glory. This Parisian monument is a huge arch in the middle of the Place Charles de Gaulle – which is also known for its traffic chaos.
PARISIAN FOOD HIGHLIGHTS
SNAILS AS STARTER
Order this dish if you dare! Snails are a traditional starter in France. But does anyone really want snails in their mouth? My friends thought so too and couldn’t understand why I want to order that. But I thought to myself if I'm already in Paris I should also eat snails. However, this is a matter of opinion. Result: snails taste a little bit like mussels. They are served in oil with parsley and white bread. Not as bad as I expected, but still really weird to eat haha.
CRÊPES AT THE EIFFEL TOWER
As mentioned above we got crêpes after our Seine boat trip (were included in the ticket). I dare to say that everyone has eaten a crêpe at some point in their lives, but who can claim to have eaten a crêpe in front of the Eiffel tower?
MACARONS IN ALL COLOURS
Little small biscuits in all flavours and colours. I am talking about macarons. If you have a very sweet tooth, like me, you can’t leave Paris without some Macarons for you or as a gift for your friends and family. Probably the best-known shop for the crispy delicacies with the creamy filling in Paris is Ladurée. The company, founded in 1860, is the most famous manufacturer of macarons in the world.
RESUMÈ
Last thoughts of my personal movie in Paris are …
that I am most grateful to have spent this time with such lovely people. I think it matters a lot who you travel with. Every experience and every trip is individual with different people and shape your journey. Travelling give us the possibility to tell stories, to laugh and to connect. When I look back to Paris it feels unreal.
To not forget the kitsch: everyone should have been to Paris at least once... and it's true what everyone says... preferably be in Paris when you are in love.
I will end this post with some final film camera photos, enjoy :)
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