One Girl and a Big World

Welcome back to the blog!

For this week’s blog post, I will be addressing things to do and not do in Paris, France.

My family has been to Paris twice and both times were different experiences. Keep in mind that this blog post is based on my own personal experiences, and others may differ from my opinion.

I will begin with the Don’ts!

• Do not visit the Louvre in the morning or during midday. The first time we visited Paris, our family woke up extra early to be the first in line for the museum. When we arrived, there were only about three families ahead of us. Not too bad. As time neared the opening of the building, the lines grew crazy long, and so we were glad we had arrived super early. However, it really did us no good. When the museum doors opened, within twenty minutes, the building was packed with people. So although we were the first in line, we still visited the museum with thousands of other people. It just was not worth it. My advice for when to visit, will be listed with the Do’s so be sure to keep reading :).

• Do not romanticize Paris before arriving. I get it. Paris is famous, shows up in rom-coms, is known as the City of Lights, and so much more. However, it is important to realize that Paris is a huge city, and with big cities comes many issues. Pickpocketing is a major issue in Paris. In my opinion, it was not a very clean city compared to other European places we visited. There are hoards of tourists everywhere. Food is expensive. Traffic is congested. This is not to discourage anyone from visiting as Paris is full of history and culture, this is merely to advise the reader to have a realistic expectation of the city. If you romanticize it too much, you may be let down with the real life Paris.

• Do not waste time walking around the city or using automotive transportation (one exception applies and it will be listed in the Do’s). Paris is such a big city that if you want to see as much as possible, it is much more practical to use the metro systems to get around easier. As I mentioned before, Paris traffic can be very congested and one can lose so much time waiting in stop-and-go traffic when the metro system can get you places quicker. Of course, walk around the city to explore, but do not use it as your main form of transportation. It is very time consuming.

• Lastly, do not arrive in Paris without tickets to the sites you would like to visit. Paris is one of the most visited cities in the world. Tourism is very high and as such, you must have tickets already bought before you arrive. Our first time in Paris, we had not bought tickets to the Eiffel Tower, and we actually had to come back to Paris during our two week European vacation because they were not available the days we had originally planned to be in the city. Be proactive about buying tickets beforehand.

Now on to the Do’s!

•Do visit the Louvre about two hours before closing. Our second trip to Paris about a year after our first trip, we decided to take a weekend and take my grandma to Paris. We had arrived midday Friday, but once we got into the city and found our accommodation, it was well into the afternoon. After a quick meal, we decided to visit the Louvre, and to our surprise, it was hardly busy! Because we went about an hour and a half before closing, there were no crowds, we were able to view the majority of the museum in peace and undisturbed, and we didn’t have to worry about losing anyone in big crowds. So plan other things during the day, then go to the Louvre and you’ll truly get to enjoy all the artwork.

• Do take a Seine river cruise. This is probably one of my favorite things to do in European cities. Taking river cruises gives you a tour of the city in a much quieter and calmer setting. The cruise we went on took us by Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, and several other beautiful buildings. In the hustle and bustle of being a tourist, river cruises are a great way to decompress, let your feet rest, and enjoy the city in a different manner.

• Do use the Big Bus Tours. The Big Bus is a company that makes double decker buses for tourists. The bus stops at sightseeing locations, but also provides information and history through their audio tours while you ride the bus. Our family typically uses the Big Bus as our automotive transportation. They are safe, reliable, and tourist friendly. We have used this company in Budapest, Paris, and a multitude of other popular tourist destinations.

•Finally, if you visit Paris, you must visit Sacre Ceour Cathedral. I personally enjoyed this much more than the Eiffel Tower. The cathedral is built atop a high hill. You do have to climb quite a bit to get to the top, but the views from the cathedral are beautiful. You can see all of Paris from the top and if you visit the inside of the cathedral, you’ll see beautiful decorations. As a side bonus, there is a chocolate shop at a walking distance from the cathedral where they make chocolate sculptures of iconic Parisian buildings and other things as well.

Thanks for reading and until next time!