Paris in Springtime

My last post was all about what to pack and what fashion we saw in Paris.  Well, this post is all about the sights and where to spend time in that fabulous city.  There are so many things to see and do, that it is almost impossible to capture it all within a week.  But, since this was a trip with friends and not my family, we were able to do and things a little differently than our family trip.

We were only there for a week (well, only 6 nights), so we wanted a direct flight.  Most flights from North America will land in the morning, so it gives you almost a whole day to see the city.  We were fortunate enough to drop our bags at our Paris for Rent flat in the Marais before heading out to walk.   We were staying in the 3rd/4th Arrondissement and it was a great location!  We easily walked to the Seine, Notre Dame, the Latin Quarter, the Louvre and more!

Sleep will be elusive when you travel across 9 time zones for a week.  Just know that you probably won’t sleep well and plan to drink a lot of coffee to get going.  I was travelling with three friends and we all had lousy disruptive sleeps.  But, we weren’t going to let that stop us.  We enjoyed fresh baguettes and coffee every morning before heading out on adventure.

Here is a short summary of what we managed to see/do in 5 full days:

Day 2 – Flea market in the 18th – Les Puces.  We took the metro to Clingancourt and from there wandered to the market and surrounding area.  It was so huge, we barely scratched the surface, but saw so many lovely items!

Baskets and boxes filled with pictures were available for sale

 

 

Day 3 – Hop On Hop Off Bus Tour – this is a great way to see any city you are visiting.  Even though I did this tour last summer with my family, I still enjoyed it this trip, too. We spent the afternoon going all around Paris and ended up at Montmartre  which was so beautiful!  Make sure you climb the stairs all the way to the top of Sacre Coeur for a spectacular view of Paris.

Looking up at Sacre Coeur

Day 4 – Versailles – we took the train to this wealthy suburb of Paris to see the grand palace.  We decided not to go in the palace, but to instead rent bikes and travel the paths around the grounds of the forests, fields and lakes.

One of the many paths on the grounds of Versailles

Day 5 – Musee d’Orsay and Eiffel Tower.  Knowing that we couldn’t possibly see all the art that Paris has to offer, we picked one museum and we weren’t disappointed.   Also, The Restaurant (yup, that’s what it is called) was a beautiful spot for lunch.  An absolutely gorgeous room!

Recognize this?  Monet!

 

 

The original clock from when the museum was a train station.

From there, we hopped the metro to the Eiffel Tower.  We had pre-purchased tickets, so our line moved quite quickly from the bottom to the very top!  We treated ourselves to champagne and enjoyed the view.

Expensive champagne at the top.  But worth it!

 

 

Looking down on Paris from the top of the Eiffel Tower

Day 6 – Wandered around.  Yes, that’s what we did.  We shopped, walked, ate, drank coffee, drank wine and wandered some more.  It was an amazing way to spend time and feel like a Parisian.

One of the many sets of beautiful doors on our walk

 

 

 

Hotel de Ville

Day 7 – Home. With wonderful memories, pictures and souvenirs of this amazing trip.

We did a lot in a week and there was so much more to see and do.  We all agreed that we got a great taste for the city, its food and the sights.

Have you been to Paris?  What places did you go to or see while you were there?

linking up with: Calypso in the Country, Shelbee on the Edge, A Little Bit of Everything