Paris is one of those cities you either love or you don’t. Some people fall in love with the perceived romance of the city, other people say the city smells. For me, Paris has always been one of the cities I knew I needed to go to, but I wasn’t very interested. Honestly, the main reason I wanted to go was to take a day trip to Normandy and see the Omaha Beaches (but that tour was cancelled …) Still, there is plenty to see and do in Paris, and I felt that I needed a little more time.

Take a Free Tour

Nowadays, there are plenty of free tours available. Someone recommended Sandeman’s walking tours to me. They currently have walking tours in eighteen different cities, and Paris is one. Although it is free, the tour guides do ask for tips at the end because that’s how they get paid.

Since our Normandy tour was cancelled, we decide to stay in the city and take a free walking tour. Our guide was half-Mexican, half-Israeli and had a passion for French history and culture. He was great! He was full of so much information and the tour was never boring. The guide told us interesting stories in front of Notre Dame, like the crowning of Napoleon as emperor. I had never heard that story before and boy is it interesting! (Basically, he crowned himself.) We walked along the banks of the Seine. The oldest bridge in the city, ironically called the New Bridge dates back to the 1600s. This is where miming got its start. The king at the time banned the Italians from being able to move off a platform or talk, thus miming was born.

Our tour also went past the site of the new “Love Lock Bridge”. You may have seen in the news a few years ago how the locks were all cut off. The locks were weighing down the bridge and that bridge has some wooden infrastructure making it very unstable. Now there is plexiglas covering the bridge so people can’t attach anything, yet somehow people still find a way. This was another shocking story for me. I though maybe this Love Lock Bridge was some great history. Nope. It was from Sex and the City and everyone wanted to be like them. Also, chicas, if a French boy tries to love lock you with a combination lock, run away. Those are the ones the guys use on all the foreign girls.

Walking tours are a great way to see the city. You learn so much information that you otherwise wouldn’t have known. Even though it’s free, these guides are certified, so you’re not getting some rando taking you around the city. It’s also great so you can get a feel for the city and see what you want to visit later. Sandeman’s also offers paid tours that have themes to them. (We took one in London, more to come later!)

The City of Lights Museums

Paris is known for many things: baguettes, crepes, wine, etc. One thing you definitely are not short on are museums, especially art museums. We took some time to get cultured while in Paris and visited the Musee d’Orsay, and of course, the Louvre.

Musee d’Orsay

I had heard good things about the Orsay. Several people told me they liked it better than the Louvre. It’s full of impressionist art. That means Van Gogh, Manet, Monet, and many more. On top of really cool art, you can’t beat the location. The Orsay is located right off the Seine in an old train station. As you stand at one end of the long, open space, you can imagine what it looked like as a train station. The main reason I wanted to go was because it’s where Blair met Louis on Gossip Girl. Nope, no shame.

My biggest tip for you is to buy tickets ahead of time. I didn’t think it was going to be that popular, but we ended up waiting in line for a very long time, meaning we lost valuable time. We had about an hour to explore five floors of art. To be fair, it was the 26th and the Louvre was closed, so everyone was going to the other museums to see the art.

The Louvre

Then of course, there is the Louvre. The Louvre used to be the palace in Paris. Versailles is the crowned jewel of French palaces, but the Louvre was designed for the love of Italian architecture. Leonardo da Vinci and King Francis I were great friends. Da Vinci brought six paintings with him when he visited. He then died in France, meaning his paintings became French possessions and that is the reason for the Mona Lisa being in the Louvre. The popularity of the Mona Lisa is also only because it was stolen in the 20th century by an Italian nationalist who thought the Mona Lisa belonged to Italy.

The Louvre is massive. Don’t go in expecting to see all the art in one go. I’d honestly pick a few things you want to see and then go find them. There’s a Louvre app you can download for your phone that recommends things for you to see based on your preferences of art. It also tells the exact location. It’s pretty awesome to see art that you’ve always seen in books, movies, and TV in real life. Come prepared, though. Buy tickets ahead of time, too.

Arc de Triomphe

The Arc de Triomphe is pretty hard to miss. It’s in the center of the Place Charles de Gaulle and serves as the entrance to the Champs Elysses. Place Charles de Gaulle is also known as the Place de l’Etoile, or Star Plaza because twelve avenues run from the center out into the city, creating a star shape.

I was kind of shocked because if you want to get inside, you have to fork over some serious cash. Because I’m under 26, I was able to get a youth discount, which was €9, but my parents had to pay the full €12. This entrance fee lets you climb the stairs (catch your breath!) to the top, with some exhibitions along the way. At the top, there’s a great view over the city of Paris. There’s a location where you can get a nice photo with the Eiffel Tower in the background. At the bottom, there’s a tomb of an unknown soldier with an eternal flame that has been lit for many, many years.

If you don’t want to pay the extortionate amount of money, the Arc still gives awesome photo shots.

Eiffel Tower

A must-see, obviously. This is another site where it’s best to buy tickets ahead of time. By ahead of time, I mean months in advance. I think we bought our tickets in October and they were already selling out. Be prepared to go through security a hundred times, too. Even though you’ve bought a ticket, prepare yourself for lots of lines.

Also, fun fact so you don’t get freaked out: the Eiffel Tower was built on hydraulics. Unknown to me before going to Paris, it’s an incredibly windy city. That’s the reason the tower is hollow in the first place and it is purposely built to split the wind. Well because it’s so windy, the hydraulics system kicks in and moves the legs around to make it the most stable. My parents and I could feel it moving and it was such a weird feeling! We bought tickets to go to the summit and it was so windy. I could barely walk around!

Day Trip: Versailles

There are many places to go from Paris. I’m still not bitter about the whole Normandy thing. Nope. Anyways … the most popular is probably a trip to Versailles. It’s super easy to get there. All you need to do is to get a train and it drops you off in Versailles. You have to walk a little bit to get to the palace, but it’s not far.

Buy a ticket ahead of time. Of course, you still have to wait in a line to enter because of all the security checkpoints.

For those who don’t know, Louis XIV built the palace as a refuge away from Paris. It became the main residence for the royal family until the French Revolution when Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were famously evicted. Today, the palace stands are a monument to the grandeur of that era and you can get a front row view. There’s so much to see inside the palace – an audio guide is a must.

The gardens are world renowned and beautiful. Unless you go in December. The gardens are pretty massive; people were driving around in golf carts. I’ve heard in the summer it’s absolutely stunning. Unfortunately in December, everything is dead.

Weather

I was not prepared for the weather. In Madrid, it was pretty cold during December, but it was manageable. My parents and I felt miserable whenever we were outside in Paris. I had a big jackets and gloves, but that still wasn’t enough. I don’t know how my mom did it without gloves! Like I said earlier, it’s super windy, which makes the cold feel worse. To add onto that, it rained for most of the time we were there. We were miserable on our last day there. I couldn’t feel my toes!

Should I go to Paris?

Well that’s on you! There is so much to do in Paris, but you also have to come ready to sell your first child in order to be able to pay to eat and drink. Three cafe au laits cost us €15! Finding coffee, Coke, even water for less than €5 is nearly impossible. Paris is also one of those world famous cities that is on everyone’s lists. So maybe you’ll hate it, maybe you’ll like it, but you’ll never know until you go!