I’ve been lucky enough to travel to Paris several times – it’s an amazing city, filled with beautiful views, deep history, delicious food and wine, and just the right amount of Parisian snootiness. Many people dream of traveling to Paris, and there are an abundance of resources online recommending the best places to go. Here’s my take on what’s worth it, and what isn’t.
What to see
Eiffel Tower: well, this one is pretty obvious.
You can see the Eiffel tower from many spots in Paris, but you have to get up close and personal at least once. I don’t need to waste any more space writing about it, I’m pretty sure no one is going to Paris and leaving without visiting the Eiffel tower…but just in case.
Montmartre: many blogs recommend checking out this artistic and cute neighborhood perched on a hill in Paris. I personally was underwhelmed. The area was extremely crowded and touristy. I read many blogs that raved about the quaint shops located in the neighborhood, but I found mostly tacky gift shops, and tourists everywhere I went.
Palace of Versailles: it’s a day trip from Paris, sure (about an 45 minutes by train) but it’s so beautiful, classic, and historic, that I firmly feel any traveler should slot at least half a day in to experience (longer if you want to spend time exploring the gardens). I’ve been here twice – I believe it is an essential experience for those traveling to Paris to see how the Parisian royalty lived, and it’s beautiful.
You can organize a Versailles day trip on your own, or get in on a group tour. I personally prefer the group tour because the whole point of touring a historical palace is to hear the history, right?
However, let me add one caveat – Versailles is crowded. Especially when you are touring inside the palace, everyone is breathing down everyone else’s neck and it’s close to impossible to get a photo with no one in it. This shouldn’t stop you from experiencing the history however, but be warned!
Where to eat
Paris is all about the café culture!
Everyone and every blog will tell you to eat at Le Deux Magots or Cafe de Flore, which are two extremely famous Parisian cafes. The wait to actually eat at one of these revered spots can be lengthy however (there are often hordes of people waiting for a table just a few steps away from the cafe’s poetic awnings).
At another highly recommended café in St. Germain-de-Pres, La Maison Sauvage, I was able to snag a table and enjoy a croissant by myself for a bit. But overall, I felt that the vibes at all of these famous cafes were not authentically Paris – they were just catering to tourists, and lacked the feeling of real French café culture.
Instead, I recommend wandering around any Parisian neighborhood until you find an unassuming outdoor café without a famous name, that does not have 10 people snapping photos of the exterior….and that’s where you sit down and order yourself a drink!
Moving on to dinner spots: the Big Mamma group is famous in Paris. The group owns several restaurants in Paris, all with different vibes (all with the word Mamma in the name – Ober Mamma, East Mamma, Pink Mamma, et cetera), but all extremely popular – the lines to get a table for dinner can wrap around the corner.
I was lucky enough to get a reservation at Pink Mamma (when I say lucky, I mean I set multiple alarms for 30 days in advance at 9am when reservation time slots are released). Pink Mamma is an Italian trattoria with incredibly Instagrammable interior design. Sometimes the food at “Instagram restaurants” fails to measure up to the décor, but luckily, Pink Mamma delivered on all fronts. Conclusion: this spot is an absolute must.
Another restaurant we tried was Liberto, which is near the Les Halles shopping center. The interior of this place is really unique, but I don’t think the food was particularly memorable….since I can’t remember what I ordered.
I do remember that we saw a mouse running above our heads at one point in the maze of greenery – I’m sure this was just one of the many mice inhabiting Parisian restaurants, but it wasn’t the most appetizing display.
And if you need a snack, make sure to get yourself some crepes – this is Paris! Luckily there is a creperie around every corner. My crepe experiences spanned the gamut, from subpar to absolutely delicious.
I had a vacation vision of eating crepes in front of the Eiffel tower, but when it came time to put the plan into action, I couldn’t find a creperie within a half mile radius. We ended up grabbing plain Nutella crepes from the lone food cart that is parked on the Champ-de-Mars in front of the Eiffel tower…suffice to say, these were far from gourmet.
The best crêperie I tried was in Le Marais, when we stopped for a pick-me-up sugar rush after a long afternoon of shopping (more about this below). Creperie Marie Madeline was adorable, authentic, and delicious, and I highly recommend if you are in the area. They have both crepes-to-go from an outdoor cart, as well as an indoor section with waitstaff.
Where to shop
I love a designer bag as much as the next girl (or quite possibly more than…see my latest post on the Dior Saddle Bag here). But when I tried shopping along the Champs-Élysées as so many sources recommend, I was overwhelmed by the throngs of tourists. Every designer store had a line out the door – when every minute counts, perhaps it’s not the right move to waste 4 hours in a line at Louis Vuitton. Paris is waiting, people!
Instead, when making your way to the Champs-Élysées, I would recommend stopping at Ladurée. This spot is crowded too, but the line moves quickly, so you are in and out in a flash (with macarons!). There is nothing as purely French as colorful, mouthwatering macarons in a souvenir-worthy box.
For more shopping, I suggest skipping the Champs-Élysées and heading to the neighborhood of Le Marais for some adorable and unique shopping experiences. I was enchanted by this area and couldn’t get enough of the dainty jewelry and eclectic home goods stores.
My favorite store in Le Marais was Fleux – a quirky home goods store with the perfect unique souvenir for any person on your list. The candle section was massive and I spent way too long smelling each one.
I also found an adorable bijoux (jewelry shop) in Le Marais called Nilai (the store also has two other locations in Paris, near Saint Germain and St Honoré). I bought two pairs of drop huggie earrings here, but could have been persuaded to buy another 5 pairs easily. The next time I’m in Paris I will definitely be visiting this store to see what new jewelry they have (and it’s reasonably priced!)
Some of the other unique stores I liked in Paris generally included Zag Bijoux, L’Atelier d’Amaya, and L’Avant Gardiste.
Activities to hit
We spent one evening at a wine and cheese pairing class in the cellar of an artisan cheese shop – I cannot recommend this enough, especially if you are as into fromage as yours truly. The class was held by Paroles de Fromagers, lasted about 2 hours, and spanned 9 different cheeses and 6 different wines. The experience was remarkable, based on both the knowledge gained, and the wine/cheese pairings tasted. You end up eating a ton of cheese and bread, so maybe don’t make dinner reservations for after! This was hands down one of my favorite things I did in Paris – if you’re into wine and cheese, this is a must-do activity.
And the most important activity recommendation of all – just wander. Find all the amazing corners of Paris that aren’t mentioned in the travel blogs. I don’t know where I took half of the photos below, but I know the experience of discovering my own version of Paris was bewitching, and I’ll be back for more.
Let me know if you’ve been to any of these places and what you thought!
