9-Day Trip to Paris - Vivian Tan

Drew had the opportunity to go to Paris for work and luckily for me, the timing worked out for me to go with him! We spent 9-days there in total – all vacation for me with a mix of work/play for Drew. This was my second time visiting Paris, my first being in college while I was studying abroad. This was Drew’s first time so we visited all of the major sites! Here is the itinerary for our 9-day trip to Paris.

Travel Accommodations

Airfare: Round-trip, non-stop flight with Delta Airlines operated by Air France from Houston (IAH) to Paris (CGD)

Hotel: Le Relais Saint Honore, 308 rue Saint-Honore 75001 Paris, France
This hotel was in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, which is essentially the center of Paris. We were a 5-minute walk to Line 1 of the Paris Metro and a 10-15 minute walk to many sites (ie. Jardin des Tuileries, The Louvre, Place de la Concorde). Would highly recommend this hotel!

Transportation: Paris Metro, Uber, walking.
We mainly walked around everywhere and only used the Metro or took an Uber when we were too tired to walk (late at night) or our destination was too far to walk to (Versailles). We took a taxi to/from the airport out of convenience.

Packing List

See my packing list here!

Day-by-Day Itinerary

Day 1

We arrived in Paris around 9 am. There were quite a few people at the customs line but we somehow got stamped to go in the short line. We arrived at our hotel around 10:30 am, dropped off our suitcases, and immediately left the hotel to start exploring.

Palace of Versailles

After realizing the metro was closed to Paris and we didn’t want to waste the day figuring out an alternate route, we took an Uber to the Palace of Versailles. Everywhere will tell you to go first thing in the morning to avoid the lines. Fortunately, we purchased our tickets in advance online and got to skip the ticket lines.

We walked through the Palace for about two hours and explored the Gardens for another two hours afterward. The Palace had a cafe, Angelina Paris, where we stopped to get lunch. I got a ham and cheese baguette because duh! During our exploration, we got a free audio guide that gave us background and history on all of the artwork, architecture, and sculptures.

If we had more time, I would have wanted to rent bikes to bike around the grounds to explore more! The gardens are so expansive and seem to go on forever. You could possibly spend all day there, exploring the Palace and gardens. When I visited in the summer during my study abroad, there were even swan paddle boats to ride!

Notre Dame Cathedral + Surroundings

We took an Uber to the Notre Dame Cathedral area. Unfortunately, the Cathedral was under renovation as a result of the fire so we looked from afar and continued to walk around the area. We walked by Conciergerie and Sante Chapelle across the river.

All of the travel blogs (and friends) recommended we stop by Shakespeare and Company bookstore. It was a surprisingly large, but very tight squeeze of a bookstore. We had to wait in a 5-minute line outside because only a certain number of people were allowed in the store at a time. Luckily for anyone in your group that doesn’t want to go into the bookstore (ahem, Drew), there is a coffee shop right next door.

Le Danton

Once we were done exploring, we headed to Le Danton for dinner. I had a hamburger patty with an egg over medium, salad, and grilled potatoes. It was another tight squeeze but didn’t have a wait in line so it was great for our hungry selves! It wasn’t our favorite restaurant, but a decent option for our first day in Paris. Jet lag was starting to hit so we went back to the hotel for an 8 pm bedtime.

Day 2

Day 2 was another site seeing day. Drew only had the weekends to explore so we made sure to fill today with many iconic and historic sites.

Eiffel Tower

We started early today and took the Metro line 1 at Tuileries, switch to line 8, and exit La Motte-Picquet – Grenelle to the Eiffel Tower. There was no line to get through security at the South Entrance. We purchased our tickets in advance online for the 2-level walk-up. You purchase tickets for a certain time slot. We actually purchased tickets online after we got there because the line for the elevators were a little too long for us. We chose a time that was 15 minutes after our arrival.

The walk was windy and shaky, but you can take breaks on the walk-up. The day we went we couldn’t walk to the top level because the wind was so windy! Once we reached the first level, we walked around each side and took pictures. Walking to the second level was shorter than the first. At the second level, there was a gift shop and rest areas. It was quite crowded with tour groups and people coming off of the elevator but great for a break.

The views of Paris were amazing! You could see across the river and museums and other sites across the city. We spent about 30 minutes taking photos and headed back down. Before we left, we took some pictures in front of the tower.

The Army Museum

Our next stop was to visit The Army Museum to see Napoleon’s Tomb. It was a 25-minute walk from the Eiffel Tower so we decided to walk the scenic route. We walked through Champ de Mars on our way.

When we reached the museum, we stopped at the Restaurant Bar for a quick snack. I got a ham and cheese baguette, because duh! Restaurant Bar is connected to the museum so once we were done snacking, we purchased our tickets and headed to the front entrance.

We got free audio guides at the entrance to give us some history, although Drew could pretty much tell you everything. It inside of the museum was incredible. There is every kind of stone you could think of with intricate carvings on every piece of art and history in the building.

The Louvre

We took a metro to the Louvre area to grab a late lunch before our 3 pm entrance time. We decided on lunch at La Cooperative. It was a less than 10-minute walk from the Louvre and had a cute covered patio so we could stay warm. I ordered a Nutella and strawberry crepe (my fave).

We purchased our tickets online for the Louvre for a specific time slot. About 20 minutes prior to our allotted entrance time, we headed over and got in line. The line for online ticket holders went pretty quickly so we were inside by our scheduled time.

Make sure to grab a map when you walk in because we used that at every step! While we at lunch, we decided to navigate the museum by finding the 10 most “iconic” pieces of art, including:

The Winged Victory of Samothrace
Psych Revived by Cupid’s Kiss
The Venus de Milo
Liberty Leading the People
The Coronation of Napoleon
Hammurabi’s Code
The Lamassu
Mona Lisa

We spent about 2.5 hours walking through the entire museum. It wasn’t terribly crowded but it was surprisingly warm. I had worn thermals under my clothes, so I scrambled to find a bathroom where I could remove my extra layers. Bathrooms are hard to find in the museum and when you find one, the lines are long, so plan accordingly.

After walking throughout the museum, we made the 15-minute walk back to our hotel to drop off a few things before dinner. We stopped by Eric Kayser for macarons and drinks. Eric Kayser is a bakery with multiple locations throughout Paris and plenty of seating. At this point in our day, we wanted to rest our feet and re-energize from the 20,000+ steps we made that day.

L’As du Fallafel

For our last meal of the day, we walked to L’As du Fallafel in the 4th arrondissement. It was a pretty late dinner for our standards (think 9 pm), but the restaurant was pretty crowded! We waited in line for 15-20 minutes before being seated. Once we ordered, the food came very quickly. I ordered a falafel wrap and devoured it!

Day 3

Drew had to start work today so he headed to La Defense, while I spent the day exploring with Drew’s cousin, Sarah, who came from Madrid.

Montmartre

Montmartre is an area in the 18th arrondissement with many twists, turns, and cozy streets. I took the metro to the Montmartre area to meet Sarah for brunch. Her hostel was at the bottom of the hill, so we made to upward trek to the top of the hill to get brunch at Hardware Society. This restaurant was on the side of the hill and felt like a cozy cafe. I ordered a croissant with an iced tea.

Sacre-Coeur Church

After brunch, we walked to the Sacre-Coeur Church. It was free to walk around and explore the church and the crypt in the lower level. It was a quick walkthrough as the main crypt area and tour of the upper dome required a paid ticket, so we passed on that and kept exploring Montmartre.

We walked through the winding streets and stumbled upon a square with many vendors and artists. This area was very lively with locals, shops, and markets. We stumbled upon a lot of Asian restaurants and bakeries, of course. It was so tempting to grab something to snack on during our stroll but held off until later in our day.

One of the destinations we wanted to stop by was the Love Wall. We hadn’t planned to visit, but it was on our way down from Montmartre. The Love Wall was in a crowded park, so we snapped a few pictures and continued on. We stumbled upon La creme de Paris and I got another Nutella and strawberry crepe.

Passages

There are many Passages throughout Paris that have shops, restaurants, salons, you name it! We walked through one that was near La creme de Paris and stopped by a souvenir shop to grab postcards for our friends and family. Had we not just grabbed a snack, we would have sat down at one of the cafes to sip and chat.

Pho 14

Sarah said she found Pho 14 another day and suggested we go there again. It was absolutely delicious! I had pho with chicken in chicken broth. There was thankfully no line and the food came quickly. We sat and chatted there for a few hours before making our way back towards our hotel.

Laduree

This post is slowly turning into a food diary because our next stop was Laduree, the well-known macaron shop. The first time I had Laduree was actually in New York a few years ago, and I have craved it ever since. They have their standard flavors and a few rotational/seasonal flavors as well. On this visit, I only got two flavors: vanilla and lemon.

Arc de Triomphe and area

After our snack run, we met Drew after his workday at the Arc de Triomphe. It was a quick visit as it was dark and we wanted to catch him up on site seeing. You could also purchase tickets to go to the top of the arch.

On our walk back to the hotel, we stopped by Palace Vendome and you guessed it, Eric Kayser. We dropped off some extra items from the day at the hotel, and headed to dinner nearby.

Inavoue

Drew’s co-worker recommended an area in Paris that was a 5-minute walk from our hotel. We had dinner at Inavoue, an Italian restaurant. It was on the pricier side, but for Sarah’s last meal, we decided to splurge. The restaurant had an outdoor area, but in order to escape the cold, we opted for indoor seating. The ambiance was cozy and cool with mood lighting.

Day 4

With Sarah going back to Spain and Drew at work, so I made my way to Disneyland!

Disneyland

One of my goals in life is to visit all of the Disney parks in the world, so Disneyland Paris was a must-see during my trip. I purchased my ticket in advance a few nights before but I would recommend purchasing your tickets weeks in advance so you have a chance to get the fast-pass option. I ordered too late and ended up waiting in hours worth of lines.

I took the RER train from my hotel straight to the park. It was a very easy trip and Disney was the last stop! An RER train ticket is separate from the main metro line, but you can purchase a ticket at any kiosk.

I arrived at the park 30 minutes prior to the opening time thinking I would be first in line. Unfortunately, everyone else in Paris thought the same. My plan was to experience the park left to right, but upon reflection, I wouldn’t recommend that. There are two parks: Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park. I started with Disneyland Park then moved over to Walt Disney Studios Park.

To be honest, I didn’t plan this day well and didn’t have the best experience. Here are a few things I would have done differently:

Purchase tickets weeks in advance to have the fast-pass option
First ride the attractions that we don’t have in America (Crush’s Coaster, Indiana Jones, Ratatouille, The Land of Fairy Tales)
Take motion sickness medicine (Crush’s Coaster ruined me)
Bring snacks for the long-lines

After I rode Crush’s Coaster, I honestly felt like I need to lay down so I headed back to the hotel via RER and did exactly that for the rest of the afternoon.

Kintaro

Once Drew got home from work, we headed to Kintaro for dinner. We were craving some Asian food so we found this Japanese restaurant. The line was on the longer side, but the wait staff seated based on the number of people so we didn’t wait too long before the party of two was called. I ordered ramen and Drew ordered katsudon with pork. We really enjoyed the change in cuisine from the standard French food we had been eating.

Day 5 to Day 7

These next few days I decided to take the days easily and casually stroll through Paris. Most of the days involved sleeping in and making it out right in time for brunch with shopping in the afternoon.

Ravioli Nord Est

One night after Drew came back for work, we were craving Chinese food and found Ravioli Nord Est. This place had the BEST pan-fried dumplings. We actually ended up ordering 2 additional plates of dumplings because they were so delicious.

Shopping

I wanted to do lots of shopping on my “off-days”. There are a lot of local shops throughout Paris as well as large shopping malls. Here are a few that I visited:

Les Halles shopping center
BHV Marais shopping mall
Galeries Lafayette (visit Cafe Lafayette for a snack and a view)
Le Marais neighborhood (Muji, Caudalie, Uniqlo)
La Defense shopping center
Brentano’s
LAVRUT Choiseul art supply store

Le Biscornu

Le Biscornu was a bar we went to with Drew’s coworkers one night after work. It was large but very cozy, just what you would think of when you think of a bar. They also had food there which was great!

Pro Tip: The glasses of beer are not pints, they are half liters so careful when drinking up!

Candelaria

The most beautiful Starbucks I have ever seen

We were craving tacos so we found somewhere on the way to our evening show. Candelaria place was tucked away on a small street and was extremely cozy. There were probably 4 bar seats and one table that sat 4-6 people. We each ordered 3 tacos each but could have eaten 10 more because they were a lot smaller than what we’re used to. After dinner, we made our way over to the most beautiful Starbucks for a quick evening pick-me-up.

Moulin Rouge

Our favorite event of the trip was definitely the Moulin Rouge! We purchased tickets for the late 11 pm show, although I’m not sure the show even started until 11:30 pm. Once we reached the performance hall doors, we were guided to our table. The performance hall was lively but extremely tight. We were seated across from each other at a table with 6-8 other strangers right in front of the stage.

The show was incredible! It was a mix of “circus acts” and the classic Moulin Rouge dances. We “split” a bottle of wine, but ended up sharing with the couple sitting next to us. The show lasted approximately 2 hours and it was super lively and highly entertaining!

Day 8

To start off our last weekend in the city, we had a full day of sightseeing and snacking.

Capri Saint-Honore

We woke up in time for brunch at Capri Saint-Honore. It was in the same area Drew’s coworker recommended for us near our hotel. We opted for indoor seating because it was slightly drizzling outside. The portions here were huge! I ordered a truffle risotto with mozzarella sticks. We definitely would have split a meal had we known the portions were so large.

Palais Garnier

After brunch, we headed toward Palais Garnier for our tour. We purchased our tickets online but everyone had to wait in the same entrance line to get through security. Once we got inside, we were free to roam all of the floors, rooms, and libraries. There was actually a rehearsal going on while we were there so we were able to peek through and see the action on stage!

Angelina’s Cafe

After our tour, we walked to Palace Vendome so Drew could see it! Sarah and I visited previously, but Drew loves history so it was a must-see for him. We stopped by Angelina’s Cafe on our way and picked up some of their famous hot chocolate to us to bring home and to give as a gift! I would have loved to do tea time inside but they were booked for the entire week!

Place de la Concorde & Place de la Bastille

Another few spots we visited as part of Drew’s must-see list. After dropping off our purchases from Angelina’s Cafe, we walked through the Jardin des Tuileries. The Place de la Concorde is one of the major squares in Paris and includes an Egyptian obelisk. We then walked to the Place de la Bastille, which was a square where the Bastille prison was located before it was destroyed.

Yakidai

On this night, we were craving sushi. Drew and I ventured to the other side of the river and found this sushi restaurant, Yakidai. We were the first ones there and were seated and served immediately. I was craving something “fresh” so I ordered a salmon sashimi plate that came with a side of gyoza and miso soup.

Day 9

For our final day, we did last-minute sightseeing and let ourselves wander throughout the city at our own pace.

Au Pavillion

As part of our morning stroll, we stopped at Au Pavillion for brunch. It was pretty crowded but we were seated at a small table by the corner. Unfortunately, we were table locked when the server seated a party of 10 next to us, completely blocking us in our little corner. I ordered the American breakfast with scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, hash browns, and pancakes.

Catacombs

After brunch, we made our way toward the Catacombs. We purchased our tickets in advance and I could not recommend this enough! We showed up at our designated time and got in the short line. The attendant let us in and we were in the Catacombs within 5 minutes. Otherwise, the line wrapped around the entire building.

At the entrance, we received audio guides that gave us the background and history of the catacombs. It took about 1 to 1.5 hours to walk through the entire catacombs. Make sure to use the restroom before because there are none in the catacombs.

On our way out, we stopped for another round of crepes and walked back to our hotel. Let me tell you, it was a long walk so make sure you have good walking shoes (thanks REI)!

Big Fernand

After we were able to relax a bit at the hotel, we headed out for our last meal in the city. This night we were craving burgers so we headed back to our favorite area and landed on Big Fernand. It was the perfect, hip spot for our last meal in the city. A little taste of home but with a French twist.