Top things to do in Paris 

Best time to travel:  During Spring and Summer season – April to August

Must see: Louvre museum, Eiffel Tower, Disney Land, Galleries Lafayette, Avenue des Champs-Elysees, Notre Dam, Versailles Palace

My five words to describe Paris: grand, historical, classy, neat, delicious

This little piggy cried wah wah wah all the way home. Post-vacation-blues suck but not-on-vacation-blues are worse. While waiting for my next adventure, I have been reminiscing on my past trips. One of my favourite places that I was fortunate to visit is Paris, France. Serious nostalgia kicked in while I shared some of the pictures on my Instagram account (@Gophari).

I had gone to England for my cousin’s wedding – which was so fun and special. After that, my parents and I took the Eurostar train from London to Paris. It’s a high speed train that travels at speeds up to 300km/h so you arrive in 2 hous and 22 minutes.

Visit Louvre Museum

One of the first places we visited was the Louvre museum. It is HUGE. It’s the largest and most visited museum in the world.
I am not well informed on art history  and so I honestly did not expect to enjoy my visit there as much as I did.  In order to get the most out of the visit, we opted to each rent a multimedia guide (Portable digital interface with audio via earphones). The guide was a big help – it provides explanations of the art as you navigate through the museum.

The most popular art work was definitely, Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. In true modern day style, the crowd huddled in front of this painting was all trying to take the perfect selfie with it. There is a barrier in place that doesn’t let you too close making it a bit difficult, but I managed to get one!

The ceilings are decorated with so much detailed art that you spend a lot of time staring upwards and taking photos that always end up falling short of capturing how incredible it actually looks. I remember thinking to myself, “I have never been in such a beautiful space before.”

 

 

 

Ascend the Eiffel Tower

Of course you must visit the Eiffel Tower. I remember how excited I was when I first caught a glimpse of it from a distance. Standing before it was a travel dream!

There is an elevator that takes you to the different levels of the tower. The higher you go, the more you pay. So if you are afraid of heights, you do not have to miss out but can instead stop at the first level. We stopped at each level to appreciate the expanding view. Here’s a photo that I took from the top:

 

Shop at Galeries Lafayette

We only realised on our last day in Paris that our hotel was just up the road from Galeries Lafayette. Picture this, a grand, beautifully designed store selling designer everything  without that cold atmosphere that high end designer shops usually have. There is an entire floor for shoes! And the prices – let’s just say I was an expert window shopper that day!

 

 

 

Explore the streets by foot

The Parisian streets are what dreams are made of! Champs-Elysees is a 1.9km avenue lined with restaurants, boutiques, flagship stores and high end designer outlets.

Although public transport is very efficient in Paris , we walked most of the time. We walked from the Louvre to Arc de Triomphe to the Eiffel Tower. Pack comfortable shoes so that you don’t end up having to share the one pair of Nikes because the soles of the cute boots are making your feet hurt.

 

Indulge in sweet treats

Macaroons! Tarts! Pastries! There are sooo many Patisseries (pastry shops) and boulangeries (bakeries) in Paris that show off their enticing treats through their shop windows.  You can’t be on a diet on holiday! #Gopharigospel

Do you know which country Nougat originates from? I’m not telling but it starts with a F and ends with an E and has an ANC in the middle. We stumbled upon a food market where we saw the biggest slabs of nougat. I’m not that into nougat, so I opted for a crepe filled with banana and Nutella  instead.

 

Notre-Dame Cathedral is one of the largest church buildings in the world. I had known the name from the Disney classic, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, but did not know to expect such a beautiful building.

And lastly, Disney Land oh Disney Land. I need a separate post for this one

 

For those who have been to Paris, how would you describe it?

For those who haven’t yet been, how do you imagine it to be?