A Place to Visit – Paris


A couple of weeks ago I've visited one of the most beautiful cities of the world, Paris. I had been there already once with my parents when I was very young, but just wanted to explore the city by myself now, and enjoy the beauties of what is considered to be the most romantic city in the world.

I stayed there 3 days, and I tried to organise my time so that I was able to see as much as possible – even though its impossible to see everything in just 3 days, Paris is definitely too big and too rich in places to see. Nevertheless, take a block notes and organise your days properly, you'll be able to enjoy a lot of what Paris can offer!


Louvres, Arc de Thriomphe, Notre Dame, and of course, Madame La Tour
Paris is a fairly big city, so what I did was taking the map, and circle all the places I wanted to visit. Then I divided the map in zones that I could have visited in a day, and organized my staying according to that. The first day I went straight to Louvres, as soon as I get into city. 


I wanted to see the wonderful Mona Lisa since I was a kid, and as on my previous visit it was not possible, I decided to to it now. I have to admit, I didn't visit the whole Louvres; that museum is massive, and you will probably need a whole day to see all of it. I only chose some areas I really wanted to explore, and left the others for my next visit.


The Louvres is situated in the middle of city, so from there you can really move anywhere you like. I decided to move towards the left side of the Seine, and get to the 7th Arrondissement of the city, where the beautiful Eiffel tower is situated. I didn't climb up to the top, I just stayed around and tried some delicious crepes from a street kiosk, and then had a walk towards the boulevards, leading me to the famous Arc de Triomphe.


From there, after lunch I took the metro for the 5th Arrondissement, to see the famous Notre Dame cathedral. I have to say I remembered it much bigger and majestic, while it is pretty small. Nevertheless, the inside (as for the outside) is awesome, and worth a visit, no doubt. Exactly on the road opposite Notre Dame all book lovers will be pleased to know they can find Shakespeare and Company, the famous English book shop, so characteristic, with a wide section of second hand books, and a beautiful second floor rich of ancient and very old tomes, that will make you feel like jumping into the 17th century.

Versailles
I finally had dinner in little restaurant close to the Opera, and then went back to my place, ready for the following day.


My second day was all dedicated to Versailles. The massive castle is situated outside the city, and you need to get a train to go there. There's a cue to get in, but it goes pretty quickly. Then you can get audio guides (in any language) which will explain you the meaning and use of each single room. The gardens then are stunning, and I think a visit is worthy even only to have a walk in that massive land of green. It was a beautiful experience, and I dearly recommend it.

Moulin Rouge, Sacreé Coeur, Galerie Lafayette
As for my last day, I went up to the northern side of the city, to see the famous Pigaille neighbourhood (the famous red light district), in particular cause I wanted to see the Moulin Rouge


Obviously, as I get there in the morning, the place was closed, but it still was very nice seeing it. Very close to that neighbourhood you can find Sacreé Coeur, the Basilica situated on the top of Montmartre, which is the highest point of the city. From there, you have Paris on your feet, and can enjoy one of the most beautiful landscape of the whole city.


Finally, if you fancy some good (and expensive) shopping, you could go back to the city centre, and enjoy some of the most beautiful Paris shops in Galerie Lafayette.

Tips and Tricks to Enjoy your Stay
Organization
As Paris is a big city, so overwhelming and full of places to see, I would suggest you to take your map and organize it in zones, to have an idea of your daily places to see, like I did. In this way you won't lose too much time in travelling with the bus or the metro from one side to the other of the city, and will have much more time to enjoy each bit.
Try to get organized if you'd like to see the museums or Versailles as well, and buy tickets online before your departure. That will make you jump the cue, both to buy entrance tickets and security scans (in both the Louvres and Versailles you need to pass through a security scan, like in the airport, before getting in).


I bought my tickets online, and that gave me the possibility to skip the cue using a particular “fast track route”, and save a lot of time! I bought them on the official Versailles and Louvres web sites, that you can find here:
The only down side in buying Louvres tickets online is that you need to specify date and time of your visit, and you only have half an hour to play with if you don't want to lose your privileges. Like, if you say you're planning to visit on the 5th of May at 14.00, you can get there at 14.30 the last if you still want to skip the cue, otherwise they will let you skip the ticket cue, but not the security one.

Public Transport
Paris is really well connected, and has a huge metro maze, buses, regional trains, all of them taking you around the city. However, they are expensive. You can buy a daily ticket, that you can use both on metro and buses (but not regional trains) for 7.30 euros, but if I can give you a tip, try to go to Paris on a Monday, so that you can use their Carte Navigo Decouverte, which costs 22.50 euros, but lasts a whole week, and includes the use of regional trains (which you will need to go to Versailles, for example) and transport to and from the airports. Unfortunately this travelcard can only be used starting from a Monday, so if you go there on a Wednesday, for example, you could not use it. If you think of all the money you would use to move around the city and go back to the airport, that travelcard is the most convenient.



Eating Out
Paris is a very expensive city, no doubt about it. I went out with a friend who lives there for a pizza, and we had a starter, a pizza and a glass of wine each. We paid 45.00 euros each. And it was not the most expensive place down there.
So, what I would suggest you to do, is to eat out only if there's something you really want to try. Like, the famous macarons from Ladureé, or the delicious crepes in the small local shops, or a yummy pain au chocolat in the morning from a lovely boulangerie. But as for snacks and lunch, I would suggest to buy your baguette in a supermarket and eat your panini or sandwiches through the day, so you can save a bit on restaurants.


I hope you might find this little post helpful. If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask, I will be more than happy to answer! Take care! xoxo

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