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paris, travel rebonjourlafrance paris, travel rebonjourlafrance

top 5 things to do in Paris

top 5 things to do in Paris

 
 

If you are visiting Paris for the first time or you have been many times and want to do something different here are my top 5 things to do/see!

 

1) Tour Montparnasse

If you want to see a 360 view of Paris but want to avoid the lineups at the Eiffel Tower and actually want to capture the Eiffel Tower in your photos - I highly recommend going up the Tour Montparnasse instead! It is the only modern skyscraper type building in central Paris and it is 56 floors high so it is not hard to miss but you may just think it is an office building and not a place that you can visit! You can get there by going to the metro stop ‘Montparnasse’ and follow the signs. Once you have your ticket you then get to take Europe’s fastest elevator and in 38 seconds, you arrive on the ‘panoramic floor’ which is the 56th floor. There you can see the view of Paris from inside and get a glass of wine or champagne to sip on while you take in the gorgeous view. But the highlight is to find the stairway for the rooftop which is called the ‘terrace’ and you are outside on the roof of the building with a 360 view of the city! The main highlight is the Tour Eiffel which is directly in front of you! I highly recommend going at the end of the day so you can get photos in daylight and as the sun sets, and if you stay until 8pm you will see the first sparkle of the Tour Eiffel!

2) Seine River Boats

Another great vantage point to see Paris is to hop on one of the boats along the Seine, and this way you pass by many of the monuments and pass under beautiful bridges. You may see different ones and not know which one to take as there are many - some are basic sightseeing ones and then there are other companies that offer more elaborate experiences such as dinners and gourmet lunches etc. If you dont have much time I recommend taking the sightseeing ones and they are cheaper as well and usually have a few stops you can get on or off, so you could even take one to your next destination or monument. They are usually around an hour long and under 20€ per person. Here are a few options with links: Bateaux Mouches, Bateaux Parisiens & Vedettes de Paris .

3) The Marais

Wander aimlessly through the Marais neighbourhood to enjoy the winding streets filled with beautiful architecture, go shopping, sit at quaint cafes, peruse historic museums and stroll through the pretty parks. The Marais is a historic district in central Paris located along the right bank or ‘rive droite’ in French within the 3rd and 4th arrondissements/ neighbourhoods. Some of my favourite museums are the Musée Carnavalet, Musée Picasso, Musée Cognacq-Jay and the Maison Européenne de la Photographie. The prettiest parks are Place des Vosges {the oldest planned square in Paris} and Square du Temple - Elie Wiesel. The best shopping streets are Rue des Francs Bourgeois, Rue des Rosiers, Rue Vieille-du-Temple and the BHV Department Store {that has been there since 1856!}.

4) Parks/Jardins of Paris

There are several large and beautiful parks known as ‘Jardins’ throughout Paris which are pretty to walk through, take a break from shopping or museums, sit at the fountains or have a coffee. Each of them are near major monuments/museums making them easy to visit or pass through. This are the ones to put on your list - ‘Jardin du Luxembourg’ {also has the Fontaine Medicis} and ‘Jardin des Plantes’ on the Rive Gauche/Left Bank, and the ‘Jardin des Tuileries’ and the ‘Jardin du Palais-Royal’ on the Rive Droite/Right Bank. If you have kids they have playgrounds and ferris wheels as well.

5) Walk/Have a picnic along the Seine

There are many places to walk along the Seine and take in Paris from a different view point but my favourite places are around or across from the Islands in the center of the city known as - ‘Ile de la Cité’ and ‘Ile Saint Louis’, as well as the Seine between the bridges Pont Marie to Pont Neuf & most of the year it is filled with bars and cafes. You will find stairways everywhere to take you down to the river. Stop in at a grocery store beforehand and pick up some cheese, charcuterie, paper cups and some wine/champagne, and then go to a ‘boulangerie’ which is a bakery and pick up a ‘tradition’ style baguette so that you can have a picnic! You are allowed to openly drink alcohol anywhere in Paris so don’t worry about that. Don’t forget to buy or bring a wine opener or if you get champagne you won’t need one and just pop the bottle!

 
 
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lifestyle, paris, food/wine rebonjourlafrance lifestyle, paris, food/wine rebonjourlafrance

perfect day in the Marais

 

The Marais neighbourhood is where I live in Paris and it is such a charming area in the 4th arrondissement with so much to see and do! Here are some of my favourites if you are looking for a walking itinerary on your next visit!

Start off your day at the Pont Marie bridge or Pont Marie metro stop and walk over to the château-like Bibliothèque Forney {which is actually a library} and then meander through the enchanting courtyards of the charming Village Saint Paul filled with artisans and cafes, and you will see the backside of Eglise Saint-Paul {church}. From there walk over to busy Rue St-Antoine where you will find the Hôtel de Sully {which is not a hotel but a historic building with pretty gardens} and in the back corner of the garden is a hidden passage that leads through to the beautiful Place des Vosges park {which is the oldest planned square in Paris}.

By this point you may be wanting a coffee to go {called ‘emporter’ in French} and you can grab one at the Yellow Tucan coffee shop on Rue des Tournelles, and then make your way over to the Bastille monument where the French Revolution started. If it’s a Thursday or Sunday the Marché Bastille outdoor food market while be there on Rue Richard Lenoir and you can peruse the stalls & pick up some French treats!

After seeing all this food you might be hungry and I recommend trying to get in for lunch at the popular Chez Janou restaurant that serves delicious Provencal cuisine and has the best chocolate mousse {you could stop by after the Yellow Tucan to make a reservation in person as it’s quite close}. Afterwards you can stroll down one of the best shopping streets in the Marais called Rue des Francs-Bourgeois. A few blocks down is where you will find the Musée Carnavalet ~ which is free and you can learn all about the history of Paris while overlooking stunning courtyard gardens. Last but not least you can walk back towards the Seine river and finish your day close to where you started ~ by having an apéro cocktail or beer on the sunny patio of Le Louis Philippe restaurant!

To see the reel I made that shows all of these places you can go to my instagram and look for ‘perfect day in Marais’ post which I have linked here.

Here are the addresses of the itinerary to help find your way with website & instagram links:

» Pont Marie ~ bridge or metro station

» Bibliothèque Forney ~ 1 Rue du Figuier {@bibforney}

» Village Saint-Paul ~ Rue des Jardins Saint-Paul {@villagesaintpaulparis}

» Hôtel de Sully ~ 62 Rue St-Antoine {@librairie_de_sully}

» Place des Vosges ~ 9 Place des Vosges {@parisjetaime}

» Yellow Tucan ~ 20 Rue des Tournelles {@yellowtucan}

» Marché Bastille ~ 13–21 Boulevard Richard Lenoir {@parismaville}

» Chez Janou ~ 2 Rue Roger Verlomme {@chezjanou} 

» Musée Carnavalet ~ 16 Rue des Francs-Bourgeois {@museecarnavalet}

» Le Louis Philippe ~ 66 Quai de l'Hôtel de Ville {@lelouisphilippeparis}

 
 
 
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paris, travel Guest User paris, travel Guest User

the best viewpoints of Paris

 

When you think of going to Paris and wonder where would the best view of the city be, normally the first place that would come to mind would be the Eiffel Tower {Tour Eiffel}! You can either take the stairs up or take a lift up to the first two floors and to reach the top of the tower you need to take a separate lift. Each floor has a different and prettier view than the last as you get higher and higher. I recommend taking the stairs up to the first two floors {it doesn’t take too long & wasn’t too difficult} and you get to look at the view as you go up, and it is even easier walking down. You can also have a drink and/or bite to eat on each floor at the cafes and as you get higher the price does too! :) I think that the best time to go up the Tour Eiffel is dusk/sunset and then you can stay up there or be at the base looking up for the first sparkling of the lights at 8pm!

The Tour Eiffel really is a wonderful place to take in a 360 degree view of Paris but there are also many other great places to take in the City of Light from higher up and most of them you also get to see the Tour Eiffel in your view which makes it even better! Below is a list of some of my favourite monuments to take in the beauty of Paris, along with photos of each of the views that I captured from these viewpoints!

For all the information you need for visiting ~ click on the title of each which will take you to their website. Another great viewpoint not mentioned below is from the top of the bell tower of the Cathedralé Notre-Dame, but unfortunately since the fire that happened in 2019 the cathedralé and the lookout have been closed as they re-build the cathedralé, so in the meantime these are some great viewpoint alternatives.


Tour Montparnasse

The Tour Montparnasse is in the the 7th arrondissement and is one of the few modern buildings in Paris ~ it is 56 floors high so it is hard to miss but you may just think it is an office building and not a place that you can visit! You can get there by going to the metro stop ‘Montparnasse’ and follow the signs. Once you have your ticket you then get to take Europe’s fastest elevator and in 38 seconds, you arrive on the ‘panoramic floor’ which is the 56th floor. There you can see the view of Paris from inside and get a glass of wine or champagne to sip on while you take in the gorgeous view. But the highlight is to find the stairway for the rooftop which is called the ‘terrace’ and you are outside on the roof of the building with a 360 view of the city! The main highlight is the Tour Eiffel which is directly in front of you! I highly recommend going at the end of the day so you can get photos in daylight and as the sun sets, and if you stay until 8pm you will see the first sparkle of the Tour Eiffel!

The Tour Saint-Jacques is a tower in the 4th arrondissement {the Marais} that I would walk by all the time and had no idea until recently that you could actually go to the top ~ so on my last trip to Paris I went! The nearest metro stops are ‘Hôtel de Ville’ or ‘Châtelet’. It dates back to the 16th century and was once the bell tower of the Saint-Jacques church, which was sold during the Revolution as a stone quarry so the church was destroyed and the stones were used all over Paris to build new buildings! But the one thing they did keep and preserve was the tower. In order to visit you need to sign up for a guided tour {link in the title} and you walk in a single file line up winding stairs that equates to about 300 steps or 16 floors {so they recommend if you have difficulty climbing stairs or are claustrophobic not to go}. They stop a third of the way of up for about 10 minutes to tell you more about the history before making the final ascent to the rooftop. Once at the top you have about 10-15 minutes to take in the 360 beautiful view {main highlights are the Panthéon, the Cathedralé Notre-Dame, the Hôtel de Ville & the Tour Eiffel} and take as many photos as you want before descending back down together.

The Arc de Triomphe in the 8th arrondissement is one of the most well known monuments in Paris and is situated at the end of the famous shopping street Champs Élysées in the centre of Place Charles du Gaulle and was completed in 1836. The nearest metro stops are ‘Charles de Gaulle Etoile’ or ‘Kleber’. The Arc de Triomphe honors those who fought and died for France during the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, with the names of all French victories and generals inscribed on the monument. On my recent trip it was entirely wrapped in fabric as part of an art exhibition by Christo and Jeanne-Claude which was super cool! This is another climbing monument ~ there are 284 steps to the top! But for those that have reduced mobility there are two elevators for priority access. It offers a totally different view point than the others including the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur, La Défense {modern downtown of Paris} , the Tour Eiffel and the Champs Élysées.

The Basilique du Sacré-Coeur is the Roman Catholic church that sits above all of Paris as it is located at the highest point in the city in the Montmartre area in the 18th arrondissement and is one of the most visited monuments in Paris. The nearest metro stops are Pigalle, Anvers and Abbesses ~ but if you go to Anvers and Abbesses there is a cable car/funicular that takes you to the top. Construction began in 1875 and was completed in 1914 and is unique in Paris as it is the only Romano-Byzantine style church, and one of it’s bells is the fifth largest in Europe! You can climb up into the dome for a magnificent view but also at the church base there is a beautiful panoramic view of Paris which lays out below you. There are tiered steps and grass to sit on to take in the sweeping views, and there are usually performers or singers there to entertain you as well. Afterwards you can wind your way through the enchanting streets, cafes and shops of Montmartre.

The Institut du Monde Arab is a lesser known place to take in views of Paris despite being in the heart of the Paris and close to the Cathedralé Notre-Dame. It is in the 5th arrondissement along the Seine at the end of Pont du Sully, and the closest metro stops are Cardinal Lemoine, Jussieu and Sully Morland. It is a modern and architecturally interesting 11 floor building that was built in the 1980’s and the facade reinterprets traditional Arab latticework screens in glass and steel with 30,000 light-sensitive diaphragms that are designed to regulate the penetration of light into the building! The institute promotes collaboration between France and the Arab nations mostly in the realms of technology and science, and it houses a museum, a 100k volume library, an auditorium, offices, as well as a cafe and a restaurant. The pretty view of Paris is from the terrace of their restaurant ‘Le Zyriab’ on the 9th floor, and you can go up to see the view from the terrace even if you are not dining there! You have views of the Cathedralé Notre-Dame and the Île de la Cité, as well as Île Saint-Louis all right there before you!

 
 
 
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