First Year Anniversary, a Year Later (Part 2, Paris)
After spending 2.5 days in London, we head over to Paris for another 2 nights. This was a huge mistake, as it’s not nearly enough time to really explore everything. There are just so much stuff to see and explore and 2 nights, let alone 1.5 full days is too short. So please do not do that.
In any case, we’re still glad we did Paris during this trip and did as much as we could. So if you ever find yourself in Paris for 2 days, this itinerary is for you.
Where to Stay
We recommend staying in the heart of Les Marais. The neighborhood is pretty poppin’ and there are a lot of places for night life. And everything from this place is walkable like the famous Pont Neuf.
Day 1
We got in around almost dinner time, so our first night was a short exploration of the neighborhood we stayed at and of course food.
We had two dinners because we really wanted to try so many restaurants and realizing that we were limited in time, eating at two places was kind of necessary. It helped that our best friend, George was there. More people means more food we could try.
For our first dinner, we really wanted to dive into that French food. We found this cute and rustic restaurant called Le Temps des Cerises.
Knowing the nature of French food, it’s pretty hearty so a walk after dinner was a must. We found ourselves walking down the Pont Neuf and it was lovely. We recommend walking through it during day time and night time. Both are very different experience.
Our second dinner, we tried the really famous L’ AS du FALLAFEL. Since we were still full, we only ordered two things but it was still worth it.
Day 2
All the major possible attractions we could do for a day, we definitely did.
First stop: Louvre Museum
We recommend purchasing the tickets in advanced to avoid lines and also, tickets being sold out. The museum is so big, you literally could spend the whole day in it. But since we were pressed for time, we only hit the exhibits that we know we shouldn’t miss, like seeing Mona Lisa.
Second stop: Lunch at Le Comptoir De La Gastronomie
At this point, we were still in the French food kick. This place was actually recommended by one of our friends that is a foodie, so we had to go and see it for ourselves. Make sure you order something with Foie Gras, since that is what they are known for.
Third stop: Norte Dame
We took the train from our lunch spot to our next destination. Every time we go to Europe and go to an iconic church, we always tell ourselves, “It’s probably going to look like… this church, from this place”, but every single time, we’re proven wrong. Norte Dame as any other of the iconic churches all over Europe is unique and distinct. The intricacies and history of this sanctuary was just incredible and humbling all at the same time.
Fourth stop: Eiffel Tower
This stop was just so surreal for all of us. The walk leading up to the park from the train station was just pure excitement. As we kept getting closer and closer to the tower, we were speechless. We both took French as our foreign language in school (3 years of high school for me, and 8 years for Jon) and this place was all in them videos and books, and seeing it person was like a dream come true. It was just insane.
We decided not to get a ticket to go on the tower itself but rather just walk the park and just stare at it as long as we could.
A little tip for better picture:
If you want a super dope picture with the Eiffel Tower being in the background, we suggest to walk all the way on the other side of the park to Palace de Chaillot. Probably a good 15-20 mins walk but we guarantee you, it’s worth every single step.
Just like our recommendations for Pont Neuf, we recommend for you to see the Eiffel Tower both during the day time and night time. And see and feel the magic and romance during both times.
Fifth stop: Sacre-Coeur
We headed our way to the other side of town to MontMarte and got a work out from climbing our way up to Sacre-Couer.
Last stop: Arc de Triumph and Champs-Elysees
For our last attraction of the day, we marveled at the incredible Arc de Triumph and walked part of the Champs-Elysees. Which were all just so surreal for all of us!
With all the walking that day we were starving but we were a little French food-out so we ended up checking out the Vietnamese food scene and found ourselves at Dong Huong for some pho.
LAST DAY
We only have half a day to spare before we went to our next destination so we didn’t really do any attractions but just walked around and found these amazing food spots.
Liberté Bakery - incredible pastries and baked goods that are freshly made. Seemed like a lot of locals come here for their morning eats.
Walked around more to just soaked in all the architecture and culture until we got hungry again and ended up at this amazing fusion restaurant, Siseng that ended up inspiring us later that year to recreate one of the dishes we had. Highly recommend this place if you want a break from all the French food.
Definitely a super short Paris trip, but we loved every single moment of it. You guys already know that we’ll be coming back again and we’ll be staying longer of course.