A Plan for Paris

Our trip is still more than a few months away but I cant help but plan and I want to share my plans and thoughts with y'all! Even though we are taking a tour on our trip to Europe (Trafalgar Tours) I am still engulfing myself with what we will do with our free time and our extra day in Paris (and I have to say I am wishing we had stayed an extra 2 days in Paris!). If you Google things to do in Paris you’ll find many lists of sites to see and place to eat. So I am going to sum things up for you! This post will be about things to SEE in Paris and then I’ll do one on where to eat!

We will arrive in Paris in the late afternoon/early evening; we'll call that Day 1. And then we have one full day with the tour, Day 2, and then we'll have one full day on our own, Day 3. We depart on Day 4. 

After looking at many lists I have compiled the following:

Day 1 

After arriving in Paris, we check into our hotel in the La Défense area. Then we have the option to see the famous Moulin Rouge cabaret show.  We just can’t justify the $200 per person price tag, although past travelers have said it’s totally worth it. So what I think what we’ll do is go with the group but on the bus (free transportation) but we’ll just walk around the Montmartre area and see the Sacre Coeur Basilica and grab a bite to eat.

Day 2

This is our first full day in Paris and it will be jammed packed! We’ll have the city tour which will include photo ops of: Arc de Triomphe, Champ-Elysees, Notre Dame Cathedral, and the Palais Garnier Opera House. We will get to go up to the second level of the Eiffel Tower and enjoy the wonderful views!

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We will also make our way to the Palace of Versailles to tour the palace and walk to grounds. In the evening we’ll have diner included and take a river cruise on the Seine!

Day 3

Day 3 we’ll leave our hotel in La Défense (leaving out tour group as well) and head to our new hotel near Notre Dame… I’m thinking an early morning, maybe wake up at 6 and out the door by 7 to hopefully be at our new hotel by 7:30. Once at the new hotel we’ll either check in or leave our bags for them to hold and we will start our day of walking the city. I pretty much want to make a loop from our hotel area to the Arc de Triomphe, go to the top if it’s a clear day, and then make our way back to the hotel. On this loop we’ll see:

Arc de Triomphe

The Louvre area (Jardin des Tuileries, Place de la Concorde, Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel)

Pont Alexandre III & Grand Palais

Champ-Elysees 

Sainte Chapelle

Notre Dame Cathedral 

Pont de l’Archeveche (one of the bridges with locks on it)

Luxembourg Gardens

Hotel de Ville (seat of the French Government)

Place des Vosges

We have decided we aren't going to go into any of the museums since we just won’t have the time. I have mapped this all out and our walk for our free day will be 10 miles (16.1 km) and take 3.5 hours! So I definitely think it will take all day with stops, I am hoping some quick rides on the subways will help save us some time!