9 Days in Paris

In May of 2022 our family, who was living in Germany at the time, took a trip to Paris.  It was always my husband’s dream to really do Paris, so we took 9 days (2 travel days and 7 days of full site-seeing.  

My pictures paint a small picture of the grandeur and beauty that is Paris, but here is a small travel diary of what we saw.  We planned on doing just one big thing a day.  We didn’t want to stress ourselves out and, really, you cannot see an entire city in 3 days.  I am of the opinion that trips where one city-hops are not enjoyable.  Take a trip for 7 days to one city.  Get to know the city and you will be enriched far more than just seeing the three main sites. And, besides, the Louvre cannot be done in one day and so you have to muscle your way through that.  (We chose just one long afternoon for the Louvre just because we had other things to see.)

We drove to Plaisir, France on Sunday night.  Plaisir is a small village, about an hour by train outside of Paris.  It is on the west side on the way to Giverny, which was a desired destination for this trip.  It was still near the Metro line to be able to hop on and off the Metro in Paris.  

We stayed at an Airbnb called Ferme du Buisson.  It was a 15th century farm and was very rustic.  We didn’t mind the fact that the wifi was in and out and barely there most of the time and there was no television reception, but our teenagers were less than thrilled.  It was quiet and off the beaten path. There were chickens and ducks and a beautiful rose trellis.  The end of May was the best time to go because the Roses were in full-bloom. If you are at all a photographer, it was a great place to get pictures of flowers.  We were prepared for much warmer weather, but thankfully, the house was warm and toasty to come home to.

We arrived and the host barely knew English so my 4 years of high school french had to come into play which only meant that I got the basics of what she was saying, but missed a lot.  There was a binder that told us all of the necessities including where to hop on the train to Paris. Google Translate came to the rescue many times.  

Sunday, arrival, night, we walked to a local Italian restaurant and ate amazing pizza and enjoyed a bottle of wine.  We also found a local convenience store to pick up things for breakfast.  It was a quiet town, and Sunday night was very very quiet.  

Monday morning we hopped in the car and drove to Giverny, which was about an hour away from our Airbnb.  Giverny is the home of Claude Monet and it has always been a dream of my husband’s to go there. We wandered through the town of Giverny, petted a cat, found Monet’s grave and admired all of the flowers and when we came to Monet’s house we were amazed. The gardens were spectacular.  Different than your formal British garden, but again, the end of May, the flowers were phenomenal.  Most of my opinions may not be the opinion of most, but if there are things I don’t like, it doesn’t mean that you won’t like it.  It’s my opinion.  The house was typical of late 19th century homes that one sees in Europe.  Monet’s studio where he painted “Waterlilies” is now the gift shop, but I love flowers and that was my favorite part.  The pond which was the inspiration of Waterlilies is beautiful even in the rain.  It was such a gorgeous tourist destination. It was crowded, but we managed to get some good pictures.  

After our trip to Giverny we realized we had plenty of time left in the day so we drove back to the Metro station closest to our Airbnb and we purchased 7 Metro passes and hopped on the train to go in to Paris.  Our goal that night was to see the Eiffel Tower twinkle.  Which happened 45 minutes after sunset which, at the end of May, meant REALLY LATE, approximately 10 p.m..  This day was all about tourism so we bought a beret from a street vendor, took silly pictures in front of the Eiffel tower.  The tower, at the time, was under construction getting ready for the Paris Olympics so it was not as pretty as it could have been. We always say that it’s not Europe if there isn’t scaffolding where we want to go.  

We eventually traveled to the Pont Bir-Hakeim which is the bridge used in “Inception.”  It’s a great place from which to view the Eiffel Tower at night.  We sat underneath the Archways and waited and waited.  Finally at 9:33 the tower lit up and then at 10:00 on the dot, the sparkles started.  Our kids danced while the sparkles sparkled.  It was a memory made.  

Thankfully Pont Bir-Hakeim was close to our train station so we hopped on the Metro to make our hour long trek back.  Paris is Paris and has a bad reputation understandably so.  Although it felt really safe, we made sure we kept our hands on our wallets and stayed together.  Common sense, really.  

Tuesday morning, bright and early, after having breakfast with the chickens, we hopped on the train again, this time our destination was Sainte-Chapelle.  Sainte Chapelle was built in the 13th century by Louis IX in order to house the Crown of Thorns Relic and a fragment of the cross.  The draw for 21st century patrons are the stained glass windows. Unparalleled in my opinion and pictures do not do it justice.  The Chapel is located near government and judicial buildings so there are policemen around it, but tourism still happens while the government runs, so just keep an eye on the signs and you won’t go into the wrong doors (like we did.) Make a point to see this Chapel.

After our tour of the chapel, we wandered around the arrondissements (districts) closest to the Seine.  Our daughter’s desire was to go to Shakespeare and Company bookstore which is on the Left bank.  It was named after another bookstore which was the meeting place of Hemingway, Joyce, T.S. Eliot in the early part of the 20th century.  We didn’t go in at that time because the line was too long, but we definitely decided we would return.  At our daughter’s request, we tried to go to some restaurants that she had seen on TikTok, but they were very much out of our price range, so we found a cute Italian place on the street.  We continued to wander the city and found the Louvre, but just explored the exterior as we had tickets for another day.  We walked all the way down the Champs-Elysees and gawked at all the very high end fashion establishments.  We continue on until we arrived at L’Arc du Triomphe. We climbed to the top and were in awe of the views.  It was well worth the climb!!  And the views of Paris from the top are spectacular.  Of course, after that climb, we treated ourselves to Galette and Creme Brûlée to build strength back up in our shaky legs.

Wednesday’s trip had the goal of Montmartre and the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre.  When got off the Metro we had an uphill climb to get to the cathedral, but it was not a hard walk.  I enjoyed finding small plaques of famous Parisians including Hector Berlioz. 

Sacre Coeur is the most beautiful Basilica.  There are so many beautiful cathedrals in Europe and each one is unique.  The artistry of each church is awe-inspiring. I cannot explain each one except that once again, take the stop and walk in.  Let your eyes focus on Who they built for.  They are but a small offering to Him who made the world.  

 After our excursion to Montmartre, we travelled back to the Left bank of the Seine and Ella and I had our chance to go to Shakespeare and Company and browse the crowded aisles. 

While Ella and I bought books, Douglas and Eric sat at one of the many Patisseries and enjoyed a pastry which Ella and I had a chance to taste after we were done.  Mille-Feuille is amazing!!!  After our sweet treat, we walked to find the building that was the model for Gusteau’s in Disney’s “Ratatouille” but again, like always, it was covered in scaffolding.  

Thursday was very cold and rainy, We were thankful that we had tickets for the L’Orangerie and the Louvre that day. We were privileged to see Monet’s Waterlilies in person and that was a dream come true.  The oval room is completely surrounded on all the walls by Monet.  L’Orangerie has other impressionist paintings as well and they are just as important and beautiful. L’Orangerie is so much more intimate that the Louvre and if ginormous museums overwhelm you, it’s an excellent alternative. 

We wandered over to the Louvre but stopped at Eglise St. Roch and found the grave of the landscape architect of Versailles, D’Andre de Nostre.  As our oldest daughter is a landscape architect we thought it was important to see that.  

Then off to the Louvre we went.  There is not much that I can say about the Louvre except it’s crowded.  Try to see the Mona Lisa, but there will be a line.  But my advice is to not get in the Mona Lisa line and turn your body around to opposite wall and you will see “The Wedding at Cana” by Paolo Veronese and you will be much more impressed.  Also, it’s huge!!!  The Mona Lisa is grand because of legend, but “The Wedding at Cana” is grand because it’s so large.

As I said at the beginning, you cannot do all of the Louvre in one day.  I say pick what you want to see ahead of time, be prepared for lines at the Mona Lisa, but find those things you desire to see and everything else is gravy.  We didn’t even stand in line for the Mona Lisa this time. The line was far too long. We also “quickly” wandered our way through the halls, making sure we saw John the Baptist’s head on a platter, and Venus D’Milo and Winged Victory and all the impressionistic paintings and Dutch Masters etc, but by the end of the afternoon, our feet were so sore.  Thankful to have found a larger grocery store near our town to have quick suppers.  

Friday we trekked out to Versailles.  What can I say about Versailles?  It was impressive but a bit overrated.  Far too many people inside to enjoy the rooms.  The hall of Mirrors was impressive, and the size of it allowed the crowds to dissipate a bit, but the moment we made our way in to the next room they all bunched up again and we couldn’t see the decorations.  It was unfortunate.  Our favorite room was the chapel.  

We bought our tickets ahead of time and thought we had tickets for the fountain show, but check the small print.  Our tickets did not include the fountain show, so despite that disappointment we made the best of the rest of the day.  The gardens were lovely and the roses were phenomenal.  Not all the fountains were working and for those that were, it was hard to know when they would go off.  Versailles is an attraction that one should definitely see, but you only need to go once.  I don’t know if I am just biased because we lived 3 years in the UK, but I think the UK palaces, buildings, and places of interest are much better taken care of.  Also if you don’t like crowds, don’t go to Versailles. 

We decided that Saturday and Sunday would be just a relaxing wandering days.  We visited the Pantheon a secular building for the honor of humanism and which houses the graves of many famous Parisians included, Josephine Baker, Marie and Pierre Curie, Louis Braille, and Victor Hugo, the author of Les Miserables.  We bought huge crepes at one of the many creperies, and continued on our way. We wandered the Tuilleries and the Luxembourg Gardens. 

Sunday morning we found a cute little breakfast place near the Eiffel tower and took a few more pictures near the tower.  I love movies and because the churches in Paris are so iconic, I had to go to Eglise St. Sulpice which was used in “The DaVinci Code.”  This church was amazing.  So beautiful.  A copy of the Shroud of Turin happened to be there at the time.  We went back to our Airbnb early to relax for the evening and pack for our trip back to Germany.  

Paris was not as dirty as we remembered from our time in 2011, although there were signs in all the parks saying, clean up after your self because of rats.  Be prepared to pay to use the toilet.  The city was definitely all it was cracked up to be.  

Take many pictures and make the memories.  It truly is a magical place.  Take the time in a city, explore as many things as you can, but know that you cannot do it all.