"As soon as I saw you, I knew it would be an adventure of a lifetime." ~Winnie the Pooh
Lucky for us, our kids have some pretty amazing grandparents who were willing to watch our kids for 7 whole days while we explored Paris for 5. Here's how we made the most of 5 days in Paris....
Day 1:
We started off with an awesome family breakfast and then headed to school for morning drop off. We had a great school drop off and then Mike and I headed to pick up the rental car we were driving from our place to SFO and then finished prepping the house and packing. We hit the road at 1330 and with a quick pitstop at one of our favorite restaurants Celia’s for a drink and snack. We were pumped to get to Paris.
We made it to SFO at 1700, returned the rental car and headed to the gate. We then a 10hr overnight flight from SFO to Heathrow. We actually had a great flight and both slept most of the flight.
We arrived at Heathrow at about 1400 local time and we had a nice “brunch” and cocktail (promegrante proseco for me) at Giraffes. We then a 1.5hr flight to CDG.
Our arrival in Paris was ridiculously easy. There were no lines in customs and they just stamped the passport, no questions asked. Afterwards it was easy to get our bags and find a taxi to our Airbnb.
It was approximately a 30min ride to our apartment Airbnb (email if you'd like more information on this particular apartment - we would highly recommend for a couple) and at first it seemed a little sketchy, but once inside it was like an oasis, super modern, quiet, and newly renovated.
We quickly changed and went straight to the Eiffel Tower via the Metro (orange 5 - Republique—>Gare Du Austerlitz towards Iltalia) and the Train (yellow C - Gare du Austerlitz to Champs de Mar). It was about 2300, so we were too late to go to the top of the tower but we saw it sparkle and got tons of pictures. Simply amazing way to welcome us to Paris.
Afterwards we found a small cafe Eiffel Cafe where we got drinks, escargot (garlicky and delicious, not too chewy), onion soup, and grand mariner crepe that was set on fire. There are mixed reviews on TripAdvisor, but we really enjoyed the food, atmosphere, and service!
We then taxied back home as we discovered the metro does not in fact stay open all night long.
Day 2:
We woke up early and wandered into town after a delicious cafe breakfast of croissants, ham and cheese omelette, and coffee.
Next we went to Musee du Orsay where we saw some Van Goghs.
Afterwards we went to Musee de l’Orangerie where we saw Monets water Lillies and some interesting Picassos and abstract art.
We went “home” to change into a dress and suit for our dinner at the 58 Tour Eiffel on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower.
We were all bused to the Eiffel Tower and got the cut the line and were escorted to the restaurant. Since we were a group there was not individual seating, but we met some other lovely couples. The dinner started with pate and a fennel salad. Followed by chicken breast, carrots, and sweet potato puree. Dessert was a chocolate-type cake. All was pretty good. We also had champagne and red wine.
After dinner we left the Tower and went to the Seine river front and boarded a boarded a boat and went on a very chilly river cruise.
We were exhausted after the cruise and headed home to rest.
Day 3:
We started out the day taking the metro and the train to Versailles. It took about 45mins and was very easy to find. We checked into the tour and went to get breakfast. With the tour company we were able to cut the long line. Versailles was just as expansive and amazing as I remember.
We wandered all through the rooms and halls, but I really enjoyed being outdoors in the gardens. Despite the trees and flowers not yet being in bloom, it was stunningly beautiful and expansive.
We walked almost to the edge of the property and saw someone with ice cream and we had to find where that came from! There was a little outdoor restaurant with all sorts of treats. I got vanilla and strawberry swirl and Mike got vanilla and chocolate swirl.
We decided to leave early and go back to the apartment to take a nap. We did just that, had the most glorious 1.5hr nap.
After we woke up we grabbed some street sandwiches and walked to the Eiffel Tower and got to cut the line with a tour agency and finally made it to the top! It was super cold and absolutely terrifying, but I did it. There’s now champagne sold at the top of the tower. I didn’t partake because I was too stressed from being so high up.
Day 4:
Photoshoot day!! I woke up at 0300 to get ready for the makeup artist/stylist Tatiana who arrived at 0400. It took exactly 2hrs to get me ready! She did makeup first and then curled my hair. We made it to the Trocadero at 0640 exactly to sadly discover there was fog and no sign of the Eiffel Tower!!! :( Our photographer, Marcus, was awesome, so great to work with.
We took a few pictures there then moved on to the Alexandre III Bridge.
The Eiffel Tower is behind us and you literally can't see anything:
As we were heading there there was a lot of police activity to prepare for the yellow vest protests. They basically shut down the bridge, but we were fortunately able to still do our shoot there. We felt like celebrities as people were staring and taking pictures of us and a big bus of national guard drove by and they were all waving at us and even honked. HAHA!
We finished at the bridge at about 0830 and decided to take a 2hr break and wait our the fog. We went to breakfast and coffee at Cafe du Trocadero and watched as (THANKFULLY) the fog cleared. We met back up at 1030 to finish the amazing shoot.
Fortunately our photographer knew exactly where to avoid the yellow vest, but we had to move quickly! During the shoot we got lots of stares, thumbs up, honks, smiles, and people taking pictures of us. We definitely gave some people something to talk about!
We got so many great poses all around the Trocadero and Seine and by the carousel.
Of note, it was absolutely FRIGID for me. We had to take breaks and I would put my jacket on because I was literally going numb and couldn’couldn't move. Somehow I survived! We finished the shoot about 1200 and I couldn’t wait to get home to change.
After the shoot we went back to the apartment to take a well deserved nap!
After our nap we went back into town around 1630, we walked to Le Comptir de Gastromie for their foie gras ravioli and duck. It was phenomenal.
While eating dinner outside suddenly there were tons of unmarked police cars behind us with all the police getting their riot gear on.
People were literally deserting the streets. We were asked to move inside and we watched it unfold safely from there. We had seen the yellow vest earlier in the day near our home but they were not violent. We just kept clear. Tons of police, fire, and ambulances sped by with lights and sirens on, but we never saw what happened. I’m ok with that…
After dinner we walked to Pierre Herme for macarons and marzipan. We got one of every flavor so we would have some to take home.
We then went to the Ritz Paris to find Bar Hemingway. We waited a few minutes for a seat and sat at the bar for our 30E champagne cocktails. Mine was served with a beautiful pink rose. They were delicious and we had a great time taking in the ambiance and eating chips and olives.
We then had a nice long walk home through the beautiful streets of Paris.
Day 5:
We decided to sleep in and take our time getting ready. We slowly headed down to the Louvre, only to discover that while the metro runs on Sunday, the trains do not… so we caught a taxi because at the time we were too lazy to do the 2+km walk.
We had a great time wandering around the Louvre and saw the Mona Lisa and all the statues I love (Venus de Milo, etc).
Afterwards we wandered around the Gardens where we ran into a clown.
We then took our time walking to Notre Dame and wandered around the outside. Unfortunately there was a ton of scaffolding so we didn’t get the greatest view.
On the way to Notre Dame we happened upon a picturesque cafe called Au Vieux Paris. We decided to go back there to have some proseco.
We walked back to the metro ~2km and then metro’d back to the apartment for the last time.
Thank you Paris for another amazing vacation.
(AD) Favorite vacation dress from BoHo (click pic for link to dress):
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