We left for Paris on Saturday, 5 January, flying overnight through Amsterdam to arrive in Paris on Sunday. We left the following Monday morning, so we were in Paris for over a week. Plenty of time to hit all the highlights. FYI, all pictures are here.
First, some logistical stuff. One question I had that I couldn’t find the answer to anywhere was whether my ING Direct ATM card would work in France. The network they use is the Allpoint network, which does not exist in Europe. However, the card has a Mastercard logo, and most, if not all of the ATMs I saw accepted Mastercard cards, so using it wasn’t a problem. Using other credit cards was generally not a hassle either: Visa cards were accepted pretty much everywhere, and most places could take non-EMV (Chip-and-PIN) cards just fine. The only place that I came across where our credit cards wouldn’t work was the automatic ticket machines in the Métro, so save your change or go to a station where you can buy a ticket from a person.
Anyway, on to the trip. We stayed at Hotel Émile, which was in the heart of the Marais neighborhood. The rooms were tiny, but the location couldn’t be beat, and breakfast was included (and awesome). After we arrived and checked in on Sunday, we wandered around until we found a restaurant nearby. We hadn’t yet learned how to properly dine yet, so the meal was unspectacular, but we did survive (and eventually figured out how to pay). The we walked around our neighborhood a bit, seeing the carnival at the Place de la Bastille, but generally just getting lost. That was it for our first day.
On Monday, we took a little walking tour of Paris according to Rick Steve’s suggestions: first to the Île de la Cité to see Notre Dame, the Deportation Memorial (although it was closed on Mondays), and the Latin Quarter. We didn’t go into any of the monuments, though, as we were waiting until later in the week when we would hit them all with the Paris Museum Pass.
After the Latin Quarter, we headed down to the Métro station and bought a carnet (that’s 10 tickets for €12,70), and hopped to the Arc de Triomphe. Then we walked back along the Champs-Élysées (we didn’t stop in any of the high-price stores), to the Place de la Concorde and then through the Tuileries Garden. We wandered past the Louvre (again, saving it for later), and then had another relatively unremarkable dinner. The dining, however was soon to change.
On Tuesday, Julia’s birthday, we started off by going to the Place des Vosges, and then shopping in the cute boutiques in Marais along Rue des Francs Bourgeois, Rue des Rosiers, and Rue Vieille du Temple. We worked on our French shopping etiquette (always say Hello and Goodbye, no touching the merchandise unless you ask permission) and picked up a scarf for Julia. We ate lunch at Robert et Louise, a pretty decent place where we first established that our newly-learned dining instincts were correct. Afterwards, we went to Montmartre and saw Sacré Coeur.
For Julia’s birthday dinner, we finally found a winner. After reading up on how best to eat in Paris (always order from the daily specials on le Menu, never order from la Carte, because it’s cheaper and better), we did precisely that at Au Bourguignon du Marais. Escargots, Boeuf Bourguignon, a cheese plate that Julia said was the best cheese ever, and fine Burgundy wine to go along with all of it. It was a fantastic meal all around.
Wednesday, we picked up our four-day museum pass and started out at the Pompidou Center and its modern art. I’m typically not a fan of modern art, but this collection was fairly decent. After spending a few hours there, we went to the Eiffel Tower. The weather was cloudy and misty, which wasn’t great for the view but did mean the lines were reasonably short. That night, we had dinner at Le Temps des Cerises, another winner with great food, and good service despite the fact that we were clumsy Americans who knocked over a glass (all the restaurants were incredibly tiny!).
Thursday was all day at the Louvre. Even spending all day there, we only hit maybe 20% of the museum. We mainly focused on early Greek art, and then Renaissance European art. Of course we saw the Mona Lisa, but it’s frankly it’s small, behind glass and rope, and not nearly the most impressive piece of art there. For dinner, we went to Le Bouledogue restaurant, which was also pretty good.
Friday we went to the Musée d’Orsay to fill in the gap between the Louvre and the Pompidou Center (1850-1920) and its Impressionist collection. Afterwards, we went back to Notre Dame and Sainte Chapelle to actually go inside and visit. For dinner, we went to the local fromager for cheese and picked up wine from Monop’ (which we did several times, actually) and just ate at the hotel, as we didn’t feel like battling the crowds.
Saturday we took the RER out to Versailles and spent the entire day there. We saw the Château, the Grand Trianon, and got lost in the gardens (literally). That night for dinner, we wanted to go to Le Colimacon but was told that without a reservation it was no go (we had been aware of the chance of this happening, but hadn’t felt up to figuring out how to make a reservation). So instead we went to Equinox, where we had a very good meal (and good service, despite the reviews).
Sunday, our last full day in Paris, was spent shopping a BHV and in the neighborhood again, taking advantage of all of the Soldes that had started a few days before. We then went to the Champ de Mars to see the Eiffel Tower at night, but found that we had been beaten there by 300,000 protesters against gay marriage. This made walking around and absorbing the sights less than ideal, so we headed back to Marais, got a drink in a café, and ate more bread, cheese, and wine for dinner in our room.
Monday morning we got up early to fly home, trying to blow our leftover Euros at the airport. Aside from running through Schiphol airport to catch our connecting flight before it took off, the trip home was pretty uneventful.
What would I do differently? Pack lighter, learn how to make reservations, and try to blend in by eating later than 7 P.M. All in all, though, it was a great experience.