Trip Report: Paris, Always A Surprise
Oh, Paris, the city of love, lights, and dreams! Each trip is completely different regardless if you eat at the same cafes or restaurants because the city changes with the seasons. For our May trip, we went at a perfect time for spring to appear and before the summer crush.
Continuing our Loire Valley trip with Austin and Amanda, we travelled to Paris for a two day, one night trip so we could then take the Eurostar back to London. Because the trip was led by Austin and Amanda, I recommended a few areas and we had a great stay in the 3rd Arrondissement.
Logistics
I would highly recommend reading about our Loire Valley planning to see how we initially arrived in Paris in case you want to a similar trip! Otherwise, this post is entirely about Paris!
Travel
Because we arrived in Tours, we had to return back to London via Paris. Because we had a suitcase full of wine, we thankfully chose the excellent Eurostar where there is no limit!
Travel Tip: Remember to book your Eurostar 3 months in advance for the cheapest prices!
Lodging
With a little bit of my help, Amanda chose an excellent AirBnB! While the listing has since been removed, the link shows the great area! The nearby streets have great restaurants and cafes! At night, it calms down and we were not bothered by any noise.
Activities
For this trip, we wanted to cross a few tourist bucket list items that MF has never done such as the Eiffel Tower and Lourve. Shocking, I know! As for the food and drink, we tried a few old time classics and new ones!
- Eiffel Tower: Sadly, I forgot to buy tickets ahead of time which would have allowed us to use the elevators and waiting in a really long line. Luckily, there is a shortcut, if you don’t mind a lot of stairs! Just go to the stairs entrance and buy a ticket to walk up to the 2nd level where you then take an elevator to the third and final level. Did MF, Austin, and Amanda want to kill me by the end? Yes. Did they enjoy it? Still can’t decide...
- Lourve: Unlike the Eiffel Tower, I purchased tickets well in advance for an early Sunday morning slot. However, things did not go accordingly to plan once we arrived there...
- Chez Janou: Dating to our previous January trip, we really wanted to try Chez Janou. It is really worth it and I highly recommend booking a table either for lunch or dinner because it does get insanely busy!
- Le Poulbot: Found during our previous New Year’s Eve trip, Le Poulbot is our favorite French restaurant. With a great menu, Le Poulbot has terrific food and has a great atmosphere.
As always, here is a list of all my Google pins for every cafe, restaurant, and bakery we enjoy in Paris!
Total Fixed Costs:
- Train to Paris: $40
- Eurostar: $176
- Lodging: $100
- Paris Dreams: Absolutely amazing...
Onto Paris
After a lovely visit to the Chateau du Clos Luce, we ran into town for our last eclair and (I guess) some real food in a fresh sandwiches! In my humble opinion, the French baguette sandwich is the only sandwich that I enjoy eating for lunch. Since we had to return the rental car, we decided to take it to go and headed off to St Pierre, where most of the rental car agencies exist. Luckily, all Paris trains either begin or stop there so we ultimately save time and money by not commuting to the main Tours station!
Because Austin and Amanda purchased first class tickets, MF thoroughly enjoyed our first class train ride! While the train decor was definitely dated, the seats were extremely comfortable and we sat back and relaxed for the hour train ride onto Paris.
PARIS!!!
Because our last few trips to Paris were in winter, we were thrilled to be back in Paris during the May spring season! The weather was perfect and gorgeous and there was a buzz in the air! Once we arrived at our awesome AirBnB, we were really pumped for the neighborhood. Rather than tourists, the entire street and surrounding block is lively with locals and full of independent restaurants and hip cafes. While it was crowded, it was a nice change of pace from the countryside Loire Valley life.
Because we either didn’t want to wait in a long line for the food or could not decide which restaurant to go to, we decided to go to the old favorite, yet never tested, Chez Janou. The same restaurant where we waited over two hours back in January then ended up “borrowing" a bottle of wine once we left.
Chez Janou
Unlike our January visit, we managed to get a table right away! Somehow, we squeezed into our tiny table, elbows next to the other folks, and ordered our food. It only took five months…
Because we had awesome sandwiches on the train, we all weren’t very hungry which was so disappointing. MF and I decided to split a scallop risotto which literally melted in our mouth. It was terrific and well worth the long wait! Austin and Amanda had a tasty fresh ravioli! By far, we are glad we gave Chez Janou a second chance!
Eiffel Tower, finally
As I mentioned, Mary Frances in all her trips with me and before me, had never been on top of the Eiffel Tower. A fact unbeknownst to me until New Years Eve and four years of dating. Thus, as soon as we could, I made sure the Eiffel Tower was in our plans.
Because I believe that the Eiffel Tower experience is not complete without blood, sweat, and tears, I somehow convinced the entire group that we should walk up the first two levels and THEN get the elevator ride to the top. Helping in the matter were the no tickets available signs and the incredibly long lines for walk up tickets. Plus, the lines for walking up the stairs were much shorter!
It’s the Climb
In my first ever trip to Paris in 2009, I walked up the Eiffel Tower and since then I have actually never taken the elevator other than the last elevator. In case one is wondering, it is a total of 328+ stairs…
Initially, I thought we were doing really well! We were going with the motto of slow and steady wins the race and we were doing just fine! Unfortunately, they all hated me by the time we reached the second level. At least we had great pictures!!
At the Top
Finally, we reached the top of the Eiffel Tower. Not only will this always be a bucket list item, I finally crossed it off Mary Frances’ list! Not only was I there with her, I also had great friends to celebrate our accomplishment!
Thankfully, the views were spectacular and the rest prepared us for the journey back down the 328+ stairs…
Le Poulbot
Because I knew the team would be disappointed and possibly would not come with me to Le Poulbot, I hid that we had more stairs waiting for us in the Montemarte district. I’ve never felt so much pain and hatred as we walked up the many stairs leading to the famous district… I think they were about to kill me if not for the Le Poulbot sign!
Similar to other French restaurants, we were crammed into the back corner but loved every moment of it. I think it was because I was finally feeding everyone…
For our order, we had the “usual” and began with the burrata. It felt like being home! Unsurprisingly, everyone, except for Amanda, ordered the now famous steak and frites. Once it arrived, there was silent and peace in the world… We didnt even need the dessert menu as we immediately ordered panna cotta and two chocolate cakes. Both were wonderful!!!
The Epic Fail, but We Turned It Around
Our last day of the epic Loire Valley-Paris trip, we experienced epic fails, but we turned it around for a terrific ending to the trip!
Photo Mission: Paris
Because we based ourselves close to great attractions, I wanted to go out really early to take as many pictures of the City of Lights before the crowds took over. I decided to go to Notre Dame and travel along the Seine River to discover the lovely sights. To help, I used the Lime scooters which saves on SO much time!
Once I got to Notre Dame, I thought I would be able to at least see the damage for myself after the devastating 2019 fire. The courtyard and surrounding blocks are completely closed up and nothing is open. Everything is heavily guarded and I couldn’t even get a peek at the famous church…
Therefore, I decided to scoot and enjoy the other sights of Paris. In the early morning, there was no one on the roads so I was able to see everything I ever could want to see!
I made it to the Lourve before I decided to scoot back to one of the top bakeries in Paris, Du Pain et des Idees.
Unsurprisingly, I was the first in line and had my choice of the entire store! To treat myself, I ordered three croissants, 3 pain au chocolates, and their special pistachio pastry! Safe to say it was a yummy breakfast!
Epic Fail
Similar to the Eiffel Tower, I really wanted to take MF to the famous Lourve museum. Buying tickets well in advance, I wanted to ensure we had 3-5 hours at a minimum to explore this massive museum. As I rushed everyone out the door and to the ticket line by our 9am slot, we all noticed the lines were exceptionally long and were not moving. As I was getting anxious and started walking and asking folks, we knew it was a special event. Little did we realize the “famous” people who walked out of the Lourve turned out to be the staff walking out on a strike…
Thankfully, we left after waiting an hour, but the line was in the thousands by the time the word spread that the Lourve would definitely not be opening today. Yours truly was the world wide leader in breaking news on Twitter as I shared the news! It felt good helping my ten fans!
Turned It Around
Rather than waste the day, we decided we would make our own walking tour! Because we were in an excellent location, we wanted to walk to the Arc de Triomphe. With the sunshine in our faces and plenty of sights and sounds, it was an epic walk through the heart of this great city to the Arc.
Goodbye…
Sadly, all good things must come to an end. Because we had an early train to London, we quickly grabbed a kebab lunch at Miznon, an excellent Israeli restaurant near the AirBnB. We then said goodbye to Austin and Amanda and made our way back home with the Eurostar…
The UnChartered Summary
Paris will always be one of my favorite cities to visit. Not only are their surprises around every corner, the trip can be so different. From the excellent kebab in our last hour in Paris to the hard earned Le Poulbot steak to the striking workers at the Lourve, Paris is full of surprises!
- By far, as I will keep repeating, please go to Le Poulbot! Just be wary of the stairs on the way there, but you will be soon rewarded by the amazing steak and frites!
- If possible, I recommend walking up the Eiffel Tower. The views will be enjoyed with a sense of hard work and you won’t have to deal with the insane crowds as much!
- Be ready to change your plans in a heartbeat. While I definitely would have liked to cross the Louvre off, it would have meant missing out on a beautiful Parisan day!
- Eat. All. The. Pastries. At. Du Pain et des Idees.