Paris, France

The city of lights and love should be visited at least once by all who love travel, culture, food, art, and long scenic walks. In this first of our two posts about this gorgeous city we are going to cover quintessential Paris, followed by our second post covering some incredible stops on the "road less traveled" that shouldn't be missed.

We knew we wanted to head to Paris this year as I had traveled here in 2008, but Chris has never been. I had loved this city and wanted so badly for Chris to experience it, especially as an architect who would appreciate all of its architectural wonders. We debated the best time of year to go and settled on mid April, the heart of spring. This is by far one of the most beautiful times to visit Paris, as the city is drenched in the scent of blossoming magnolia trees, with tulips and daffodils popping up in every available green space. If you could pick any time to visit this city, spring should without a doubt be your first choice!

We stayed for a long weekend, 5 days and 4 nights with the sweetest French couple who lived just on the outskirts of the city in their home through airbnb. We loved meeting some locals who took us in as family, and shared a few of their favorite things about their city with us. 5 days allowed us enough time to see all the main sites and explore a few things that were off the beaten path.

A few things about Paris...

It's a big city: So be ready to walk a lot! One of the great things that we discovered on this trip was the Paris city bike share (Velib). There are over 20,000 bikes in different docking stations around the city, 1.70 euros for 24 hours of use . If you return the bike to a docking station within 30 minutes of taking it it's free, and each 30 minutes after you are only charged one euro. There are stations all over the city, making the first 30 minute free time period easy to abide by. Once you return your bike you have to wait 2 minutes before you can take another from the same station. So in essence you could rent a bike the whole day for 1.70, as long as you take and return a bike within the 30 minute limit between stations. There are a lot of bike lanes in Paris as well, so if you're not used to biking in a city there really isn't much to worry about. You can check out their website for more info here .
Hit the typical sites: As much as we are all about The Road Less Traveled, if you are in Paris you have to spend at least a day or two seeing the famous sites around the city. It is more than worth it! Just to name a few, the Eiffel Tower (my absolute favorite), Louvre Museum, Arch d Triumph, Notre Dame, Luxembourg gardens, Sacre Coeur Church, walk along the Seine and Bievre rivers, etc. Chris and I love the free tours offered by Sandemans New Europe, they cover a lot of ground in a few hours with lots of interesting information. Check out their website for more info on the free tour in Paris here .
Eat every pastry: Ok maybe not every pastry, but Paris seriously has some of the best pastries in Europe and a daily stop at a local bakery is a must. Also don't forget to grab a fresh crepe from a street vendor while you're wandering around.
Relax at an outdoor cafe: Do as the Parisians do and sit outside in the warmth of the sun at a local cafe. Sip your coffee with milk and people watch as the bustling mixture of tourists, immigrants, and Parisians go about their busy days.

More to come next week on some off the beaten path things to do in this beautiful city. As always let us know if you have any questions or want some more information about our travels.

Labels: Eiffel Tower, Exploring Europe, France, Louvre, Paris, Paris Blog, Travel Blog, Travel Photography, TRLT, Weekend Away