I have a ton of upcoming Paris posts to share, but first, I wanted to recap our most recent trip and provide a little context for the posts to come. Dan and I previously visited Paris together in May 2016. We stayed in le Marais and spent all but one day inside the city, exploring classic sites like the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame and the Louvre. The trip was incredible, but this time around we wanted a more relaxed vibe. Think Sunday markets, picnics on the Seine, and hours spent lingering in gardens or wandering new neighborhoods.
Need help planning a shorter trip? Check out my posts 48 Hours in Paris Part I and Part II for inspiration!
For this trip to Paris—my third trip as an adult, and Dan’s second—we decided to splurge a bit on our accommodations. We stayed at a recently-renovated boutique hotel in the 8th, an arrondissement which stretches from the Arc de Triomphe to the Place de la Concorde. A month or so before we arrived, we decided to add another night at a hotel near the Église Saint-Augustin, for a total of 6 days spent in the city. With just two or three things on our must-do list this time around, our honeymoon visit was much more relaxed than any of our previous trips.
Because I have so many photos to share, I’ve decided to split this trip recap into two posts. Here is part one!
May 24
After a leisurely morning spent with my grandmother in Chaumont, Dan and I arrived at Gare Saint-Lazare around 7 PM. We checked in at the Hôtel Augustin – Astotel for one night, then took off for the Arc de Triomphe.
It was one of the big things Dan wanted to see on our previous visit, and we arrived right in time to enjoy a stunning sunset over La Défense, the city’s business district. I’ve walked around the Arc before, but this was the first time either of us actually went inside.
It’s said that if you’ve seen one aerial view of Paris, you’ve seen them all. No need to visit the highest point of every monument in Paris. I say, if you have the time, why wouldn’t you want to experience it all? I’ve admired Paris from the top of Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, and the hill of the Sacré-Cœur. The views from the Arc de Triomphe are undeniably the prettiest I’ve ever seen.
What a way to kick off our honeymoon. After leaving the Arc, we strolled down the Champs-Élysées (another first for us!), picked up champagne from Monoprix and dinner from Doner King, and enjoyed it all back at the hotel.
May 25
In the morning, we checked out of the Hôtel Augustin and headed to our primary hotel, the Hôtel & Spa Royal Madeleine, off Rue de l’Arcade. Holy gorgeous. Our standard room was stylish and clean, with huge windows that opened onto the street. The hotel featured a pool and spa on the lower level, which we visited frequently during our stay, as well as a restaurant, bar, and helpful concierge service. It was also incredibly well-located.
Since we’d skipped breakfast and even our beloved espresso that morning, our first priority was to find a place to eat. I located a lunch spot in Montmartre, and we took our sandwiches and pastries from Le Grenier à Pain for a picnic just outside the Sacré-Cœur. I seriously underestimated how many stairs there were between our hotel and the basilica, but the experience was well worth the effort.
After lunch, we went inside the basilica. It’s free to enter Sacré-Cœur, and I recommend it to anyone visiting Paris on a budget! The interior is beautifully-decorated with shimmering mosaics, carved statues, and hundreds of lit candles. Photos aren’t allowed inside, so you’ll just have to visit and see for yourself! We rested our feet for a moment before heading back outside, where we witnessed a peaceful protest from the famed “Yellow Jackets.”
Next, we spent some time wandering the gorgeous streets of Montmartre. I’ve heard on several occasions that Montmartre is one of the best places to stay in Paris, but its proximity to some of the seedier parts of the city has always kept me away.
Montmartre is gorgeous. I thought we had it good in the medieval streets of le Marais during our last visit, but I think Montmartre is actually even prettier and more romantic. After our walk through the back roads and parks of Montmartre, I know I’ll be back. We crossed dark cobblestoned roads past pastel shutters, ivy-covered buildings and public gardens dripping with flowers, all made even more beautiful by the day’s rain. I kept exclaiming to Dan that this is exactly what I envisioned while planning our honeymoon. Romantic streets, delicious food, and afternoons spent wandering with zero obligations.
We rested up a bit at the hotel, and decided we wanted to visit Disneyland Paris at some point during our trip. We’d talked about it before leaving for France, but ultimately decided we would just wait and see how we felt once we arrived. The last thing we wanted to was rush ourselves this time around. We mapped out any major to-dos (like a day trip to Giverny!) and then went back out to find dinner.
Here’s my big gripe about Paris: I love the city, but its restaurant hours drive me nuts. A lot of places close between lunch and dinner, or are closed on Tuesdays and Thursdays, or any other number of odd things that can make finding food a bit of a challenge. This is especially true on the weekends, when most places close early or simply don’t open in the first place. It can be worked around with a little planning, of course, but I had hoped this trip would be a bit more spontaneous and laid-back. The good news is that restaurants in tourist-oriented areas can always be counted on to save the day.
That’s how we ended up in Saint-Germain, at a little spot called Le Solferino. We were lured in by the prix fixe menu outside, which of course only applied to a lunch special that ended hours before our arrival. The meal was nothing special, and our server was especially annoyed to see us, but we shrugged it off and did our best to enjoy the evening.
Back at our hotel, we donned our bathrobes, popped another bottle of champagne, and settled in for the night.
May 26
A word of advice: if you have the opportunity, buy your tickets for Disneyland Paris in advance. Tickets can be sent to your home, or they can be printed out in a very specific manner—otherwise, the ticket might not work at the front gate. We spent entirely too much time trying to print our tickets in the hotel lobby, and eventually we were able to send the files to the concierge to be printed out correctly.
Since it was still the weekend and most places close to the hotel were shuttered, we decided to grab lunch closer to Notre Dame. We wound up at a cute little place called Le Pavé des Lombards, which featured traditional dishes like veal, duck, and beef tartare. This was one of my favorite meals while in Paris, partially because of the breezy al fresco atmosphere, and partially because the food was very good and well-priced. We shared a bottle of white wine and ordered off the prix fixe menu—duck for me, sausage and frites for Dan, and a starter of terrine and cornichons for each of us. Of course, no Parisian meal is complete without coffee! We finished ours with steaming cups of espresso. I wish I could eat like this every day of my life.
Next we hit up the shops along Rue Rivoli so I could buy a swimsuit for the hotel pool. I found something quickly—a relief, since I didn’t want to waste precious vacation time on something as awful as swimsuit-shopping—and I also picked up a few skincare goodies at my favorite pharmacy in Paris.
We visited Notre Dame, which was of course under construction after the fire earlier this year. Notre Dame played a major role in both of my previous trips to Paris, so it felt strange not to go inside this time around. The building was covered in scaffolding and protective covering, which we took as a good sign that repairs should start soon.
Just across the street from the cathedral, we visited the little park at the end of Île de la Cité. We entered a free memorial site, not knowing exactly what was inside, and found a small tribute to the victims of the Holocaust. It had letters and photos from within the camps, a map of the various sites, and a highly detailed look at how each camp was set up—the function of each camp, and the type of people housed there, for example. I learned quite a bit that I didn’t know before, and I was happy to emerge into the daylight when we were ready to leave.
Swimsuit acquired, we headed back to the hotel and went straight to the pool and sauna. The whole thing smelled heavenly, like a combination of mint, cedar, and lemon. We spent several months after the trip looking for a candle or diffuser oil with a similar scent, and found a perfect match in Illume’s Palo Santo candle. The idea of a pool in Paris seemed a bit silly when we booked the hotel. Who would waste precious exploration time just bobbing around inside their hotel?
Apparently, Dan and I would. It was so nice to come back to the hotel between sightseeing and meals and get off our feet after walking for miles. The pool and sauna were restorative, helping us to feel relaxed in body and mind every time we went back out for the evening. I just wished the spa level was open 24/7 so we could visit the sauna after a full day walking around Disneyland Paris.
By the time we were ready for dinner, most nearby restaurants were approaching closing time. We had a casual but romantic dinner at Pompei, an Italian restaurant just down the street. Pizza, pasta, rosé, and tiramisu were the perfect way to top off a lazy day in Paris.
Next up: Disneyland Paris! Stay tuned for part two of our Paris trip recap, as well as dedicated posts for the two day trips we took out of the city!
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