Ah the city of love. Or is it just that everyone LOVES this fucking city.
But I get it. I honestly do. I don’t think I’ve every loved an entire city more. Perhaps New York, but Paris has something completely different.
It is so utterly aesthetically beautiful and brimming with culture and energy that you need plan nothing more than to wander the streets, looking for your next croissant, or coffee, or spritz…
We left our van parked on the outskirts of the city, for both parking and low emission zone regulation reasons and caught the train in to spend 4 nights in the city.
THINGS TO DO
I feel like the things to do in Paris are pretty obvious… So instead of what to do, maybe its more How to Do.
The best way to experience Paris is to walk EVERYWHERE. I feel like any city I travel to, the beauty often lies most in the inbetween moving from place to place. This is where you get a real feeling from the city, when you move away from the tourist infested places…
Depending on how many days you have, I like to group the main attractions in proximity and then sort of split them over a few days. Sometimes I feel like I get “attraction fatigue” and I stop appreciating them after the second or third one in a day. So I like to have fresh eyes. And also, my favourite time to see any attraction is first thing in the morning, or later in the evening. To avoid the crowds as best as one can.
The Eiffel Tower
Just get up, and go early. Like sunrise or just after early. You won’t regret. My favourite view was from up the top and then to wander down across the bridge and through the parks below. It’s honestly beautiful from every angle though.
The Lourve
Again, go early. Before it opens so you can experience the courtyard with at least some degree of peace before the swarms of crowds arrive. The art is incredible, but just as beautiful is the space in which it is held. We had no set plan, other than seeing INSERT APARTMENTS, and just to wander until we had reached out fill. We of course stopped by the Mona Lisa, but this a fairly unpleasant experience for me, who has discovered more and more on this trip, just how much I HATE crowds. It was just teaming with people pushing, and waving their selfie sticks.
Tulleries Garden
A nice spot to swing. Sit by the fountain and enjoy some gelato for all that hard walking you’ve been doing.
Arc De Triomphe & Champs Eylsess
Worth a wander. It’s pretty impressive and just beautiful to wander around (quietly singing Parle vou francais in your head as you go… because, as the song would suggest… it is, infact, a busy street.
Wouldn’t recommend paying to go up into the Arc as the best view is from the street opposite.
VEGAN EATS
Hanks Burger | Hanks Pizza | Cloud Cakes
Le Portager du Marais
A vegan traditional French restaurant. Incredibly delicious food and their bio/organic wines went down a treat.
Others we didn’t try because alas the whole of France apparently goes on holiday in August when we were there. So keep that in mind for when your going.
Gentle Gourmet
Le Portager du Charlotte
Wild & The Moon
VG Patisserie
This was the most devastating, as I’d been dreaming of this place and all their incredible vegan patisseries for two years in the lead up to this trip.
It’s also worth looking at some other menus as often they have adaptable options. We went to cute café down an alley and enjoyed a specific vegan salad and some pasta (and of course French fries)
WHERE TO STAY
We stayed at Hotel Panache during our stay. The rooms were smallish, but the balcony was great which was one of the quintessential Parisian experiences I just had to have.
There are a lot of great Airbnb’s if you book enough in advance. However given we are moving around on the fly with vanlife, we didn’t book until a couple of days before..