Five days of croissants, crepes and cafe terrasses was the perfect return trip to Paris, my first favourite city in the world. This was my fifth visit to Paris, but it has been more than a decade since my last visit! On this trip, we balanced re-visiting some of the city’s most beautiful icons like Sacre Coeur and the Arc du Triomphe, with plenty of picnics and exploring some of Paris’ best and most beautiful under-the-radar neighbourhoods. And a handful of Emily in Paris filming locations, bien sur.
This was the first stop of three destinations in France. I got a chance to practise my very rusty French, and was surprised by how quickly it came back once immersed in it, despite not studying it for nearly 8 years. I wish I could have said the same for my Greek, when I was in Crete a couple of weeks later!
We visited Paris during our trip of one month in Europe & the UK. We’d come from London via the Eurostar, and from Paris we set off for French wine country, in Burgundy. Below, I’ve highlights from 5 days in Paris including the best things to do & neighbourhoods to visit.
Day 1: Montparnasse & St Germain
Montparnasse
We stayed at Hotel Raspail Montparnasse, which is a neat and stylish 3 star hotel in the 14th arrondissement, Montparnasse. This is the third time I’ve stayed in Montparnasse – it is one of my favourite neighbourhoods in Paris because it is leafy, beautiful and doesn’t attract many tourists. This is especially valuable in summer, when some of Paris’ most famous neighbourhoods are choked with tourists, and French accents become scarce.
I was beside myself when I looked out our window, to find an iconic Parisian view. Our corner room looked over a star-shaped intersection, towards classic French apartment buildings, with the Eiffel Tower in the near distance. It was a postcard-perfect hotel view. From our north window, I could also see the unmistakable pearly domes of Sacre Coeur, all the way on the other side of town.
We celebrated our arrival with a glass of Champagne at Charivari, a genuine neighbourhood bistro, a couple of blocks from the hotel. It was a beautiful summer’s day, and I almost had to pinch myself that I was finally sitting on a Parisian bistro terrace, in the sunshine, with my husband and a glass of Champagne.
Jardin du Luxembourg
It was only a 5 minute stroll to Jardin du Luxembourg, one of Paris’ largest public gardens. The Jardin du Luxembourg is a famously peaceful garden, located in St Germain. It was established in 1611 by Queen Marie de Medici, the widow of Henri IV. The palace and fountain, which still stands, was modelled on the Pitti Palace in Marie de Medici’s native Florence. When we visited, the garden was buzzing with life, with many Parisians picnicking on the lawns, or reading in the shade on one of the many iconic, metal green park chairs.
St Germain
We kept walking from the Jardin du Luxembourg, into St Germain. We had an early dinner at Brasserie Lipp, an iconic Parisian brasserie that still attracts more locals than tourists. I wanted to leave plenty of room in our itinerary for discovery, but Brasserie Lipp was one of the few spots I was determined to make it to. Brasserie Lipp was established in 1880, and has maintained a beautiful, old world atmosphere. David had the confit duck and I had the roast chicken, which were both divine.
Sunset was late, so we had no trouble making it back to our hotel in time to watch sunset over Paris, and watch the neighbourhood light up. I probably spent hours over the course of our trip, mesmerised by the view from this window!
Day 2: Le Marais & Emily in Paris
Le Marais
We started our day in Le Marais, one of my favourite neighbourhoods in Paris. Le Marais overlaps between the 3rd and 4th arrondissements, and is one of the oldest and loveliest parts of Paris.
We started with a quick turn through March aux Enfants Rouge, which we stumbled across on our way to breakfast. I would have loved to wait until more stalls opened to have a market breakfast, but I had my heart set on the best crepes in Paris that morning. We sat outside at Breizh, and enjoyed the perfect crepes with a side of sunshine. The Marais is a great neighbourhood for shopping, and I wish I’d been in a shopping frame of mind that morning – there are some great jewellery boutiques in particular near Breizh.
Eglise-Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis
Afterwards, we headed towards Place des Vosges, one of my favourite parks in Paris. Along the way, we stopped into Eglise Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis, which is an absolute gem. Despite being in plain sight on the busy Rue St-Antoine, there was barely another soul around when we looked inside. There has been a church on this site since 1125, but the current church dates to 1641 and has a strong Italian baroque influence. It is a beautiful church, and is home to several notable artworks including a painting by Delacroix.
Place des Vosges Picnic
Rue Saint-Antoine is lined with fruit & vegetable shops, bakeries, fromageries and more. We picked up some sweet summer strawberries, a crunchy baguette and some absolutely beautiful cheese from Fromagerie Laurent Dubois. The cheese case here is heaven, I couldn’t resist a small soft cheese studded with pink peppercorns, herbs and fruit pieces. We took our little feast to the Place des Vosges.
Ile St Louis
We crossed Ile Saint Louis on our way back to the south side of the river, and stopped by Berthillon, the most famous ice cream shop in Paris. Ile Saint Louis is Paris’ smallest island, roughly between the Marais and Latin Quarter.
Latin Quarter
I always thought that the Latin Quarter was exclusively the area of narrow streets and touristy restaurants not far from the river, but it is a large neighbourhood which includes most of the 5th arrondissement, including the area around the Pantheon and the Sorbonne.
We passed by the Pantheon, which is built on Montagne Sainte-Genevieve, and was designed as a church dedicated to Saint-Genevieve, who is the patron saint of Paris. It was commissioned by King Louis XV, and intended to be a church, but by the time it opened in 1790 the French Revolution was in full swing. Instead it became a mausoleum to honour distinguished French citizens, taking inspiration from the Pantheon in Rome. In its history, it has reverted to being a church a couple of times, and has since settled on exclusively being an mausoleum. The most recent French citizen to be buried there is Victor Hugo, author of Les Miserables and the Hunchback of Notre Dame. We didn’t go inside, as I’ve been before, and David was content with the number of temples and churches he’d already seen on our trip.
Emily in Paris’ Apartment
Instead, we carried on find the filming locations from Emily in Paris, for Emily’s apartment and Gabriel’s restaurant. They are located near each other, in the hilly backstreets of the Latin Quarter. I did feel a bit sorry for the owners of the restaurant, which is a real restaurant, to have so many influencers parading in front of their restaurant or posing at their outdoor tables, getting in the way of customers, without ordering a single thing to eat or drink.
Anniversary Dinner at Allard
It was our anniversary, so I had made a reservation at Allard, a Parisian institution in St Germain. Allard is run by renowned French chef Alain Ducasse, and is regarded as one of the last of its kind in Paris. It is a genuine, traditional Parisian bistro and is perfect for a special occasion. Dinner was beautiful, and we had so much fun. Our seating was at 6pm, and we didn’t leave until after 11pm. We weren’t hogging the table – there was no way we could have got out of there any sooner, and it was clear that each evening service was designed to be a single seating. Rare!
Afterwards, we had a glass of wine at Ambassade de Bourgogne, a wine bar & shop showcasing wines from Burgundy – a taste of what was to come, on our trip to Burgundy after Paris.
Day 3: Louvre, Montorgueil & Latin Quarter
The Louvre
Despite this being my fifth trip to Paris, I’d never properly visited the Louvre. On my second trip, I was whisked in there before closing to quickly see the Mona Lisa as part of a tour, so I was keen to make a proper visit.
I love history and art, but neither of us can spend more than about an hour in museums so we chose a few exhibitions to see. We saw the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo, but my favourite sections were the Greek & Roman sculpture hall, the French Crown Jewels (even though they’re not as impressive as the British ones), and the salon-style painting galleries.
Jardin Des Tuileries
The Louvre is on the Jardin des Tuileries, which is the largest garden in Paris. One of my favourite memories from a a previous trip was having lunch at one of the cafes in the Jardin des Tuileries, so I was keen to do this again. Unfortunately, most of the cafes weren’t opening for a while, so it took us quite a while to find somewhere to eat. We found a spot eventually, it was extremely touristy but it was still a nice spot to sit in the sun for a little while. Afterwards, we walked down the Rue de Rivoli and Rue St Honore, to the Palais-Royal.
Palais-Royal
The Palais-Royal is a former French Royal palace, today it’s used as the seat of the Ministry of Culture. It was built in the 17th century by Cardinal Richelieu, and was used as the home of 17th and 18th century monarchs and aristocracy. The Courtyard of Honour has a striking installation of black and white striped columns of varying heights, which take up the entire courtyard.
The Palais-Royal garden is a small, secluded garden lined with rows of perfectly box cut trees in the classic French style, and a fountain. This is another filming location from Emily in Paris, which is used throughout the series!
Bourse
We walked into Paris’ 2nd arrondissement, which includes the neighbourhoods Bourse, Sentier and Montorgueil. I hadn’t visited this part of Paris before, and absolutely loved what we found! The 2nd is an elegant, under-the-radar neighbourhood that is full of beautiful architecture and gardens, but is not overrun with tourists.
Our first stop were some more Emily in Paris filming locations – fortunately, Emily’s office and the restaurant that her colleagues frequent, are side by side. The door of the Savoir office can be found next to Galerie Patrick Fourtin, and the restaurant is on the other side of the courtyard.
Afterwards, we strolled through the pretty Galerie Vivienne, which is one of the most beautiful covered passages in the city. Built in 1832, this glass-covered passageway is lined with luxurious boutiques. We walked through the Place des Victories, one of the five royal squares in Paris, on our way to Rue Montorgueil, one of Paris’ famous food shopping streets.
I specifically wanted to visit Rue Montorgueil to go to Stohrer, the oldest patisserie in Paris. It was founded in 1730 by King Louis XV’s pastry chef. After much deliberation, I settled on a classic chocolate eclair, which was promptly demolished – heaven!
Latin Quarter
We walked through Les Halles, across Ile de Cite and past Notre Dame (still under reconstruction), and crossed the Seine into the Latin Quarter. For old time’s sake, we visited the famous English-language bookshop, Shakespeare & Co, but I’m sorry to say that it’s become a complete tourist magnet. It’s not fair to say it’s a tourist trap, because the range of books is still genuinely excellent, but there was a giant queue outside the door, the bookshop was uncomfortably crowded, and they’ve had to institute a strict No Photography policy. A little less charming than my first visit in the winter of 2012!
For another walk down memory lane, we took a quick through the narrow maze of streets in the Latin Quarter that’s lined with cheap and cheerful restaurants. I had so much fun here on two previous visits that were a decade ago, but in the peak of summer the area had lost a lot of it’s charm. We left that area, and found the closest patio in the shade that wasn’t choked with tourists, for a snack and a glass of rose before heading back to the hotel in Montparnasse.
Montparnasse
One of the absolute highlights of our time in Paris was spending so much time just exploring the neighbourhood bistros and brasseries surrounding our hotel in Montparnasse. They felt so much more relaxed, and authentic, than so many of the places we saw in the heart of the city that were jammed with tourists.
We started the evening with apero at Le Select, a beautiful brasserie from the 1920s. The name rang a bell, but it wasn’t until after we returned home that I learned that Ernest Hemingway had lived around the corner and called Le Select “the soul of Montparnasse.” For dinner, we had my favourite street food: hot cheese crepes, from a stand across the street near La Coupole.
Day 4: Montmartre, Opera & Montparnasse
Montmartre
We spent the morning in the hills of Montmartre, home to the beautiful white domes of Sacre Coeur. This was the first time I’ve had to queue to get inside Sacre Coeur, but it was worth the visit as always. We walked through the backstreets of Montmartre afterwards, but avoided the tourist trap cafes and waited until we found a nice cafe further from the basilica, which appeared to be a neighbourhood haunt.
Opera
Montparnasse is the 18th, which neighbours the 9th arrondissement, Opera, thanks to Paris’ snail shell pattern. Opera is home to the magnificent Palais Garnier, the opulent opera house which is the famed setting for Phantom of the Opera. I’ve visited Palais Garnier before, so we didn’t stop in this time and instead went to the other main attraction in the neighbourhood: Galeries Lafayette.
Galeries Lafayette has to be the most beautiful department store in the world, with a beautiful stained glass art nouveau dome that encapsulates the entire store. I bought some new shorts, and picked up a bikini on the way from Calzedonia, which has the best range.
Montparnasse
In the evening, we returned to Montparnasse for another evening in the neighbourhood bistros and brasseries. We started at Le Dôme, a beautiful restaurant & terrasse. We enjoyed a couple of rounds of unfamiliar French apertifs before dinner. I was delighted when the waiter told me that I had very good French – probably a kindness on his part but it was nice to feel like I hadn’t completely lost it.
Afterwards, we’d decided to go to a restaurant across the street, called Le Relais de l’Entrecote. We hadn’t googled it, but it looked popular, was full of French people, and we’d passed the day before and noticed someone eating a steak frites on the terrace. Steak frites was one of the classic Parisian bistro dishes we’d yet to have on the trip, so we decided to go there.
We usually ate quite early, after having such big days, and so I was shocked when I found a queue at the door. We didn’t have a reservation so I thought it might be hopeless, but waited anyway. As it turns out, there are no reservations – hence the queue. We were whisked inside by a waitress wearing a traditional black and white uniform, and asked whether we each preferred “strong” or “soft” red wine. Then we were asked how we’d like our steak. Had we missed the menu? No. Relais de l’Entrecote is famous for serving only a set menu of steak frites, with a walnut side salad. The waitress came back with an enormous platter of steak, and then fries, served us from the platter and then went away. When we’d finished, she returned with the platter and filled our plates again! We didn’t realise that each platter belongs to a table. I made sure to save room for dessert, which is an optional extra, and had a creme brulee. It was so fun to be so completely in the dark, but so pleasantly surprised. It was 30 or 40 euros per person.
Day 5: The Arc, The Eiffel & The Seine
Arc du Triomphe
On our final full day in Paris, we balanced the most touristy precincts of the Champs-Elysee and the Champ du Mars, with the elegant, residential neighbourhood of Passy.
We started at the Arc du Triomphe, because I had to see it up close again. I love it, there’s something about it that I could stare at all day. It reminds me of my first trip to Paris when I was 19, walking with Mum through the 16th and being stopped in our tracks when we turned a corner and found the Arc facing us head on.
We didn’t want to get tickets to walk up to the top this time (I’ve done this before, David wasn’t fussed), so we had a look and then walked a few blocks down the Champs-Elysee before veering off down a side street. The backstreets of the 8th are very stately, and much quieter. We found a bakery, and sat on the terrace with a coffee and croissant before catching an Uber to the Musee Marmottan in the 16th.
Musee Marmottan Monet
The Musee Marmottan is a Monet museum, and it is well off the beaten track. It surprises me, because you’d expect it to be extremely popular especially in the peak season. Musee Marmottan has the largest collection of Monet paintings in the world, thanks to a bequest from Michel Monet, who was Claude Monet’s son and sole heir. The donated collection included not just Monet’s own work, but his own collection which included the paintings of Delacrois, Renoir, Caillebotte, Morisot and more. It’s housed in the former home of Paul Marmottan, who was an avid collector himself, who left his house and art collection to the Academie des Beaux Arts after his death in 1930, so that it may be opened to the public as an art museum. In this way, it reminds me a lot of the Frick Collection in New York City.
It is really worth a detour out to the edges of Passy, to see this remarkable collection and not have to battle the legions of crowds to enjoy it.
Victor Hugo
We walked through Passy, from the Musee Marmottan to the streets near Victor Hugo metro station, which is the area I stayed in in Paris on my first visit with my family more than a decade ago. It brought back so many lovely memories! When I was with my family, we had one particular lunch all together at a restaurant in the area, which we’ve all since referred to as the “best lunch ever.” Before the trip, my parents and I spent a lot of time trying to deduce which restaurant it was, based on Google Maps images and the background of our photos from the table. We eventually found Brasserie Victor Hugo, which is where David and I were headed for lunch. It’s a gorgeous restaurant, renovated since my last visit, and we had a beautiful meal. Again, it was nice to be somewhere that was otherwise full of Parisians.
Trocadero & Champ du Mars
From Victor Hugo, it’s a short walk to the Trocadero, which offers the best views of the Champ du Mars and the Eiffel Tower. We had no plans to go up the Eiffel Tower this time, but we were going to have a picnic underneath it on the Champs du Mars. Unfortunately, the lawn was stripped back to the dirt, it must have been undergoing some works. It worked out for the best that we didn’t have a picnic, because it started bucketing rain twenty minutes later. Luckily by this time, we were happily ensconced under an awning on the terrace of Le Recrutement, a bar on Rue Saint-Dominique. I love heavy rain like this, and it was still very hot so sitting underneath the awning and watching the torrential rain just centimetres away was my idea of heaven.
Seine Picnic
For our final evening in Paris, we had another go at our picnic for the day. We bough a baguette, a flan and some wine in Montparnasse and then took the Metro to the Ile de Cite. It was a beautiful evening, and the banks were lined with other people with the same idea. Unfortunately, our plastic corkscrew from the hotel broke in the cork. David tried to push the cork into the bottle instead, and accidentally covered me in red wine! The cork had moved, but was still stuck in the bottle. I figured that one more little push would do the trick, and we may as well enjoy the wine that I wasn’t already wearing.
…even more wine sprayed out, at which point I was really covered! We’d planned to go to bars nearby, but instead I bought some stain remover and soaked my new, pale yellow cotton dress in our hotel bathroom. To my shock and delight, 100% of the red wine stains came out – the dress genuinely looks brand new.
I changed into another dress (a safer black), and we headed out for a last drink at Charivari, the bistro near our hotel which we’d visited on our first day. I love the crowded patios in Paris, with rows of tables and chairs squeezed together, like an auditorium of spectators watching the streets. Charivari is open until late, and we watched new waves of Parisians arriving every time we thought the evening was coming to an end.
The next morning, we left Paris for Burgundy, French wine country!
