
We planned a last minute trip to Paris. It really was last minute. We decided to go to Paris for New Years and reserved an apartment a few days before Christmas. I would highly recommend staying in an apartment over a hotel. The prices were lower and we took advantage of eating a couple of meals in the room. We used VRBO website and if you use your phone the app is called Home Away.
We were told by many people that getting to Paris is so easy and not very expensive. Well, that’s not really the case if you don’t plan three months out. There is a bullet train that leaves from Brussels and goes to Paris in one and a half hours. Tickets can be as low as forty euro each way. If you plan a last minute trip expect to pay a few hundred euros each way. The night before we left we decided to book bus tickets. Our round trip tickets were a little over hundred euro. The bus took about 3 ½ hours. The ride was really relaxing. Spacious seats, free wifi (didn’t work well), bathroom, trays behind each seat. I would have no problem taking the bus again.
I made a Paris itinerary for us the afternoon before we left. I don’t think this surprises any of my friends and family. I have itineraries for everything. We had been so busy unpacking and putting our house together, which is still not finished, we didn’t really have time to plan.
Paris Monday 29 – Friday 2
Monday:
- 2:30 Train Station for Bus
- 6:20 Arrive in Paris, walk to apartment
- 8:30 Dinner
- 9:30 Notre Dame
- Archaeological Crypt
- Archaeological Crypt
- Deportation Memorial
- 12:00 Lunch/shopping Ile St. Louise area
- Walk around Boulevard St. Michel and Boulevard St. Germaine
- 2:00 Sainte-Chapelle
- 4:30 apartment
- 7:00 dinner
We ended up not going to the Deportation Memorial, because it was closed off. We also did not go to Saint-Chapelle, because the line was too long. I would really like to go back to Paris to visit both. After resting our feet at the apartment we did this: - Sacre Coeur and Montmartre – Lookout point
- Arc de Triomphe
- Champs-Elysees (High end shopping street)
- Christmas Market (near Champs Elysees)
- 10:30pm Dinner in the apartment
Wednesday:
- 9:00 Louvre (arrive 30 minutes before opening)
- 10:30 snack/coffee
- 12:30 Lunch
- 3:30 apartment
- 5:00 O Chateau – Wine tasting
- 1 champagne, 5 wines, cheese and meats
- 1 champagne, 5 wines, cheese and meats
- 9:00 L’Epigramme for New Year’s Eve dinner
Thursday:
- 9:30 Eiffel Tower
- 11:00 Pompidou Center
Friday:
- 11:00 Bus Home
Notre Dame- Recommend arriving early. We went inside the church and paid extra for the audio tour. We avoided the lines to walk up the tower.
Louvre – Overwhelming with people! It was hard to appreciate the art, because you are constantly getting elbowed, or brushed on while people walk by. I also think the Louvre should have a no camera policy. When we were viewing an art piece, it wasn’t the people that were blocking our view it was the amount of hands going up with cameras, ipads, iphones to take pictures. Why do you need a picture of the art piece? Purchase a post card, buy a book, go online. Take advantage of enjoying the beauty of the art while seeing it. The Louvre is definitely an all-day event. We paid for the audio tour, which I always enjoy, because you get to hear the stories of the art pieces.
On New Year’s Eve we went to O Chateau for a two hour wine tasting course on French wines. This was fantastic! We went down into a cellar with about 15 other people. The sommelier was enthusiastic and the champagne and wines were fantastic!
A little while after wine tasting we headed to dinner. We found L’Epigramme through Tripadvisor. It was excellent. We were there from 9:00pm-1:30am. This span of time was all the courses of dinner. We finished our wine with our dessert right before we left. It was a very nice and relaxing way to enter into the New Year.
The next day we went to Pompidou Center. Oh my goodness, I want to go back. We were there for a little over four hours and we didn’t finish. We missed one whole floor and an exhibit on another floor. This is more of a modern and contemporary art museum featuring the late 19th and 20th century artists. The sights from the top of the building are amazing too.
Food. While in Paris I tried snails and frog legs. Both delicious and I would order again. I especially enjoyed the frog legs. They actually had a good amount of meat on those little legs. The meat was tender. I would like to try snails again.
Enjoy the pictures. I did not take a single picture of us on New Year’s Eve or of our dinner. Oops.