Last week I took my two seventeen year old daughters on a special Spring Break trip to Paris, France. We were there for two half days (our travel days on either end) and two full days. We stayed at Hotel Londres Saint Honore, a hotel in the 1st arrondissement of Paris that was a short 5 minute walk from the Louvre. I had one basic objective for each day and from there we explored to our heart’s content and we were able to experience so much of the city!
Here is a brief summary of our trip…
Day One
We left early on Tuesday morning to get to the Frankfurt Airport for our short flight to Paris. We took a taxi from the airport to our hotel and arrived around noon. The concierge at the hotel was extremely friendly and accommodating. Because our room was just readied, he let us drop off our luggage in the room and freshen up before heading out to begin exploring Paris–he told us we could take care of checking-in when we returned for the evening.
We quickly found our way to a Creperie and had some delicious crepes for lunch. Then we began our long walk to the neighborhood of Montmartre in the 18th arrondissement. There we walked up a bazillion steps to visit the beautiful Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris. This Roman Catholic church is located at the highest point in the city and second most visited monument in Paris. The views of Paris from the top of the Basilica steps were stunning!
Next we walked around Montmartre enjoying this beautiful neighborhood. We got scoops of ice cream and eventually made our way to the I Love You Wall. This 416 square feet wall is covered with the phrase “I Love You” written out in 311 languages, including all 192 languages of the United Nations. It makes a fun photo spot!
We ate at a café on our way back to the hotel. I had a Croque Monsieur and it was delicious!!
Day Two
My one planned activity for day two was to visit the Louvre. Because of a mix-up on my part, I had to change the tickets I had for a 1 pm entrance to a 3:30 pm entrance time, but it ended up working out for the better because that gave us all morning to explore the Notre Dame Cathedral, which is under construction, and Shakespeare and Company bookstore.
But, first, we had a traditional Parisian breakfast at a café close to our hotel. The traditional breakfast consists of a hot drink (coffee, espresso or tea), juice, and a croissant. The croissants we had all week were so light and flaky…nothing else I’ve had before comes close to comparing to these!
After breakfast we began our walk to Notre Dame Cathedral, across the Seine River. As we were on our way, I wondered aloud where we might be and my daughter pointed out the Louvre right in front of us! It was amazing to stumble upon those iconic glass pyramids. We stopped and took lots of photo before continuing our journey.
We knew that Notre Dame was closed for visitors since it is still under construction following a devastating fire in 2019, but my daughters still wanted to go by and see it. I think our photos of the Notre Dame are going to mean even more in time when viewed with the construction taking place in them.
Next, we found our way across the street to visit the amazing Shakespeare and Company bookstore. We are all readers, so visiting this bookstore was a delight. We spent the rest of our morning here browsing books and reading in the upstairs reading room. And, yes, we made several book purchases before having lunch the the cafe next door.
After lunch we went back to our hotel to rest and relax a bit before our appointment with Mona Lisa at the Louvre. The entire museum is a must see for visiting Paris, but it is quite overwhelming and I could not imagine spending more than two hours there.
There is a shopping mall right off the the Louvre that we stepped into to get delicious macarons from Laduree. I had a creamy risotto with vegetables for dinner and we enjoyed our macarons for dessert in the hotel room.
Day Three
The main event for day three of our visit to Paris was a Seine River cruise followed by crepes. The cruise started and ended at the Eiffel Tower, so after breakfast (hello, flaky croissant!) we walked over the Seine River to the Eiffel Tower. Of course, we stopped to take photos of the tower as we went.
The cruise was excellent and we enjoyed listening to the audio guide as we traveled down the river learning about all the bridges and monuments lining the Seine.
We enjoyed eating our crepes for lunch sitting on the bank of the Seine River.
After lunch we took a meandering walk through parks and neighborhoods, stopping to take photos as we walked. We also stopped for an afternoon stack. EA and I had an incredible iced coffee and all three of us shared one of the most delicious cheesecakes I’ve ever tasted!
We went back to our hotel for a quick rest before heading back out to explore some more.
On Thursday morning, EA asked me if we had been to Sainte Chapelle after spotting it on the map and I told her that we had not, but we could probably make time to go there in the afternoon since I was planning to be in that part of the city. So after resting a bit, we made our way to this gothic style royal chapel. We were stunned at the beauty of this chapel…it really took our breath away and we were so excited that we made it a part of our visit!
After spending time at Sainte Chapelle, we walked through the Latin Quarter a bit and then walked over to the Marais, Paris’s historic Jewish district for falafel. In almost every run down of “what to eat in Paris” falafel was mentioned and I just had to find out why. L’As Du Fallafel was hailed as the absolute best place to get this street food from and there was a long line of people waiting to place their orders when we found it. After waiting in line and placing our orders, we soon found out why! This sandwich filled with falafel, tahini sauce, and loaded with vegetables was amazing!! We ate ours sitting in a nearby park.
I had planned to get eclaires from the nearby L’Eclair de Genie, but unfortunately, it was closed, so we found a macaroon shop and brought them back to the hotel to enjoy as a dessert.
Day Four
Our flight home wasn’t scheduled to leave until 5:30 in the evening, so we had all morning to enjoy a little more of the City of Love. After a packed few days, we slept in a little later and I walked to Starbucks to get us all a caffeinated drink to have while we packed up. The concierge at our hotel, who was amazing, booked a taxi to take us to the airport at 2 pm and stored our luggage for us after we checked out.
After checking out of the hotel, we went to Cafe Saint Honore for a last breakfast in Paris. MC and I had the traditional Parisian breakfast and EA opted for a ham and cheese omlette, which came with a big salad and bread. After breakfast we walked over to Galeries Lafayette for some window shopping. This mall filled with the highest end designers and stores was just a bit overwhelming for us.
We had a leisurely lunch at a café and I had an amazing French Onion Soup and a glass of Rose, which is one of my favorite meals…it was the perfect way to end our time in Paris!
We left with full hearts and so much love for this city, but ready to see the rest of our family!
Pat Hensley says
Thanks for sharing! This brought back such great memories of when we visited Paris!