Before the my study abroad program started we had the opportunity to explore Paris for about five days. I thought it would be helpful for those of you planning to travel there in the future to have some ideas of where to eat and what to see!
Day 1: Arrive in Paris mid afternoon. Take metro to the stop closest to the hotel. Arrive at the Hotel Jean Bart around 2. Spend sometime exploring the area before returning the hotel before dinner. Walk to find a place for dinner. We decided to find a pizza place as we wanted to keep expenses down. After that we returned home to rest for the upcoming days.
Day 2: 9:00 We ate the free breakfast at our hotel (croissants and a small baguette with coffee). Then we continued to explore the city.
9:30 Vist Norte Dame, the Flower and Bird Market, and Sainte Chapelle. These are all in walking distance of each other making it very convenient to visit all of them.
2:30 We all met back at the hotel to walk over the Seine and take a boat ride down the river.
5:00 We decided to continue to explore. As all the museums at this time were closed at this time we took a long route home to rest before dinner.
7:00 We had dinner reservations at Relais Odéon, 17 rue de l'Ancienne Comédie.
Day 3: 8:30 Free breakfast at the hotel.
8:45 Depart for guided tour of the Latin Quarter and University of Sorbonne.
12:30 Lunch at 58 Quality Street, 58 Montagne Sainte-Geneviève. This restaurant was absolutely adorable, as were many around it.
3:00 Visit Cluny Museum.
5:00 Free for shopping, walking, and rest.
8:00 Dinner at Bouillon Racine, 3 rue Racine-6
Day 4: 10:15 Depart for a guided visit of the Louvre. Although this can be informative I would not recommend it. It was very much a quick overview of the top sites and the tour guide we had was rude and only wanted to hurry things along. I would have preferred to spend half a day exploring on my own.
1:15 Lunch at the cafeteria in the museum. Although this may sound odd when there are so many restaurants on Paris the food was decent and inexpensive. However, I would have rather picked up a Crepe to go or some other form of street food to eat while I explore Paris.
2:30 I walked to visit the Opera House. As a huge Phantom of the Opera fan this has always been a dream of mine. The road that goes along the opera house also has some amazing shopping.
3:30 From the opera house I took the metro to the Musée d'Orsay. The museum was open until 6:30 the day I visited, which still was not enough time to explore all of the amazing art. After, I headed back to the hotel before dinner.
8:00 Dinner at Papa Jazz Club, 3 rue Saint-Benoit- 6è. The restaurant has a live french singer, which was very entertaining.
Day 5: 9:30 Visit the impressionism exhibition at the Luxembourg Garden's Museum.
12:00 Lunch at a café near the hotel.
2:00 Depart for the train station.
