What To See in Paris, 10 Days of Love

Paris, where do we begin…

“Paris is always a good idea.”
― Audrey Hepburn

So much to see and so little time is forever the phrase that will stay with me. Especially every time I travel to new city.

It’s incredible for those people that can travel to a city for 2-3 days and say they’ve seen it all. I can’t do that, I need to feel and experience the city the way it was through the ages.

Paris is one of those cities you’ll need a month to capture a grasp of what it has to offer.

Thanks to having a job to pay the bills I was able to escape for about 9 days. Here is a little glimpse of what I was able to do.

I will go into detail a bit more of the breakdown of each day in my other blog posts. For those that are planning to go, this is a template that you can get done with limited time.

Tips Before I Start

What To See in Paris, 10 Days of Love and Types of Transit

I want to take a minute to tell you how to get to these places.

Uber is not illegal in Paris like some other countries I’ve been too but the prices are very similar like the US so I would recommend this if you are running behind or for convenience.
Bus, I didn’t ride the bus because I had PTSD from Italy when you have to buy a pass beforehand to get on, so embaressing. Please let me know if you happen to ride the bus haha.
Metro is fantastic but please look into what zones you need to have access too.I had no clue so I over paid every time until I spoke to the Metro attendant. If there is one tip that I leave you with that you remember is this one, once you buy your day pass or multi day pass:

        DO NOT PUT THE PASS NEAR YOUR CELLPHONE

I cannot tell you how much money I lost and how frustrated I got when my ticket didn't work. I was told this on the last day of my trip.

Ok now to the good part

The Best Itinerary Ever for Your 10 Day Stay in Paris

What To See in Paris, 10 Days of Love and the Itinerary

Day 1: Flight to Paris + Checking in Airbnb + Plan

Day 2: The Big Red Bus

This is one of the most effective way to see a bunch of sights in one go. Highly recommend getting on the first one of the day and take a full round of the 10 stops before you decide which stops you want to get off.

This gives you a good idea of how far and close spots are from each other. Perfect to get pictures out of the way!

Day 3: Palace of Versailles + Jardin of Versailles

You need to buy 2 tickets, one for the Palace and one for the Garden itself. I wish I had more time because there is so much to see and this requires a good amount of walking.

Make sure you study the map so you plan where you want to go. There is a cute cafe as well that usually has a line but you can say you dined in the palace which is cool. Their pastries are so gooood.

Once the palace closes check out the town. There plenty of hidden gems outside the palace.

Day 4: Eiffel Tower + Cruise on the Seine

The right of passage is climbing those stairs and I did it, and will never do it again. Buy tickets early and if you can’t you’ll be spending extra money to get tickets through a touring company.

One advantage of climbing the stairs is pictures. No one will be in them. Once you actually get to each sections there people everywhere. Good news is the first section they have food and water.

You’ll be close to the river so go check that out if you have time, just walk along and be jealous of how awesome it is to see everyone out and about spending time with each other.

I took time before the cruise to get more pictures around the Eiffel Tower. (Avenue de Comoens, and L’howea)

Day 5: Le Marias Walking Tour + Bastille

Walking tours are the absolute best way to experience the city and you have to do it once. Went through this district and its about 90 minutes and it was worth its.

Your guides are just normal people talking and showing you why they love the city, very personable. After the tour ate at a restaurant that caught my eye and headed to Bastille to check it out.

Bastille is a cute plaza and they tend to have some entertainment happening. I was able to see a cool band that played some awesome classic songs and they looked like college kids just enjoying playing for people.

Day 6: Notre Dame + Latin Selfie Tour

Notre Dame is a sight to see and sadly it is still covered with a lot of scaffolding from the tragic fire.

Standing on the bridge and hearing the tour guide talk about what a sad day it was for the people witnessing that fire left me with goosebumps…I can only imagine how helpless they all were just watching. I would say since it’s not open a tour is not necessary.

Not going to lie I wondered off and needed up buying street art from the vendors.

After that ended up heading over to the garden of Luxenbourg for the next tour and had myself an “Emily in Paris” moment. Another great tour called the Latin Selfie Tour as you walk through the Latin quarter.

Day 7: Covered Passages Tour + Musee de l’Orangerie + Louvre

The Passages are the perfect place to be when its raining in Paris. This was a fun tour looking at 6 passages that are popular in Paris.

Headed over to Musee de l’Orangerie which houses Monet’s water Lillies collection and currently more floral themed art. Lines are short and its at your own pace. Also shown in Emily in Paris.

Lastly we went to Louvre and it was the day before the infamous attempt of cake smash on the Mona Lisa.

At this point when we got here my feet were hurting so my main goal was to see the Mona Lisa and head out. There is a lot to see and this would take couple days.

Day 8: Montparnasse Walking Tour + Catacombs + Montparnasse Skyscraper

This tour showed us some amazing architects that signed their name as well as some popular spots that famous creative thinkers would hang out.

We also went through the cemetery. This was a peaceful and calm experience, it was nice knowing that everyone was buried with no separation of religion.

After the tour headed over to the catacombs. Must do experience and just be prepared it may be a bit chilly and there are only stairs to go down, I think like 127 and yeah you have to climb those back up.

Lastly headed to the skyscraper in the 56th floor and stayed there until I got to saw the Eiffel Tower light up!

Day 9 : Montmartre Walking Tour

This was in my top 3 favorite tours. It was so cool walking through this area and learning about all the artists that stayed there and their inspiration. It was uphill which is a bit of a trek.

I will say one thing to be aware of is that there are a bunch of artists in the square near the top. Really cool to see but there will people that will come up and will ask to sketch you.

PLEASE make sure you ask how much. I got suckered into it and was out 80 euros… I heard 30 euros initially. They also prefer cash and will show you where the ATM.

You want some art done, go to the ones sitting by their easel. You can actually see what you’re getting.

Day 10: Flight back Home