My 7-Day Paris Itinerary

Day 1

My flight was set to land at 8 am, so I decided to “hit the ground running” in an area called Montmartre. I made reservations to eat breakfast at Le Maison Rose, an iconic cafe near the Sacre Couer. I ended up having a delayed flight (over an hour) and missed my breakfast reservation, which was a real bummer since this cafe is often booked up. 

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I did, however, arrive in time for lunch, which I booked at Pink Mamma. The ambiance and food quality was stunning, as well as the view from the top of the hill of the Sacre Couer.  The climb up flights of stairs to reach the church is not for the faint of heart (there is a tram you can take).

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I also purchased tickets for a 3 PM tour of the Palais Garnier. This building is right in the heart of town and was built to house the Opera in the late 1800s. This was one of the most beautiful stops on my trip, with a room that was inspired by the hall of mirrors. After a full day of walking and site-seeing, I hopped on the metro back to the 19th arr., stopping by a restaurant close to my Airbnb for a tasty and fresh dinner. 

Day 2

I was very excited for the opportunity to take some sort of baking or cooking class while in Paris. I tracked down a macaron class through an esteemed school, Le Cordon Bleu, located right by the Eiffel Tour. The downside of this plan was that I had to wake up considerably early to get to the class by 730 AM, which caused some major jetlag later in the day. However, it was TOTALLY worth it to learn from professionals the art of “macarooning”. After the class, I walked past the Eiffel Tour toward the Champs-Elysee to eat lunch at one of the most beautiful restaurants I have ever seen, Beefbar Paris. 

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The food was excellent, but my jetlag caused me to feel really sick. I decided to cut my lunch short after one bite (sadly, because it tasted so good, but I wasn’t sure what was going on with my body enough to trust eating). I walked to the L’Arc du Triumph, and hopped on the metro that is literally underneath it, then returned to that same spot after a long nap. I walked the Champs-Elysee shopping until stores closed*. 

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*One thing to note: in Paris, the hours are interesting. Some restaurants have very strict opening and closing times. They will open only for lunch, close, then open again for a dinner time window. The stores usually open around 10 and close between 7-8. 

Day 3

Versailles was at the top of my list of sites to see because of the preservation of history and art. It was incredible, more incredible than I imagined. I am really glad I got there around 9 AM (even though I booked my ticket for 10 AM). They were letting people in by the half-hour (there was a 10 AM line and a 1030 AM line that were let in altogether). After I got in line, the line quadrupled within minutes. 

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I also decided to download the Versailles app, which includes the audio guide and maps within the app. I much preferred this over waiting in line for an audio guide, and it was a great way to have some direction in such a large place.

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I decided to make lunch reservations at an on-site restaurant called Ore, assuming that it would be a difficult thing to compete for. Wow, am I glad that I did. Not only was the food stunning but the presentation and the view matched. 

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I found it helpful to have the whole day planned at Versailles, as it took hours to experience both the inside and the outside gardens. If you are considering skipping the gardens, I want to tell you not to. They are impeccable and like nothing I have ever seen. Again the app gives a great suggested path to take. 

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Because Versailles is outside of the city, you have to go beyond the metro to get there. On the way in, I took the metro to a bus stop, then hopped on a bus. However, on the way back, I took the RER and found it much faster (you will need extra tickets to do this, as the t+ tickets only count within Paris, see this post for more details on public transportation in Paris; the RER is more expensive). 

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Once back within the lines of Paris, I decided to walk the area around Notre Dame. I stopped by one of the patisserie spots I had saved in my Apple Maps app, Odette, then found an adorable Italian place (Pepita) with a classic striped awning and excellent outdoor seating. As I ate delicious pasta, I realized the restaurant just so happened to be next to the spot I had reservations for the following day. 

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Day 4

For the first half of Vendredi, I decided to leave lots of room to wonder. I took a motorized scooter instead of the metro, to my brunch reservation, a delightful (and seemingly popular) spot called LouLou. The coffee was excellent and so was the food.

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I walked toward Notre Dame and ended up purchasing a ticket to see inside of Saint Chapelle, a church very close to Notre Dame. This church was built to house relics of Jesus ( the crown of thorns and a piece of the cross, supposedly found by Constantine’s mother then purchased by King Louis IX in the early 1200s). It was stunning, intricate, and fascinating. 

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Afterward, I made my way to Musee D’Orsay, an art museum within an old train station filled with iconic impressionist art and brilliant sculptures. I could see the Sacre Couer up on the hill from the clocks. It was raining pretty hard as I came out of the museum, so I headed to a cafe across the street that I noticed when standing in line. It was so charming! 

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This Museum is just across from the Louvre, so on my way back to the Airbnb at the end of the day, I decided to walk past it on my way to the metro. The sunset I captured was too perfect. 

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Day 5 

One of the helpful bloggers I found raved about an area called Le Marais (which is actually very close to Notre Dame). I read that it was great for shopping and very charming, so I planned my Saturday for Le Marais. 

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I stopped by a Boulangerie then walked the entire way to Le Marais from the 19th arrondissement. It was awesome (minus the rain). After lots of great shopping, and great coffee, I decided to eat at this classic french spot along the street that had crepes and galettes. All of the food in Paris was incredible and I found especially the sausages (saucisse) to be so flavorful. 

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From here I walked toward my dinner reservations at Libertino (which was decently far away) hoping to get in early. However, they (like many restaurants in Paris) did not open until the time of my reservation. This gave me extra time, as the rain let up, to walk to Sacre Couer and enjoy Montmartre a little longer. I decided to walk some of the back streets, past Le Maison Rose and Le Consulat- some of the most beautiful in Paris! 

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Outside Libertino, a decent line formed before the restaurant opened. I got to sit right by the kitchen and see the food as the final touches were added by the chef (we are talking about the shaving of an actual truffle mushroom on top of pasta and pizzas). I had a tasty, zesty bowl of pasta. Unfortunately, after this enjoyable meal, my phone was pickpocketed. 

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What It’s Like to Have Your Phone Pickpocketed

From what I can recall, I stood at the entrance of the restaurant, double-checking to make sure I knew where I was going in order to get back to the metro. When I got back to my Airbnb, I saw from my watch that my phone was out of range. I checked the “FindMy” app to see that my phone was by the exit of the restaurant. I went back to see if it fell out of my pocket, but no one could find it. A few hours later the phone was turned on outside of the city of Paris.  I then realized it was pickpocketed. I followed Apple’s online instructions, which made the situation worse because it caused me to be locked out of iCloud (with iCloud still working, I could at least text people on my watch as long as I had wifi). I was so disappointed to lose my connection with others and also the only camera I brought with me. I went to the Apple store the next day, but there was nothing they could do to help me. 

 *yes, apparently it really does happen! And my best advice, if this happens to you, is to mark it as lost in the FindMy app, do not change your iCloud password because you cannot verify your identity to get back in it without your phone, and try to remotely erase it (which only works if the phone is turned on still). If you do not have another phone and are solo, you can find a phone store called Orange common in Paris and purchase a burner for the rest of the time you are there.

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Day 6

I wanted to spend Sunday (Demanche) at the Louvre. This ended up working well without a phone, except for not being able to capture the infamous works of the Mona Lisa and Winged Victory. I was so impressed by the troves of Greek, Egyptian, and Mediterranean artifacts, as well as sculptures, Italian and Spanish art. One of my absolute favorite sections was the apartments- preserved with furniture from Napolean times. It was very cool, albeit hard to get to. 

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The Louvre is much, much bigger than I was prepared for. Even with the audio guide’s interactive map, and a paper map, I was continuously lost. It took almost the entire day to get through 1 level. While there were restrooms in many locations, food was harder to come by. I did not eat beforehand and regretted this decision. There was a cafe, but it only had overpriced pastry products (for me that is not enough food to last me until lunch). I ended up going to the food court for something with sustenance, and by then it was already 3 PM. I recommend eating at the food court before going in (to eat here, you have to exit then use your ticket to get back in), or somewhere close by to the Louvre. I found the lines almost non-existent. 

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After stopping by the Apple store, I headed to my dinner reservation at Pizzeria Popolare (all of the Big Mamma restaurants were excellent!) and had a tasty sausage and spinach pizza! 

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Day 7

On my last day in Paris, I wanted to end with an open-ended day and a boat tour in the evening. I also wanted to wrap up buying Christmas gifts, so I walked the Champs-Elysee. 

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A Note About Shopping in Paris

Paris branded clothing runs (from what I found) from 150 euros to 500 euros. You can actually window shop in Paris, which is awesome. They display little cards to tell you the price of what is on the window mannequin. I really liked a store called Weekday (Swedish origination, but owned by H&M) and also found a little outlet store for a Parisian brand called LDB. Outside of this, the affordable shopping happens in the multiple H&M owned chain stores (&Other Stories, COS, Monki) and Spanish owned Inditex (Zara, Oysho, Pull & Bear). Paris is iconic for fashion design, therefore major designer brands are the star of Paris (Louis V, Burberry, Gucci, Dior, etc.), which sets the bar for affordable at a higher price point (IMO). 

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The boat tour ended up being very enjoyable. The rain stopped just in time for a double rainbow over the city as we toured the Seine, seeing most of the major sites in Paris. Afterward, I wanted to go back to some of the shops I had strolled by earlier in the week, but with only a paper map and no sunlight, it was difficult. I figured walking could be cool to see some of the monuments along the way, but it took about an hour to get from one side of Paris to the other. In the end, it was still a great last day in Paris, re-seeing all of the sites as I shopped and ate. 

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It was an amazing experience that I am eternally grateful for. I have longed for a trip to Europe for over 10 years and I am glad to have taken the leap!