travel

A day in Paris

July 5, 2019 /

Ah, Paris! While it was an exhausting day trying to see all the sights, it was a beautiful day. When we asked the boys what they wanted to see or do in France, they all replied “see the Eiffel tower”. So while I have been several times to the Eiffel tower and my husband once, we decided to take a day to see our top sights in Paris.

First of all, I am very grateful to my friend, Veronique who mapped out our itinerary for us. She asked me what we wanted to see in Paris and suggested we get a Mobilis pass which allowed us to use the same ticket for unlimited train, subway and bus for the day. My oldest at 12 counted as an adult and the pass for the 2 younger ones were half priced. Veronique then told us which train/bus/subway to take and where to get off in the best order to see all we wanted to see: it saved us so much time and made the hopping on and off the different transportation a breeze.

We took the 9 o’clock train into Paris (45 min ride) and took one subway to the Russian Orthodox cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky. Since it was the Orthodox feast of the Ascension we wanted to make sure we went to part of the liturgy. The choir was beautiful and the church is beautiful inside too but no pictures are allowed indoors. From there we took a bus to head towards the Eiffel tower, passing by the arc de Triomphe (I never realized how big it was) and getting off at the Trocadero so we could walk down the steps towards the Eiffel tower.

Of course we all took turns taking our picture with the Eiffel tower in the background. We passed a number of vendors and I picked up some cheap little Eiffel tower keychains as souvenirs. Since this was towards the end of the trip and funds were running low as well as time constraints we did not visit any of the sights but just took the time to admire them. We started having lunch next to the Eiffel tower but between the construction happening and the rat my husband saw by the bushes, we packed up and took a bus towards the Jardin des Tuileries!

We had lunch in the shade in the garden and walked the length of it to the Louvres Museum. In the background of these two pictures is the museum. The museum itself would take at least a day to visit and while my oldest was disappointed we did not go in, we just didn’t have the time and it would not be worth our while for just an hour or so. We just can’t do it all!

Of course we had to get a picture in front of the glass pyramid! From the Louvres, we walked to Notre Dame de Paris. We walked a ways along the Seine river and that was very enjoyable.

The second picture is of the different things that have been fished out of the river. We observed a man trying to pull out a scooter for a while.

Notre Dame is on the Ile de la Cite (and island in the middle of the Seine river) so you access it by a bridge. Since we were walking, the youngest boys were quite tired when we made it but we enjoyed the scenery nonetheless.

Even though I lived in France for 14 years, I still am always amazed and in awe of the architecture. You could spend days in Paris just taking pictures of all the beautiful buildings. We arrived at the cathedral for the west side so we were unable to take pictures from the front. The boys being so tired of walking, I decided it was not worth walking around the couple blocks to get a better view. Maybe that was a little selfish of me but I have seen the cathedral several times and have also visited the inside a few times in the past. We took a couple of pictures before heading back towards a metro station.

Our last destination was Montmartre and the cathedral of the Sacred Heart there as well as a chocolate store and museum. The subway station had several exits and we took the wrong one out which made us go through a neighborhood that made us a little uncomfortable (we had some guys looking at us strangely so I put away my phone but it could have been that people are not used to tourists with so many boys, lol!). We did come accross a store that sold cheap luggage and we purchased a duffel bag for 10 euros since I knew we needed something for the gifts we had received.

The cathedral is beautiful and you walk 250 steps to reach it. There is also a funicular that takes you up (we didn’t realize our tickets could be used for it too). We went through a short security line to go inside the cathedral.

The architecture is just beautiful! We had a quick bite to eat at an Irish pub on the way down and made our way to the Maison Larnicol chocolate store and museum.

We wandered through the store amazed at the chocolat sculptures and bought a few specialty caramels.

At this point we were exhausted and took a subway back to the train station. Despite it being rush hour at 5:30, we found spaces on the train to sit and had a pleasant trip back to our friends. Paris as usual was beautiful and we were grateful for a partly overcast day so temperature were not too hot for a day of walking and visiting.

A bientôt!

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28 Comments

  • Nancy

    July 5, 2019 at 6:23 am

    What a perfect day in Paris! I hope I’ve been once in Paris when I was 14 with school. Was more interested in Jim Morrisons brave then anything else….. Shame on me.

  • Nellie

    July 5, 2019 at 1:24 pm

    Hello Mireille,
    Thanks so much for coming by my blog and leaving your sweet comment.
    Nice to meet you here in blogland. I came over to check out your blog
    and much to my surprise and delight in was on Paris…..we have been there
    too, but it was almost 45+ yrs. ago when we were in our 2nd year of marriage.
    So anytime I see posts from there or other places we visited in Europe it is
    like a delightful blast from the past. So thanks for the trip down memory
    lane as well.
    Blessings,
    Nellie

    • mimifce

      July 5, 2019 at 2:46 pm

      Glad to share! You need to go back, there is so much to see and things probably did change in 45 years. My parents went back a few years ago and since they were older they didn’t walk as much but still enjoyed the trip. We really enjoy more the south of France but it is neat to see all the special landmarks too. Be sure to check the other posts about our trip.

  • Mica

    July 5, 2019 at 9:07 pm

    What a busy day! it’s great you saw so many places, even if you didn’t go inside them all! the chocolate store looks incredible! 🙂 We just stayed at Disney when we visited Paris, we didn’t venture into the centre, I wasn’t sure if the boys would really appreciate it, but it’s my dream to go there one day! 🙂

    Hope that you have a great weekend ahead of you! Going to be a rainy one here so will be a quiet one for us 🙂

    http://awayfromtheblue.blogspot.com.au

    • mimifce

      July 6, 2019 at 7:13 am

      I think the children appreciate it more probably when they are older. When asked about their favorite parts of the trip, they usually mention the animal parks and the medieval places we visited.

    • mimifce

      July 6, 2019 at 7:12 am

      While we prefer the countryside and probably the south of France being our favorite, it is definitely worth visiting once in your lifetime!

  • Ivana Split

    July 6, 2019 at 7:12 am

    It seems you had a lovely time in Paris. How lovely you were able to see the Orthodox liturgy. I always liked their traditional religious songs, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard them live.

    • mimifce

      July 6, 2019 at 7:19 am

      We go to an Orthodox church here in the US and have heard some beautiful choirs but that choir there was one of the top ones I have heard. There is another new cathedral that has been built closer to the Eiffel tower but we only saw it from the bus!

    • mimifce

      July 6, 2019 at 7:18 am

      Glad to share it! I’ve been hoping I am not boring anyone with my recaps. Only one more to go!

  • Melissa Kacar

    July 7, 2019 at 3:50 am

    It sounds like you and your family had such a fun day! Paris is on the top of my bucket list of places to travel – I would love to go there one day! Thanks for sharing! 🙂

    melissakacar.blogspot.com

    • mimifce

      July 7, 2019 at 12:45 pm

      We probably won’t go back next trip as we will most likely stay in the south of France so I am glad we got to show the boys!

  • Miri

    July 8, 2019 at 5:22 am

    Sounds (and looks) like an amazing day in Paris. There is so so much to see in the city and I imagine it just perfect this time of the year.

    Have a great start to the week Mireille,

    lots of love, Miri | MeetMiri

    • mimifce

      July 8, 2019 at 10:31 am

      Yes, later in June and the rest of summer is probably too hot! I imagine the fall would be a wonderful time too!