I went with some girlfriends to Paris for a week! We’d been planning this trip for months and I was thrilled to finally take the plunge back into international travel. This was my first time to Paris while my travel sisters had already been before. I am so lucky they still wanted to do the iconic tourist spots with me.

Our visit was jam packed but here’s where we were able to fit in our busy schedule.

– Seine River Cruise at night. Since it was December, it was really cold to do this at night. But we persevered and kept each other as warm as possible.

– Musee de l’Orangerie – If you love Monet, come here.

– Musee d’Orsay – if you love impressionism, come here.

– The Louvre – if you want to see the Mona Lisa and some other famous paintings, come here. Each museum, you can spend several hours. I got what I came for at the Musee de l’Orangerie and Musee d’Orsay. If I am able to come back again, I would love to leisurely explore The Louvre for a lot longer. The nice thing about coming in December is that there were not as many people so the lines were very short if there were lines at all.

– Food Tour of Monmartre – This was lovely and other districts have similar tours set up as well. We got to visit a cheese shop, a bread shop, a butcher shop, a chocolate and macaron shop, a crepe spot and a wine spot. After all the walking around, we settled in a “secret spot” where we shared the meal and our guide educated us on the different foods we were eating.

– and since we were in Monmartre, we also went to Sacre Couer. Which is a beautiful big church (cathedral?).

– walk down Champs Elysee – this is a 1.5 mile long avenue of shops. And if you are into shopping, this may be the spot for you. We didn’t really shop but walked down it as at the end is the Arc d’Triomphe.

– Arc d’Triomphe – climbed to the top

– Galeries Lafayette – This is a huge mall and the real prize is the view from the rooftop and it’s free. Since it was Christmas time, the mall was full to the brim of people and there were lines to everything. This is the only place where I felt congested.

– City Pharma – a must if you are into skin and hair care. The items are significantly cheaper than the States and many items cannot be found in the States.

– Eiffel Tower- The day we went to the Eiffel Tower was the coldest day of our visit at 27degrees F. It was so cold we could not go all the way to the top due to frost. We were only able to go to the 2nd platform. We chose to take the elevator up and then walked down for the steps.

– Rue d’University – this is for iconic instagram pictures.

– Jardin de Luxembourg – this is a nice place to leisurely stroll, sit on a bench and read a book if you have the time.

– and a lot of shopping and eating

I ate so much food. I thought I would come home 10 lbs heavier. Amazingly I lost weight. I attribute it to the 20,000+ steps we were averaging each day.

I hope I can come back one day and do a fiber and textile tour. I want to visit yarn and fabric shops and needlepoint. We just didn’t have the time to do it this trip so I know Paris is a must for me to come back to. I learned that there is a needlecraft show that happens every March. I would love to come back in March, 2024 for this event.

Hugs,

Melanie