This past spring break, my cousin and I traveled to Paris for my (long overdue) high school graduation gift. I’d never been to Europe before, so this trip was a dream come true.
After reading many international travel guides in preparation for this trip, I was ready to embark on the long flight, thousands of steps and delicious food. Although we only spent one week there, we squeezed in as many activities as possible. I’m excited to share my experience traveling to Paris for the first time!
Day 1 – Saturday
I spent all of Thursday night packing after school, awaiting our 10 p.m. departure from Pittsburgh the following day. We slept through our entire eight-hour flight to London to prepare for the six-hour time change in Paris. We arrived around 11 a.m. and made our way to the next gate; our next stop was Paris, at last! Upon reaching Paris at 11:30 a.m. in its local time, we waited patiently for our hour-long taxi ride to our hotel, the 2nd Arrondissement.
We braved the pouring rain, the bumpy cobblestone streets and our roaring stomachs. Let’s just say the streets were not kind to our luggage and we were craving anything other than another unappetizing airplane meal. We unpacked as soon as we got to the hotel, ready for the busy week ahead!
We scarfed down croque monsieurs (the French equivalent of a glorified ham and cheese sandwich) at a small brassiere just outside of our hotel. We jumped into bed right after and eagerly awaited our Sunday plans!
Day 2 – Sunday
Sunday may have been my favorite day of the whole trip.
We unfortunately didn’t have tickets to enter the museum, but we kicked off our day walking past the iconic Louvre Pyramid and its (not quite in bloom) garden, which was only a ten-minute walk from our hotel! We saw as many locals on their morning runs or walks with their dogs as we did tourists.
We stopped by just one of dozens of cafes on the way from the Champs-Élysées area to the Arc de Triomphe for our first croissant of the trip. Fun fact: The Champs-Élysées strip houses store after store, selling everything from Sephora and Levi’s to Chanel and Hermès!
After marveling at the Arc’s beautiful architecture, we were beyond excited for our reservation at La Galerie Dior, the museum displaying some of Christian Dior’s finest pieces and background about his childhood and inspiration. Each dress highlighted the power of femininity with its intricate designs. The gallery featured styles from the early 1900s to those from this year’s line!
After a long day of shopping and walking, we enjoyed a small snack at the café inside Galeries Lafayette Haussmann, a beautiful century-old department store housing all the designer stores we passed by earlier in the day. We headed to dinner at 9 p.m. (because the French eat extremely late compared to Americans) at Loulou Paris, an elegant Italian restaurant located right near the Louvre. The pipe rigate alla vodka was to die for; I would eat it again in a heartbeat! It was the perfect dinner to start our trip.
Day 3 – Monday
We had no specific plans for Monday. Our only goals were to walk along the Left and Right Banks, venture through the Latin Quarter and visit some historical sights.
We went straight to Saint-Chapelle and got in surprisingly quickly considering we didn’t buy tickets beforehand. Since it’s connected to the Palais de Justice de Paris (the meeting place of the Parisian Supreme Court), security was strict. I still cannot wrap my mind around the fact that this church has been standing since 1298! Tourists from the United States, Spain and Germany all gathered around to bask in the spectacular view of the stained glass windows.
After walking up and down the chapel’s steep spiral staircases, we made our way to the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris and sat on the outside steps, taking in as much as we could. Sadly, renovations from the fire in 2019 have still not finished, meaning guests are not yet allowed inside. We went down to the Pantheon, then stopped for lunch at a café where I ordered delicious crepes. My cousin enjoyed some coffee and a baguette with jam and butter. On the way back to the hotel, I stopped to pick up some cute postcards — one to send to my best friend (one of our traditions) and a few extra as keepsakes.
We treated ourselves to tea at the Ritz hotel early in the evening, a complex so beautiful I felt I had no business being there. While I’m not usually a tea drinker, this experience was fantastic. We paired our drinks with an array of classic and contemporary French desserts, including lemon madeleines (my favorite), raspberry marshmallows, passionfruit tarts, canelés and chocolate praline wafers. We ate so much that we had no room left for dinner, so we spent the rest of the night exploring more of the hotel (which included its own designer shops).
Day 4 – Tuesday
Tuesday was our first of three trips outside the city, and we woke up bright and early at 6 a.m. for a tour of Champagne, one of France’s many wine regions. It included everything: a trip to a historic cathedral, a tour of a small champagne production company, a visit to the grave and statue of Dom Perignon, a small lunch in Epernay and a final tour of a large champagne company.
Our first tour was at Michel Fagot where we tasted three different types of champagne and traveled through the basement cellars. Our guide said the small company’s bottles would taste ten times better than the big company’s, and he was right! I even purchased two bottles — one for my parents and one for my boyfriend’s parents. While the larger production company’s champagne was not as tasty, their process for making the champagne was so compelling. Our guide Maria walked us through the various vats of juice, bottling stations and fermenting areas where they have 70 million bottles fermenting at all times. These tours made me want to move to France and dabble in the champagne industry!
Tuesday night was our fanciest dinner of the week at Matsuhisa Paris, the Parisian Nobu. My cousin and I went to Nobu for the first time on our other cousin’s last trip to New York City, so we were excited to enjoy both our tried-and-true favorites and some new dishes. We’ve always loved the jalapeño yellowtail and crispy rice with spicy tuna, but this time, we also tried delicious eggplant tacos and a variety of sashimi (surprisingly, my favorite was the eel)! This meal is definitely one we can only get every few years, but I already cannot wait to see where we go for our next Nobu meal.
Day 5 – Wednesday
Wednesday brought another early morning (5:15 a.m.) for a tour of three castles that are two hours from the center of Paris. It was a long and exhausting van ride, but the castles did not disappoint.
Our favorite was one built on a river with beautiful gardens. Nicknamed “the Ladies Castle,” only women have owned it, and the current owner puts fresh flowers in each room to welcome tourists every day! The owner even grows the flowers in her own garden; they were a beautiful touch to the already rich structural components of the castle.
One of the other castles we saw was the Château de Chambord, which was the inspiration for the castle in “Beauty and the Beast,” and it was just as beautiful as the first! We had lunch and a quick wine tasting in Amboise, France between stops, then headed back to the capital for dinner. My cousin and I got traditional French steak and frites, which totally lived up to their hype. After our long Tuesday and Wednesday, we were excited to get back to the hotel and get some sleep as we prepared for our last day.
Day 6 – Thursday
I woke up on our last day feeling bittersweet; I couldn’t believe our trip had already reached its end!
Thursday was another busy day, and I was determined to get Instagram-worthy pictures as if my life depended on it (as every 19-year-old girl does, of course). We started the day by taking the Metro to Versailles. Our tour started at 10:30 a.m., and it was incredible. The grounds were enormous, and my favorite room was the “Hall of Mirrors,” a beautiful gold room with chandeliers spanning the ceiling.
After Versailles, we reached Angelina, the tourist-trap destination for velvety hot chocolate. It was smooth and rich, but not too sweet — the perfect sweet treat to end our trip!
We then ventured to every touristy Eiffel Tower spot for the perfect view. It’s so much larger than you’d expect up close, and nothing compares to the way it sparkles at night.
We roamed into the streets where we saw cafés and patisseries on every corner. We walked through Rue Cler, a closed-off street with food vendors, markets and flower shops. When I picture Paris, this street is exactly what comes to mind; it was so fulfilling to see my vision in real life!
Back to the hotel we went!
A short reset and a change of clothes later, it was time for our final dinner in Paris. I pulled so many strings to get this reservation, and we were so excited for our Italian dinner with a view of the Eiffel Tower. The restaurant’s vibe was incredible; it had a beautiful view, live music and dessert (although our first Italian dinner was better). Not to mention, the hostess said my “Bonsoir” sounded authentic — that was a win for me!
After dinner, we went down to Port Debilly just in time for the 9 p.m. Eiffel Tower light show — a show-stopping experience for our last view of the city. Checked that off the bucket list!
Day 7 – friday
Then the day we dreaded came…we had to leave Paris. We woke up that morning and jetted off to the Charles de Gaulle Airport. After a flight to London, we had a five-hour layover and another eight-hour flight back to Pittsburgh; our trip had concluded.
On the way back, I created a bucket list: If I ever have the chance to return to Paris, I’ll eat on the Loulou patio, see the Versailles Garden, go on a Seine River Night Cruise and visit Musée de l’Orangerie to see Monet’s water lilies. It’ll be a while until I return, but I’m already counting down the days!
Overall, this was one of the greatest experiences of my life, and I’m so grateful I spent my spring break abroad!