A Weekend Trip To Paris: A Beginners Guide

Helllllo or should I say, Bonjour! This past weekend Rob and I traveled to Paris for a weekend getaway and it was simply amazing. We arrived to Paris on Friday night and got back home around midnight last night. I am feeling so tired because we had to be up nice and early this morning for another appointment at the Foreigner’s office. This appointment was to officially receive my Visa card! Any who, I’ve got my coffee in hand and I am ready to share all of my recommendations for those of you who plan on visiting Paris for the first time.

Where we stayed:

We booked our hotel through the app, “Hotel Tonight”. I highly recommend using this app as they have awesome prices on hotel rooms for last minute trips and short stays. Our hotel was called Les Jardins du Marais and it was such a cute hotel. The Les Jardins’ staff spoke English and they were helpful with recommendations. They also had parking available, which was extremely important to us as we drove. I must note the rooms are quite small but I imagine that is how most of the hotel rooms are in Paris. We were hardly ever in our room so that didn’t matter to us. My absolute favorite part about the hotel was the courtyard in the center that connected all of their hotel buildings. It was so relaxing to be able to enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning or a glass of wine in the evening. 

My favorite things we did:

1. See the Eiffel Tower spark at night

This was everything to me. My first time seeing the Eiffel Tower was during the middle of the day.  It was so exciting but I have always envisioned feeling some sort of way when I experienced it for the first time and I didn’t really have that! Granted there was so much to see and do and there were so many people around that I didn’t “feel” anything. We came back to the Eiffel Tower around 10:30pm when it was dark and that was the feeling that I had imagined. It was so magical to see and when it started twinkling on the hour, it was absolutely perfect! 

2. Explore Luxembourg Gardens while eating Macaroons

Let me first start off by saying my Gossip Girl obsession was so real back in the day. I mean I was actually obsessed and therefore if I was visiting Paris that meant I was trying the real deal Macaroons. Ladies, when you go to Paris you have to stop at Ladurée and experience their cute shop. It was pink, sparkly and delicious – what more could you ask for? After taking tons of pics we eventually made our way over to the Garden’s where we sat in the grass and enjoyed the afternoon in Pari!

3. Rent Scooters

I don’t think I have laughed so hard in my entire life. Rob and I had SO much fun on those dang scooters. It is super easy, you just download the app and then scan in a barcode on a scooter and you’re off. These scooters were life savers because my feet were pretty sore from walking around all day. Those monuments are really spread out all over the city, so exploring is a little bit of a [beautiful] workout. It was the best time riding around and really being able to soak in Paris with my fav person.

4. The Louvre

This was obviously a must. Our trip to Paris was pretty impulsive so we didn’t buy tickets to the Louvre beforehand but thankfully we were still able to enjoy it. We weren’t able to go inside the Museum to see the Mona Lisa and other famous pieces – next time! 

Where we wined & dined:

Le Hibou – We had dinner and drinks here and we were obsessed. They have lots of outdoor seating and it had such an awesome atmosphere with lots of trees with pretty lights, beautiful views of busy Paris streets, and yummy drinks. I def recommend the Thai Shrimp dish! 

Café Republique – We sat outside and enjoyed lunch here. You get awesome views of the Place de la Republique, which has an awesome large monument. Their coffee and the Toscane salad were pretty tasty. 

Bistrot Le Champ de Mars – We stopped here for drinks and apps late in the evening on Saturday. They had their heaters on outside so we were able to sit outside and enjoy a beautiful night in Paris. Their wait staff was awesome and made it a really enjoyable time.

O’Briens Irish Pub – Okay so Rob and I love going to Irish bar’s in every city we go to. I don’t know what it is but we have so much fun at Irish bar’s. We actually stumbled upon this place due to unusual circumstances. We were leaving the Eiffel Tower during the afternoon on Saturday and because it was a Saturday the riots were happening. It started to get pretty out of control and the police had many of the streets barricaded so we weren’t going to be able to get anywhere so we just hopped into the closest bar, which happened to be O’Brien’s. We had a blast despite what was happening right outside the doors. The protestors were storming the streets so we had a view of that, the O’Brien’s staff locked the doors and continued making sure we all had a good time. We met a pretty awesome group of people here that we will definitely be keeping in touch with. 

I have always imagined visiting Paris one day and our weekend trip certainly surpassed any of my expectations. The people, the food, the views – they were all so great. Although I feel like there was still so much I would like to see in Paris, I am so happy to be able to check this trip off of my bucket list. I cannot wait to visit again. If you are planning a trip to Paris and stop by any of these places, let me know! I’d love to hear about your experiences. Au Revior! XO