Everything I Did During My Long Weekend Trip to Paris

Some time ago I found a flight deal for $390 from Paris to Chicago.

Here’s everything I did during my long weekend for my very first time in Paris, France.

Where I Stayed

ChouChou Hotel

What I Did

I always segregate my travel destinations into two categories: a “see-something” place and a “do-something” place. If a place is extremely lucky, it may be labeled as both. For me, I would confidently label Paris as a “see-something” city. That doesn’t mean there aren’t things to do, however, I just don’t think that “doing things” is the main objective when traveling to such city. Anyways, let’s carry on.

Sightseeing

Obviously you have to go to see the Eiffel Tower. It’s a given. You can either take stroll there from any hotel located in the 1st – 6th arrondissements, or, take the metro straight to the Eiffel Tower stop.

From the Eiffel Tower, I strolled around the surrounding neighborhoods and ended in Rue Cler, a neighborhood known for many shops and markets. I stopped inside of a farmagerie (cheese shop) to purchase French butter to bring home.

💡Pro tip: In order to take my butter back to the United States, all you have to do is tell the employees that you would like to take the butter home overseas and they will place it in a plastic bag and vacuum seal it for you.

💡Pro tip: Get lost in the Parisian streets. Stroll around and stop and smell many, many, roses. You’ll be surprised about what you find.

Louis Vuitton Café

Contrary to the internet opinions, I enjoyed my experience at the Louis Vuitton Café. Located 20 minutes (walking) from the Louvre, this Louis Vuitton café/store/museum hybrid overlooks the Seine river.

I went as soon as they opened (at 11am) and I was able to grab a table without having a reservation. If you have a large group, I recommend making a reservation as it gets busy pretty quickly.

Downstairs is the museum and upstairs is the café and a Louis Vuitton store where you can purchase purses, wallets, glasses, books, chocolate, and everything else Louis Vuitton and between.

I ordered a latte and the iconic Louis Vuitton mousse cake. The pastry was a chocolate brownie mousse cake wrapped in cocoa powder in Louis Vuitton monogram. It was delicious. The latte and pastry together was $32 USD, however, the chocolate was complimentary.

Perfume Making Class

I decided to take a perfume making class at the iconic Gallimard Perfume House. The class included a brief history of perfume, the science of how perfume is constructed, and the opportunity to make your own bottle of perfume. There were over 100 oils, scents, and additives to choose from. In fact, they encouraged us to add as many notes as possible. The class was two hours long and cost about ~$110 USD.

Seine River Cruise

Steps away from the Eiffel Tower was the port for the Seine River Cruise. This one-hour boat ride takes you up and down the Seine and captures the iconic sights of Paris, including the Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty, Louvre Museum, and more. The cruise provides telephones that narrate the tour for you to listen to. This Seine River Cruise was booked on Get Your Guide for ~$23 USD.

Vintage Shopping

Paris is home to several vintage and consignment shops. As a result, I had to go vintage shopping. I went to Bam’s Vintage, Bam’s Archives, and several other vintage and consignment shops around Rue Tiquetonne.

Disneyland Paris

This was my first time at any Disney park. In my opinion, I think that Disneyland Paris is quite underwhelming and I don’t think it was worth it. I purchased tickets to both the Disneyland Park and Disney Adventure Park and I was able to do both in the same day. I am not sure if I need to go back.