Top Things To Do In Paris If You Only Have A Weekend

Je suis parisienne, j’aime rein...- A Weekend in Paris

The city that boasts wine, cheese and baguettes, the Eiffel Tower, the painter’s corner and the Champs Elysees has long been the city break of choice for many Europeans. Dubbed ‘the city of love’ (note – this is only true when you are in a relationship, trust me I have lived there when I was single it would be better described as the city of sleaze), Paris has so many places to visit, so many buildings to see and so many restaurants to eat at. Having been there recently, and having lived there for almost a year I thought it would be good to impart my wisdom on fellow travellers so that you could make sure you get the most out of visiting the city for a weekend.

Classic Paris View 

1)      Versailles! So it’s a bit out of the city centre, I grant you that, but you can’t really say you have seen Paris until you have done a morning trip to the Chateau de Versailles. Inhabited by the last of the French Monarchy, the Chateau and gardens are in a word: incredible. Elaborate paintings and walls lined with gold and crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, show how the royalty lived and to be completely fair you can kind of understand why the rest of Paris chopped all their heads off. Living in that kind of extravagant gluttony can’t be great when you are trying to rule a country of starving citizens. Once you have had a look around the palace, nothing beats having had a stroll around the picturesque gardens (which are in my opinion the size of a small country) with its large fountains and statues of gods lining the pathways, it’s definitely worth a quick trip.

Hall of Mirrors in Versailles 

2)      Arc de Triomphe! Once back to Paris, its time to get those picturesque touristy photos of you looking into the distance at the Eiffel Tower, so it’s off to the Champs Elysees for some window shopping and sightseeing. At the end of the famous road lies the Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile, the monument which honours those who died in the French Revolutionary, Napoleonic and World Wars.  Now if you are only in Paris for a weekend I would say not to bother with going to the Eiffel Tower, but rather going up the Arc as you get a fantastic view of Paris with the Eiffel Tower in the background and its hands down better than the view you get from le Tour Eiffel. I have to admit that I lived there for 9 months and never once went up the Arc de Triomphe.

Arc de Triomphe

3)      Boulevard Saint-Michel! Ok I admit this is probably a bit of a tourist trap (I doubt you will hear any actual French spoken on the streets of St Michel) but nowhere else in the city boasts the elaborate ‘French’ restaurants with their cheap menus. But hey its good food (we had French onion soup and cheese fondue – standard). The best part is that it’s a stone throw away from the Famous Notre Dame, which by night is beautiful and not too crowded, so you don’t have to worry about the feeling of bursting into Abba’s Our Last Summer and singing the lyrics ‘in the tourist jam, round the notre dame’… or is that just me?

Notre Dame at Night 

4)      The French Theatre! I have only ever seen two things in the theatre in France, one was some weird little play about a dysfunctional family and the other one was the much more entertaining How To Become A Parisian In One Hour – hands down one of the funniest shows I have seen. It’s in English and the play consist of how tourists act in certain situations (in this case it seemed aimed at Americans) and how you should act to pass as French. It’s basically a stand up French comedian taking the piss out of being a Parisian.  It’s definitely something different to do.

5)  Montmartre! Hands down my favourite place in Paris. You have to go and visit Le Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart) which sits on the brow of a hill, boasting great views over the rest of Paris. Round the corner is the famed ‘painters corner’ where artists paint pictures of tourists, views and hope to get lucky with the sale of an overpriced item and on top of that, a stone throw away is the first vineyard ever to be planted in Paris and the Café des deux Moulins which any of you who have watched Amélie will instantly recongise. What's not to love?

Inside the Pantheon

6)      Le Panthéon! This last one is a gem in my opinion. Not many tourists know about it, and to be honest I don’t think a great deal care. It’s an old building whose function through the years has constantly changed. It’s now a mausoleum containing the final resting places of some of the most distinguished French citizens (mainly authors) including, Voltaire, Jena-Jacques Rousseau, Émile Zola, Victor Hugo and Marie Curie. The building itself boasts history throughout the ages and the crypts emanate a sense of both foreboding and greatness as you read about the people who made France what it is today. Definitely worth a visit, but only if you are into that type of historical intimacy (tip: read up on the French Revolution before you go, as most of the people down there were defining figures).

Now I realise you must be thinking, she’s missed The Louvre, The Eiffel Tower, The Boat Trip down the Seine, The Musée d'Orsay etc. etc. but in my opinion a lot of that stuff is there for a longer visit to the city. If you want to spend a morning in a museum then by all means go ahead but Paris itself is a museum, you just have to wander down the streets to appreciate that.

Bisous x

Expat Diaries 
Twitter: @ExpatDiariesAfr 
Instagram: Amyshawza
Facebook: Expat Diaries Africa and Abroad