PARIS

INSPIRATION AWAITS

Paris is yours. Whether you’re there for a day or a week, your days will be filled with all kinds of inspiration français. Be sure you give yourself some time to just chill at a café or in a park. Become a curious explorer of the area where you are staying. Get to know the people that work at the boulangerie or fromagerie. Become one with the Parisians. A simple “Bonjour, madame,” or "Bonjour, monsieur," can go a long way. Give it a try.

UNIQUE EXPERIENCES

• Learn how to bake your own baguette or pastry <map>

• Hidden Paris walking tour

• Dinner with Jim Haynes <map>

• Fête de la Musique

• Day trip to Chartres <map>

DO THIS

• Go to the top of the Arc de Triomphe at sunset <map>

• Visit at least three wonderful museums...Musée Rodin, Musée d'Orsay and le Louvre (go early or late to avoid crowds)  <Rodin map> / <Orsay map> / <Louvre map>

• Hang out in gardens...Luxembourg, Tuileries, and the Palais Royal are three of my favorites

• Visit Sainte-Chapelle first thing in the morning when it opens <map>

• Get wine and cheese and have a picnic on the Champs de Mars in front of the Eiffel Tower. After your wine and cheese, get a blank piece of paper and draw or paint the Eiffel Tower. Voilà! a free souvenir that you can hang on your wall and remember that moment by. <map>

• If you ever need to escape the busy streets of Paris, go into a random church and just sit for a while to soak in the atmosphere. Chill. Listen to your breath. Listen to the silence. Do this for at least 15 minutes and you’ll come out of the church a refreshed person. One of my favorite “chill” churches was St. Suplice.

• Take the Métro to Père Lachaise cemetery and explore a little. Then, take bus #69 for a good tourist bus experience. <map>

• Have a picnic along Canal St. Martin and explore the Marais <map>

• Explore Parisian markets

• If the kids are in tow...or if you want to experience the best Space Mountain in the world...take the RER A to Disneyland Paris

• Have tea and pastries at the Grand Mosque and a visit to the Institut du Monde Arabe <map>

• Go to les Catacombes. Get here early and make sure they’re open the day you go. <map>

• Experience the Notre Dame Choir Performance at night

• See a movie at Le Grand Rex - the largest movie theater in Europe <map>

• Explore Montmartre <map>

• A boat cruise along the Seine river at sunset that ends at the Eiffel Tower so you can see it up close and personal at night

• Watch Zac Efron’s Down to Earth episode where he goes to Paris and discovers the tasty Parisian tap water and sparkling water…that’s free all over Paris!

• Read David Lebovitz’s blog about food in Paris and find some wonderful local pâtisseries, boulangeries and restaurants (click on the Paris drop down menu)

• Go see How to Become a Parisian in One Hour by Olivier Giraud. See if Parisians think you’re Parisian after going to the show. :)

FOOD

• La Maison de l’Abrac (off the Champs-Elysées)…my favorite steak restaurant in Paris <map>

• Frenchie (also, Frenchie-To-Go…an inexpensive lunch joint with great hot dogs!) <map>

• Septime (nice, need a reservation) <map>

• King Marcel (inexpensive and tasty burgers) <map>

• Restaurant Chartier (inexpensive, kind of touristy but good touristy, old school French restaurant - the waiters write your check on the paper table cloths and add it by head - Métro Grands Boulevards)

• Get a prauline (brioche) from Maison Pralus…sooooooo good!!!…they also have great chocolate

• One of my favorite boulangeries/patisseries in Paris is Nelly Julien Douceurs et Traditions. LOVE their almond croissants (croissant aux amandes)…sometimes with chocolate. (Near the Eiffel Tower/Invalides) <map>

• Crepes from street vendors - ones that make them fresh with the batter…not just warm one up that was made last week in some back alley - the area around Centre Pompidou and Chatlet/Les Halles has a ton of them…just be careful around this area at night. Cherain's favorite is une crêpe avec banane et Nutella. Mine is une crêpe avec beurre et sucre (butter and sugar)

• Get a bottle of wine, a baguette and some French cheeses and sit in the park that's on the island that Notre Dame is on…at the very western-most tip of the island, facing west, watch the sunset

• You can get tasty macaroons from Ladurée (if you’re on/near the Champs-Elysées - go to the back of the restaurant to the tea room…they call it Bar Lincoln…you can enter in the door off of rue Lincoln…and you shouldn’t have to wait in line and still get macaroons/pastries…it’s a great little tea room that also serves a wide range of drinks and desserts) <map>

• Head to the Ile St-Louis for ice cream at Berthillon (29-31 rue saint Louis en l'ile) <map>

• A great cheese shop also on the Ile St-Louis is La Ferme Saint-Aubin (76 Rue St Louis En L'ile). Super friendly owner so don’t be afraid to speak French to him! <map>

• Two great places to get tea for home are Kusmi Tea and Mariage Frères. They have stores located throughout Paris.

If you would like more Paris tips, send me an e-mail (welcometomarc@me.com). I’d be happy to share more scoop about one of my favorite cities in the world.