Your Ultimate Guide to Paris, France

Almost two months in quarantine today, 58 days to be specific. Ready to hear how I almost got arrested in Paris? (check my public transportation section to find out). Before I start talking about Paris, I hope you got a chance to see my London blog post that I released last Monday and I also wanted to show you guys something my cousin’s girlfriend Katie sent me a few days ago. She got “You will step on the soil of many countries” as her fortune in her fortune cookie and upon seeing that, she sent it to me. I couldn’t be any happier and I’m sure I speak that for most of you reading this blog post. With a global health crisis going on, it’s hard to say when and how soon we’re going to be able to step on the soil of many countries. Three out of my six trips for the year have been canceled and I wouldn’t be surprised if the remaining three also got canceled and I didn’t travel in 2020 at all. What can we do until then? Well, the answer is— go back and mesmerize about your past travels and inspire others by telling your stories. So, let’s talk about my experience in Paris. First time in Paris? Traveling solo to Paris? Pack your bags and follow my lead. I assure you will have no problems.

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1. Train Station: Gare Du Nord

I rode the Eurostar train from London’s St. Pancras International Station to Paris’ Gare Du Nord. It had always been on my bucket list to ride one of those bullet trains and in fact, this train was not only fast, but it also went through an underwater tunnel. You could also take a flight to Paris and the prices are extremely cheap too, about $31 one-way (I know, for us Americans, this is a shocker. I was baffled.) but I recommend taking the EuroStar as it’s very easy to do so with the train station being in the city center and less hectic than an airport. Plus you’ll get to be on a supersonic train which is an experience in itself.

• Eurostar Train from London to Paris, you can buy your tickets here
  • The tickets could get expensive sometimes so you’ll have to make sure that you book them well in advance. One thing I do want to note is that you won’t find tickets cheaper than $62 one-way. I’ve taken Eurostar twice now, once from London to Paris and once from Brussels to London and both times, my tickets were $62. It does not get cheaper than that. I think that’s their minimum unless obviously if you have a gift voucher or some kind of coupon code.

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2. Hostel – St. Christopher’s Inn – 3 Days

How many days do I have to stay in Paris? I recommend 3 days to take in everything there is to see, even the Palace of Versailles. If you can’t already tell from my big bold title, I stayed at the St. Christopher’s Inn. This hostel was actually a great hostel for me to get out of my comfort zone. The location was really amazing, about a good 8-minute walk from the train station. So, when I got off the train, I didn’t have to look for public transportation. The hostel was clean, the staff was super nice and it was close to a lot of good attractions. My favorite thing about this hostel was that they had unique events going on every day. For example, they had wine and cheese night, movie night, game night, and a bunch of other cool things that brought solo travelers together and that’s how I got out of my comfort zone.

• Here is a link if you wish to reserve St. Christopher’s Inn Hostel for your stay in Paris: Link

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3. Five things you HAVE to see in Paris

• Paris is a great city! I had my opinions about it when I walked out of the train station and saw graffiti but you know what they say “Never judge a book from its cover”. I checked in to my hostel, freshened up, explored the city a little bit, and went to bed early, nothing special. The next day, the hostel had a game night and we all played flippy cup and I made some great friends. Later in the evening, I met these two girls— Freddie from Norway and Shelby from Canada. They were staying in the same dorm room as me and all three of us exchanged some great conversations. I told them that I was going to check out the sunset from the Arc de Triomphe and they came along! I got a wicked picture from the top (it’s the one with an artificial lotus in my hand). We then grabbed some dinner and chilled at the bar inside our hostel. On my last day in Paris, I went to go see the Palace of Versailles. It’s a bit outside of Paris, about a good 30-40 minutes on the metro but well worth it. After coming from the Palace, I went with Freddie & Shelby to the train station so they could buy their train ticket to Milan and this is where I almost lost my peace. Someone had left an unattended bag in the train station which caused huge chaos. We were in line at the ticket office when they called a bomb squad and started evacuating the train station, except the people that were in the ticket office because it was a secure place if something were to happen. They wouldn’t let anyone out of the office until it was clear what was in that unattended bag. Fast forward 20 minutes later, someone had decided to use the washroom and had left their bag sitting alone by itself at the train station. You guys have no idea the scenarios I had already thought of in my head. I didn’t have anything planned for the evening since I pretty much saw everything I wanted to in the past two and a half days. So, Shelby and I went out for an evening stroll which went on for way longer than we had expected— we checkout the Eiffel tower, walked to the Sacré-Cœur, took some pictures, bought souvenirs, and we had been walking and exploring the city for so long, we didn’t realize that it was already 11 PM and had to resort to McDonald’s for dinner which by the way, I did not mind. McDonald’s in Europe has really good vegetarian options, unlike America.
• Let’s say you had a 24-hour layover and wanted to see some of the main things. Then this list would be it. If you wish to check out some other cool places, click here for my fully detailed three-day itinerary.

1. Go on top of Arc de Triomphe during Sunset

13 Euros ($14.26)

A lot of times, people will mention going to the top of The Eiffel Tower but personally, I didn’t think it was that worth it. I rather go to the top of Arc de Triomphe

You can purchase your tickets here: Link

2. The Eiffel Tower

FREE

It’s free to walk around the Eiffel tower but they do charge to the top. it’s really expensive and time-consuming. I remember when I was there, the wait was about 3 hours. NOT worth it.

There are far prettier views (Arc de Triomphe) available at a fraction of the price and a much reduced waiting time! To be honest, going up to the top of the Eiffel Tower is pretty over-hyped.

If you do want to go up, you can purchase your tickets here: Link

3. Palace of Versailles

20 Euros ($21.94)

It’s a bit far from Paris, you will have to take the metro and it takes about 30-40 minutes but it’s well worth it.

You can purchase your tickets here: Link

4. Cathédrale Notre-Dame

FREE

It’s free to go inside to check out the church itself but you will have to pay to go up the tower, I didn’t go myself since I already went to the top of the Arc but if you do wish to go, it’s 8.50 Euros ($9.32)

You can purchase your tickets here: Link

ATTENTION: Currently, the cathedral is closed to the general public for restoration due to the 2019 fire.

5. Sacré-Cœur

FREE

This was the first church I saw after arriving in Paris. It’s free to go inside but in order to go up, it’s 5 Euros. I do recommend going up to the top as it’s not a huge fee and the views are pretty amazing.

Note: there are no elevators. you will have to climb the stairs to the top! In fact, most of the churches that you visit in Europe will NOT have elevators since they were constructed a long time ago.

You can get more details here: Link

4. Public Transportation & Currency Exchange

Public Transportation

You have 2 options (I recommend option 2):

1) This is what I did and wished I would’ve done option 2. You can individually buy tickets as you wish. They have two options on the kiosk, you can buy 1 one-way ticket for 1.90 Euros or you can buy 10 one-way tickets for 14.50 Euros. If you do decide to go with this option, remember to buy the RIGHT ticket and to also keep the ticket even after you’ve used it. This is where I almost got arrested. When you go to the kiosk to buy the ticket, it will also give you an option of purchasing the “senior citizen” discount but it won’t ask for your birthday or anything, if you click the “senior citizen” button then it will simply just apply the discount and me trying to be a smart ass, I got the senior citizen tickets because they were extremely cheap compared to the regular $14.50 Euros. Here is the catch, sometimes, the police of Paris stands at the end of metro stations to check the tickets and that’s where I got caught. The officer saw my ticket and asked me why I had purchased a “senior citizen” discount ticket even when I wasn’t over 65 years. I simply replied back by telling her that it was my first time in Paris and I couldn’t read what it said on the kiosk since it was in French (even though I switched the language to English at the time I was making the purchase). My friend from the hostel also tried defending me and that’s when things got a bit serious. The officer asked me to pay 50 Euros fine or she would have to take me to the police station, it got to a point where she was flashing her badge at me, calling backup cops on her walkie talkie and yelling. In the end, I had to pay that 50 Euro fine and move on. SO, ALWAYS BUY THE RIGHT TICKET! DO NOT TRY TO BE SMART LIKE ME.

2) This is the best option especially for us backpackers who are staying in the city for less than 5 days. Things in London were pretty close to one another so there wasn’t a need to buy tickets but Paris, it’s worth it because not only you have to pay to go to Palace of Versailles but things are pretty far apart.

• You can buy a “Visite Pass”
  • You will have to get a pass for Zones 1 to 5.
  • Zone 1 to 3 will not include anything outside of Paris such as the airport and the Palace of Versailles
  • There are a lot of benefits of this pass such as discounts at a number of attractions in Paris. You get 25% off on your ticket at the Arc de Triomphe and much more. check out this link to learn more about the discounts and prices.
  • Note: 10 one-way tickets are 14:50 Euros and if you’re in Paris, you will be needing at least 20-25 one-way tickets which adds up to about 40 Euros, it’s just smarter to purchase a 2-day ‘visite’ pass for 38.35 Euros. Your two days start from the first time you use the pass. For example, if you bought the pass today and use it for the first time tomorrow, your two days will start from tomorrow.

Currency Exchange. Local Currency: Euros (EUR). 1 USD = 0.88 EUR

You have 3 options, I recommend option 3:

1) Open a prepaid card. This is the method I used and it had its ups and downs. I used Travelex Money Card that you can find here. It’s pretty much like a debit card. What you will have to do is, open the card for $10 and you will be able to link it to your bank account. Every time you feel like you want to convert some money onto your Travelex Money Card, you can use their app to say what currency you want to convert it in and within seconds, that money will be on your card and you can use it right away. It’s also contactless, so you can use it on public transportation and you can set a 4-digit pin so you’re safe as well. I did a lot of research when I went to open this card and I couldn’t find a better exchange rate than Travelex. So if you are planning on picking this option, you’ll get a good rate out of its competitors.

2) You can also carry around cash but I DO NOT recommend this option. When you’re exchanging cash, you won’t get a good exchange rate and there is change of it getting stolen or lost.

3) Open a credit card that has no foreign transaction fees. I recommend this option because when I left for my backpacking trip for the first time, I did not know such credit cards existed and so I never did my research. My personal favorite is United Explorer Visa Card that you can apply for here. I use this card pretty much anywhere I go abroad and since it’s a Visa card, it works almost everywhere. Another reason why I really like a credit card is that no one will give you a better exchange rate than a bank. It’s also very easy to use, simply use it as if you were to use it in the US, and when prompted to choose between USD or EUR, pick EUR. It’s also contactless, no foreign transaction fees, and you 2 lounge pass for United. So, if you’re in a place to open a credit card, I really recommend this option.

6. Food

Food will not be a problem in Paris. There are so many options that you can’t possibly think about but there are some things you have to try while you’re there. Below are some of the MUST food items you need to try.

1. Crepes
   • There are so many food stalls that sell crepes and sometimes as cheap as 2 Euros. In fact, this was the first thing I had after I arrived in Paris. Do remember to keep some cash on you as many of these small retailers don’t take cards.
2. Baguette
   • Go to Le Grenier a Pain Abbesses. They serve warm baguettes every day in the afternoon!
3. Macrons
   • The most famous in Paris is by Laduree. They do get a bit expensive so don’t get too carried away but you have to try some! My favorite flavor was Coffee.
4. Cheese
   • Try cheese at Laurent Dobis.

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