36-Hour Stopover in Paris
During our recent trip home for a family wedding, we decided to travel via Paris to tick off some bucket-list items (Disney!) as well as a whirlwind tour of the city itself. We flew with Air France direct to Paris, enjoying a very civilised daytime flight (with Champagne included in all cabin classes!) and landed around 15:30pm. Public transport is very easy and accessible in Paris, so we headed straight to the airport train station to continue our journey.
Google Maps will tell you which route to take on the ‘public transport’ tab, and we found the best way to buy tickets was to purchase a Navigo card (2EUR each) and top up for each journey. You can also buy full day passes, with children up to 10 years travelling half price.
We had chosen a hotel close to Gare de Lyon which required minimal walking with our luggage, heading straight there to check in – and find our winter woollies! We stayed in a family room in Courtyard Gare de Lyon which had great city views. Something to bear in mind in Paris – hotel rooms are a lot smaller than here in the UAE! But we still had a comfortable space and all the usual amenities for our 2-night stay.
For dinner we decided to explore close to the hotel, and since it was very chilly, found the first classic Parisian bistrot we saw! The food didn’t disappoint and we were soon enjoying our steak frites, duck and local beer while dusting off our French language skills.
Jet-lag helped us to be up and off early the next morning to our pre-booked Eiffel Tower experience. (This is definitely one to book in advance if you want to reach the top or use the lifts!) We took the metro to Champ de Mars, and called in at another café/bistrot for our fix of freshly baked croissants and morning coffee – the perfect Parisian breakfast!
After climbing the 669 steps to the 2ème étage (and down again!) we continued our city tour by walking across the Pont D’Léna (home of the Olympic rings and fantastic Eiffel Tower views) and heading towards the Arc de Triomphe, enjoying the glorious sunshine that took the edge off the morning chill.
Strolling down the Champs-Elysées was next on the agenda, spotting designer stores (you certainly can’t miss the Louis Vuitton store, currently nestled beside a huge silver LV trunk which is cleverly disguising the construction of the LV Hotel!) and stopping again for a bite to eat at one of the many cafés spilling out onto the street.
Next on our itinerary was the Moulin Rouge and Sacré Cœur, which required a short metro journey from the Arc de Triomphe station. (Be careful which streets you walk along between these two landmarks, especially if you have curious teens!) We didn’t have time to go inside Sacré Cœur – there was a very large queue possibly due to the fact it was a Sunday - but enjoyed the fantastic city views, admiring all of the ‘love locks’ on the fence nearby and stopping for an al-fresco afternoon snack of macarons.
Unfortunately, we had to call it a day at this point as one of the girls wasn’t feeling great, having done very well to get round most of Paris, so we headed back to the hotel on the metro and resorted to room service for dinner and an early night.
By next morning everyone was feeling better and we were able to visit the last landmark on our list – Notre Dame. Another sunny morning meant we could stroll along the banks of the Seine, crossing over to Île Saint-Louis for another dose of croissants, and across to Île de la Cité which is home to the cathedral.
Although renovation works are continuing on the outside of Notre Dame following the devastating fire of 2019, the interior has been completed, and visitors can now go inside once again free of charge. There are various ways to support the cathedral inside, such as purchasing a candle to light or visiting the gift shop on the way out.
A quick metro back to Gare de Lyon meant we could pick up our luggage in time for check-out and then head off on the train to the main event… Disneyland Paris! (This deserves its own blog, so I will save these details for later.)
With only 36 hours in Paris itself, I’m quite impressed with how much we managed to squeeze in, even with a poorly little one in tow.
I hope that this might inspire you to try the indirect route to your next destination and help you to tick off multiple locations in one trip – as I said to my husband, it’s basically having two holidays for the price of one!
