2 Days in Paris

I was long overdue for a trip to Paris, and I finally went in September of this year. I spontaneously booked it last minute in August, after my friend told me that Eurostar was having a sale. Autumn is probably the best time of year to visit Paris because it’s still warm, and most of the summer crowds have gone home. Keep reading to find out how I spent 2 days in Paris.

Top Tip: Occasionally, Eurostar offers a service called “Snap,” which sells tickets at a reduced price if you’re flexible about your travel times. You choose the date of your train, and two days before the travel date, Eurostar will email you to confirm the exact train time.

The Louvre Museum roof is so pretty. I didn’t feel like going in there this time, as I was only in Paris for 1 night. I visited to observe the surroundings (and take photos, of course!). While I was here, I met a girl who was in Paris for the day. It was windy, and we were both struggling to take photos because our tripods kept falling over. So we got talking and ended up spending some time together wandering around the city.

Top Tip: The queue for the Louvre is long at the main pyramid entrance. But did you know there are other entrances? Try the Carrousel du Louvre or Porte des Lions entrances instead.

We walked from the Louvre to Galeries Lafayette, which is where I snapped this photo from the rooftop. I came here on my last visit but never got to the roof. It’s nice up there, and you can see the Eiffel Tower from a distance.

Top Tip: Want to do more than just shopping? Galeries Lafayette hosts weekly fashion shows, which you can book online.

…and of course, we had to visit the highlight of the city, the Eiffel Tower. Paris hosted the Olympic games earlier this year, and the Olympic logo was carved into the tower. We didn’t climb it, and I have never been interested in doing that. Most people say that it’s better to climb the Arc de Triomphe for a good view of the city.

Top Tip: If you want a photo at night, be aware that the Eiffel Tower sparkles for 5 minutes every hour after dark 🙂

You can’t visit Paris without eating a Macaron. So we walked a short distance to this place to pick some up. I liked the fact that this place had less common flavours. The champagne macaron was really tasty! I can also account for the rose-flavoured macaron, as it literally tastes how roses smell. After this, I had to bid farewell to my travel buddy as she had a tour booked and I didn’t feel like joining. So I went back to Gare du Nord station to pick up my suitcase and then went to check in to my hotel for a quick nap.

Top Tip: One of the tastiest places to pick up Macarons in Paris is Pierre Hermé. They have multiple locations in the city, and also have a stand at the Gare du Nord station.

After a nap, I went to City Pharma to do some beauty shopping, and then realised that I hadn’t eaten all day! I had already planned to visit a place called Bouillon Pigalle, which I discovered on TikTok. It seems to be praised for being affordable and serving traditional French food. This meant the queue was long, and it was a “tourist trap” type of place. What was my verdict? 7/10. The prices were great, and some of the food was nice. I enjoyed the French onion soup starter, and the portion was big! For the main course, I got the Canard à l’orange with potatoes. This wasn’t that great (in my opinion), as I found the duck to be very chewy and a lot of it was just “fat”.

Day 2…

Day 2 started off with an early visit to Champs-Élysées for breakfast. I decided to have a French breakfast, which consisted of a croissant, 2 small slices of baguette with butter & jam, and a cappuccino. Very tasty! The cafe wasn’t busy as it was the middle of the week, and I assume most locals were working. I sat outside and got to do some people-watching before shopping.

The L’occitane shop on Avenue des Champs-Élysées is top tier! They have a cafe and a big macaron stand in the middle of the shop. This brand is a winter staple for me, as they sell the best hand creams with a high concentration of shea butter. With only hours left in Paris, I didn’t have time to try out their little cafe, and needed to visit other shops. At a random souvenir stand, I was gifted a free Eiffel Tower key ring! for being the “first customer of the day” This tends to happen to me a lot when travelling, and I am grateful for it. It’s always nice when a shop/store owner gives you a freebie.

Then it was time to snap a photo in front of the Arc de Triomphe before taking the metro to Montmarte. It’s difficult to get a photo without the cars, as this is a busy roundabout. I never climbed the arch on this trip, but it’s definitely on my bucket list to do in future.

Montmarte needs to be on the list if you have 2 days in Paris. The souvenir shops in this area have some really good deals despite it being a tourist hotspot. The walk to the top is really high…and I didn’t come prepared outfit-wise. It probably would have been better for me to visit the day before when I had on trainers and leather leggings. I also didn’t even attempt to enter the church wearing this leather miniskirt. But I did take Le Petit Train de Montmartre, which takes you on a 30-minute ride around the area. Time flies when you are having fun, so my final stop of the day was to visit the Notre Dame Cathedral and then have a late lunch at 3pm.

Unfortunately, the Notre Dame Cathedral was fenced off. It seemed like there were major road works taking place around it. So I headed straight to Union Square Cafe, which was another place I discovered on tiktok. They seem to do a really good lunch deal with €14 for a 3-course meal. So I ordered egg and mayonnaise as a starter, steak frites as a main, and Crème brûlée for dessert.

My stay in the French city of love came to an end at this point. Like all my trips to Paris, it was short and sweet. The two-hour train ride from London to Paris is so convenient that I am considering going there again next year. 2 days in Paris is just never enough!

Click here to read my diary entry from my last trip to Paris, which was 6 years ago in 2018.