Now even though I’d visited Paris before, how can one visit this beautiful city and not take in those famous sights? So of course, you know I did…
But before we get on with that, how bloody cool are these electric car charging stations:
As I understand, you can rent them, kinda like their bike rental system throughout the city. I thought this was really clever. Something that will hopefully take off at some point in SA too.
On the topic of transport, while in Paris, you’ve obviously gotta do the Paris underground, the quickest way to get from tourist sight to tourist sight, and quite cheap as well:
A spot of shopping on the Champs-Élysées is a must – you will at least find some of the more “affordable” brands on this strip…
But then you also have the likes of Louis Vuitton. If this is way over your budget (like it was for me), at least still just pop in for a bit of a look-see. It’s quite an impressive store.
They were doing this whole dinosaur theme thing…
At the end of this famous shopping lane you’ll find the Arc de Triomphe, which looks even prettier at night when it’s all lit up:
I know you can go up to the top, but I’ve never done it…
The Notre Dame on the opposite side of town is also a must see. The first time I visited Paris, the queue to go in was stretched around the block, so I only got to see the outside. This time round though we were very lucky and I finally got to see how incredible the interior is:
While you’re in that area, stroll past the river side, chill in the garden (which, just FYI, has free wifi) and check out the interesting bridges, especially the one with the “locks of love”:
But the most prominent Paris sight of course is the Eiffel Tower. Something you just have to make the effort to see, both during the day and at night when the magical light show kicks in:
Oh yes and cheesy photos are a must…
You can pay to go up the stairs or by lift to get a good view of the city. I did that the last time round, so didn’t do it again this time. Then the light show in the evening happens every hour on the hour after the sun sets.
On the entertainment front – you might want to do a cabaret show. I had received some recommendations to check out The Lido which is situated on the Champs-Élysées. It all seemed like it was going to be a great show:
We opted for the show & champagne session at 11pm (there are two sessions per night, one at 9pm and one at 11pm – and you have an option to have dinner as well, but we didn’t want to do the food). Let’s just say, things didn’t go so well. From the bad lighting, dated outfits and clumsy dancing (especially the guys), it all felt like a high school production gone horribly wrong. The only thing that saved it slightly was the figure scating act, but that was seriously the only thing worth seeing. The rest, I felt, was an absolute waste of time and money. And it wasn’t just me, Darryn watched the show with me and hated it equally. So no, I would never recommend that anybody waste their money on this show… ever.
I would much rather recommend the Moulin Rouge:
I went there on my last visit & loved it. Yes it’s still a little cheesy and touristy, but that’s to be expected. It’s actually also a little pricier now I see, BUT it’s at least backed by all the awesome history and the show (in my humble opinion) is much better. They even have a woman swimming with albino anacondas for goodness sake. I mean come now, that’s pretty insane, no? But hey, it’s up to you… it’s still a lot of money that could go towards more important things like shoes & clothes. 😉
Paris the 2nd time round was still amazing (the Lido blemish aside). I will always love this city and will hopefully be back some day again for a 3rd visit.
Au Revoir Paris! Ibiza is up next…
xxx