I was reminiscing about my first time to travel on my own outside the country and thought I’d put it down on paper (virtual paper, that is). It was a 9 day trip and the tour I joined was for 7 days, the other days I went out on my own.
Day 1: I had a few days on my own before the tour started so I went on a day trip to Monet’s Gardens to see where he lived, his inspiration, and his gardens -> take a train to get here and don’t be surprised if it gets delayed. I was supposed to depart at 9am but it arrived close to 11am. At night you can take a boat cruise on the Seine River, bring a jacket just to be sure, it can get cold in August (when I went the 1st time).
Day 2: Start of tour. I have to say it was so easy to join an organised group, you don’t have to worry about ANYTHING but eventually if you want to save more DIY definitely helps. A good way to quickly see landmarks is to take a bus tour and if you didn’t get to do it on day 1 be sure to see the Eiffel Tower light up and dance at night. Walk around to see your neighbourhood, it’s pretty safe in Paris at night.
Day 3: See Notre-Dame and Latin Quarter. Be sure to look for Paris’ point zero, they say it brings good luck.
Day 4: Montmartre, oh how I love thee! From the cobblestones, to sidewalk restaurants, to coffee shops, to quaint shops I just fell in love with this district. In the olden days this used to be a struggling artist’s tambayan, mura kasi but now it’s apparently so expensive to live here. But yeah, this place is a must see, go up Sacré-Coeur Basilica to get a panoramic view of the district, go to Place du Tertre to see painters do their thing, and buy pasalubongs. The first time I went it was raining so I didn’t get to see the white roofs but the second time it was bright and sunny and it was mesmerising to see. Grabe ❤ ❤ ❤
Day 5: Visit the Louvre. Although I find museums interesting this was just a massive place to see in half a day, yun nga lang when you spend the entire day in a museum you might get bored (I’m guilty of this). The best part for me was to see this at night so unless you have a REALLY deep appreciation for the arts, might as well skip going inside BUT be sure to see it at night kasi ang ganda ng Louvre Pyramid at night. If you skip it, head over to Tuileries Garden to take a walk (ang lawak, bes), have a sit under the trees, and people watch. Kung hindi pa pagod, head over to Galeries Lafayette for some retail therapy. If you spend EUR250 (I think) you get to file for tax refund, also in the same location and be sure to look up when you get in.
Day 6: Visit Château de Vesailles. Hay naku, this is a whole day affair napakalawak ng lugar na ‘to. There are gardens within gardens, not all palaces are accessible but they all stand in grandeur. Can you imagine living during the time it was actually built? My most favourite part is The Queen’s Hamlet, aka bahay-bahayan ni Marie Antoinette. When you reach this point it’s a long walk back to the main palace but there’s a shuttle service nearby that’ll take you to the train station, may schedule lang.
Day 7: More museums! By this time I just had enough of them, included in the tour kasi is a 6-day museum pass so maximise. Otherwise spend the rest of the day eating macarons (try Pierre Hermé coz Ladurée is overrated), eat more crêpes, stuff yourself with croissants (Les Gourmandises d’Eiffel), do more shopping before you fly out the following day.
it begins with a step 