Our Trip to Paris | Part 2

The Itinerary 

We arrived in Paris on the Monday night and flew back on Saturday morning meaning that we had 4 full days and 5 nights away. While we could've probably covered the city in 3 days we wanted a relaxing break and that extra day made sure we didn't have to rush.

On our first day we planned to go to Disneyland Paris, and while it may not be at the top of everyone's Paris to do list, it was something we really wanted to do. To save time on the day we pre booked our tickets on the official Disneyland Paris website, as it was off peak we could book the 'mini' tickets meaning it was £38 each for the main park, which isn't bad considering tickets at peak times are £61 each (adult). To get to the park we took the RER train from Charles de Gaulle – Étoile (the metro station at the top of the Champs-Élysées by the Arc De Triomphe) to Marne-La-Vallée (the station near the park) and it was surprisingly easy. A single ticket on the RER is just over €7 but make sure you have plenty of change unless you want pay by card or queue up at the ticket office. So after grabbing some cheap pastries from a boulangerie (we did this for breakfast most mornings) we hoped on the train and ate our breakfast during the 45 minute journey, arriving just in time for when the park opens at 10am.

The rest of the day was honestly just magical. We went on the all the bigger rides (yes, Disneyland does have big rides for adults) including Hyperspace Mountain and Thunder Mountain while Karl was kept entertained with all the new Star Wars attractions and I relived my childhood watching the end of day parade. 

It’s hard to describe but the atmosphere of Disneyland is just incredible, I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many happy people in one place. I can happily say that I was living my best life. So while Disneyland may not be for everyone, I’m slightly ashamed to say that it was both our favorite day of the holiday.

On our second day, we walked to the Eiffel Tower in the morning and then took the metro to Notre Dame in the afternoon. You can go up the Eiffel Tower and the tower in Notre Dame but we decided to just do one and go right to the top of the Eiffel Tower and then just walk round Notre Dame. The views from the Eiffel Tower were incredible and it is definitely worth paying extra to go right to the top even if the lifts are a bit rickety. As for Notre Dame, while it was nice to say we’d been, it wasn’t my favorite attraction. That being said, it’s free, beautiful inside and doesn’t take long to look around, so if you have the time you might as well squeeze in a visit.

The next day we visited The Louvre and the surrounding area including Le Palais Royal. Having done GCSE art, this was quite high on my to do list so we gave ourselves plenty of time to enjoy The Louvre and all it has to offer. As we’re both within the 18-25 age bracket and are residents of the EU (well for now) we both got into the Louvre for free by just showing our passports in place of tickets, so make sure to check out the Louvre’s official website as you may be valid for free admission. 

The Louvre itself is massive and took us quite a while to walk around all of the different areas, so make sure you wear comfortable shoes and allow yourself plenty of time if you want to look around it all. My favorite part of the museum is the Paintings, Prints and Drawings section where you will find the world famous Mona Lisa, but the museum does also have a lot of beautiful sculptures if paintings aren’t your thing. After the Louvre we then walked around the gardens nearby and then also over to Le Palais Royal for those all-important tourists snaps.

While we had reserved our last day for shopping by the Arc De Triomphe and Champs Elysée we made a quick trip in the morning to the PSG ground so that Karl could visit the stadium and have a look round the club shop. For those of you who have football obsessed partners, the club shop is lovely. It's also worth visiting if they want a shirt as the PSG store on the Champs Elysée charged quite a bit more and there were restrictions on buying more than one shirt. In return he patiently waited for me while I browsed Sephora. My top tip for shopping would be to think about the exchange rate, as while we were there the rate was so poor that it was actually cheaper to buy the majority of things at home. 

We honestly had such a lovely time in Paris, and for a last minute holiday we ended up being quite organised (apart from nearly missing our airport transfer back - oops!). I would love to go back again but not for quite a few years as there are so many other places I haven't visited and I feel like I have seen the majority of what Paris has to offer.

To read about our hotel and my money saving tips check out part 1.

Have you been to Paris or are you planning a trip? I'd love to hear in the comments below!

Eleanor xx