Throwback Thursday: Paris the Second Time Around
After our first trip to Paris, we knew we would want to go back. There was so much that we…
After our first trip to Paris, we knew we would want to go back. There was so much that we hadn’t gotten to see in the few days we were there, and since we were only a few hours away, we decided to make a second trip. We went over Marc’s November break during our second year living in Angers. We had one night/two days, and we knew exactly what we wanted to do and see before we went. At the top of that list was the Louvre and Montmartre.
The trip really didn’t start out that well, though. We originally booked a hotel online (I can’t remember the name of it), but when we went to check in, they didn’t have a room for us. So after about an hour of waiting in their lobby, they sent us a few blocks away to another hotel – Hotel Montpensier. Needless to say, I wasn’t very thrilled. The hotel was fine – we were within a reasonable distance from the Louvre and the Opera – but I probably wouldn’t choose to stay there again.
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After we sorted all of that out, we took the metro to spend the afternoon in Montmarte. We tried out the walking tour from our Lonely Planet France book, which I downloaded on the Kindle app on my phone. It was pretty cool, but it would have been better if I didn’t have to read the whole time. Next time I do a walking tour, I might look into an audio version. Have you ever done this before?
Since our afternoon had been cut a little short, we stopped back at our hotel before heading out for the night. I can’t remember exactly what we did before dinner, but we had great dinner at Le Madeleine 7. Marc swears it was the best magret de canard (duck) he’s ever had. I’m not kidding you, he still talks about it. After dinner, we wandered around and down to the Seine before walking back to our hotel.
In the morning, we stopped for breakfast and went to the Louvre.
There’s not that much to say about it that you can’t read in just about every tour book. It’s huge, it takes forever to get through. The Mona Lisa is super crowded and really small. You know, the usual stuff. I do remember being incredibly hot while we were there, and Marc was obsessed with the Egyptian exhibits so we spent more than enough time in that wing of the building. It’s definitely worth a stop, but not if you only have a day or two in Paris – unless you’re really into art.
After lunch, I had already decided that I wanted to see the Saint-Chapelle Cathedral and the Conciergerie, which are located really close to Notre Dame on the Île-de-la-Cité. Unfortunately, the Conciergerie was closed, but we still toured the cathedral. It was absolutely stunning. The stained glass was beautiful, and so colorful. Also worth a quick stop if you have a decent amount of time in Paris.
And, that’s it. We hopped on a train and were back in Angers a few hours later.
Published: May 22, 2014. Updated: April 7, 2022.
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