I will be honest, I never thought I’d return to Paris after my first visit in 2012. As a naive 17-year-old, I had this idea that Paris would be the most beautiful, clean and romantic city on the planet. But as many of you probably know, Paris is quite the opposite. The way that Paris is portrayed in movies has little to do with actual reality. In fact, I can’t think of a dirtier city in Europe. That being said, Paris does have redeeming qualities, so I wasn’t opposed to going back. And when I scored tickets to the opening night of the European leg of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in May and it just happened to be in Paris, I was even excited to go back. Ok, maybe that was mostly because I would finally get to see my favourite artist on the planet, but it also had a lot to do with three old friends living nearby who decided to make the trip to Paris to see me during my five days there. Part of me also really wanted to give the city a second chance all these years later!
I arrived to my hotel in Porte de Montmartre late on a Monday evening, just in time to watch the sunset from my 8th-floor room. Definitely not a bad way to start my second Paris adventure!
The following morning, I met up with Charlotte who I used to live with in Greenland. I hadn’t seen her for five years, so it was about time! I didn’t have many must-sees since I’d seen all the main sights during my first visit, but I did really want to revisit Sacre Coeur, a basilica located on the summit of a hill, overlooking the city centre. I’d always remembered the gorgeous view from up there, and even the second time around, it didn’t disappoint. As we climbed the stairs to the basilica, the city skyline unfolded itself before our eyes. It was just as beautiful as I’d remembered. We stood there for a while taking in the view, and then it was time to head into the streets below us.
Blindly, I followed Charlotte who used to study in Paris and therefore knows the streets way better than me. She took me to another viewpoint, at the terrace of the Galeries Lafayette mall, which offered a much closer view of the centre, including the iconic Eiffel Tower and the gorgeous late 19th-century Baroque Revival-style opera house.
We walked past the Place Vendôme square which houses the Ministry of Justice, and then went to find lunch which wasn’t the easiest task, me being vegan. After a while of searching, we managed to find some bagels and fries and headed to Tuileries Garden by the Louvre, where we sat in the sun for ages, eating and talking.
We then walked along the river Seine to Saint Jacques Tower, which was the only new sight that I really wanted to see. The Flamboyant Gothic tower is the only remnant of the 16th-century Church of Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie, which was demolished in 1797 during the French Revolution. The church housed a relic of Saint James and was a major pilgrimage destination, leading to its inscription on UNESCO’s World Heritage list in 1998.
The tower lies close to the famous Notre Dame Cathedral, our last destination of the day. It was sad to see the destruction that the 2019 fire had caused, but the restoration process was in full swing.
The following day, I met with Charlotte at the Palace of Versailles, located just fourteen kilometres from Paris. The palace is arguably the most popular day trip destination from the city, with over 15 million visitors every year. It’s a former royal residence, which started as a simple hunting lodge in 1623. It was expanded several times from 1661 to 1715, and in 1682, King Louis XIV moved the seat of his court and government to the palace, making it the de facto capital of France. However, in 1789, the royal family returned to Paris, and made Paris the capital of France again. The Palace of Versailles was largely abandoned during the French Revolution, and restorations were first made in the 1830s. In 1979, the palace and its famous gardens were inscribed on UNESCO’s list of World Heritage for its importance as the centre of power, art and science in France during the 17th and 18th centuries.
To visit the palace itself, it is necessary to book tickets in advance. We didn’t know that, so we couldn’t get in and instead opted to spend the day exploring the enormous palace gardens.
Usually, it’s free to visit the gardens, but since there was a “fountain show” that day, we had to pay an entrance fee of 10,50 €. The show definitely wasn’t worth the price, and I have to admit that I was quite disappointed with the gardens as well. Yes, they are well kept, but rather boring in my opinion, especially due to the lack of flowers. And it didn’t help that we couldn’t enter the Queen’s Palace and adjacent gardens, apparently the most beautiful part, without paying an additional entrance fee. By the time we got there, we were so tired from wandering around the gardens all day that we decided to save the money and just go back to Paris to find some good food for dinner.
Unfortunately, I had to say goodbye to Charlotte at the end of the day, but I know it won’t be the last time we see each other! Hopefully, it won’t take us another five years, though!
The following day was Eras Tour day! I will be writing a separate post about this experience, so do stay tuned!
On my last day in Paris, the day after the concert, I met up with Margot and Mathilde who I’d excavated with in Alaska last summer! They both live approximately two hours from Paris in different directions, and both wanted to come to the capital to see me. It was so incredibly nice to catch up with them!
We didn’t do a lot of sightseeing, except for a visit to the archaeological crypt beneath Notre Dame which was free for us as archaeologists. Between 1965 and 1972, archaeologists excavated the foundations of several buildings dating back to the height of the Roman Empire. It was decided to preserve what was found, so visitors to the museum can see the port and city walls of the ancient Roman city of Lutèce, the remains of Gallo-Roman public baths and Medieval streets, foundations of an orphanage from the Renaissance era, as well as sewers from the 19th century, built to combat the city’s many deadly epidemics. Thus, the museum offers a unique insight into the architectural evolution of Paris’ city centre.
We spent the rest of the day strolling along the Seine, people-watching in parks and enjoying the sun. I spotted several swifties with t-shirts or other merch, and handed out so many friendship bracelets. We had burgers for lunch by Saint Jacques Tower and spent a few hours chilling in the Luxembourg Gardens, which might just be my second-favourite place in Paris after Sacre Coeur. It was such a nice day in wonderful company!
My days in Paris were full of friendship and fun, which is much more valuable to me than sightseeing. That being said, I did cover quite a bit of ground during my five days there.
Has it changed my view of Paris? I definitely think of the city more positively now than before, but I don’t think it will ever be a favourite of mine and I’m not sure if I’ll ever be back. That might just depend on Taylor Swift’s future tour schedules!
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