[Travel Advice] Paris solo
Wandering Paris after workshops
Random Observation/Comment #874: There’s no better feeling than just wandering with some comfortable shoes.
//not AI generated
Why Paris?
We hosted some DIN workshops at Châteauform' Le Palais Abbatial de Royaumont, which was no short of incredible. I highly recommend it for corporate workshop space. For Paris Blockchain Week, I had an extra day to attend an event before the flight out on Friday afternoon.
Tips for Paris
Reserve timeslots for the Louvre once you know you’re going. It gets pretty busy especially on weekends.
If you’re scared of heights (or if you’re over 60), don’t do the walk-up to the Eiffel Tower. Spend the extra 10 EUR for the elevator.
Lime bike rentals are really convenient and the paths along the Seine are easy to follow. Surprisingly a large number of joggers.
Make reservations ahead of time if you’re going Michelin Star fancy. If not, you can probably get away with 6PM dinner walk-ins. The standard dinner rush isn’t until after 7:30PM (locals prefer to dine between 8-10PM).
Watch the sunset from the moderne d’art museum. This sunset was bloody gorgeous past 8PM.
Wear comfortable shoes and hope for good weather. I loved the clear sky day I had in April.
Enjoy the food. The crunching sound of the bread is just unreal in Paris. I think my sandwich had 1 slice of ham and a stick of butter. Perfection.
Enjoy the wine. The weird thing is that I didn’t get any hangovers from drinking wine. I also felt like I didn’t get drunk because I probably drank like 4 glasses a night and woke up just fine the next morning.
Enjoy the cheese. Another strange one that my lactose intolerance didn’t seem to bother me even with the brie and camembert stinky soft cheeses.
Wander. I loved not having a plan. Buddy and I walked 12 miles.
Take the trains. No real need to taxi it around.
Short Itinerary
Monday - Wednesday: Workshops. Felt like I was staying at a murder mystery castle or White Lotus. Bleating Sheep and morning geese were great ambiance.
Thursday: Got to the Airbnb in La Marais by 2PM. Spent the day walking around Notre-Dame, Louvre, and just wandering.
Stop by different cathedrals.
Walking from Louvre along the Seine and taking photos of statues and other photogenic things.
Dinner at Bouillon Chartier Grands Boulevard - Pretty awesome dinner spot with super inexpensive prices. You sit next to strangers and they write your order directly on the paper table cover. We ordered 3 entrees. Highly recommend going around 6PM or else there’s a huge queue.
Musee National d’Art Moderne - Great for the sunset. I could have stayed longer for the art exhibits, but we were pretty tired.
Late night falafel at L’As du Fallafel - This was an excellent falafel. Felt very proper and fresh.
Friday: Started the day with a coffee at Noir, followed by a self-guided tour of the Eiffel Tower. A leisurely bike ride through the city led to a delightful lunch at Hanoi before needing to commute to the airport.
Eiffel Tower - Booked the day before for a 9:30AM entrance. I felt like it gave me enough time to walk from Le Marais area to the Eiffel tower in 1.5 hrs. I was totally scare walking up there and I totally forgot that I hated this walk up the last time I was there a decade ago.
Uber Lime biking - This was just fun in general. I wound up riding for 30 minutes around different areas without a real agenda.
Nature & Decouvertes - Random kid’s store that had a bunch of science experiments and gadgets great for a gift.
Lunch at Hanoi - I only went here because it was open at 11AM and I really wanted to eat and head to the airport. The whole staff was Vietnamese and the dishes were delicious.
Train to the airport - Super easy to just take the dark blue line 2. Since I was close to the train, the ride itself was only 45 minutes.
~See Lemons Love Paris