Ah, Paris. Just one word conjures up images of incredible museums, prodigious palaces, and highly cultivated cuisine. But before you begin making lists of every sensational sight you want to see, take it from the locals and just linger–over your food, over the stunning surroundings, and over the very ability to linger, which so many of us forget to exercise.
Around Town
Besides the Louvre, one of the most well known museums in Paris is the Musée d’Orsay, which lies on the left bank of the Seine River and holds an impressive collection of French art.
Violette Saint Bris, a native Parisienne and a visiting international student (VINT), cites the Musée d’Orsay as her favorite museum in Paris.
“I love it because it’s got a huge collection of Impressionist art and I love Impressionism,” Saint Bris said. “It’s less crowded than the Louvre, and it’s also in an old railway station in the 19th century, so that makes it really cool.”
Another great choice is Le Grand Palais de Champs Élysées, a Beaux-Arts structure built for the Universal Exhibition of 1900.
“My favorite museum is the Grand Palais in the Eighth District,” said Victoria Denfert-Rochereau ’13, who is also from Paris. “It’s really beautiful. They usually have a lot of great exhibitions.”
Both Parisiennes agree that the best way to see Paris is on foot. So meander through the city, taking in its beauty at every turn—especially the fantastic bridges.
“To me, the most beautiful things in Paris are the bridges,” Denfert-Rochereau said. “These are the most beautiful views. I mean, it’s always the thing that amazes me first whenever I go back to Paris.”
For shopping, Denfert-Rochereau recommends her own neighborhood in the Fifth District.
“I like shopping right by me in the Fifth, right by Boulevard St. Germain,” she said. “It’s a kind of upcoming neighborhood, with all these boutiques that just opened. There are clothes, cassette stores, a lot of shoe stores, everything.”
Saint Bris enjoys shopping in Le Marais, a historic district that happens to have amazing falafel.
“There’s a bunch of vintage, second-hand shops that are very close to each other,” she said. “And I love to go shopping there because everything is mostly five Euros. I love buying dresses and skirts there. It’s all kind of stuff your grandparents would wear.”
If you’ve worn out your soles and can’t walk any longer, go for a ride on the Metro, which Saint Bris said is “the best way to get around–so simple, fast, you can cross Paris in 35 minutes.”
Otherwise, she recommends biking, either using the free Vélib service or taking a bike tour.
“The Vélib is a really cool thing,” Saint Bris said. “It’s a free bike, so it’s costs one Euro an hour and you can take one somewhere and there are booths everywhere in the city, so you can take one and put it back.”
For a bike tour, she suggests Bike About Tours, where she worked as a guide.
“It’s really not expensive, and they give you a bike and you have a guide and you stop every five minutes,” Saint Bris said. They show you the hidden places and the hidden streets-it’s great.”
If you’d like to look at the city of light from afar, take a Bateaux Mouches® boat tour along the Seine. Sure, it’s touristy but if a local recommends it, you can’t feel bad, right?
“On a sunny day, whenever I had time I would take a book and go on those Bateaux Mouches® and just be on the dock and read my book for two hours,” Denfert-Rochereau said.
Dining
You can’t visit Paris without eating at least one croissant, and when you do get one, Saint Bris suggests La Croissanterie in Place St. Germain for their delectable croissants aux amandes (a croissant filled with marzipan).
For the ultimate Parisian cafe, make a stop at Aux Folies on the Rue de Belleville, where you can unabashedly people watch. (It is Paris, after all.)
“It’s great because it’s at the intersection between Rue de Belleville and Rue Jules Romains so you can see very different kinds of people there,” Saint Bris said. “Immigrants, a lot of old people, a lot of young people.”
If you’d like to drink away your troubles in a trendy cafe, go to Sans Souci.
“Sans Souci means ‘without issues,’” Saint Bris said. “And also it’s very young and the music is really cool. You go and you forget all your issues with very good pastis. Pastis is like the typical young alcohol made from anise.”
She also suggests L’Esplanade where the view rivals the dinner.
“L’Esplanade is in Les Invalides. It’s a really beautiful restaurant with a beautiful view of the surroundings. It’s sort of ‘New French’,” said Denfert-Rochereau.
But beware, party-goers, there’s nowhere to eat besides the Champs Elysees after one a.m.
“After one a.m. in Paris, you cannot eat,” Saint Bris said. “Everything is closed–everything. Really, there is no way.”
Music and Nightlife
Paris is not a clubbing city. That being said, there are still plenty of great options for live music and bars, such as L’International on Rue Moret.
“It’s very cool, very young, like all 30-year-olds, with a very organic kind of atmosphere. It’s a very cool place where there are a lot of Americans and random young people who come and play all types of rock music,” Saint Bris said.
If you must go clubbing, Saint Bris urges visitors not to spend money.
“They’re really not worth it,” she said. “Paris is great in the day, but it’s not a night city. The club life is really not good. And I guess it’s just culturally different that we like to have people over in the house, and it’s an old city. It’s true that at night you don’t know what to do sometimes.”
She recommends a free club called Chez Moune, located in Pigalle.
Denfert-Rochereau explains that while a clubbing scene does exist, it is largely inaccessible to visitors, since you need a definite “in.”
“Paris at night is a very closed scene,” she said. “You can’t just go in. You have to know people.”
For tourists, she suggests Queen on the Champs Élysées or The Showcase, which is on Le Pont Alexandre III.
“It’s a huge club called The Showcase. It’s really beautiful and a lot of people go. A lot of electro music lately,” Denfert-Rochereau said.
She also recommends walking around the Boulevard Saint-Michel, an area laden with clubs and bars, including her favorite, the Montana Bar.
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