Four Days in Paris - The City of Lights

• Local time: GMT + 1


• Currency: Euro


• Language: French. It would be helpful to know some very basic French phrases.


• It is advisable to buy Paris Museum pass which allows entry to over 70 museums and monuments. We bought a 4 day museum pass. Few points to note: Most of the museums allow free entry on the 1st Sunday of every month. Museums are generally closed on Monday or Tuesday.


• Buy Paris Visite Pass based on the number of days you plan to stay, and the places you would be visiting. It is available as 1/2/3/5 day pass valid for 3 zones (central Paris) or 6 zones (Paris & suburbs). It allows unlimited travel on Paris metro, buses, RER, tram, funicular etc. For more details, visit RATP site


• If you are in Paris for just a weekend, booking for a hop on-hop off bus tour would be helpful to cover all the main sites.

If you are coming by train, you would be getting down in one of these stations based on which part of Europe you come from.

Gare de Lyon: Trains from Swiss, Italy
Gare du Nord: Trains from UK, Northern Europe
Gare de l'Est: Trains from Germany, central Eastern Europe
Gare d'Austerlitz: Trains from Spain

Charles de Gaulle and Orly are the two major airports in Paris.

We boarded the TGV Lyria train from Bern, and reached Gare de Lyon station in Paris. The journey time was around 4.5 hours. We had booked our accommodation in Hotel Chomel near Sevres Babylone Metro station in 7th arrondissment. Our first glimpse of the city, was during the 20 minute bus journey from Gare de Lyon to the hotel.

We started off our trip on a friday afternoon with the visit to Eiffel Tower, the symbol of Paris and one of the most recognisable monuments in the world.

The elevator entry ticket to the top floor was 13 Euros. There was relatively less crowd that day, we had to wait in the queue for just 30 minutes to reach the 2nd level, and another 20 minutes to reach the top of the tower. To take excellent photos of the city, second level is the best in my opinion. It offers a 360 degrees view of Paris. From the 2nd floor, the 180m elevator ascent to the top is spectacular, providing glimpses of the architecture of the tower and ends with the breathtaking view of Paris.

We then took a bus to the Louvre, one of the world's largest museum. As it was friday, Louvre was open until 10pm.

The Louvre needs no introduction, being the most visited museum in the world. The visit to the museum could be daunting, by the sheer size of the palace, spanning eight thematic departments and over 35000 peices of artwork.
Even if you are on a hurry, dont miss to visit the highlights such as the Winged Victory, Venus de Milo, the wedding at Cana and ofcourse the MonaLisa by Leonardo da Vinci.

The Tuileries garden is at the back of Louvre. It's a great place to relax, after an exhaustive day of sightseeing. Just strolling along the garden, we reached the other end - Place de la Concorde.

Then we took the metro for the first time, M12 from Concorde to our hotel. We also bought RER tickets to Versailles, our destination for day two. (If you have 6 zone Paris Visite pass, it is valid for travel to Versailles too. But we had a 3 zone pass)

Our plan for day two was to visit the palace of Versailles, Arc de Triomphe and Orsay museum. We started early from the hotel around 7:30, and had to take a metro to reach the nearest RER C station, and it was a 30 minute journey from there to Versailles Rive Gauche.

The palace of Versailles was constructed in the middle of 17th century for the Sun King, Louis the 14th. It displayed the wealth and power of French monarchy at that time. Versailles is the largest palace in Europe. The must see places in Versailles are the Hall of Mirrors, King and Queen apartment, Chapel Royal, Clock Room and the opera house. You could easily spend a whole day in Versailles, but as we had to cover other places, we moved on.
To our surprise, there was a fountain show in the Versailles gardens as it was a weekend. It was absolutely stunning to watch the fountain show accompanied by music. Entry to fountain show costs 8 Euros, and this doesnt come with the museum pass.

This is said to be the largest triumphal arch in the world. To reach it, we need to take the underground passageway (Trying to cross the busy road here, is dangerous) Napolean commissioned this arch, to commemorate his victories in battle. It houses the tomb of the unknown soldier from first World War, and an eternal flame burns in his honor. The monument also has sculptures depicting the victories of Napolean, and the names of 100s of generals in his troop. We climbed the 300+ steps to reach the top of the arch, but the gorgeous view of Paris from there, is well worth the effort.
We then walked along Avenue des Champs-Elysees, said to be the most famous and expensive avenue in the world.

Musee d Orsay museum was originally a train station known as Gare d'Orsay, and later converted into a museum. It is known for its vast collection of Impressionist art and many other 19th century sculptures, paintings and photography. The museum is situated on the Left Bank of Seine.

Nearest metro station is Solferino (line 12), RER stop is Musee d Orsay (RER C). It's just a 5 minute walk across the river from Louvre/Tuileries. After visiting Orsay museum, we took RER C train to Pont de'l Alma.

The Seine River Cruise is a must to experience the beauty of Paris. The Seine was the inspiration for countless artists, and it has long been the heart and soul of Paris. Most of the historical places are on the banks of the river, including Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, Orsay and the Louvre.
We took the Bateaux-Mouches sightseeing cruise, said to be the oldest boat tour operator in Paris. Boarding point is at Pont de'l Alma, the cruise lasts for around 1 hour and closes at the same point. After the cruise, we walked to Champ de Mars and waited until 9pm to watch Eiffel Tower glittering with lights. (Please Note: This time varies based on the season)

Our plan for day 3 was to visit Sacre Coeur, Invalides and Pompidou center. We started around 8am from the hotel, and took Metro 12 to Abbesses stop.
Tip for visitors: There are over 250 stairs in Abbesses station, so take an elevator if you dont want to climb. We dint know this then and walked all the way, and were exhausted by the time we came out of the station.

Sacre Coeur was built during the end of 19th century, and lies at the top of Montmartre hill. From Abbesses stop, it's a short walk to the funicular base. The metro pass is valid for the short funicular ride (If you prefer, you can walk up the hill)
Sacre Coeur attracts many pilgrims from all over the world. This district being on top of the hill, offers spectacular views of Paris. Montmartre is known for its village like streets, cafes and mainly the painters in Place du Tetre.

Some Tips:

• Beware of men trying to sell some strings.For more details,click here.
• If you plan to get your portrait drawn by any of the artists in Place du Tetre, make sure you ask for the price upfront.

Invalides was initially built as a military hospital to take care of wounded soldiers, in 1670 by Louis the 14th. Even today, Invalides has a hospital and retirement home for war veterans. The ashes of Napolean, the greatest French military genius of all time, rest under the dome of Les Invalides. The army museum in Invalides is worth a visit. It has a huge collection of weapons, armour, emblems and paintings organized in chronological order.
Nearest metro stop is Varenne on Line 13.

The visit to Rodin museum was not in our itinerary, we just came across it while returning from Invalides.

The museum has the famous works of French sculptor, Auguste Rodin, including 'The Kiss' and 'The Thinker'. Outside the museum, is a beautiful sculpture garden and a small cafe. It was pleasant to spend some time there.

The National Museum of Modern Art in the center, houses a large collection of 20th and 21st century art. It was built in 1977, as per the wish of George Pompidou, the former president of France. With the museum ticket, we could goto the top floor to get panoramic views of Paris. Pompidou is also home to a very popular library, a movie theater and bookshop. Tip: If you are pressed for time, Pompidou is not a must.

It was around 7pm by the time we came out of Pompidou, and dint want to wind off our sightseeing for the day. We walked to Hotel de Ville Metro stop, and took Metro 1 to La Defence.

Grand Arche is in the La Defense business district. It was designed in 1989 to mark the anniversary of the 1789 French revolution. It has a spectacular architecture, thats 106m high covered with glass and white marble.
There is a panoramic lift that reaches the top of Grand Arche in a few seconds.

We planned to visit Pantheon and Notre Dame. We took bus 84 from the hotel to Pantheon, and got to know that it opens only at 10am. Since we had an hour to spend, we went to the nearby Luxembourg gardens.

Jardin du Luxembourg is a beautiful garden spread with fountains, flowers and statues, located between the Latin Quarter and St.Germain des Pres. The Luxembourg palace, visibile from the garden, houses the French Senate.

In the garden, We could see people practising yoga, playing chess, and some sleeping on two chairs, kids going on pony rides. All in all, a great place to sit back and relax.

The Pantheon stands at the heart of Latin Quarter, which is the lively and intellectual student district of Paris. It was initially built as a church, and was turned into a memorial to famous Frenchmen. It houses the remains of Piere and Marie Curie (who discovered radioactivity), Voltaire, Rousseau and Victor Hugo, the 3 famous French writers, & more.

The picture here is a miniature of Pantheon, located inside the same building.

Notre Dame cathedral is situated in the heart of Paris, on the Ille de la Cite island surrounded by Seine. Its sculpted facades and marvellous stainglasses are a real stunning artistic experience. There is a small fee to climb the towers of the cathedral, but we dint go there due to lack of time.
The Ground zero in the cathedral square, marked with a metal plaque, is the point from which all distances in Paris are measured.
This completes our trip to Paris. I wish we get to visit it sometime again! Au Revoir Paris!