Paris, France
I read an article recently that the art of traveling and just happening upon places is gone. Anywhere you travel these days, you can find at least 10 Viral TikToks telling you the best 5 rooftop restaurants, the best 5 hotels for travelers seeking XYZ, the best 5 places to ____, you name it.
We went to Paris this summer for one reason: to watch my bestie, Lauren Doyle, play in the Women’s Rugby 7’s games at the Paris 2024 Olympics (she won a bronze medal, by the way!), and as such, we were headed towards a city where the prices of most hotels were insane, where we didn’t know how we would get around via car or public transportation (due to many closures), and where we weren’t sure how safe we would feel walking around or being out at night due to what kinds of people The Games would bring to the city, so, against everything in my body that likes to plan-plan-plan, I made exactly ZERO dinner reservations, museum reservations, etc.
So we showed up in Paris with two airbnbs (one in Paris near the Seine where the opening ceremony was hosted, and one in Saint Denis near the Stade De France where Lauren was playing), and an open mind.
The following is a compilation of what we discovered on our own two feet (that will still be around post-Olympics since there were a number of Olympics-specific installations), simply by walking around the city.
I’ll tell you what, the result of this “by the seat of our pants” style euro-trip was this: we made many friends (a Swedish couple, a Turkish couple, some people from San Francisco, and even three Pastry Chefs studying at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris), we had zero stress, and the local Parisians treated us like family. It was one hell of a trip.
Plus, Lauren won a Bronze Medal so that was insanelyyyyyy cool.
Getting there / Getting around
We flew direct from Chicago O’Hare to Charles De Gaulle, it’s about an 8 hour flight.
Bonjour RATP app is like Chicago’s Ventra App and allows you to buy tickets for public transportation around the city, we opted for a 7 day pass which allowed us to jump on any train in Paris and get around where we needed to go.
We also had a lot of success with Uber, you can get an Uber Van (kind of like an Uber Black meets Uber XL) pretty much anywhere for a few extra bucks if you are needing a big vehicle with lots of luggage room to tote you and your things from Hotel to Airport etc.
Eat
The Hotel Bar at the Four Seasons, Paris, order an Espresso Martini, Porn Star Martini (make sure you get the side car of Champagne), and the Croque Monsieur with Shaved Truffle, tell the bartender Christian we said hello!
Fitzgerald’s near the Eiffel Tower, order the Octopus Carpaccio, make friends with the Staff and they might show you the secret speakeasy… opt for a Spicy Mezcal Margarita or an Aperol Spritz!
I need to get the name of the Crepe Place we had delivered when we were in Saint Denis from Ronnie because the Ham and Gruyere Crepe blew my mind, when you get home, if you want to try your hand at this same crepe: here you go!
Stay
We stayed in an Airbnb, and for what we needed, this was an absolute perfect choice. Prices of hotels and Airbnbs were jacked up to triple to quadruple usual prices, so hopefully when you go you can find something more posh in your budget than we did.
I told some friends whom we met in Paris (the Swedish couple I mentioned above) about my #1 travel hack for staying at gorgeous hotels in any city, Hotel Tonight. The site always has inventory at Hip, Luxury, and Solid hotels. You can always book a Hotel that night via the app, but you can also book months in advance now. Search by price, neighborhood, or type of stay and you’ll find a great spot in your budget. If we were headed back to Paris and knew we wanted a Hotel for our stay, I would start here.
Workout
Yuj Yoga Studio is like the Ritual Hot Yoga of Paris! There are multiple studios around the city and they offer hot yoga, in dark, candle lit studios that have vibes which are simply it.
I also clocked about 15-20k steps per day simply walking around the city and exploring, so if you feel like giving your body a break from the usual routine, you can plan on walking pretty much everywhere.
Play
Yala Lounge Hookah and Cocktail Bar has great craft cocktails, fantastic service, plus you can hookah which is pretty much one of my favorite activities everywhere outside the US.
The Champs-Élysées area is like Chicago’s Michigan Avenue, it’s insanely touristy, yet offers some of the highest-end fashion stores in the world all within a few blocks of one another — Hermes, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Rolex, etc. — plus you save a good deal of money buying designer goods in Paris (as of the time of this writing) due to four things working to your advantage: 1) Lower retail price in Euros (especially if the brand is based in Europe) 2) Favorable EUR / USD exchange rate 3) VAT refund and 4) No US state sales tax. While Champs-Élysées is walking distance to Arc de Triomphe and Four Seasons Hotel, and just across the river from the Eiffel Tower, the other designer district is closer to the Louvre / Ritz Hotel, if you head to the Chanel Store on Rue Cambon you’ll be right at the center of this lovely area.
Take a Pedicab around from the Eiffel Tower, to the Arc de Triomphe, to the Louvre, or Notre Dame! There are so many sights to see, and if you’re anything like Ronnie (he’s not a museum guy) you’ll have more fun spending the money on the Pedicab and getting a verbal tour of Paris from a local, than spending the $20-40 euro to go in/up/walk around any of the iconic locations. Side note: if I were traveling with one of my besties instead of Ronnie, and there during a NON-OLYMPICS time, I would absolutely be going IN the Louvre, UP the Eiffel Tower, etc. but this really wasn’t the trip for it.
Fitzgerald’s Speakeasy opens only at night and they bring in a live DJ. We’d made friends with the staff during the days leading up to the Opening Ceremonies, so after the event at the River wrapped up, the DJ got the party going and we danced on the bar. Gallopin let us take over the back room and music playlist after Lauren and Team USA won the Bronze. There were Espresso Martinis, Tequila Shots, and dancing behind the bar!
Photos of our fabulous trip below!
