I’ve been to Paris once before as part of a London-Paris-Barcelona trip through EF Ultimate Break, a wonderful experience that allowed me to visit multiple cities without having to do an ounce of planning. For me, traveling with a tour company has always been a wonderful way to get around, but it does come with certain limitations. Specifically, limited time at each destination. I took that trip with very little knowledge of the city and found that the it ignited in me a curiosity about so many of the sites we saw. I was dying to see more of the Louvre and Versailles. I saw the Eiffel Tower and found my toes itching to climb it. I wanted to spend more time wandering the cobbled streets and covered passageways to immerse myself fully in that beautiful city.

In December of last year, my boyfriend and I decided to use the MLK Day holiday to travel. Then we decided to test out just how ambitious we could be in our travels. We set out to see if we could explore an entire city in 3 days (with only 1 day of PTO!) without burning ourselves out or feeling dissatisfied with the trip. We climbed the Eiffel Tower, we saw more of the Louvre and Versailles, and we explored all we could explore. It was a challenge for sure and we learned a ton along the way, but it was 100% worth it!

The Itinerary

Day	Activity	Recommended Amount of Time
1	The Louvre Notre Dame	4 hours+ 1 hour
2	Versailles The Eiffel Tower	6 hours+ 2 hours
3	The Conciergerie Archaeological Crypt Jardin du Luxembourg Hotel des Invalides Champs Elysees Arc de Triomphe	2 hours 1 hour 1 hour 3 hours+ 1 hour <1 hour

Day 1: The Louvre, Notre Dame, and an Early Bedtime

Part of what made the trip so challenging was that it started with an overnight flight. We wanted to make sure we got as much time on location as possible, so this was our strategy to save precious hours in Paris. We flew with Lufthansa from Boston to Frankfurt, and then took another flight from Frankfurt to Paris. Lufthansa was quite a nice airline to fly with and we enjoyed some solid in-flight entertainment, and meals that were of decent quality for an economy class flight.

Just like the US, the EU requires that you go through passport control at your first port of entry, so keep that in mind when planning layover time. This flight itinerary gave us barely an hour of layover time, and I was quite nervous about whether we would miss the next flight. We were lucky in that the German airport was very efficient and we flew through passport control in a jiffy. Unluckily, we stumbled a bit while reading the signs and accidentally went into the line for EU and UK citizens. Since the line was short, this wasn’t much of an issue, but it did prove a bit embarrassing.

We took a quick flight from Frankfurt to Paris and landed at the CDG airport. As with any overnight flight, I had packed myself a little shower-in-a-bag: wet wipes, deodorant, my morning skin care, and a full change of clothes. Air travel puts me firmly into gremlin-mode, as I call it, and a bit of face wash and some eyeliner helped turn me back into my human form. From CDG airport we took the train right into the heart of Paris. On this trip, we used 2 types of public transit: RER and Metro trains. The RER is primarily above ground trains that travel out of the city, while the Metro is your standard subway system. Details on how to pay for trains are below. The RER-B line will take you from the CDG airport to the heart of Paris.

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Stop #1: The Tuilerie Gardens & Entering the Louvre

We took the RER-B from the CDG airport to the Chȃtalet-Les Halles stop, and then walked from there to The Louvre. One of the big advantages of the short trip was that we were traveling on backpacks and were able to carry these around. If you’re traveling with a suitcase and need to stow it somewhere, I recommend using a luggage storage service. You’ll have to look online for recommendations, as I haven’t used one myself, but I’ve heard of NannyBag and Radical Storage from friends in the past. There are storage lockers available in The Louvre, so you could also check if these are large enough for your luggage – but note that you cannot access the storage lockers until you enter the museum for your visit.

We had tickets to enter The Louvre at 11am, but we arrived there at 9:30am which gave us plenty of time to hop across the street and explore the Tuilerie Gardens. This is a classic French style garden, which means that everything is very geometrical and neatly pruned. As you walk through you’ll see trees that are clipped to look rectangular, and hedges pruned into neat triangles. There are multiple little kiosks in these gardens where you can buy a coffee and a pastry for your morning. The gardens themselves stretch from the entrance of the Louvre to the Place de la Concorde. You’ll know you’ve reached the end when you see a gold-tipped obelisk. This monument stands in the plaza that once housed the historic guillotine. Previously known as the Place de la Revolution when it housed this notorious blade, it was renamed to Place de la Concorde in 1795 to mark the end of The Terror.

We made our way back to the iconic Louvre pyramids at 10:30am to get in line. While we stood there we learned a few things. Firstly, while the glass pyramid at the center of this museum is well-known and prolifically photographed, I genuinely found myself getting irritated with it. The structure sits in the middle of a beautiful palace, and blocks the sight of this palace from seemingly every side. Built in 1989, it turns out this structure wasn’t very popular with the locals at the time either, as they thought (like me) that it would clash with the classic French Renaissance architecture around it.

The second thing that we learned was that getting in line 30 minutes early is a bit too early. We observed the pattern of entry for 3 separate time slots. In each case, they allowed people to start lining up well before their entry time, but did not allow them entry until the time on their ticket. When your ticket time arrives, the line starts to snake into the pyramid, and it takes about 30 minutes for the entire line to pass through. If you arrive 15 minutes late for your time slot, they still let you get in line, and you only end up standing/walking towards the doors for 15 minutes. So if you’re an anxious soul who needs to be lined up early, get there about 15-30 minutes before your entry time. If you’d rather spend more time in the gardens and be stationary for as little time as possible, get in line 15 minutes after your scheduled entry time. When you enter the museum, go directly to the cloakroom where you can put your coats and bags into a free locker for the duration of your visit.

Stop #2: The Louvre Museum

Something to remember about most of what we saw in Paris, is that the buildings themselves are just as interesting as the things inside them. This is deeply true for the Louvre, and if you have an interest in the history of this place then you should start with the exhibit about the Medieval Louvre. Here you can walk along the original foundations of the Louvre which still stand beneath today’s structure, and see the evolution of the palace over time. As you explore the exhibits in the rest of the building, treat the building as an exhibit itself. In any well-adorned room, always look up, because the ceiling decor is truly magnificent in many of these spaces.

Some of the other exhibits we enjoyed included The Mona Lisa, The Venus de Milo, The Coronation of Napoleon, and the French Crown Jewels. Make sure you pick up a map when you first enter the museum because this building is enormous. A map will keep you from getting lost, make it easier to find the nearest bathroom, and allow you to ensure you see the exhibits you care most about. There are two critical things in any museum: the bathrooms and the food. After all, you can’t stop being human while you appreciate art. The bathrooms near the entrance got very crowded, so I recommend going to the ones that are dispersed between exhibits.

For food, I usually don’t recommend eating in a museum at all, except maybe to grab an emergency snack to tide you over. In this case though, we did find a nice restaurant called Bistrot Benoit under the pyramid. We had a Truffle Pasta and Chicken Supreme as our main course. For dessert we enjoyed Creme Brulee and Chocolate Profiteroles. It was our first real meal in France and we were really impressed by the quality of the ingredients. The ham and cheese on the Truffle Pasta were mild and all the flavors mixed well together, and the chicken was tender and perfectly cooked. The desserts were truly phenomenal, and I was particularly impressed by the quality of the chocolate on the profiteroles. I’m not one for overly sweet desserts, and I found that all the flavors were well-balanced in these.

Stop #3: Notre Dame de Paris

We planned to stay at The Louvre right up until our check-in time at the AirBnB. That provided a clear deadline, but still gave us 4 full hours in the museum. After dropping off our bags at the AirBnB, and stopping for a quick nap (much-needed on a day like this!), we made our way to Notre Dame de Paris. My boyfriend and I were particularly excited for this visit, as we recently built the Notre Dame Lego set! Once again (and this won’t be the last time I say this), always look up in any old building! This cathedral has a beautiful interior, and it really feels like a place with a deep history, so take some time to walk the internal perimeter and take it all in.

The architectural marvel of the structure (flying buttresses, anyone?) it is best seen from the outside. The picture above is one of my favorites from the trip, because it shows this site stripped of its romanticized layers and highlights reality: it’s recovering from a fire! They’ve re-opened the cathedral to visitors, but the upper galleries are still closed and much of the space is very much under construction. I wouldn’t have it any other way! It’s a real reminder that history isn’t just the past, but is being constantly written as we observe it. The fire that hit Notre Dame in 2019 is now part of its historical fabric, and to see evidence of that history is to truly appreciate the nature of the monument.

Stop #4: Early to Bed

It’s hard for me to admit, but I’m getting older. I’ve got lots of fast and hectic travel left in me, but to make it happen I’m going to have to get much better at the resting part of these adventures. On our first night in Paris, we really pushed ourselves to stay awake as much as we could. We took a quick break for a nap between The Louvre and Notre Dame, but made sure to set an alarm to make sure we didn’t oversleep. At the end of the day, we went to bed at 7pm. Luckily, that allowed us to get a solid 12 hours of sleep and for the rest of our trip we managed to stay out much later on subsequent days! My advice here is simple: if you’re going to take short, fast-paced trips, you have to listen to your body and rest up.

Day 2: Versailles and the Eiffel Tower

Ok. This was my favorite day of the trip, and I absolutely would not recommend it to anyone without a huge disclaimer: you will walk more than you can imagine. I loved it, and I would do it again, but I might wear better shoes next time and maybe take a few stretching breaks. To put it simply, my Garmin reported the following stats for this day: 38,921 steps (the equivalent of 17.5 miles), 1,743 active calories, 70 floors climbed and descended.

We started our day by heading to the RER and making our way to Versailles. The train ride only costs €2.50, which is the same price as a Metro ride around the city! It take about 45 minutes to get to Versailles, and once you arrive it’s a quick 15 minute walk from the train station to the entrance of the Chateau. You can use your NavigoEasy card to pay for this ride. Don’t be surprised if you have to tap your card more times than you’d expect, as there are separate fare gates for the Metro and RER, so you have to tap again to transfer between the two even within the same station.

Stop #1: Chateau de Versailles

If you’re confused about why there are so many stops on a day that I described as having 2 activities, it’s because Versailles is far more than 1 thing. The first thing we did at Versailles – and I do recommend doing it in this order – was the Chateau. This is a magnificent palace built by Louis XIV on the site of his father’s hunting lodge. It’s a monument to the greatest and worst moments of the French monarchy. Simultaneously, it is Louis XIV’s love letter to his kingdom, and an emblem of Louis XVI’s failure to rule his people as they would have liked.

I’m going to say it again: always look up. But before you go into the building and start looking up, take some time to walk around the front exterior and appreciate this construction. The ground is sloped so that the palace stands a full floor above the street in front of it. The cobblestone courtyard leading from the gates to the palace is a place of great history, and I recommend taking a moment to appreciate it. This is the ground where people gathered as Marie Antoinette entered the palace to marry the future Louis XVI, and it is the same ground where women arrived from Paris and demanded that the King and Queen relocate their court to Paris. Once again, a place of contrasting historical tales.

Navigating the Chateau is fairly simple, as the rooms lead one into the other. That being said, there’s a ton to see and often the English signs are not quite as informative as the French. I recommending approaching Versailles with one of two strategies: pre-reading, or reading as you go. For pre-reading, I recommend the three episode docuseries available on Amazon Prime: The Rise and Fall of Versailles. For reading as you go, there is an audio guide available for purchase at the entrance. If you’re lucky enough to have internet access (or if you’re better prepared than we were), you can download the Versailles app on your phone for free. The app includes thorough audio guides in multiple languages – though you’ll want to pack some headphones so you can follow along properly.

A highlight of the Palace was (you guessed it) the ceilings! In particular, the Royal Chapel has exceptional decorations, engravings, and artwork on the ceiling. The King’s apartments also have phenomenal ceiling art. Specifically, each room is themed after a different Greek deity and the ceiling art reflects that theming. Another spectacular stop is the Hall of Mirrors. This is a spot that you should walk from end-to-end and really take in the view. The hall is designed to make it look like the Gardens extend along both sides, and reflect light across the entire space.

Stop #2: The Gardens of Versailles

When you feel you’ve done justice to the Chateau, it’s time to move on to the Gardens. We visited in the winter, so there weren’t flowers in bloom to appreciate, but we were surprised by how green the grass still was. We walked along the Grand Canal and put a good 5 miles on our feet in the Gardens alone – and barely saw half of them! If you have the time, really take a ton of it in these Gardens, because they are truly a labor of love. These are some of the most extensive gardens in the world, and they feature really creative elements like an entire outdoor ballroom and opera! The Grand Canal has a very nice walkway that wraps around the whole thing, and you might catch some crew teams rowing down the waterway.

My biggest tip about the Gardens is to do something we forgot to: check the map! We thought of them like any other gardens, a beautiful place to walk around. But these Gardens have specific sites that you’re going to want to stop at. In particular, there are several groves in the Gardens with special themes and architecture. We managed to spot the Colonnade Grove on our way out of Versailles, but missed a few of the other special features of this garden. Again, a true labor of love. Landscape architects have built careers on this garden, and I urge you to take your time exploring its many groves and aisles.

Stop #3: The Grand (and Petit) Trianon

Across the Grand Canal is the Grand Trianon Palace. This is a much smaller palace than the Chateau, but a very unique structure in itself. Its made of pink marble and the decor on the inside provides a view into the evolution of the French monarchy after the Revolution. This palace is decorated in a Napoleonic style, and features furniture and artwork that would have decorated the rooms of Empress Eugenie. The gardens behind the Grand Trianon are a beautiful miniature version of the Gardens of Versailles, but unique in their own way. We didn’t realize it at first, but these gardens are far more extensive than they appear from the Grand Trianon. All in all, the Grand Trianon is absolutely worth the visit, despite the fairly long walk to get to it and the additional ticket price. It’s also a fairly quick stop and a good opportunity to warm up just a little bit before heading to the English-style gardens of the Petit Trianon and the Queen’s Hamlet.

When you exit the Grand Trianon, take a hard turn to the left where you’ll walk along a cobbled road that looks a little strange after all this time in gardens and palaces. This space looks very casual and you’ll even see cars parked along the side of the street. There’s a cafe in the Petit Trianon if you’re looking for a place to take a break, and public restrooms available here too. The Petit Trianon is a smaller building than even the Grand Trianon – it’s a bit jarring to walk through a space that’s about the size of a large modern-day house after all the glitz and glamor of Versailles. This building was a haven for Marie Antoinette, who chose to spend much of her time in the relatively quiet space where she could get away from the hustle and bustle of court life. When you exit the building, you’ll find yourself in another French-style garden. Beyond this is where the real magic begins with an English-style garden. It’s got a bit of the feeling of Hobbiton, with windy paths and hilly terrain, and waterways that snake their way through the space.

In the middle of the English garden is the Queen’s Hamlet, a sort of life-size dollhouse in many ways. Instead of playing at being a princess, Marie Antoinette and her companions played at being farmers and milkmaids. Today, you can walk through the little garden plots where vegetables are still being cultivated, and spend some quality time with rabbits, goats, and sheep. It’s no wonder that Marie Antoinette spent so much of her time here. If we’d thought ahead, this would have been an idyllic place for a little picnic. Unfortunately, by the time we got to the Queen’s Hamlet we were running low on time. We had to settle for a Croque Monsieur from a little kiosk in the Gardens of Versailles as we made our way back to the train station. It was another easy ride, costing only €2.50 to make our way back to the city.

Stop #4: The Eiffel Tower

We hopped off the RER one stop too late, having lost ourselves in an exhausted haze during the ride back to Paris. Luckily, RER stops within the city are spaced pretty close together, and this put us in a spot where we could take a nice walk along the Seine as we approached the foot of the Eiffel Tower. Like the pyramids at the Louvre, this structure was much-criticized by the local population when it first went up for the 1889 World’s Fair. Unlike the pyramids though, the Eiffel Tower has now become synonymous with Paris and with all things French in the global perspective. I found the Tower to be imposing in size and enchanting in the way it is interacted with.

To enter the area under the Eiffel Tower, it is necessary to go through security. It’s the same security you’ll see at the Louvre, Versailles, and all the other monuments and museums listed in this post – a simple metal detector scan, and a quick look through your purse. If you buy timed entry tickets ahead of time, like we did, then you can go through a separate security line which tends to be much shorter. But it’s worth noting that you do not need a ticket to stand under the Eiffel Tower! While requiring security scans, this space is open to all at no cost. At the base of the tower, you’ll find vendors selling snacks, souvenirs, and tickets to climb the tower (if you don’t already have one).

The first and second floors are accessible either by stairs or elevator, and the top of the tower is only accessible by elevator. We were unable to visit the top of the tower, as this area was closed for maintenance during our Paris trip, but we had an excellent time exploring the base, first, and second floors. The first and second floor both have excellent viewing decks, areas to buy snacks and drinks, as well as souvenir shops. Each floor also features restaurant, though these both primarily offer prix fixe menus that we found were significantly outside our budget for a meal. We did learn that if you make a reservation at one of the restaurants, this allows you to skip past most of the lines and gets you an express ticket up the elevator.

If you, like us, visit in the winter, be sure to dress for the weather plus a bit of added altitude – this really isn’t an “indoors” experience! On each floor, you should take the time to do a complete lap around so you can take in the panoramic view of the city. It was really fun spotting some of the sites we had seen, passed by, or were going to see the next day as we looked down on the city. Finally, if you can manage it in your itinerary, try to visit around sunset. We climbed the tower right as the sun was starting to set, so we still got a view of the city during daylight. Then we managed to see things light up as night fell. There was no specific plan for when we would leave the tower, but coincidentally, we had left the building and walked down the Champs de Mars just in time to turn around and see the tower light up for the hourly light show at 7pm. Try to stick around for this, or swing by on another night when you’re in Paris to see the tower light up!

Stop #5: The Best Meal of Our Lives

We stumbled upon a restaurant called Le Suffren through trying to scout Google reviews with limited internet access, and boy were we glad to have landed there. I cannot properly describe what an amazing meal we had at this restaurant. What I can say, is that we loved our experience so much that on the next day we made our way back here – though it really wasn’t on our way – just to eat more food. Service was excellent, the wine was good, our food was so delicious we both described it as life-changing, and the cost of our meal was surprisingly low (though perhaps we’re disillusioned because of the ever-rising cost of dining out in Boston).

Our first night here we had Escargot as an appetizer, Duck Confit and Chicken Supreme for our main course, and Chocolate Profiteroles and Crepes Suzette for dessert. Each item, even those that weren’t necessarily to our taste, was better than we expected. In fact, at the end of this meal we informed the waiter that the chicken supreme was the best food either of us had ever eaten in our lives. On the second night at Le Suffren, we ordered French Onion Soup and Foie Gras for appetizers, our main course was a white fish fillet in butter sauce, and for dessert we shared a creme brulee.

Suffice to say, the many miles of walking, feet of ascending/descending, and categorically the best meal of our lives, made for an amazing second day in Paris. We made our way home by Metro and fell into a deep sleep soon after.

Day 3: Museums and Exploration

Our final day in Paris was possibly our busiest one. The best thing I did when planning this trip, was doing a quick Google search for every location we were going to visit and asking how long people typically spend there. On the previous days, it was mostly obvious that we’d want more time at one destination than the other, but on this one it genuinely made our day. The worst thing I did was not look up the specific exhibits available at each museum. The internet can tell you how long the average person spends in any one place – but the internet does not know what your specific interests are and how you will want to interact with them. We visited 3 different museums, a looong road, and spent some time wandering the streets of Paris.

Stop #1: The Conciergerie

The unfortunate reality of historical buildings is that they are susceptible to the waves of time. The Conciergerie is a medieval castle turned prison, which now continues to stand next to Paris’s Courthouse. It’s position on the Ile de la Cite, an island in the middle of the Seine, means that it was at the absolute heart of medieval Paris. Victim to two major fires, and significant political changes, this building isn’t exactly preserved in its original image. But that’s where the museum does a particularly excellent job of using technology to bring history to life.

Upon entering the museum we were presented with tablets – for no added cost – which we could use to scan icons in each room. The tablet would then open a virtual rendering of the room from a specific time in the past, which allowed you to the interact with statues and objects that are no longer there. We were able to walk through a beautiful, but empty hall, and learned that this was a place where Kings had dined with their men. The kitchens, now barren, came to life on the tablet and gave us an opportunity to learn about French cooking in medieval times.

To connect more directly with the history we’d been exposed to so far, we found that the building we were in was the final home of Marie Antoinette before her execution by guillotine. Upon the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy, King Louis XVIII had the space where Marie Antoinette’s cell had been converted into a sort of memorial area. This memorial still stands today in its original form, and has been added to with a display of items that belonged to Marie Antoinette. A somber moment, which ends the visit to a fairly small museum. It only took a couple hours of our day, and it was absolutely worth the time to visit this historic building. It also gave us a chance to learn more about the French Revolution through various educational exhibits. If you have some French lineage, this building features a complete register of prisoners and victims of the guillotine, where you can search for your ancestors.

Stop #2: The Archaeological Crypt

When we exited the Conciergerie, we had a little over an hour to kill before our ticketed time to the Archaeological Crypt. We took this opportunity to cross the river and look at the Conciergerie from across the Seine. Here we found a street vendor with posters, DVDs, and books, which made for an entertaining little detour. We also found a really cute outdoor flower/plant market on the Ile de la Cite, right near Notre Dame. It’s always fun what you discover when you take time to wander around. We didn’t get much of that on this trip because we were on quite the time crunch, but we still tried our best to wander nearby between activities.

At our ticketed time we entered The Archaeological Crypt, which is right by Notre Dame. To be honest, I found this site underwhelming. The most interesting part was a video they had playing that described the divers that regularly go into the Seine to retrieve artefacts. If you’re into Roman history, or possibly even if you like the intricacies of architecture and how it has evolved over time, this may be the spot for you! For us, it was a nice 1-hour adventure. Maybe it’s just that Stop #3 was so interesting, but The Archaeological Crypt was a little bit of a let-down for me.

When we exited, we decided it was time for a long walk to explore more of the city. We crossed the Seine again, this time to the opposite bank. We stumbled upon an area that seemed to have more local color to it, and even found a board game store were we poked around some French board games! The walk took us all the way up to the Pantheon, which we didn’t enter but enjoyed checking out from the outside. The avenue that leads up to the Pantheon had some good food options to pause at. The walk led us out to the Luxembourg Gardens, and then we followed the narrow Paris streets to our third stop of the day.

Stop #3: Hotel des Invalides

Take everything you know about military museums and throw it right out the window. I’m accustomed to dry records of battles and wars, or big displays of tanks and guns. This museum has so many different exhibits that really engage with the audience. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that the country that was once led by Napoleon should have so much to say about its military history! More than just that, there’s a huge display of arms and armor from across the world, which we found incredibly entertaining.

Don’t forget to go into the chapel at the front of the building. This is another “don’t forget to look up” moment, but it’s also a building with multiple interesting tombs inside. The centerpiece of course, is the tomb of Emperor Napoleon I, one of the greatest military generals of all time. Its fitting that he should find his final resting place here, in a museum that honors his reputation as a successful military man.

Stop #4: Champs Elysees & Arc de Triomphe

The saddest thing about this day was having to leave the Hotel des Invalides before we felt like we had done the building justice. We quickly gathered our spirits as we walked into the Parisian night, and decided to head towards the Champs Elysees on foot. It’s described as the most beautiful avenue in the world, but perhaps it is a better attraction for those interested in the luxury shopping opportunities along the street. Our focus was finding food, and we were disappointed in that the many restaurants we passed seemed to be pandering to tourists. Luckily, we had Le Suffren as an option in our back pockets.

To get to the Metro and ride it to Le Suffren, we walked to full length of the Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe. An appropriately poetic journey from Napoleon’s tomb to this monument to his achievements. Sadly, we were unable to make our way to the foot of the Arc without a ticket, though we enjoyed the view from across the street. As far as monuments go, it’s not a particularly unique one from a distance. After all, so many major cities have a similar arch or gate structure. I’m confident that if examined closely, it will prove more impressive, but that simply wasn’t in the cards for us.

So we ended our final day in Paris by once again availing of the delicious delicacies at Le Suffren and making our way via Metro to our AirBnB. We took a little extra time on our walk back and breathed in the city. It was Napoleon III who commissioned Baron Haussman to re-design the city of Paris in a modern light and pull it out of its medieval roots. This brought us the iconic buildings that line the Paris streets, but sadly pulled from the city its ancient soul, as well as a sense of variety. We continued to find that quite a lot of Paris is virtually identical – but despite that, it is certainly a vibrant and historic city.

A Farewell to Paris

Our return journey was a far less arduous one than what we started the trip with. We checked out of the AirBnB around 9am and wandered the streets with the morning commuters to find a bakery and a final croissant. To get back to the airport, we retraced our steps to the RER and made it through security with enough time to peruse the gift shop before boarding our flight. We flew with Air Canada, and completed US passport control during our layover in Toronto. Our last meal in Boston had been Friday’s dinner, and we found ourselves back home in time for another dinner on Monday night.

On the whole, the trip was a roaring success. I was particularly worried about making sure we had enough time at each location, and we budgeted everything perfectly (with the exception of the Hotel des Invalides). Traveling in the winter gave us fewer crowds and in some cases cheaper entry fees as well, so we really didn’t walk away with any regrets about the trip’s timing. In hindsight, the only thing I would change in our itinerary is allotting more time for the Hotel des Invalides. Really my biggest lesson learned was to look up the exhibits in a museum ahead of time, as well as read some reviews, to better assess how long to spend in a given location.

Another lesson learned was around wardrobe. We were dressed plenty warm for the weather – if we had been in America. In Paris, the train stations aren’t heated, the ceilings are high, the halls are long, and everything is designed to cool things down in the summer. So we often found ourselves feeling chilly even while indoors. Despite weather in the low 40s/high 30s, which warrants a coat but not much other winter gear back home, I had to purchase a beanie on our very first day. Next time, perhaps a good pair of gloves and a scarf would go with the ensemble as well.

Finally, we did have one regret about traveling in the winter – the gardens weren’t in bloom! Luckily, the city sights still shone bright. Our hope is to take a quick detour to Versailles on a future Europe trip, just to see the gardens and fountains in their full glory. Perhaps on the same trip we can hop on the RER and visit the Hotel des Invalides for a more thorough tour! Until then, we had a satisfying taste of Paris (though we’re already craving more Chicken Supreme), and learned that we can travel in this hectic way. If you, like me, don’t have enough vacation days to quell the travel bug, then I recommend taking more short vacations, to create long-lasting memories.