Paris 2025

Paris - A Romantic City Trip to the City of Love 

  For another long weekend at the end of May, we took the direct TGV train from Freiburg to Paris Est to immerse ourselves in the romantic city of Paris with all its cute cafés and pastries. For me, it was the third time visiting Paris, after my school exchange experience and the visit of Paris during New Year 2018. It was also the first time for me to visit the Louvre Museum and we made a trip to the historical Palace of Versailles in the surroundings of the city. 

  After a comfortable TGV train ride, we arrived in Paris on time. Then, we took the metro to Montreuil, a suburb of Paris, to drop our luggage at our hotel. After resting a bit, we took the metro back to Paris to begin our adventure with a visit to the bakery La Panifacture, where we stocked up on French delicacies, which we then enjoyed with a cappuccino in a nearby café. Well-nourished, we strolled towards the Seine river, where we caught our first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower. We took a leisurely walk along the  Seine until we arrived at the iconic landmark of Paris. We walked around the Eiffel Tower - nicknamed the Iron Lady - to admire the magnificent structure from all perspectives and after taking a short break, we continued our walk towards the Arc de Triomphe. It wasn't just the sightseeing spots themselves, but also the streets and houses that exuded a charming French atmosphere. However, since there was a very long queue of people at the Arc de Triomphe, we decided not to go up to the observation platform and instead took another walk along the precious Avenue des Champs Élysées until we finally reached the Place de la Concorde, the largest square in Paris and the site of the public executions of Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette and Maximilien Robespierre during the French Revolution. We also reached the entrance to the enchanting Jardin de Tuileries, which stretches from the Place de la Concorde to the Louvre Museum, directly in the heart of Paris. After another short rest, we continued our walk to the Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral, whose silhouette dominates the historic centre of Paris, and is one of the most important historical monuments in France. Following the fire in the roof trusses in 2019, the cathedral reopened in December 2024 after extensive renovations. Unfortunately, there was also such an immense queue of people that we were unable to enter. However, since Paris isn't that far from Freiburg, there will certainly be another opportunity to visit the Notre-Dame de Paris in the near future. Since we were also getting hungry, we decided to take the metro to have dinner at the Bouillon Chartier Montparnasse, where we enjoyed our dinner in a beautiful atmosphere for a very reasonable price for Paris. Luckily, the Jardin du Luxembourg wasn't far away and so we decided to take a short after dinner walk. The Jardin du Luxembourg is considered an oasis of tranquillity and home to many small beauties such as an orchard with many old forgotten apple varieties, a bee house, an orchid collection or the Medici fountain. The first day was already full of highlights, but since we had to get up early the next morning to enter the Louvre, we then went back to our hotel in Montreuil.     

  The next morning, we woke up early to have an early access to the Louvre Museum, but even at 09:30 a.m., it was already very crowded of tourists. But I was very happy that I finally made it to the Louvre, as I missed visiting the museum during my school days with the France school exchange due to food poisoning. During my last visit to Paris for New Year's in 2018, I planned a visit to the Louvre on a Tuesday without realising that the museum is closed on Tuesdays.

  The Louvre Museum is located in the historic Louvre Palace, the former residence of the French kings, and this is one of the reasons why the museum is so huge. It's said that admiring each masterpiece for ten seconds would take a total of four days and four nights. So it's not very surprising that although we saw the main highlights in our attempt, we will definitely visit the Louvre Museum again to discover even more of the fascinating museum. We decided relatively early on to first visit the Mona Lisa painting to avoid the even larger crowds later in the day. It's not only the most famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci, but probably also the one in the entire world, which explains the flow of visitors. However, it's actually only a relatively small painting, very well protected from the crush of people. Another highlight can be seen at the opposite wall with the painting The Wedding at Cana, which is the largest painting in the Louvre Museum. After we had pushed through the crowds and caught a glimpse of the Mona Lisa, the real experience of the Louvre began for us as we leisurely strolled through the individual rooms and were enchanted by the magnificent paintings, sculptures and above all, Egyptian masterpieces. I was particularly impressed by the exhibition of Egyptian treasures, including the Great Sphinx of Tanis and the sculpture of the Seated Scribe. It was also fascinating to explore, in addition to Greek, Roman, and Egyptian mythology, Persian mythology in the form of the winged bulls with human heads (Lamassus), which are considered to be protective demons, and the Babylonian scriptures (The Law Code of Hammurabi), which contain the longest-surviving text from ancient Babylon and are often considered the first written economic formula. There were so many other exciting highlights to discover such as the Venus de Milo, the Winged Victory Nikè of Samothrace, the painting Liberty Leading the People and the golden Galerie d'Apollon. Every single room was spectacular and offered at least one more highlight to marvel at. In between, we made sure to take a little break on the terrace of Café Mollien, where we enjoyed delicious treats, including a chocolate pyramid, and a wonderful view of the forecourt of the Louvre Museum. Around five p.m. we finally left the museum with many new impressions and memories, and to end the day, we went to Fat Bao to eat some Taiwanese specialities in a small restaurant with beautiful Asian decorations, followed by some pastries, we ate in a surrounding parkland.    

  The next morning, we took Metro Line 9 to its final stop, Pont de Sèvres, and then caught a bus toward the Palace of Versailles. Wanting to be on the safe side, we arrived at the palace an hour before our scheduled entry time and took the opportunity to admire the Baroque-era hunting lodge from the outside before we were allowed to enter at 11 a.m. We began our visit with a tour through the palace's two magnificent floors, which included the royal bedroom, the Queen's apartments in the southern wing, and the Hall of Mirrors (Galerie des Glaces), which features 357 mirrors and creates an impressive atmosphere through its play of light and reflections. This hall was used for important celebrations and political events, such as the proclamation of German Emperor Wilhelm I. in 1871. Most rooms are dedicated to the glory and power of King Louis XIV. and are named after famous gods from mythology - such as the Hercules Room, the Mercury Room or the Venus Room.

  After a long odyssey through the palace, it was time to explore the gardens. Before heading in, I bought some macarons for a quick boost, and then we went for a promenade in the vast, overwhelming garden complex, starting with a walk through the Orangery and the Queen's Grove, continuing on to the Mirror Pond and the King's Garden. It was simply fascinating to explore each area of the palace gardens and, in a way, to get lost in them, as every new section revealed more highlights. After a short break by the Fountain of Apollo, we decided to slowly make our way back to the palace, taking in the sights of the eastern side of the garden along the way. We admired the Obelisk Fountain, the Star Grove and the Fountain of Latona. Even though it was a long day trip, it was definitely worth visiting the amazing centrepiece of the Baroque era and the reign of Louis XIV.      

  On our last day in Paris, we visited the picturesque romantic Montmartre district in the north of Paris, which is also known as artist's quarter and, in my opinion, the biggest highlight of any trip to Paris. In addition to the impressive white Sacré-Coeur Basilica on the summit of Montmartre, the Place du Tertre in particular attracts many tourists as many artists exhibit their work on this square. After climbing up the steps to the basilica, we were once again surprised by the large crowds queuing to enter the church. We decided to listen to the musicians for a while and then have a crêpe on the way to the Place du Tertre to taste another French delicacy right here in Paris. Afterwards, we let ourselves be carried away by the hustle and bustle of Place du Tertre and we were completely captivated by the art, before we decided to visit the Biscuiterie de Montmartre, as I wanted to bring home some macarons as a sweet souvenir. Since the Montmartre district also played a central role as a filming location for Emily in Paris, a  visit to La Petite Maison Rose on Rue de l'Abreuvoir was a must. To round things off, we walked to the Wall of Love, an artistically designed wall dedicated to love, where the word I love you are immortalized in over 250 languages. We stopped nearby for a coffee and a sweet pastry before picking up our luggage at the hotel and then traveling to Paris Est station, so we wouldn't miss the TGV train back to Freiburg. .