An Impulse Weekend Trip to Paris (France, 2023)

What says studying abroad in Europe more than an impulse weekend trip to Paris? (I know I’m really getting into the whole “When I was in Europe…” stereotype but can ya blame me?)

After a solid 2 hours of planning the day before the trip, we (a group of 6: Josh, Martin, Era, Tashya, Iris, and myself) headed out from Zürich to Paris Gare de Lyon, a quick 4-hour trek. We got our metro passes, subway-ed to the hostel (St. Christopher’s Inn, not the best quality but definitely a great cheap option), quickly dumped our stuff, and headed back to the metro station to go to the Louvre. We (the guys) were starving, so we grabbed a sandwich and pastry from the metro station, split up from the girls, and ate on the way to the museum. Maybe it was the romanticization of Paris, but even the prepackaged metro food was so good! We were told that our tickets were only valid for 30 minutes after our check-in time, and we were really racing against the clock in a battle against time. After running several blocks to find the secret entrance (hot tip: go through the mall entrance on the ground floor and then descend to level -2 to save tons of line-waiting time), the information turned out to be false. At least we got our cardio in!

The Louvre itself was MASSIVE and had a labyrinthian layout. We spent a solid 3-4 hours focusing on the Egypt exhibit (which had a real mummy), the Royal French exhibit (incredibly ornate apartments of the royals), and the Greek and Rome exhibits to see the Venus de Milo and Winged Victory of Samothrace. To be honest, some of the exhibits were seen by accident when we got lost and some were seen en route to the Mona Lisa area. Speaking of things we saw on the way to the crown jewel of the Louvre, my friends and I from Texas randomly ran into 2 friends from high school. Talk about a small world! The sea of people waiting to get to the front to see the Mona Lisa reminded me of a moshpit, and after making my way to an area where I could see the painting, I decided it was alright, maybe a 5/10. Pretty cool to see the most recognizable painting in human history, though. We stopped by the Islamic art exhibit (how did France get all this Islamic art, hmmmmm) before heading outside to catch some flicks with the famous glass pyramid.

We grabbed macrons from Pierre Hermes (which had some deeper meaning and TV reference, but please let me know which one), which were super delicious, and then dinner at this Italian pizza place near River’s King on the Seine (more on this coming soon). After indulging in massive portion sizes and finessing some wine (they forgot to charge us, and with Parisian prices, we were not complaining), we headed to the Seine. Remember those friends we met at the Louvre? They invited us to this Erasmus boat party for French students! It ended up being a blast, and I found it funny that 60-70% of the music they played was standard American 2010s throwback party music. After meeting our friends and some other cool people from France, Hong Kong, and the UK, we called it a night and Uber’d back. We were so excited to get to bed and catch some shut-eye, but unfortunately, some drunk Spanish guys in our hostel room had other plans.

The next morning, to the annoyance of the Spanish dudes, we awoke (begrudgingly) at the crack of dawn. The guys (being guys) woke up a little late and we grabbed metro breakfast again while the girls went to a little cafe and enjoyed some crepes. The romanticization must have worn off because the metro breakfast was not nearly as good as it was the day before. Upon arriving at Versailles, we indulged in some hot chocolate, which was definitely made from chocolate powder and water. Pro-tip, buy Versailles tickets beforehand since we tried to buy them in the morning and had to wait 3 hours before our slot was activated. No complaints, though, as we took a leisurely walk around the area and admire the ducks in the nearby pond. The palace itself was incredibly grand and ornate, especially the Hall of Mirrors at the end. Maybe it was the wait time or the fact that we saw the royal apartments at the Louvre, but it got a little boring and by the end of the tour, we weren’t even looking at the paintings and furniture. It was cool to stand in the photos of our high school history textbooks and soak in the history, but aside from the macrons we had at the end from Laduée, it was a mediocre experience.

After our palace tour, we took a stroll back to the station and made our way to the Musee d’Orsay, where we were eager to see the Impressionist masterpieces by Monet and Van Gogh. However, our stomachs were more eager, and we stopped by Mon Square for lunch. The ambiance and traditional food were great, albeit a bit pricey. Fueled up, we checked out some great impressionist works. I thought this was the water lilies museum, but I was mistaken and a tad disappointed with the lack of lillies (but, Musée de l’Orangerie will be saved for the next trip!). d’Orsay was great and all of us loved the different artists, but we only saw the top floor (the most important one) because it was closing soon. Really random, but the bathroom faucets at d’Orsay were magnificent—a perfect comforting lukewarm. As the sun began to set, we decided to take a walk around Tuileries park and explore the surrounding streets. The colors of the sunset were stunning, and we had to keep the good vibes going as we walked around part of the Champs-Élysées and saw some fancy stores. For dinner, we met up with our high school buddies (shoutout Carolyn and Sophia) at Le Bon Bock, where we enjoyed a delicious 3-course French meal, complete with escargot and some great wine. The restaurant had a cozy and intimate atmosphere (need to reserve ~24 hours in advance), and it was the perfect way to end our day.

But, plot twist! The day was not done! After dinner, we headed to the Little Red Door for a tasting and enjoyed some delicious cocktails. It has critical acclaim for being the 5th best bar in the world and was affordable too: for $55, you get your own table and 5 cocktails. It closed at 11PM when we went though, so be wary. 3 of the 5 cocktails were amazing, one was alright, and one was not good at all. The service quality, uniqueness of the drinks, and locally-sourced ingredients created a one-of-a-kind experience. The waiter should definitely consider a career in podcasting or voice acting because his voice was the smoothest thing there. We decided, probably with the assistance of the cocktails, to check out the Eiffel tower. The tower was dark given the time of night and there were no tourists, so the experience felt truly surreal and almost dystopian. As the night came to a close, we hailed an Uber and headed back to our hostel, still soaking in the city of love (not really of lights, though).

As the sun rose on Sunday (heh, nice), as per usual, the girls were ready early and headed to Angelina’s, while the guys got there an hour later (actually, one of the guys, Martin, separated from Josh and I and came even later than that). Big shoutout to the girls for waiting in line, though, since we arrived and were just able to walk in immediately. The decor is absolutely amazing and definitely “Insta-worthy” and the hot chocolate was for sure “stomach-worthy”. Their croissant was great and their signature dessert, the Mont Blanc, was super rich and almost impossible to finish with the hot chocolate, so this is definitely one to split. Today was the definition of a touristy day as we left Angelina’s and headed down the Champs-Élysées, gazing at all the stores we could never afford. The Louis Vuitton store had some really cool decor with silver bubbles, and we even saw a Lamborghini driving around. One of the designer stores even had horse poop in the store window! Probably trying to be “rustic” because they were selling outdoor clothing but this was a littttttle too avant-garde for my taste. Our walk ended at the Arc de Triomphe, which was super majestic and reminded me of the India Gate. You could climb the Arc (and the Eiffel), but insider information told us not to because there are spots for better views (coming soon!). Next up on the Americans-visit-Paris tour was, of course, the Eiffel tower. A quick walk around the tower was followed by a hunt for a specific picture-taking spot that we learned of via TikTok (once you’re at the Carousel, face away from the tower and walk forward to the opposite side of the river and take the stairs on your right until you see a parking lot area next to the boats). After taking a bunch of flicks (shoutout to Iris for her camera), we grabbed lunch at the nearby Café Fleur. We somehow grabbed a table with no reservation at this beautiful, flowery cafe (top 10 in France, which we found out later) and got some great frog legs, ravioli, and crêpes.

The 3 girls then left to go back home (lame) while we headed to Montmartre to catch the sunset above the city. On the way, a quick stop at Maison Kitsuné to check out the stylish and high-quality clothes and to pick up a jacket for Martin ended up being a radicalizing experience. I learned that spending above $200 on merchandise in Europe allows you to claim tax refunds, so some people often come to Europe just to shop and get thousands of dollars off their taxes! The system really does help the rich get richer. At Montmartre, we were treated to a beautiful sunset view of the Parisian skyline, complete with the Eiffel tower with a sky watercolored red and orange. There was also a street singer there and a massive cathedral that really completed the vibe. We ended up accidentally attending the evening service, and the organ was played beautifully. Side note, the number of locks on the bridges/gates was staggering—there was a thick layer of locks on everything! With some time to kill, we walked around the local neighborhood and even saw Vincent Van Gogh’s old apartment! It was super unassuming and I bet the current residents have no idea (or maybe it was a selling point to raise the price). We tried to see the Eiffel sparkle from atop the hill, but we ended up 0-2 in trying to see the sparkle (apparently due to the European energy crisis). A quick stop at this hole-in-the-wall ethnic restaurant, McDonald’s, and got a chicken wrap and macrons. The macrons were surprisingly good and I’d definitely fail a blind taste test between ones from a bakery and ones from Mickey D’s.

Dinner took us to East Momma, a subsidiary of the famous Pink Momma that is far easier to get a same-day reservation at. As fate would have it, the girls missed their train and some of them decided to stay the night and join us for dinner. The pasta was great, the atmosphere was cozy, and the drinks were served in super unique glasses. Our grand plans of exploring the nightlight evaporated as we started yawning during dessert and immediately metro-ed to the hostel for an early night. Era and Tashya left the following morning and with just the guys, it was a late start to the day to no one’s surprise. We checked out of St. Christopher’s and headed to the Notre Dame cathedral. I didn’t realize the extent of the damage caused by the 2018 fire, and the cathedral was reduced to a shell of its former self surrounded by scaffolding and construction. Unfortunately, the famous ice cream place nearby, Berthillon, was closed, so we settled for crepes at a nearby cafe, Café Panis. The crepe was decent, but we had a window view of Notre Dame (unfortunately marred by construction).

As a grand finale to our trip, we booked lunch at a Michelin-star restaurant, Jacques Foussat. For a reasonable 58 euros, you get access to a 3-course meal with 2 complimentary courses. I got the cuttlefish tagliatelle with shiitake broth, the fish of the day (something local and French I could not understand through the chef’s accent) with sweet potato ravioli, and a hot chestnut soufflé with chocolate coulis and hazelnut ice cream. There was also a pigeon dish where the chef would flambé a whole pigeon tableside. Everything was delicious, but they weren’t kidding when they said the French hate English speakers. We would order in English and the chef would only take our order and describe the dishes in French. An overall great fine-dining experience, but we were definitely hungry afterward. We made our way to the main station but we had 1 more item on our Paris food checklist: éclairs! After a quick éclair/croissant/McDonald’s pitstop, we hopped on our train back to Zürich. I tried to romanticize the French countryside, but if I’m being honest with myself, it is the exact same view from I-635 in the Texas suburbs.

Overview

• The city of love (not lights, too expensive right now) is beautiful, even if a little touristy
• The food is great, but unless you have elite taste buds, the difference between Parisian and American croissants/crepes/éclairs/macrons are likely placebo
• Make sure to run into high school friends to get into Seine boat parties
• Montmartre (free, no wait) provides amazing views of the city without the costs associated with the Arc or Eiffel
• Sometimes it’s fun to embrace being a tourist and doing all the classics in a big city like Paris

Rose-Bud-Thorn

Rose (what went well): From macrons to Angelina’s to traditional food at Le Bon Bock and Jacques Foussat to cute cafes like Café Fleur and Café Panis (+Mcdonald’s), the food experience was second-to-none
Bud (what was good but could be improved on): Miscalculating the time needed on Metro and public transport caused some stress when we were running late for reservations. Next time, schedule 15-30 minutes of flex time before any strict appointments!
Thorn (what did not go well): The hostel, St. Christopher’s, was incredibly cheap, but you get what you pay for. Broken curtains and only having a single shower with hot water really dampened the vibe. Luckily, we only spent the bare minimum time at the hostel, so it wasn’t a huge deal.