When you come to Paris, it is important that you spend a good portion of your time eating French pastries. There is a whole plethora of cafes to choose from, so just pick and choose. Paris is, after all, filled with beautiful, historic buildings and interesting places and it is a great way to experience the city from various outdoor restaurants. Try baked goods like opera cake, where you can enjoy thin layers of sugarcane bottoms dipped in coffee syrup, with layers of coffee butter cream and chocolate ganache. If you are craving something small, you can try some macarons in different flavors, or an éclair which is an oblong pastry filled with cream and topped with glaze. Crepes come with many different toppings, ranging from jam and cream, to chocolate and banana, salted caramel or fresh berries.
With over 30 parks in the city, there is plenty of space when you need a break from looking at people and buildings. Here you can breathe out and why not buy some fresh fruit, a baguette, a bottle of wine and a pastry? Take the time to just be and have a real long lunch in the park. One of many parks is the Jardin des Plantes which has existed since 1597. Here, besides plants and two old greenhouses, there are over 50 exotic animals, a maze of green hedges and a school for botanists. Here you will also find the Natural History Museum.
You have probably heard of the Louvre many times, and it is not strange considering that it is the foremost art museum in the world and also the most visited. Here you will find an incredible amount of art and if you want to see everything you can probably expect half a day, maybe even a whole day. Works of art by Da Vinci, Poussin and Rembrandt, to name a few, adorn the walls inside the Louvre. In addition, there are large collections of antiques from Egypt, the Middle East, ancient Greece and from the Roman Empire. The museum is open all days except Tuesdays, between 9am and 6pm, but they also hold the evening open on Wednesdays and Fridays so you can stroll around and check out the artists’ masterpieces until 21:45 (9:45 pm).
If you want to move among artists and bohemians, Montmartre is your neighborhood. Here artists such as Picasso, Dalí, Monet and Pissarro gathered among others to draw inspiration from both the city and each other. As you walk the streets of Montmartre, you still come across active artists who paint and draw. This is also where the Moulin Rouge is, an entertainment establishment from 1889 and of course you will also find the cafe that is in the movie Amelie des Montmartre, a must if you are a big fan of the movie! Although the pastries can be a bit more expensive here than elsewhere…
As you can probably guess, Paris is a great place if you are interested in exclusive shopping from the absolute biggest and leading brands in the world. But there is much more than that, such as the Marais where you will find vintage clothing, handmade jewelry, art galleries, small shops with tea, chocolate, coffee and spices of good quality and antiques. On Avenue Montaigne and the Champs-Elysées, you will find popular shops from famous designers and large retail chains and in Saint-Ovau you will find the second largest flea market in Paris where you can find really odd stuff, antique furniture, vintage and retro.
