Paris for my 30th Birthday

Oh wow - where to begin?!

I suppose if you listed some things that you like to do (museums? fashion shopping? thrift shopping? food shopping? outdoor markets? books? history? churches? music? nightlife? drinking beer? drinking wine? eating cheese? picnics? fine dining? cemeteries? romantic walks? partying? cafe sitting? people watching? swank places? dives? seafood? modern food? rustic food? street food? ethic food?) it would be easier to point you in the right direction.

There is really just sooooooooooooooo much to do and see. Your birthday trip can be whatever you dream of in Paris, it's that amazing a city. :-)

Hi Kira!

Thanks for replying! I definitely was vague on my question, haha. Here are some things I love when visiting a new place:

I love, love, love any markets and bookstores and wandering around new cities. I love being outside almost any time of year. Drinking wine, eating cheese and lounging in parks are at the top of my list. I love cafes and people watching, and for my birthday I'd like to splurge on a crazy nice dinner ... it's my 30th after all. I enjoy visiting museums (Musee Rodin is my no. 1, plus obviously the Louvre). I want to try all the food .. not only French food, but everything else offered in Paris - I used to live in Asia, so i'm pretty much up to try anything that's on offer :)

I want to hit the touristy spots - you know, quintessential Paris. But I also want ample time to just stroll around the city and enjoy relaxing in the parks in the sunshine. A good mix of both would be ideal for this vacation. I know I'm totally romanticizing this city, but come on: what better city to do so with? Paris has been on my bucket list for years.

If you have any good suggestions, I'd be forever grateful :) thank you!!

Katie

Depends on what you like to do. There are the standard tourist sites that everybody has to see, but don’t limit your time to just those sites. I used TripAdvisor to get ideas on other things to see. While researching, I came across a list of good chocolate shops throughout the city. I plotted them on a map of the city and matched it up with places to see in that area. As we visited the different areas we searched out the chocolate shops for a treat. We’re not museum people, so we skipped the Louvre, but saw the other tourist stops, Some places we visited, Swan Island and the miniature Statue of Liberty, Sacre Couer Basilica, Moulin Rouge (only the outside. Didn’t go to a show), walking through walls sculpture, Dalida sculpture, Liberty flame (above the tunnel where Princess died), Luxembourg garden, Napoleon’s tomb and the army museum, Pere Lachaise Cemetery, Saint Sulpician church, Plaza de Concorde, Saint Chapelle church, Rue Claire area, Champs Elysees. Other than being tourist season with large crowds, you should have a fun time.

book a good restaurant for your birthday well in advance. There are some with views (Les Ombres -- Eiffel Tower through the glass ceiling or La Tour d'Argent back view of Notre Dame) some with beautiful rooms (Train Bleu or Bofinger) or just elegant dining. Our current favorite at a good price is L'Initial near Notre Dame with a really good 7 course meal for 48 Euro. Some of the more expensive places have cheaper menus at lunch that are similar to the dinner menus.

A couple of less visited places that are worth doing IMHO Basilica St. Denis; IMHO the most overlooked amazing site in Paris:
https://janettravels.wordpress.com/2010/10/26/confronting-mortality-at-st-denis/
The Promenade Plantee for a stroll on an elevated abandoned rail line through Paris from the Bastille to Vincennes:
https://janettravels.wordpress.com/2010/06/14/promenade-plantee-turning-discarded-public-space-into-a-pleasant-place-for-parisians/

There is a service called 'Paris Walks' which offers walks for about 15 Euro. You just show up and pay for a walk that appeals to you. We have never done it but friends of ours just came back from Paris raving about it, so we thought we might try it. There are also many books with self guides for interesting walks. Our favorite was a Frommers guide to Paris walks; their architecture walk in the 16th was really interesting and with self guided walks you go at your own pace, stop for coffee and diverge from the plan at your whim.

Here are two sites I always offer to those new to Paris.
tomsguidetoparis.com
parisbytrain.com

When my husband and I were in Paris in 2005, we did the Paris Walks tour of Montmartre. It was very interesting and a good way to see a part of the city that we would not have explored that in-depth on our own. We also did the night bike tour offered by Fat Tire. It was a little scary (I am far from an expert cyclist) but super fun and a great way to see the city in a whole new way - plus it ends with wine on a boat on the Seine! Enjoy your trip!

Katie -- Happy Birthday! From your description of what you love love love, I think you should just move to Paris. ;-)

Start with "Explore Europe" above in this website, and also look at some guidebooks to figure out what sights you want to see most. Be selective, even though you're giving the city a good week you won't see "everything." And you're definitely right to leave some down time for strolling, cafes, parks, etc.

Assuming that you've already got air travel arranged and a place to stay, the only other arrangements you may want to make ahead of time would be that birthday dinner and maybe an advance ticket purchase for the Eiffel Tower. I can't help you with either but others on this board can. If you're not getting useful responses, try posting more specific questions about restaurants etc.

One thing no one's mentioned is a Seine cruise, something I'd strongly recommend on a nice day or evening (or both). You don't have to plan ahead for this, they leave every hour or so from docks near Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower. So you can time this based on weather and when you'll be where. I wouldn't recommend a dinner cruise (which you probably would have to set up in advance) simply because your dinner would be competing with the views for your attention. Are you going to look up at the floodlit monuments or down at your plate so you don't stick that fork into your knee? ;-)

I agree with Janet about St-Denis and the Promenade Plantee, if you want more than the usual old standbys. Many people go to Versailles, which will take basically a full day for the palaces and gardens. Another good day trip, if you like cathedrals, is Chartres. But don't overdo it -- you're only 30 and hopefully will have many more chances to visit this magnificent city. Or live there!

I would suggest a sunset cruise - be aware that the sunset times in May will be around 10 PM.
I wouldn't do a dinner cruise, they are too expensive.
You can purchase advance tickets here:
http://www.vedettesdupontneuf.com/home/
The boats are smaller and you can bring your own champagne on board if you want to celebrate.

Since you can't possibly do it all in one trip try to zero in on the things that appeal to you the most so as to make the best use of your time. Grab the Rick Steves' Paris guidebook as a starting point for your research.
Then do google searches for the things that appear to have your interest. Some searches you might try are "The Rue Cler Market", "Book Sellers along the Seine", "Tuileries Gardens", "Luxembourg Gardens", "Orsay Museum". Those are some of my favorite places in Paris. You can use Google Maps to get aerial and street views of many of the locations mentioned. An evening river cruise when all the lights are on is a good way to cap off an evening. There are several companies (and we've use several) but the best one seems to be Vendettes du Pont Neuf (sp?). Enjoy!!

Hi Katie, I too am going to Paris for the first time and have been doing lots of reading, guidebooks, internet, etc. One really cool idea I found is on the Airbnb AP there are experiences that mostly local Parisians are offering. I’m going to do an explore Paris via bike ride. There are many cheese tour type of experiences as well! Many different categories, Food, Nightlife, Outdoors, etc.