I had a call, would I do a 3-Day Walkabout Paris Tour?
Oui! We set the dates, wrote the bucket list, prioritized, and showed up.
Staying in the 6th, off we trotted.
We began with petit dejeuner at Boulangerie Poilâne … and 60,000 steps (+ Metro + Batobus) later after trekking to Orsay … to Atelier des Lumières, St Germain to Champs-Élysées, Tour Eiffel to rue Cler … the mighty push left us weary soles — but Paris is like that.
There are a few things worth mentioning, to help you in your journey.
* We traveled late August — wonderful time as Paris empties out the month of August. Crowds were way down, as long as we navigated in a timely fashion.
* Atelier des Lumières, or ‘workshop of lights’ is in the 11th. This is an immersive experience with rotating artists. We were fortunate to arrive during the Klimt exhibition.
Giving nothing away, if you would like to explore and experience immersive art with you in the midst of, say, Klimt, you’ll find a soulful encounter.
Access is included in the link above — as well as who is currently showing.
* When walking Paris? Look up. At every turn, around every corner, you’ll find placards at doorways marking ‘who lived here’ and when. It gives pause …
* Another aspect to keep in mind — find your oasis in the midst of the vibe of Paris — to sit down for a quiet delicious meal and relax after a day out and about, turns the journey golden. For that, we chose rue Cler in the 7th.
Rue Cler is an exceptional short stretch of pedestrian gourmand — at your fingertips — as if everyone lived, shopped for food and ate this way. It will wipe away the past and introduce you to the authenticity you hear about France, in one block of cobblestones. A personal all-time favorite location to stay in Paris since the mid-90’s, I stray away to explore other areas but always return. The food, whether for sit down or deli pick-up for a picnic on the Seine, is raved about from France Today to Rick Steves to bloggers near and far.
Our 3-Day marathonic tour, hardly scratched the surface of any single destination.
But then Paris is kind of homeopathic — distilled — the tiniest morsel of whatever you choose to experience will only leave a long-lasting afterglow, having you look back, then look forward to more.
