“Paris is always a good idea.” — Audrey Hepburn
View from Galeries Lafayette rooftop (#1 on the Earful Tower’s Paris 2021 Bucket List)
[Note: This post was updated after my most recent trip to Paris in the Spring of 2023]
For several years, I was fortunate enough to visit Paris in February. In 2020, I skipped my February trip in favor of Paris in the Springtime and then the global pandemic happened. Despite an inevitable two-year absence and regardless of the number of times that I have visited Paris, I continue to make lists of places that I want to rediscover as well as places that I have would like to visit, but somehow never have. I have always maintained that part of the fun of taking a trip is the planning. So to either satisfy my craving to plan a trip or to exacerbate my wanderlust, I’m starting a new Travel Bucket List series and what better place to start than Paris?
Earlier this year, Oliver Gee, host of The Earful Tower podcast listed 100 things to do in Paris in 2021 (see image below). Curiously, although I’m a frequent visiter to Paris, I have only been to seventeen of the featured locations:
1 — I have enjoyed the view from the rooftop of the Galeries Lafayette (the feature photo of this post) many times, in fact, almost every time.
2 — In 2023, I explored the Vanves flea market on a very cold March morning. I was determined to a little French treasure to take home, but the things I liked were either too fragile, too large, or too expense. I found a vintage Leica camera that would be a great addition to my collection, but not for 500€. Even though we went home empty handed, it was fun to hunt for treasures and to watch venders and shoppers.
3 — In 2017, I spent a rainy day at the Fondation Louis Vuitton, located adjacent to the Bois de Boulogne. At the time, I was both pleased and disappointed that the beautiful glass sails of the Frank Gehry-designed building were covered with transparent, colored panels, installed by artist, Daniel Buren, famous for his striped columns in the Palais Royal. I would have loved to see the white sails rising above the Jardin d’Acclimatation, but the Buren’s Observatory of Light brought color and joy to that dreary March day. Click here to see my photos.
7 — In 2023, I had lunch at Madame Brasserie. The menu includes a ticket to the first tier of the tower and an incomparable view.
15 — It has been a long time since I visited le Jardin des Plantes, located in the 5e arrondissement near the Sorbonne, so long, in fact, that I only have photos in an album from 1998. I would like to go back on a lovely spring day.
16 — Arago medallions — There are 135 medallions traversing Paris from north to south. They bear the name of the 19th century astronomer who mapped a global meridian line right through Paris. Although the Greenwich line became the prime meridian in 1884, you can still track the five-mile long Paris meridian (linked here) via the Arago medallions. I have certainly stumbled upon several of these markers, but haven’t walked the entire route.
27 — Rue Montorgeuil is one of Paris’ great pedestrian market streets.
30 — Shakespeare and Company — Readers of this blog know that Shakespeare and Co. is one of my favorite shops in Paris and a must-do each time I visit. I’ve written about it here, here, here, and here.
42 — Lovers of Midnight in Paris can’t miss St. Etienne-du-Mont church in the shadow of the Pantheon. The chances of a vintage Peugeot pulling up to whisk you away to a Roaring 20s party in the are slim, but one never knows ;)
46 — I visited the Musée Marmottan, the beautiful private collection of Monet’s work located in an equally grand Château de la Muette in the 16e arrondissement, only once perhaps 20 years ago. Time to go back.
47 — La Grande Arche — I rarely go out to La Défense, but I would like to revisit the area now that I have a greater appreciation for the juxtaposition of the Haussmannian architecture of central Paris and the post-modern art of the business district.
50 — Each time that I’m in Montmartre, I stroll past le Moulin de la Galette, a favorite haunt of Impressionist artists, immortalized by Renoir. I would love to dine inside one day, but I wonder if it is now more of a tourist trap than a tribute to its past.
55 — I think that I went to the Musée Carnavalet the same year that I went to the Musée Marmottan. I remember visiting my friends’ daughter’s ballet school after touring the nearby Paris history museum. That little girl is now the mother of three boys.
71 — Le Meurice — On February 28, 2017, I chose to celebrate my 50th birthday at le Meurice because the address of the iconic hotel is 228 rue de Rivoli.
72 — I went Roland Garros with my brother in 1994. The match featured Swedish tennis player, Magnus Larsson, so was fun to hear our surname in the French play-by-play.
74 — They say that the best view of Paris is from the top of the Tour Montparnasse because you can’t see the Tour Montparnasse. Again, it’s been a while since I’ve seen that view.
79 — Although there are a lot of tourists, I do love the literary cafés in Saint-Germain-des-Prés. I can never quite decide whether I prefer Le Café de Flore or Les Deux Magots.
96 — Walking along the Seine is something I always do in Paris. I love the view from the Right Bank as well as the Left, from street level as well along the quais.
97 — Finally, I have seen three of the eight Statues of Liberty in Paris: the largest on the Ile des Cygnes, the hidden one in the Luxembourg Gardens, and the most prestigious in the Musée d’Orsay. I have also visited the flame on the Pont de l’Alma several times.
That’s my list of seventeen nineteen out of one hundred things to do in Paris in 2021. Of the remaining eighty-three Earful Tower picks, I would add these eighteen to my own bucket list:
4 — Although I always pass by the Grand Palais and marvel at the beautiful architecture, I would love to go inside one day, especially for a Chanel fashion show — that’s a deep bucket list item.
6 — Cruise the Canal Saint-Martin — This trendy region in the northeast of Paris has always eluded me. On the one hand, I’d love to skip stones like Amélie and cruise along the canal. On the other hand, I wonder if I’m too mature for this “hipster” area of Paris.
10 — Petit Palais café — Just like the Grand Palais, I always admire the architecture as I walk along the Champs-Elysées. I didn’t know about the lovely little café until it was featured on the podcast.
11 — Lavomatic Speakeasy — This seems like quite a lot of nostalgic fun. Do you think it’s a coincidence that the bar that Hemingway hangs out in in Midnight in Paris is a laundromat when Gil returns to the present day?
17 — La Bibliothèque nationale — As both a francophile and a bibliophile, I’m surprise that I haven’t visited before.
64 — Opéra Garnier Lake — I don’t think this would ever be possible, but it would be really cool. I have peered down from the grate in the lobby.
80 — Sainte Chapelle choir — I have visited la Sainte Chapelle, but I have never heard the choir. Sacred music would enhance the already breathtaking splendor. I have heard the choir at Notre Dame on several occasions including Easter Mass and it is on my bucket list to hear it again after the renovation.
89 — Sorbonne Observatory — I would love to spend more time at the Sorbonne.
Luxury Dining + Lodging Experiences seem to be a theme of their own:
13 — Pullman Hotel rooftop — Talk about up close and personal with the Eiffel Tower!
21 — Maxims — the Belle Époque in all its glory and another location for my Midnight in Paris tour.
36 — George V — Ever since, I saw French Kiss with Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline in 1995, I’ve wanted to go into this grand hotel, if only to see the legendary flower arrangements.
59 — Tour d’Argent — Perhaps the ultimate dining experience would be at this iconic restaurant that has been in Paris since 1582 and that inspired Ratatouille.
60 — Five-star Hotel — Imagine how wonderful it would be to spend the night at one of Paris’ palace hotels — The Ritz (where I have had the pleasure of having afternoon tea in the Proust salon and cocktails in the Bar Hemingway, the aforementioned George V or Le Meurice , Le Bristol (Midnight in Paris), the Plaza Athenée, the Lutetia, or Audrey Hepburn’s favorite Hôtel Raphaël in the 16e.
63 — St. James Hotel — Oliver included a “very expensive cocktail” at the library bar in the St. James Hotel in an earlier episode when he and Lina each chose 5 things that they want to do in Paris in 2021. Sounds good to me too.
65 — Le Train Bleu — Although the Gare de Lyon itself isn’t so glamorous, Le Train Bleu restaurant which opened in 1900 definitely is.
Whew! That’s quite a list — 35 amazing Paris experiences. But I still have a few ideas of my own to add to my ever-evolving Paris Bucket List:
✓Look for the Lavirotte art nouveau buildings around Square Rapp in the 7e, particularly the notorious door at number 29. (2023)
Stroll around the Parc Monceau in the springtime when the cherry blossoms are blooming.
✓ Shop at Julia Child’s favorite kitchen store, E. Dehillerin. (2023)
Have lunch at Le Grand Vefour in the Palais Royal.
✓ Explore more of the covered passages beyond Galerie Vivienne and Galerie Colbert in the 2e which I visit often. (Vero-Dodat 2023)
✓ Visit the legendary Samaritaine department store after its renovation. (2023)
Buy a silk scarf at Hermès.
Go to the ballet at the Opéra Garnier.
See a cabaret show (probably at Le Moulin Rouge)
Visit the Musée Galliera (especially if the Chanel exhibit is still there)
And there are things I want to experience again: (Checked in 2023)
Museums + Monuments:
Notre Dame post renovation
Treats:
✓ Macarons and rosé at Ladurée
✓ Petits choux at Odette
Chocolat africain at Angelina
✓ Cocktails at Bar Hemingway
Café viennois at Closerie des Lilas
✓ Crêpe au sucre at the stand in Trocadéro
✓Grand marnier soufflé at Le Soufflé
✓ Wine on the terrace of Le Nemours
Shopping:
Visit Ludovic at the Chanel counter in le Bon Marché
✓ Buy my favorite perfume at Repetto
✓ Browse for books in Shakespeare and Company, Librairie Galignani, and the bouquinistes along the Seine
Other:
Sail boats in the Luxembourg Gardens
Stroll on the Île Saint-Louis
Cruise along the Seine in a bateau mouche
See the Christmas lights, trees, and windows in the grands magasins
Watch a Packers game at WOS bar in the Latin Quarter (sadly, they closed their doors in October 2020)
✓ Wander around Montmartre
✓ Watch the Eiffel Tower sparkle from the windows of the apartment where I’m staying
So, there you have it — my current yet ever-changing list of things to do in Paris. Now, it’s your turn. What’s on your Paris Bucket List?
