Travel Bucket List: Scandinavia

“The heavens seem to be nearer the earth. The elements are less reserved and distinct. Water turns to ice, rain to snow. The day is but a Scandinavian night. The winter is an arctic summer.” — Henry David Thoreau

[Since I haven’t been to Scandinavia (YET), all photos courtesy of pixabay.com]

NORWAY

Norway is at the top of my Scandinavian bucket list. Both my Larson and Olson great-grandparents came from Norway and settled in Sturgeon Bay, WI. I would love to visit the land of my ancestors, including:

• Oslo

  • Take a ferry and island hop around Oslofjord

  • Stroll and shop down Karl Johan’s Gate

  • Visit the Viking Ship Museum and the Kon-Tiki Museum

  • Stroll around the Vigeland Sculpture Park

  • Walk along the Akerselva river

  • Walk up the roof of the Oslo Opera House

• Bergen

  • Take a fjord cruise - This is #1 on my Norwegian bucket list

  • Take the Ulriken cable car overlooking the sea, islands, mountains and fjords

  • Stroll around Bryggen with its jewelers, artists, and textile designers along narrow passages between the rows of historic houses and the wharf

  • Discover the KODE art museum and composers homes featuring the work of Grieg, Munch, Dahl, Astrup, Ibsen, and others

  • Visit the Fantoft stavkirke built in 1150

• Lillehammer and its arena and sporting venues from the 1994 Winter Olympics (my favorite Olympic games ever)

• Trondheim

  • Bakklandet and Nidelva with their colorful, wooden houses

  • Take photos from Old Town Bridge

  • Visit Nidaros Cathedral

  • Take the tram up to Lian

  • Enjoy the view from Kristiansten Fortress

• Ålesund (I learned about this beautiful Norwegian city via heartmybackpack.com)

  • Admire the Art Nouveau architecture — Ålesund is built on a row of islands extending out into the ocean. After a fire destroyed the city in 1904 it was completely rebuilt in vibrant Art Nouveau.

  • Walk up to Fjellstua for a view over Ålesund

• Lofoten Islands (featured photo)

  • It is suggested that you have no itinerary when visiting Lofoten (That would be hard for a planner like me, but I have not expectations so why not?!)

  • See the Northern Lights (travel in August and September are your best opportunities)

• Tromsø and Nordkapp: I would like to go above the Arctic Circle, to literally be on top of the world.

• Try brown cheese, salty licorice, and sour cream porridge and sip aquavit — Norwegian cuisine isn’t fancy, but I love to sample local delicacies

• Bonus: Go to Hell — chances are that Hell will even freeze over!

SWEDEN

Yes, I am half Norwegian, but being adopted, I am also the only person in my family that is also Swedish. For me, Norway’s allure is mostly natural (fjords, mountains, the sea) while Sweden’s is more cultural. Here’s what’s on my Swedish bucket list (Some ideas are a result of listening to the Earful Sweden podcast — Thanks, Oliver and Lina!):

• Stockholm:

  • Explore Gamla Stan, Stockholm’s Old Town with its winding cobblestone streets, ancient churches, medieval squares, royal palace, and gabled houses of Stortorget

  • Shop in the Norrmalm district

  • Visit the Vasa Museum built around the ship that capsized and sank in Stockholm 1628. After 333 years on the sea bed the mighty warship was salvaged and preserved.

  • Discover the modern art in the Moderna Museet and the photography of the Fotografiska

  • Tour the Swedish Royal Palace

  • Take in the panoramic view of Strandvägen

  • Experience ABBA The Museum because who wouldn’t love an interactive ABBA experience (“Walk in. Dance out.”)?!

  • Take a canal trip to see the islands and the lovely architecture from the water

• Go vintage shopping in Malmö and then travel to Copenhagen via the Øresund bridge

• Go sailing in Marstrand

• Discover the museums and culture of Gothenberg

• Taste köttbullar and pannkakor (Swedish meatballs and pancakes — and compare them to my own) with lingonberries

• Experience lördagsgodis (Saturday sweets)

• Enjoy a fika perhaps with a kanelbulle (cinnamon bun), or a semla (cream filled sweet roll), or even a slice of Prinsesstårta (the beautiful Princess Cake

FINLAND

Eric is Finnish and Norwegian too, so between the two of us, we represent a lot of Scandinavian heritage. I don’t know much about Finland (other than its outstanding education system), so I had to do quite a bit of research to build a Finnish bucket list. Here’s what I found:

• Helsinki:

  • Take a walking tour of the town and marvel at the juxtaposition of Scandinavian and Russian architecture and culture

  • Visit the Helsinki Cathedral built in the 19th century as a tribute to Czar Nicholas I

• Learn about the Sami culture at the Sami Museum in Siida

• Visit the old wooden, medieval town of Porvoo

• Sleep in a glass igloo under the Northern Lights

• Sweat in a sauna and hop into a glacial lake

DENMARK

Although Denmark is perhaps the most accessible Scandinavian country due to its position on the European mainland, it has never really been on my bucketlist. Perhaps you can persuade me to go. If someday I do, here are a few things I might enjoy:

• Strolling around Copenhagen and see the Little Mermaid in the harbor

• Exploring the Viking burial grounds of Lindholm Høje

• Visiting the Hans Christian Andersen Museum

• Castle hopping: Christiansborg Palace, Egeskov Castle, and Kronborg Castle aka Elsinore in Shakespeare’s Hamlet

ICELAND

Of course, I would also visit the capital city of Reykjavik including the Hallgrímskirkja church.

But most of all, I experience the surreal beauty of Iceland including:

• Ice caves of Vatnajokull Glacier

• The iconic Blue Lagoon

• The fumarole fields of Namafjall

• The Fontana Geothermal Baths

• The black sand beaches and craggy rocks of Vik and Dyrhólaey

• The Skógafoss and Godafoss waterfalls

• The Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon

• The Geysir and Strokkur

• Krafla-Viti caldera and lake

Scandinavia is right at the top of my travel bucket list. I’ve always wanted to discover the lands of my ancestors. Such a comprehensive tour of Scandinavia is probably both time- and cost-prohibitive, yet I do hope to check off many of these lovely Nordic experiences someday …

Travel Bucket List: UK and Ireland

“Beauty is where it is perceived. When I see the sun shining across the pond, I think this side the richer which sees it.” — Henry David Thoreau

Note: All London photos are my own except for the Tower Bridge and Notting Hill photos.

With all the hype about Brexit, popularity of The Crown, and the sad news of Prince Philip’s passing, the media has been saturated with articles, documentaries, and movies about the British royal family and England in general. We also just finished watching the delightful Men In Kilts with Sam and Graham of Outlander fame and are fascinated with the beauty and traditions of Scotland. Eric is a descendent of the MacIver clan and would love to learn more about his heritage. Although I have been to England several times and technically in Ireland (the airport in Dublin), there’s so much more I’d like to see, do (and redo) in the UK. Traveling “across the pond” is relatively quick and we already speak the language. So here is my UK + Ireland Bucket List.

ENGLAND

TO REDO IN LONDON:

Houses of Parliament and Westminster Bridge - London, April 2011

Millennium Bridge and St. Paul’s Cathedral — London, April 2011

• Westminster Abbey (especially Poets Corner)

• Palace of Westminster | The Houses of Parliament

• Notting Hill | Portobello Road Market

• Abbey Road

• St. Paul’s Cathedral

• Millennium Bridge

• The V&A and The Tate Modern Museums

• Kensington Gardens

• The Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace

• The Tower of London + Crown Jewels

• Shopping at Harrods and Selfridges

• Covent Garden

• Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre

• Platform 9 3/4 at King’s Cross

• Taking the Eurostar to Paris — Yes, I know this post is about traveling in the UK and Ireland, but I can’t be 3 hours away by train and not visit my beloved Paris!

NEW TO DO IN LONDON:

• See a play in the West End

• Thames Cruise — London’s answer to the Bateaux Mouches.

• London Christmas Lights — Maybe it’s because I’ve watched Love Actually so many times, but it seems to me that London does Christmas unlike any other city.

• London Eye — It just feels like something you should do, like going to the top of the Eiffel Tower when in Paris.

• High Tea in an iconic hotel or tea room — Claridge’s, The Savoy, The Ritz — How to choose?

FARTHER AFIELD:

• Oxford and Cambridge

• The Cotswolds

• Bath

• The Lake District

• Devon and Cornwall

• I suppose I should include Stonehenge although it wasn’t as interesting as I’d hoped. I did like Salisbury though.

London, April 2011

SCOTLAND

My eighth grade teacher, Grace Lippert, hailed from Glasgow and went in school in Edinburgh. Her Scottish brogue still rings in my ears, but curiously, she taught me more about Shakespeare and French vocabulary than she did about her native country. Here’s what I’d like to see and do in Scotland:

• The Royal Yacht Britannia

• Isle of Skye

• Scottish Highlands

• Edinburgh Castle and Old Town

• Loch Ness

• Glasgow

• Scotch tasting

Scottish Countryside

IRELAND

Cliffs of Moher, Ireland

As I mentioned, I’ve spent a total of four hours in Ireland where I hand just enough time to learn the funny expressions like gobshite and for feck’s sake, watch the airport bartender pull a pint of Cute Hoor, and buy this Claddagh ornament for our 2018 Christmas tree. Next time that I’m in Ireland, here’s what I’d like to see and do:

• Stroll down Grafton Street and, enjoy a pint of Guinness at Temple Bar in Dublin (even though I’m not a beer drinker)

• The Clarence Hotel (owned by Bono)

• The Cliffs of Moher

• Trinity College Dublin

• Killarney and the 111 mile long Ring of Kerry

• Cork County and Blarney Castle (although traveling post COVID-19, I don’t think I would actually kiss it)

• The Dingle Peninsula

• Galway and a boat tour of Galway Bay

 

If you have traveled to England, Scotland, and Ireland, what recommendations do you have? And what about Wales and Northern Ireland?

Travel Bucket List: France

“So ask the travelled inhabitant of any nation, ‘In what country on earth would you rather live?’ Certainly in my own, where are all my friends, my relations, and the earliest and sweetest affections and recollections of my life. Which would be your second choice? France.”

— Thomas Jefferson

Château de Chenonceau | Most links in this post point to my own images earlier posts featuring these places. If a link goes out to a general site, it is because my I only have printed photographs from the days before DSLRs and iPhones.

Last month, I started a new feature here on the blog, inspired by The Earful Tower’s 100 Things to Do in Paris . In February, I checked off what I had done on the Earful Tower List, chose things on the list that I would like to do, and added my own to-dos and to-redos to create my own Paris Bucket List. This month, I’ll do the same based on Beyond Paris: Top 50 Things to Do in France. Statistically, I scored a bit better on this list — 16/50 or 32% as opposed to only 17% on the Paris list. Let’s start with what I have already done.

• 1 — I visited the historic walled Cité de Carcassonne in 2008 as part of a Spring Break trip with students that took us from Paris to Barcelona. Carcassonne was one of the highlights as we wove our way through the Pyrenees in southern France and northern Spain.

• 4 — Beach stroll in Nice: Nice is one of my favorite French cities. I love the mix of French and Italian cultures. The old town is vibrant and fragrant. The marketplace is one of the best in France. The cuisine is deliciously simple — What could better than a caprese salad, crusty bread, and glass of rosé or a crisp Chablis…and maybe a scoop of lavender gelato? The Russian Orthodox church and the Matisse museum are fascinating, and the Carnaval/Mardi gras celebrations are colorful and wonderfully over the top. Yet, Nice’s most popular attraction is the beach along the Promenade des Anglais. I have strolled along this stretch of Mediterranean coast many times. I found sea glass and heart-shaped galets (the smooth stones that line the beach instead of sand). I swam in the sea (topless!) and fell asleep in the sun resulting in the worst sunburn of my life. Since then, I wear SPF 50 every single day.

• 6 — Château de Chenonceau (feature photo of this post): Chenonceau, “The Ladies’ Castle,” is my favorite château in the Loire Valley. The gallery that spans the River Cher and the beautifully manicured gardens are the epitome of French Renaissance design. I have also visited Chambord, the largest château, and Amboise where da Vinci lived when he was painting for the court of François I. Up next: Azay-le-Rideau.

• 11 — Pont d’Avignon: Yes, like most students of French, I learned the song and yes, I have danced on the famous bridge that only spans half of the Rhône River.

• 14 — Aix-en-Provence markets: I love visiting this university town with my dear friends live in le pays aixois.

• 18 — Le Mont Saint-Michel is breathtaking. After winding up the cobbled streets of this charming town on a tidal island and climbing the 350 steps to the top of the abby, you’ve earned a galette and a cup of cider!

• 19 — I have walked along the ramparts of Saint-Malo (and I may have also wandered through its streets late at night in pink, fuzzy slippers in search of a crêpe). This charming, historical town is high on the my list of places to revisit, especially after having read All The Light We Cannot See.

• 20 — I actually prefer Marie Antoinette’s hamlet and the trianons over the ostentation of Château de Versailles.

• 23 — Each time that I have been to Normandy, on my way to the D’Day beaches, I have stopped to see the Bayeux Tapestry. The needlework is certainly impressive and it’s fun to spot King Harold with an arrow in his eye, but I don’t really need to do this again.

• 24 — I love Monet’s gardens at Giverny. I’ve only been there twice (in 1994 and 1998) because since then, I haven’t been in France during the right season. I had planned to take a day trip during my visit in April 2020, but well, 2020. Next time…

• 25 — The Roman arena at Nîmes and 2000 year old Roman aqueduct, le Pont du Gard, should be part of any Provençal itinerary.

• 28 — I visited the Hôtel Dieu in Beaune as part of a lunchtime stop in Burgundy on my way to Switzerland. It was 1994 and I knew nothing about wine. It would be much more interesting now.

• 31 — I traveled from Paris to Biarritz on the TGV in 2008 and walked along the grande plage. It was the first time that I visited France’s Atlantic coast and the charming Basque town of Saint-Jean-de-Luz, but it won’t be the last.

• 44 — It seems that I already mentioned le Pont du Gard in my description of #25.

• 47 — In the late ’90s, I met a French girl at a 4th of July party in Hartland, Wisconsin. Sandrine was spending the summer in Lake Country as an adult liaison for a group of exchange students. I introduced her to my little corner of the world and the following summer, she and her family later invited me to stay with them in their Marseille apartment with a view of Notre-Dame de la Garde. We made several day trips to charming towns along the Mediterranean coast including Cassis, la Ciotat, and the Parc national des calanques. Sandrine and I have been friends for over twenty years now and I have had several opportunities to hike in the calanques, an activity that is breathtaking in every sense of the word.

• 48 — I have driven through the lavender fields of Provence and marveled at their color and fragrance.

That’s my list of 16 out of 50 things to do in France. Of the remaining thirty-four Earful Tower picks, I would add these to my own bucket list:

• 7 — Sip Champagne in Champagne: This is an easy day trip from Paris and something I plan to do in the near future.

• 8 — I was meant to visit the Château de Chantilly while in Paris for a conference in January 2013, but it snowed eight inches that day, rendering the roads impassable. Instead, we took a snowy dinner cruise on the Seine.

• I would combine 5 and 16 by visiting Ploumanac’h in Brittany and savoring a kouign-amann.

• 15 — I have visited several towns in the South of France but not Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. There’s always time for one more.

• Eastern France has always eluded me. Annecy (27) is one of those postcard-perfect towns that has long been on my list. I would also love to enjoy a traditional meal in Lyon (21), visit Alsace (38), and stroll through the Christmas markets of Strasbourg (36).

• 29 — Deauville was one of Gabrielle Chanel’s favorite towns and the location of her first boutique. A town that is famous for fashion and seafood sounds like a town for me.

• 30 — I am intrigued by the wild horses and flamingos of the Camargue.

• 41 — Corsica has long been a dream destination.

• I would like to visit 42 — the Lascaux caves, but I understand that the real ones are sealed and that tourists actually visit a replica.

• 49 — Drink wine in Saint-Émilion (one of my favorite French varietals).

OK, now, I’ll add the list with a few of my own must-dos and re-dos:

• The D-Day Beaches in Normandy

• Chartres Cathedral

• The grotto at Lourdes

• Saint-Paul de Vence

• Èze and Grasse

• Chamonix and Mont Blanc

For a country that is roughly the same size as Texas, France is so geographically and culturally diverse. Although my past several trips have not extended beyond Paris, I do hope to explore more of La Belle France when it’s safe to travel again. Until that time, the BBC series Destinations in France is a great virtual getaway.

Travel Bucket List: Paris

“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:

  • ✓ Musée d’Orsay

  • Musée Rodin

  • l’Orangerie

  • 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?