Morning
Start your day with a breakfast in the Latin Quarter. Le Comptoir du Panthéon offers a classic formulated French breakfast at an excellent location for people-watching. Upon breakfast, practice the French art of the flâneur. Rue St Severin will bring you to a peaceful garden next to the famous bookstores of the city. The queues for the internet-famous Shakespeare & Co. can be daunting, which makes The Abbey Bookshop an excellent off-the-beaten-path alternative. Following this, stroll along Quai de la Tournelle and see UNESCO-protected les Bouquinistes.
The queues for the internet-famous Shakespeare & Co. can be daunting, which makes The Abbey Bookshop an excellent off-the-beaten-path alternative
Make your way to the most hip district of the city, Le Marais. Here, you can find the 18th- century ‘hôtel particuliers’ (mansions) which now serve as museums. Hôtel de Soubise has a wonderful garden and does not warrant a long visit. Le Marais is also where you can find some of the best food in the city, namely Chez Janou or Panozzi. L’As du Fallafel in rue des Rosiers claims to have the best falafel in all of Europe. I can’t tell you if it’s the best, but it certainly deserves its place on a 24-hour itinerary!
The next stop: Tuileries Garden. You can grab tasty pastries from Bo&Mie and excellent coffee from Café Kitsune in rue de Rivoli to turn your visit into a complete picnic. I would also highly recommend visiting Musée de l’Orangerie just around the corner to see some of Monet’s finest pieces.
Head down to Pont Alexandre III for sunset. This is the perfect place to get a shimmering view of the city as the sun goes down and shadows start to fall upon the Iron Lady (that is, the Eiffel Tower). After sunset, you can enjoy the hourly light show of the Eiffel or discover the hidden bars (Lavomatic, Moonshiner and Fitzgerald, to name a few). Adventurous spirits can try a night-time tour of the Paris catacombs!
Night-time activities in Paris come in an endless variety for you to pick your favourite. Be warned though, the day will likely end up in another flight booked to Paris!
