Paris Late Fall Itinerary

I have SO much info on my Paris/London trip and I've been trying to figure out a great way to organize it! After reading so many DM's and e-mails about all of you planning trips to Paris, I wanted to get these posts up sooner than later! 

I figured it would be good to give you an overview of our itinerary and what we did each day and then go into it day-by-day. I want to make sure I include some of the not-so-glamorous info, too, like how we got around, what types of shoes were necessary and unnecessary, etc. so you all know for when you are traveling. 

But today, it will just be a very brief overview... you'll notice we hit the ground running early on in the trip, but slowed down each day as we got more tired (none of use had Fitbit's or anything, but our phones said we averaged about 20,000++ steps every day)! 

I figured I would speak about Paris to all of you assuming you have never been. That way, even if you have, I'm sure to include all of the details- for my own memories, but also for those who are planning trips and have never been! 

Monday

Travel Day

PIT --> JFK via Delta

JFK --> CDG via American Airlines

Tuesday

- Arrived at CDG at 6am

- Took a taxi from CDG to Paris (about an hour travel time)

- Had breakfast at Le Bistrot Des Colonnes 

- Walked to the Louvre and toured the area outside where you can see the famous pyramid

- Walked towards the river and crossed the Pont du Carrousel 

- Walked to Colette to see the Chanel collection on Rue Saint Honore in the 1st arrondissement 

- Walked past our Airbnb (we weren't able to check in until around 1pm) which was on Rue Saint Honore

- Walked through Place Vendome (it was still early morning so many places were still closed)

- Had a quick lunch at a Paris chain Pomme de Pain for sandwiches (still early morning, not a lot of places open, but we were starving) 

- Went to Galleries Lafayette 

- Made sure to check out the Galleries Lafayette rooftop where you can see full 360 views of Paris

- Headed back to Rue Saint Honore to check into our Airbnb and unpack (can't wait to talk all about this- it was SUCH a gem)

- Walked to Monoprix (kind of like a Target) for some supplies for the Airbnb and some snacks for a little happy hour in our adorable apartment. 

- Took a much-needed power nap (we never let ourselves nap for more than an hour or two at a time)

- Enjoyed snacks and champagne in our apartment as we got ready for dinner

- Walked to dinner at Le Relais de L'Entrecote (Marbeuf location)

- Enjoyed a late dinner and then walked towards the Eiffel tower to see it sparkle at midnight 

Wednesday

- Breakfast at Angelina on Rue de Rivoli 

- Walked throughout Jardin des Tuileries

- Went underneath the Louvre's pyramid to the Carrousel du Louvre  

- Walked along the Seine and crossed the Pont Neuf 

- Added a lock at the end of the bridge (you can no longer add a lock to the Pont Des Arts bridge)

- Went to Sainte Chapelle (a church)

- Walked to Notre Dame (another church) 

- Wandered around Saint Germain 

- Walked to Shakespeare's and Co. bookstore 

- Had lunch at a cafe in the Le Marais area (cannot for the life of me remember the name!!)

- Stopped at boulangerie for baguettes and treats for later

- Stopped at Carrefour express (which was great for things like water, wine, etc.) 

- Stopped at John Paul Hevin (patisseries) 

- Got back to our Airbnb and ate all of our snacks and wine, etc. 

- Napped 

- Walked to La Taverne for dinner (by the Opera)

Thursday

LONDON

- Uber to Paris Gare du Nord to take the Eurostar to St. Pancras London 

- Had Paul for breakfast before boarding the train (we loved this- there are locations in DC and Boston in the US)

- Explored St. Pancras (which was decked out for Christmas) 

- Crossed street to King's Cross station 

- Got our photo taken at platform 9 3/4 

- Toured the Harry Potter store 

- Took an Uber to Buckingham Palace and wandered around there

- Walked to Westminster Abbey but made sure to walk through Saint James Park (so pretty)

- Toured Westminster Abbey 

- Walked over the Westminster bridge towards The Eye to get a good look at Big Ben and the Palace of Westminster (which is unfortunately covered by a lot of scaffolding

- Walked to The Eye, but ended up not going up due to crazy lines 

- Took an Uber to Harrods 

- Ate at Harrods Cafe

- Shopped (this place is huge... you could spend an entire day just inside of Harrods) and enjoyed their decked out Christmas decor

- Walked to Regent Street

- Checked out the opening day of the Glossier pop-up (which was so beautiful)

- Wandered in and out of cute shops along Regent Street

- Stopped into Boots (we were obsessed with going into pharmacies in both London and Paris)

- Had Tea at Sketch 

- Walked back to Regent Street/ Carnaby Christmas Carnival 

- Walked throughout the Carnaby Christmas carnival and cute shops like Liberty  (this was my favorite store to pop into)

- Headed back to Regent Street in time for their light up night and fireworks! 

- Headed back to St. Pancras and took the Eurostar back to Paris

Friday

- Walked to Cafe de Flore for an early lunch 

- Took the metro to the Arc de Triomphe 

- Went to the top of the Arc de Triomphe (hint: to cross the street, there is an underground tunnel)

- Walked down the Champs Elysee and shopped (seriously, the Zaras over there were amazing)

- Walked all the way back to our apartment, but stopped throughout to take in thes sights

- Went to Goyard for my bag! It was literally directly next door to our Airbnb.

- Napped at our apartment, had snacks and got ready for dinner. 

- Walked over to have drinks at Harry's Bar 

- Walked to dinner at Brasserie Lipp 

- Walked home (if you haven't realized by now, walking was our favorite because it enabled us to see so much)

Saturday

- Went to Musee D'orsay 

- Had lunch at the Restaurant (which is not your typical museum cafe!)

- Grabbed a coffee at Erik Kayser 

- Checked out a big Pharmacie in St. Germain

- Went to Le Bon Marche 

- Checked out La Grand Epicierie (this was one of the coolest things) 

- Metro'd back to our apartment 

- Hung out and had snacks, etc. 

- Walked to dinner at Le Grand Colbert

Sunday

- We literally just woke up and wandered all over Paris, weaving in and out of streets

- We stopped for a coffee at a random cafe

- Took the metro to Montmartre 

- Saw the Wall of Love 

- Walked up alllll of the steps towards Sacre Coeur 

- Enjoyed the views and then walked throughout the top of Montmartre 

- Got a crepe from a street vendor (YUM) 

- Saw all of the incredible artists

- Walked down Monmartre via the streets so we could pop in and out of cute boutiques

- Took the metro from Pigalle to Trocadero 

- Saw the breathtaking view of the Eiffel tower from Trocadero 

- Walked to the Eiffel Tower and went to the top

- Enjoyed champagne on the top of the Eiffel Tower

- Took a metro back to our apartment

- Had dinner at Le Castiglione 

Monday 

Travel Day

CDG --> JFK via Amerian Airlines

JFK --> PIT via Delta

So there you have it. Phew, it was exhausting just typing all of that out. You could spend months or really years in both Paris and London and still not have seen it all. There was truly so much to do and see, it was incredible. I hope to be back someday very soon. In our travels, I think we really did and saw a lot, and while we were tired, we didn't kill ourselves trying to jam everything into our time there. We focused on taking our time with what we did and that's really the way I would recommend doing things. We were up at sun up and never went to bed before midnight, so our days were still packed, but we never felt run down or rushed.