Planning is Key
When you have a limited amount of time and a wish list of a bazillion things to see, do, eat and experience, planning is key! Fortunately, Clarice and I are both planners. That’s not to say we are inflexible, but it was a lot easier to have a good idea of what we wanted to do on any given day rather than walk around in circles and miss things. We each bought a copy of Rick Steves Paris 2019 guide and started planning several months before. Ultimately, we planned a practical and perfect whirlwind tour of Paris!
The Paris Museum Pass
The Paris Museum Pass is the best bargain in Paris. It gives you prepaid access to over 50 museums and monuments at a pretty good discount and it allows you to avoid the lines. It’s sort of like the carpool lane. The biggest drawback is that once you visit the first museum, you can only use the pass for the time specified (you can purchase a 2-day, 4-day or 6-day pass). It also spurs you into action. Not sure what to do today? See as many things on the pass as you can!
The Summer Solstice
Yes, it’s June 21st and it’s the longest day of the year. Why is that noteworthy? Because on June 17th, the sunrise was at 5:46 am and sunset was at 9:57 pm. That’s 16 hours and 10 minutes of daylight! And it would continue getting longer for 4 more days. Very long days and jet lag can really mess with you. Especially if daylight cues you in on the time and meal times. And if you want to see Paris lit up at night? Well, it’s going to be a late night!
So how best to tell the story of two wild and crazy weeks in Paris with my sister? First, break it down! Second, with pictures of course!
Saint-Sulpice
June 17 was a day of wandering around Paris and taking it easy because jet lag was still having its way with us. We had an appointment to visit some apartments later in the afternoon, so we had a leisurely visit to Église Saint-Sulpice via the Tuileries.
Saint-Sulpice is a little bit smaller than Notre Dame so it is the 2nd largest church in Paris. We couldn’t photograph the facade because the antique market was out front in Place Saint-Sulpice. The church gained notoriety in 2005 due to The Da Vince Code and the gnomon which uses a point of light from a southern window to determine the equinoxes and therefore, Easter.
After our visit to Saint Sulpice we met up with Ron and the rental agent and we visited two apartments. The last one was in the 15th arrondissement, not far from our old apartment. We decided to stroll the area a bit to check it out, we walked past our old apartment, went to the Monoprix there and then headed back to the hotel. Strangely, I have no photos of any of that!
First Day of the Museum Pass
The first day of our museum pass was a whirlwind! We went to Sainte Chapelle, The Conciergerie, had lunch then visited Le Bon Marche, Napolean’s Tomb and finally the Rodin Museum. But wait, there’s more! After a short rest at the hotel, we headed back out to Sacre Coeur and Montmartre.
It was late by the time we got to Sacre Coeur and they were just closing the gates and not letting anyone else in. Boo. We got to see the outside and then walked through Montmartre. Clarice did some gift shopping and sampled some hot chocolate. Then we made our way down to the Moulin Rouge. Again, we didn’t go in! We hung out with all the other tourists and people who just wanted to be out experiencing the nightlife for a little while. When we got back to the hotel, we were ready to drop.
