Top 5 pitfalls to avoid for a successful stay in Paris
Planning a visit to our magnificent city?
Discover the 5 most common mistakes to avoid and our tips as a hotelier for experiencing Paris like a true Parisian!
See everything in 48 hours
Iphone in hand, stopwatch in mind, some tourists want to “do” Paris in 2 days. Eiffel Tower at 8am, Louvre at 12pm, Notre-Dame at 2pm, Galeries Lafayette at 4pm, Montmartre at dusk. See EVERYTHING of the city… or nothing at all.
You can’t just consume Paris, you have to discover it by strolling through its different districts. Having an espresso in front of the Opéra, an ice cream on the quays, daydreaming in the Tuileries. In short, taking your time.
Don’t hesitate to ask reception for advice on how to organize your day: we’ll be delighted to help!
Choose a restaurant where the menu is translated into 8 languages
It’s 1pm, you’re hungry, you’re a stone’s throw from the Louvre or the Eiffel Tower and you come across a restaurant with a full terrace. A waiter greets you and presents you with a multilingual menu as long as the Seine, translated into English, Spanish, Chinese, Russian and Portuguese. First red flag! Second? When the menu is too extensive, that’s not a good sign either! Prefer small, local restaurants, with simple menus in French. Even better: look out for this little logo on the windows, guaranteeing “Home-made”
Showing up at the Louvre or Versailles like a flower 🌸
You wake up motivated, ready to plunge into history and art… you arrive in front of the Château de Versailles at 11am and there’s the cold shower: 1 hour in line, in the rain, in the sun or stuck in the excitement of a school group. It’s the classic mistake that you immediately regret: forgetting that these are the most visited monuments in the world. The simple tip: book online. It’s quick and saves precious time! Second tip: choose the morning slots, which are much less crowded and much more pleasant than at the end of the day (when you start to get fed up).
The website we recommend for reservations: GetYourGuide.com. You can also book directly on the website of each monument or museum.
Thinking all chopsticks are the same
In Paris, there’s “baguette” and “baguette”. If you want to bite into a real loaf of bread or an artisan croissant, there are 2-3 pitfalls to be aware of.
Avoid franchised stores, or the corner bakeries of the supermarkets, preferring the small neighborhood bakery displaying the “Artisan Boulanger” label in its window. This means they make their own bread (and don’t just heat it up).
PS: now that you’ve become a true Parisian, you probably won’t be able to resist biting into the quignon just out of the Frenchy bakery!
All in favour of the Eiffel Tower
It’s the star of Paris. You’ll find it on every mug, magnet, key ring or grigri. For many visitors, the Eiffel Tower seems to be the must-see of their stay. And yet, even if its breathtaking view of Paris gives us a bellyful of guilis every time, it’s not necessarily the visit we’d recommend as a priority if you’re just passing through.
We’d probably advise you to come by at night, illuminated, or to observe it from a fly boat.
Our advice: don’t devote a whole afternoon to it, but include it as part of a program of walks and visits on the Left Bank.