Paris Travel Guide: Things to Do and Recommended Place to Eat in 2 Days Trip in Paris
When you’re traveling, we also hope that you can make the most of every moment in Paris, just like what we’ve experienced. Wander in and out of museums, cafes, beautiful gardens, and enjoy the romance of the city. We hope our recommendation of 2 Days Itinerary in Paris – the best places to go to Paris and the best places to eat in Paris will help you plan the perfect trip to this beautiful city. Don’t forget to share this with your family, and friends!
Day 1 – Paris
1. Musée du Louvre
We started our adventure in Paris at the Louvre, but because it’s too late, and the queue was very long, we were not able to enter the museum. This museum is very famous because the Louvre Museum is the world’s largest art museum and a historic monument in Paris, France. This landmark palace housing huge art collection, from Roman sculptures to da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa. Whether you like art or not, this museum is a must-visit when you’re in Paris, France!
2. The famous Seine River
While in Paris, don’t forget to take a walk here, on the Seine River, the famous river that flows from east to west in the heart of Paris, and divides Paris’s Left Bank and Right Bank. Being here was fun for us, walking along the river bank with my husband, seeing how locals and tourists blend in, each looking for a good spot to see and capture the Eiffel Tower from here. But the best moment is when it’s getting dark. Seeing the light-up Eiffel Tower from this side of the river was amazing. It’s so beautiful and charming! If you have more budget, you can find seine river cruises operators and sail to see one or more of the historical sites from the boat through the river cruise.
3. Dinner at Meating Corner Burger Joint
Whenever we travel, we always try to avoid touristy restaurants and look for what the locals love and recommend. One of them is this place, Meating Corner, a hipster burger joint that serves delicious burgers, and you can also custom the burger. We ordered Father Burger and were pleased with our decision. The burger comes with cheddar cheese and bacon, thick and juicy beef patty, include with a sweet and savory barbecue sauce. Meanwhile, the Frites Maison (French-style fries) was crispy and soft in the center, we loved this than regular french fries in Jakarta! Although the service was quite slow that night because the place was very crowded, it’s a great experience at a fair price. P.S: don’t order Citronnade bio Bella drink because, unfortunately, it’s a bottled drink, not fresh-made lemonade.
4. Exploring the city at night
What it’s like to visit Paris at night? Take your time strolling along the Seine river, or maybe, take a night cruise on the Seine River, which is both romantic and picturesque at night. Don’t forget to bring your camera with a good low-light setting to make an impressive picture of your trip along the river. Enjoy the biggest collection of modern and contemporary art in Europe, one of the finest in the world located at the Centre Pompidou, a building that is an icon of 20th-century architecture. And if you have more budget, I recommend you to watch the Parisian Cabaret when in Paris.
Day 2 – Paris
5. Visiting Basilique du Sacre-Coeur de Montmartre
Basilique du Sacre-Coeur de Montmartre is a place where art and worship mixed together! Sacre-Coeur de Montmartre was already a place of worship long before its construction, a 19th-century basilica built by the French government following the Franco-Prussian War, features a large medieval dome that provides excellent views of the city. And guess what? This white church Sacre-Coeur stands on top of the hill of Montmartre (213 meters above the sea level). At the same time, the Eiffel Tower is 300 meters high, and the Montparnasse Tower is 210 meters tall, meaning Sacre-Coure is the second highest point of Paris!. So, don’t forget to go up there, and enjoy the panoramic views from the terraces outside. Remember, stay alert of pickpockets and scams around, inside, and outside this area! (see my highlights on Instagram story and tips for avoiding scams and pickpockets in Europe!)
Sacré-Cœur Montmartre
35 Rue du Chevalier de la Barre, 75018 Paris, France
Opening Hour: 6AM – 10:30PM
Phone: +33 1 53 41 89 00
6. Buy some souvenirs from Paris
On our way to Boulevard de Clichy for lunch, we stopped by several places to get some souvenirs. If you come from the Basilique du Sacre-Coeur de Montmartre and look across the street, you’ll find some shops selling hats, scarves, key chains, Paris t-shirts, and more. So, among all caps, I bought a Paris hat designed by Robin Ruth. Not only because the design is good, but the material is also good quality! Not far from this shop, you’ll find Plyones, a beautiful chain boutique located around Paris. Inside, you’ll find adorable and colorful everyday items, with unique designs that you can’t find in other stores! From oven timers, picture holders, cheese graters, bike bells, etc.! Walking further, you will discoverMon P’tit Caramel shop that sells premium homemade nougat and caramel! The owner was so friendly and allowed us to try some of his products. After 1 hour in the shop, we finally bought home the caramel nuts (on promotion: 2 grand sizes = €12) and homemade caramel jam, oh it’s really good!
Mon p’tit Caramel
18 Rue Yvonne le Tac, 75018 Paris, France
Opening Hour: 10AM – 7PM
7. Lunch at the famous Bistro, Bouillon Pigalle
French cuisine sounds fancy, but it’s a different story when you visit the famous French Bistro, Le Bouillon (Bouillon Pigalle), in Paris. Since Le Bouillon opened its restaurant in 2017, this restaurant has shaken many restaurants in Paris. I was surprised to see a long queue when we came for lunch that day, but we’re glad we decided to wait for a table! This two-storey restaurant was packed with locals, because they are very famous for local French cuisine, serving fresh, quality menus at affordable prices! After 30 minutes, we finally got a seat and had to wait about 10 more minutes to wait for the waiter to accept our order.
We tried some of the most favorite dishes, including Bifteck Frites (€4,50, equal to IDR 164K), Foie Gras (€8,80, equal to IDR 137K), and Escargots Beurre Persille (les 6, €7, equal to IDR 109K). Everything was delicious! The steaks were pretty thick, and it was a perfect medium-rare. We can taste the juices and seasoning; we loved it! The portion of duck liver (foie gras) was quite big, best to eat as a spread with the sweet onion chutney on the bread! The onion pairs well with the foie gras as the slight sweetness cuts the salty, fatty liver. The snails were my favorites too! There’s a nice charred flavor that came from it, served with a light parsley butter sauce, oh so good! Overall, the food was extremely good, and extremely good value; no wonder the line was getting longer until the sidewalk. Wow!
8. Visiting the famous Eiffel Tower
Just like everyone else, the most important thing to do while in Paris is obviously to see the Eiffel Tower, the greatest landmarks of the City of Lights or commonly called the Iron Lady. The Eiffel Tower was built in 1888 by architect Gustave Eiffel and stood since the Paris World Exhibition in 1889. Although it was very crowded, seeing and visiting the most iconic monument in Paris as close as this was very impressive! Especially if you go there after sunset, the lights are on, and Eiffel Tower will sparkle with thousands of lights.
Eiffel Tower
Champ de Mars, 5 Avenue Anatole France, 75007 Paris, France
Opening Hour: 9AM – 12:45AM
9. Visiting the famous Arc de Triomphe
Another interesting site to see in Paris is the Arc de Triomphe. The Arc de Triomphe was built to commemorate the many soldiers who gave their lives for their future generations. It was one of the highest arcs for a long time. We didn’t go too close because there seemed to be a long queue to climb the Arc. And because there was too crowded, we decided to take a quick shot in front of the building. What do you think of the view from our photo here?
Arc de Triomphe
Place Charles de Gaulle, 75008 Paris, France
Opening Hour: 10:00 AM – 10:30 PM
10. Try the famous Macaroons at Laduree Macaroons
Don’t ever visit Paris without visiting Ladurèe. Yes, we found this lovely cake shop when we walked to the Champs-Élysées. As you know, too, Ladurèe is a famous macaron brand in Paris, so we quickly joined the queue in their cafe. Luckily the line wasn’t too long when I went there, so I could spend time figuring out what flavor of macarons I wanted to get. We ended up buying 4 flavors, which were mostly recommended by other travelers, and also by the store guy at that time. From Orange Blossom, Passion Fruit, Marie- Antoinette tea, and Rose, we really love these four flavors. Each flavor has the perfect amount of flavor and not overly sweet!
The Rose Macaron tasted exactly like how the roses smell, can you imagine that? While the Orange Blossom (must-try) tasted light and fresh with flowery taste at the after taste. If you like tea, try Marie Antoinette tea; this one was perfect and smells lovely! And the Passion Fruit macaron tasted really like a passion fruit should be, it’s so delicious! You must try them; you won’t regret it! Apart from macaron and croissants, you can also enjoy a Paris-like breakfast or lunch in their restaurant. There’s a separate entrance between the macaron shop and the restaurant.
11. Try another famous Macaron
at 86 Champs Pierre Hermé
X L’Occitane Paris
Just last year, in 2018, the famous Pierre Hermé joined forces with L’Occitane en Provence (the beauty brand known for products inspired by the Mediterranean lifestyle) opened a new concept store called 86 Champs, a 10,000-square-foot lifestyle concept store on Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris. Entering this store was very exciting to me because this place offers beauty, well-being products, fragrance, food, an indoor-outdoor restaurant, a coffee-and-cocktail bar, and a bar showcasing the distinctive French delicacy, the macarons. The selection of dessert is mouthwatering, and they have exciting flavors of macarons where most of them are consist of 2 flavors, exciting!
We tried 2 Signature Collection, Mogador (a combination of Passion Fruit & Milk Chocolate), and Ispahan (the most sought-after taste: a blend of roses, lychee, and raspberry – a must-try!). Also two flavors from the Autumn collection 2019: Matcha Raspberry and J’ardin de L’atlas (one of their specialties too; a combination of lemon, orange blossom, and Maquis honey – must try!). Pssst, even L’occitaine, created some exclusive edition perfumes with flavors of Pierre Herme’s best macaron flavors! Ha-ha… After spending 2 hours at the store, we finally bought so many items from this store. If you are a pastry and fragrances lover, this is the place to go.
Follow my Insta Stories to see the live updates: Myfunfoodiary
or FIND ME here: