There is a bit of France in all of our daily lives; from the French croissant increasingly making its presence felt on our breakfast table to the Creperies that are popping day in and out at our high streets; from the ever-present Eiffel tower in our movies to our new-found love for popping the celebratory bubbly, i.e., champagne; travelling to France is almost like a homecoming for us. Travel to France to give your sweet-tooth the ultimate pleasure, to get dazzled by French art, to develop an eye for fashion and to fall in love again.
A week in this European heartland gave us sufficient time to explore its different aspects. From the French Riviera on the Mediterranean coast, we travelled up north to Paris and then from there to the capital of champagne, Epernay.
Here is a brief summary of our itinerary and stays:
Paris : It slowly charms you with its spells
Paris will not suddenly blow you away, it will slowly charm you with its spells. Its mind-blowing architecture, yummy patisserie and bakery culture, love for haute couture and deep-rooted history are the perfect ingredients for a recipe to be blown away. Over the course of two days, our ecstasy built up step by step finally to leave us dreamy and mesmerised as we left this city.
The first thing to do on your first night in Paris is to attend a cabaret show. We recommend the Lido show; this spectacle is the pride of Paris.
Get an awesome 50% discount on same day tickets for the Lido at the Culture kiosk. Check their address in Paris here: http://www.kiosqueculture.com/contact. This is the biggest bargain you can get here and not many people know about this. I was lucky to come across this while trawling through the Lido’s reviews on TripAdvisor.
We reserved an entire morning and afternoon for the Louvre Museum, the most visited visited museum in the world. Don’t forget to book your tickets online to avoid queues. While the Mona Lisa and her enigmatic smile are a must see, there are various other masterpieces from Italian painters Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci that shouldn’t be ignored.
The Louvre has one of the largest collection of Egyptian artefacts in the world and some of the best Roman and Greek Antiquities. Choose which ones you want to see before you venture out in labyrinth of the museum. The Louvre has more than 35,000 pieces of art and 3,80,000 objects to see; impossible for any human to see in a few hours unless you are literally sprinting around the museum.
The next day, we took a walking tour (of course with our favourite New Sandeman Europe) late afternoon which gave us excellent insight into must-see sights in Paris: the gargoyled Notre-Dame Cathedral, Fontaine Saint-Michel, Arc de Triomphe at Champs-Élysées and the Tuileries Garden outside the Louvre. We loitered around the gardens and had a mini picnic (lovely south Indian packed from the Sangeetha restaurant and a bordeaux red wine) and waited for the sun to set.
See the Paris of the day and the Paris of the night.
Paris is a completely different city at night, all its monuments are lit up and of course the hourly glittering of the Eiffel tower is a scintillating sight to see. Every night starting from 10 pm, the Eiffel tower sparkles for 5 minutes at every hour mark. We looked at the tower glistening in all its glory in the nightsky of Paris, we were spellbound; Paris had cast its magic on us.
To make the most of your Paris visit, check out our post here: 48 hours in the City of Love
Marseille or Nice is a perfect base to explore the beautiful southern coast of France a.k.a the French Riviera. If you happen to be around in summers, at the time of the International Film festival, it is an absolute sin not to visit the Cannes Film Festival. We wanted to be on good terms with God, hence, decided to take a day trip to Cannes to witness the climax of the global film industry.
The Cannes film festival is all about the atmosphere. Take a stroll around the iconic Boulevard de la Croisette leading to the Palais des Festivals where all the red-carpet screenings are held.
Enjoy a fruity ice cream, relax by the carousel and don’t forget to take a dip in the blue waters of the Mediterranean.
For more details on what to do during your day trip to Cannes; check out our itinerary here: A Day Trip to Cannes - French Riviera & The Climax of the film industry
Here’s why not every champagne you drink is really champagne. People use the term “champagne” generically for every sparkling wine they drink. This is literally a crime in this part of the world. Only and only the sparkling wine made from grapes from this part of the region can be called a “Champagne”.
Walk around Avenue de champagne, the famed street, in Epernay which is lined up with some of the oldest and the best champagne houses in the world (Read.. Moët & Chandon) and has 110 kms. of cellars housing more than 200 mn. bottles of champagne underneath.
We took degustation tours( fine art of tasting the wines) at Moët & Chandon and De Castellane which provided an excellent overview of the champagne creation process and also access to these wondrous underground cellars.
Read more on our champagne tasting adventures, the beautiful vineyards and itinerary here: Champagne region - A trip to the Capitale du Champagne, France
We loved France, we loved every bit of it. The food, the champagne and the enchanting Parisian vibe has left us yearning for more. Hopefully we will be back.
Au Revoir.
About the Author :
"Megha and Pranay (alias The Trunk Travellers) are travelling around the world this year. An ex- Investment Banker and ex- Consultant by profession, they decided to take the greatest journey of their lives. They have visited over 30 countries together. Megha has co-founded the kitschy product label, Pitaara Handmade and is scouting for inspiration during her travels. They have been featured with LBB Mumbai and WedMeGood previously. You can follow their adventures and photographs on Instagram as well"
