T&T France Guide | Paris + reims

A friend of mine texted me in July asking if I had any interest in joining her on a trip to France. She had a wedding to attend in the French countryside and her husband had a work conflict. I immediately said yes and we planned our trip. Initially, we’d hoped to do both Paris and Provence, but, when we looked into this more, we decided it was too much to do both in a week. (Provence is about a 4 hour train ride from Paris, so we’d lose too much time.) We decided to instead do a quick overnight trip in Reims (more on that later) mid-trip and spend the rest of our time in Paris. This felt like the perfect amount of time in both areas and we had the best trip. My friend and I had both been to Paris before, but it is my favorite city so I was happy to spend more time there. Since we had visted previously, it meant we did not have to check all the touristy spots off our list and could instead leisurely roam the city. I will outline some of my favorite highlights below. You can also check out my quick video recap here.

SATURDAY

I arrived on Saturday mid-day. My friend had a later flight so I decided to walk around and explore. I quickly stumbled upon the Pierre Frey store. I have been eyeing their gorgeous wallpaper well before I bought my house, so it was such a treat to go into their gorgeous store. I was hoping to find their Champagne wallpaper but fell in love with a few others as well. I really enjoyed my experience in the store. The staff was so nice and they graciously offered wallpaper samples to bring home. I then went into Schumacher next door and fell in love with another Champagne wallpaper as a potential option for my powder room. From there I made my way to Hermes on Rue de Sèvres. The store is quite impressive architecturally and merchandised well. However, I only spent a few minutes inside because it was so crowded with people. You would think they were giving away this stuff for free... I made my way back to the hotel to meet my friend, but stopped at a convenience store to get some snacks for us. I picked up Tyrell’s Chips and wow…these are amazing. If you’re in Europe, buy them!

We didn’t make dinner reservations for Saturday ahead of time because we were not sure how much energy we would have. We ended up just walking to find a quick bite and ended up at Lao Tseu in the 7th. The food was good and the ambiance was nice. I would not say you need to make a specific trip there, but we were tired/hungry and it hit the spot.

SUNDAY

We woke up early to make our way to the Paris Flea Market ‘Les Puces’. We took the metro (which is incredibly easy to navigate, even if you do not speak a word of French) and walked about 10 minutes to the market. (Side note: we mostly got around by walking or the metro. We bought a 20 pack of metro tickets and that lasted us the entire trip.) Exploring the market was really fun, but not for the faint of heart. It is the world’s largest flea market, so I would not recommend bringing someone who does not enjoy the thrill of the hunt. You really have to commit to just walking through the various vendors and sifting through it all. In terms of prices, a lot of vendors do not have price tags on their items, which I presume is for negotiation purposes. Of the items that were priced, I think some prices were high because the vendors know there are a lot of out of town tourists. I am sure you could get better deals outside of Paris, but regardless there were some stunningly beautiful pieces of furniture. I did not buy anything because everything I loved would have to be shipped back home, but it was fun to take it all in regardless. When you are there, be sure to avoid the clothing section. There were a lot of knock off sneakers, sports jerseys etc. and it did not feel in keeping with the rest of the antiques at the flea market. I’d also recommend that you be strategic about the bag you carry. By no means did I feel unsafe, but I do think the flea market would be an area where you might be more susceptible to pick pocketing since it’s crowded and touristy. I wore my handy, albeit not so chic, fanny pack slung over my chest and hidden under my quilted jacket and it was perfect. We went to the flea in the morning around 10AM and it was fairly quiet, but I’ve read it does get crowded as the day goes on. It is open Saturday through Monday, but not all vendors are open on Mondays.

We headed back to the 2nd to walk around and visit a few stores on our list. We got off the metro only to discover that many stores were closed on Sundays (rookie mistake I suppose, but I had not remembered this being the case when I’ve been in Paris before). We then tried to go to a restaurant a friend recommended. Google said that it was open, but, when we arrived, the restaurant was very much closed. (Important note: a lot of shops/restaurants close in August in France. We were lucky that most stores had reopened by the time we got to France (Aug 26th), but I would not recommend going to France in early August. I would have been disappointed if so many stores were closed for the August holiday.) We ended up grabbing lunch at a restaurant nearby. It was nothing to write home about, but we were hungry so it worked. Overall, we did not plan our day around eating at a particular restaurant for lunch. I liked that because it allowed us to be flexible and to just see where the day took us. I don’t love an overly scheduled trip.

We did more walking and made our way over to the Place Vendôme. We walked around Cartier (one of the few open stores). We then tried to walk into the Ritz Paris, only to be told we could only stand on the square of carpet at the entrance. I thought they were joking at first but they were dead serious. Guess I won’t be staying there! Ha. We made our way through the Tuileries and headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. We took the metro to the 11th to grab pizza at Da Vito (I know we were in France and had yet to have a French meal...) My friend had previously been to Moonshiner, the speakeasy behind the restaurant, with her husband so we decided to just have dinner at Da Vito’s before. The white pizza was excellent and then we went to the back to grab a drink. The speakeasy did not feel like a tourist trap which I always love. The staff was really friendly and they would create a cocktail for you based on your preferences. I appreciate that because I do not like super sweet drinks. We stayed until about 10:30/11PM and the place was still packed… on a Sunday! Kudos to the French for being able to stay out late on a school night.

MONDAY

We started the day with a croissant and headed to the Louis Vuitton Foundation via metro to see the Basquiat+Warhol exhibit. The museum was beautiful and we enjoyed the exhibit. Afterwards, we started walking and headed towards Hermes near the Champs-Élysées. My friend and I both wanted to maybe buy a new Hermes scarf as a trip souvenir. We had a quick lunch and headed towards Hermes. The store was smaller but beautiful. The woman helping us was nice but seemed to want us to make a decision quickly. Hermes scarves are folded in the case, so you really need to take them out and not only open them up but also try them on to really get a sense of whether you like the scarf or not. I felt rushed so I tapped out, but my friend quickly found a beautiful scarf she loved.

I should mention that I was trying to get a leather appointment while in Paris at Hermes. You have to sign up online each day via lottery for an appointment, so I knew that it was highly unlikely that I’d actually get an appointment. In Paris, you can purchase a bag without prior purchase history so I figured there was no harm in trying. Frankly it felt like market research for you all, so I filled out the form each day. I had read online that if you are in the store you can also ask about last minute openings, so I asked the sales associate helping her if they had any leather appointment cancellations. (I think we all know if someone VIP came in or someone dropped $$ an appointment would also likely magically appear.) I actually think we may have had a shot with this SA, but we did not have our passports. They’re required for leather appointments. My friend needed to bring her passport back anyway to get the VAT refund for her scarf, so we quickly went back to the hotel to grab them. When we came back, the SA who helped us was not around. The other SAs quickly said they did not have any cancellations for leather appointments. While there I saw a SA wearing a beautiful scarf that they told me was from the prior season. They were able to order it for me to be delivered in the next few days.

We got back to the hotel and then made our way to dinner at Golden Poppy. My friend’s sister lives in San Francisco and she had been to the chef’s restaurant in SF. The chef is French but the food had a strong California cuisine influence. The restaurant had just recently opened and the decor was funky and fun. When we arrived at 7PM the restaurant was almost empty, but by the time we left it was packed. (Note to self: Parisians eat much later than Americans!) The food was inventive and beautifully prepared. Portions were small but the food was delicious. We finished the night on their new rooftop bar, which has a small view of Paris from the roof.

TUESDAY

After a non-stop 48 hours, we took Tuesday morning a little bit easy. We had breakfast and headed over to Luxembourg Gardens. I shockingly had not yet been before. The gardens are incredibly beautiful. Walking through the gardens made me want to move to France, if not for the inconvenient fact that I speak not a word of French. From there we walked back to the hotel and made our way to the train station to go to the town of Reims in the Champagne region. The train was very easy to navigate. (FYI: you only need to be there 15 minutes in advance but we were there 30 minutes to be safe.) The train was a 45 minute train and overall painless. People in France are so much quieter on trains than Americans. It felt like being in the quiet car of Amtrak. Praise! The town of Reims is small and you can navigate it all by foot/Uber. You do not need a rental car. We walked to our hotel (5 minutes) and then explored the town. There is a “main drag” that felt a bit like a tourist trap, but when we walked east we found charming little stores and restaurants. Rue de Mars had cute shops and restaurants on it. We visited the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Reims in the city as well. Much of Reims was destroyed in WWII so it was interesting to learn more about the restoration of the cathedral and the city. My friend was kind enough to make the reservations for the trip (I love food but am never motivated enough to research). We passed the wine bar she’d made a reservation for and decided we could find a better option elsewhere. The two restaurants we wanted to try ended up having no space (I would love to go to Poissonnerie des Halles if I ever went back).I was so hungry I needed food asap so we stopped into Cheese Bar, which as the name might suggest, was a wine bar that exclusively serves charcuterie boards. We figured we would have a snack and then eat dinner. We were full by the time we finished so we went to another little wine bar before heading home.

WEDNESDAY

We woke up early for our champagne tours, so we ate quickly at the hotel and ubered to the first house. The walk is about 40 minutes, which we could have done if we had more time. Our first stop was Ruinart. There is construction on the outside of the building for an upcoming anniversary, but it did not really impact our experience. The inside of the building is beautiful. The tasting room was intimate and felt like a 5 star hotel. Our tour guide was the absolute best. She grew up in Venezuela and happened to visit Reims and fell in love with the history of the region and Ruinart. Her passion for champagne and the history of the region was so apparent and it really improved the tour. The cellar tour was about an hour followed by the tasting. The nice thing about the tour was that the group was limited to 12 people so it was small. (FYI: you can do a tour in English or French). Each guest is given a glass of the Ruinart Blanc de Blancs or Brut Rose champagne and the Dom Ruinart vintage. You pick whether you’d like white or rose. My friend picked rose and I chose white so we could try all four. My favorite was the Blanc de Blancs. Our tour at Ruinart was at 9:30AM and we ended at about 11:45AMish.

We walked 10 minutes over to Veuve Clicquot and arrived just a little early for our 12:30PM tour. I was actually quite surprised by the VC facility. It felt far more commercialized and not nearly as elegant. The tour guide was nice but clearly reciting what she had been taught, whereas the woman before was passionate about the topic. The cellars of VC also felt a bit more like Disney World, with light shows and a somewhat unnecessary video that played on the cellar walls with simulated smells of grapes. When the tour ended, we were brought to a room to have a glass of the 250th anniversary champagne. The room felt like an airport lounge in comparison to the Ruinart tasting room. The group was also much larger. (Note: champagne cellars are about 55 degrees year round, so be sure to pack a jacket/sweater so you’re not freezing on your tour!) I was wearing a tee shirt, a silk scarf, and a light quilted jacket and was still a little chilly. If you are planning a visit, I would strongly recommend the Ruinart tour over the Veuve Clicquot tour. I wanted to go to Tattinger too but they were closed for renovation. If you’re planning a visit, I also think one tour will suffice as you sort of get the gist on the first tour. We were done around 2PMish and tried to move our 5:15PM train up but there were no earlier trains. We decided to just walk around more and stumbled upon the Jimmy Fairly store. I had recently discovered the brand and was excited to try on the sunglasses in person. The quality was great but I did not buy anything because I couldn’t find a pair that was exactly right. We then went to J’Aime Thé Café coffee shop which was cute and then did some work at the hotel before heading back.

Note: A lot of people do Reims in a single day trip, but I am glad we did an overnight. We would have had to wake up at the crack of dawn to make the 9:30AM Ruinart tour and Reims was pleasant to explore. However, I don’t think you need more than 24hrs in Reims. I would really recommend that you go if you have not been, but I also do not think I’d go back again as I feel like I got a good sense of the area.

The train back to Paris was painless. We did however make the mistake of taking the metro back from the train station to the hotel. It was rush hour and hot and I nearly lost my mind. That was definitely the “thorn” of the trip. Note to self: avoid the metro during rush hour.

We were staying at the same hotel in Paris so we were able to leave our big suitcases in Paris at the hotel and bring just a few things to Reims. If you are doing a similar week in Paris and an overnight to Reims, ask your hotel ahead of time if they’ll hold your big luggage. This made traveling back and forth to Reims so much easier.

We ate at a Moroccan restaurant on Wednesday night in Paris (yes, we had yet to have a truly French dinner ha!) at Le Tangine. The setting felt like a local spot and was not touristy at all which, again, I love. It was the only place where there was not an English menu. Dinner was good but I would not say over the moon good. The staff was pleasant too and they had a restaurant cat that would meander through the tables looking for scraps. We tried to have a drink after dinner but most of the spots nearby were louder bars for university kids so we ubered home and went to bed.

THURSDAY

On Thursday our whirlwind trip and sleep deprivation started to catch up with us. We walked to Stohrer, which was recommended to us by a friend. The pastries were good but on the sweeter side. We walked to Pierre Frey’s larger location in the 2nd (the hotel accidentally threw away my samples earlier in the week). The store is magical and the adjoining Thorp of London store was delightful too. We tried to walk up to the Dior Museum exhibit (you can reserve a time ahead of time but I sadly was too late to buy tickets before the trip) but the wait was at least an hour. Since we had limited time left I did not want to spend the time in line, but I will definitely try to go again next time I am in Paris. We then walked to Hermes to pick up the scarf I ordered and once again asked if they had leather cancellations. No luck. Oh well. It started to rain so we headed to the Museum D’Orsay. We had both been there previously but it was nice to walk around again. We headed back to the hotel to shower and rest a little for the first time the entire week and made our way to an early happy hour at Bistrot Richeliu. I like French food, but escargot is my favorite and we had yet to have them on our trip. The escargot at the bistrot was great. The staff at first seemed cold but quickly warmed up. Our waiter turned out to be an adorable dad who was looking for NYC recommendations for his upcoming trip with his teenage daughters. He seemed to know all the locals passing by with their dogs which was cute. I would not say you need to make a trip to have their escargot but if you’re in the area and want a snack I’d definitely recommend it.

We then walked directly next door to Juveniles. When we walked in at 8PM, it was close to empty (of course, this is France!) but by the time we left it was packed. The space is small but charming. We had an appetizer with an egg and mushrooms and it was unreal. It was probably the best thing I ate all week. We split the beef steak; the meat was good but a bit fatty. The mashed potatoes that came with the meat were the best I have ever had in my life. I do not even like mashed potatoes really and I was in love! When we came home, we could see the Eiffel Tower sparkling from our window which felt like a great end to an amazing trip.

We really had the best time and it was so nice traveling with a friend who is equally as easy going in terms of travel. I like to always know where I am sleeping and basics in terms of how I will get around but I really love to explore a city casually versus a tight schedule. As I mentioned, we had both been to Paris several times before so we skipped some museums we’d been to before (I do love the Pompidou FYI) and some of the touristy spots. I did want to go to the Musée de l'Orangerie and the Dior museum but overall I think we covered a lot of ground in a short amount of time. We walked an average of 8 miles a day without even thinking about it which is the sign of a good trip.

FRIDAY

My friend left first thing on Friday morning to go to the wedding in the French countryside and I headed to the airport. I took the RER which was very easy to navigate and took about 45 minutes (allot an hour to be safe). I arrived 3 hours early to the airport and it was enough time to get through security etc. (For my lounge loving friends, the Star Alliance lounge is BEFORE security which makes zero sense to me.) I was in Terminal 1 which has a fantastic duty free. If you’re not based in the EU, you do not pay tax in duty free and don’t need to get a VAT refund. The prices are also slightly reduced. They have luxury shops including Hermes, Prada, Moncler, Chanel, Bvlgari, Saint Laurent. The sales associate Margherita Duro at Chanel was so so lovely and kind. She gave me her card and told me to email her if I was expecting to be in duty free again, so I am sharing her email here in case you’re planning to shop- margherita.duro@chanel.com. The shoes they had at Chanel were the classic styles and colors (no bright colors or tweeds), but all in C width which is wide. Normally, I don't find C width to be particularly wide, but for the black slingback flats felt off on me. I was tempted to get the black slides as I have always wanted them but reminded myself it is not a deal if they do not fit. I tried on a few medium Chanel flaps and considered the pink/beige color for a second before I remembered how many things I need to buy for my house! The Rolex store had no one watch available for purchase (not surprising).The Hermes store was packed. They had a lot of scarves and some shoes. It was fun to walk around duty free but overall I would not say the discount was that great considering these items were still very expensive. I had a moment where I considered buying a small Dior Lady bag that has long been on my wishlist. I then reminded myself it was still $4,800ish dollars and I could buy it for less secondhand for a special treat instead of in a rush at an airport by myself. I can see how it would be easy to get carried away, but thankfully I kept it together and left empty handed. I would say allow enough time to explore because it’s fun to walk around, but do not lose your mind in duty free. (It seemed like a lot of people were.) Terminal 1 overall has been recently renovated and was quite pleasant so if you’re traveling home it’s a good spot to be!

Overall Thoughts/Reminders:

Book a trip to France. You’ll never regret it.
You need comfortable shoes. Women in Paris are mostly wearing sneakers because everyone walks. You won’t look out of place. Did I wish I could have worn all my cute shoes at home? Yes. Was I so happy I walked miles and miles a day without a single blister? Yes! I wore these Birkenstocks in dark grey (yes, you’re reading that right). I saw a lot of Birkenstocks (both the sandals and the clogs) on Parisians so you won’t look totally out of place. Don’t ruin your trip with blisters!
I converted dollars to euros for the trip but did not really need euros as pretty much every store took credit cards. Be sure your credit/debit card waives international fees before you go. If I went back I’d probably convert Euros again but just a small amount.
My cell phone carrier is AT&T and I upgraded my service for the week so I could use my phone as usual. It was only $10/day for me. Of course that will vary based on carrier/plan but make sure you’re squared away before you go so you do not get an outrageous phone bill.
Ubers were very easy to call in Paris and even in Reims.
Don’t forget you need a power converter. A lot of locations now have USB ports but of course the technology has changed already so the current iPhone chargers are already not USB compatible.

I am likely forgetting a lot, but if you’ve made it this far, I hope that this guide has been helpful. I put together my packing list here, but will try to put together a specific guide talking through the specifics in the coming days. If you have any questions, feel free to comment below.