Our third and final full day in Paris (and the LAST post for my London/Paris vacation!) was packed with some of the most iconic sights in the city! We started our morning at the Louvre Museum, where we got to see the famous Mona Lisa, followed by a lunch cruise along the Seine River. Later that afternoon, we headed to the Eiffel Tower and went all the way up to the summit! We ended our evening with a delicious French dinner and one of my favorite moments from our entire trip, watching the Eiffel Tower sparkle at night! It was such a memorable way to wrap up our time in Paris. So, let’s get started!
If you’re just joining my Europe travel series, I recommend starting with my first London recap and following along from the beginning! You can catch up on all of our London adventures before continuing on with us to Paris.
➡️ Start here: London Itinerary: Day 1 | Direct St. Louis Flight, The Montague Hotel, Borough Market & Hawksmoor
We stayed at the beautiful Le Cinq Codet Hotel, and breakfast was included with our room rate. We had the option of eating downstairs or having breakfast delivered right to our room for a small additional charge. Since our mornings were usually pretty busy, we loved having breakfast brought to our room so we could eat while getting ready for the day. Everything was SO good, and I sure did miss these breakfasts once we got back home!
We started our morning with the Louvre: Priority Entrance and Mona Lisa tour. I couldn’t believe how quiet it was outside the Louvre that early in the morning! We even spotted a few brides and grooms having their professional photos taken. The main reason we booked this tour was to get inside the Louvre and see the Mona Lisa before the general crowds arrived. We actually had a good 5–10 minutes in front of the painting before everyone else started making their way in. It was SO nice to be able to enjoy it without all the crowds!
The last time I visited the Louvre, I remembered the Mona Lisa being displayed a little differently. I even went back and looked at my old photos to make sure I was remembering correctly! Back then, the painting was displayed on a wall more toward the middle of the room instead of against the wall where it is today.
Another one of my favorites at the Louvre is the Winged Victory of Samothrace, also known as Nike. I just love this beautiful sculpture! We saw quite a bit more artwork during our tour, but I didn’t want to make this post too long by sharing every piece we saw. There is SO much to see at the Louvre!
We had a pretty full schedule for our last day in Paris, but it was all fun stuff! Next up was a relaxing lunch cruise along the Seine River. When Brian and I visited Paris years ago, we took a nighttime boat cruise on our first evening, and I still remember how romantic it was! This time, we got to enjoy a lunch cruise with the kids, which was just as much fun. I was surprised by how fancy AND delicious the food was! And the views were even better!
They also had a photographer on board who took some photos of us during the cruise. I loved how they turned out, so of course I had to purchase the digital copies!
Brian and I started our lunch cruise with a champagne toast! They even had real red rose petals scattered across the table, which was such a pretty touch. I loved this photo of us toasting with the Seine River in the background!
Like I said, the food was WAY fancier than I had expected!! We had a few different options to choose from for each course. For my starter, I went with the creamy burratina, heirloom tomatoes, olive oil focaccia and basil petals. For my main course, I ordered the grilled beef with potato soufflé, creamy peas and morel sauce. Everything was beautifully presented and SO delicious!
It was so neat cruising under all of the different bridges along the Seine River! When Brian and I took our nighttime cruise years ago, I remember we kissed under every bridge. Such a sweet memory! We also had a great view of Notre-Dame, which was still undergoing some construction, and one of my favorite views was the Statue of Liberty with the Eiffel Tower in the background. They even played “New York, New York” as we cruised past the statue, which I thought was such a fun touch!
Next up was a selection of aged cheeses, including Comté, Saint-Nectaire and goat’s milk tomme. I’m usually not too picky when it comes to cheese, but WHEW! A couple of these had a VERY strong cheese flavor! Ha, ha! It was fun getting to try some different French cheeses, though!
For dessert, we all ordered the homemade crème brûlée, which came with a lightly lemon-flavored madeleine. Yum! The other dessert option was an Eiffel Tower-shaped dessert filled with red berries and served with a wild berry coulis. They had a whole tray of them sitting behind our table, and they were SO pretty! Of course, I had to snap a photo!
And here is one last photo from our Seine River cruise! I just LOVE this one they took of Brian and me. Over 10 years later, back on the Seine River together and still very much in love!
After our lunch cruise, we had a little time to rest before our next adventure, a tour to the very top of the Eiffel Tower!
When Brian and I visited Paris about 14 years ago, he actually proposed to me at the base of the Eiffel Tower! He even had a violinist playing our song while he proposed, and afterward we enjoyed dinner at the Eiffel Tower restaurant. We went up the tower that evening too, but not all the way to the top. I remember taking lots of photos with my SLR camera (this was before we had iPhones!).
Things have definitely changed since then! You can’t just walk right up to the Eiffel Tower like you could back then. Now there’s a secured area around it, and we had to go through security before entering. I even noticed barbed wire around the base of the tower’s legs. Times sure have changed!
I was really excited about this tour because we were finally going ALL the way to the summit! I’m not a fan of heights, so taking two different elevators to reach the very top was NOT my favorite part. Ha, ha! But once we got up there, the incredible views of Paris made it all worth it!
We got this lovely family photo at the very top of the Eiffel Tower!
And a couple more photos from the very top of the Eiffel Tower! One of me enjoying the incredible views and another with Brian. The last time we were here together, he was my fiancé, and now we’re back all these years later as husband and wife!
Here are a few more photos from the very top of the Eiffel Tower! I especially love this one because you can see the Arc de Triomphe in the distance, which we had just visited the day before. It was so neat seeing it from way up here!
And here are two more views from the top of the Eiffel Tower! I loved looking down at the beautiful gardens of the Champ de Mars and seeing the Seine River winding through the city. You really can see SO much of Paris from up here!
For our last dinner in Paris, we went to Le P’tit Troquet, a small, family-owned French restaurant that was just a short walk from our hotel. One thing I really wanted to have when we came back to Paris was Beef Bourguignon, so I actually picked this restaurant because they had it on their menu! It’s a traditional French dish with tender beef slow-cooked in a rich red wine sauce. It was SO good! I also loved the cozy atmosphere of this little restaurant. It was the perfect spot for our last dinner in Paris!
Before my main course, I started with their seasonal gazpacho, which was really good! For dessert, I ordered the molten chocolate cake with ice cream. It was the perfect sweet ending to our last dinner in Paris!
After dinner, we made our way back to the Eiffel Tower to see it all lit up at night! We waited for the sparkling lights to come on, and WOW! It was just as beautiful as I remembered! The kids absolutely loved seeing the Eiffel Tower sparkle, and I’m so glad we got to experience this together as a family. It was truly the perfect way to end our last evening in Paris!
And one last photo of Brian and me with the beautiful Eiffel Tower glowing behind us! It’s hard to believe that the last time we were here together, Brian proposed to me right at the base of the Eiffel Tower!
And just like that, our London and Paris adventure came to an end! I’ve always dreamed of taking the kids to Europe, and with Nathan already in college and Autumn getting ready to graduate from high school, this felt like the perfect time to make that dream happen. We saw SO many incredible sights, enjoyed some amazing food and made memories that I’ll treasure forever. It was especially meaningful to return to Paris, a city that has always held such a special place in my heart, and share it with the kids this time. I’m so thankful we had this time together as a family, and I know we’ll be talking about this trip for years to come!
Missed Days 1–5?
If you’re just joining my London travel series, be sure to check out my first London recap! I shared our new direct flight from St. Louis to London, our stay at The Montague on the Gardens, Borough Market, Tate Modern, and our first dinner at Hawksmoor.
➡️ Read London Itinerary: Day 1 | Direct St. Louis Flight, The Montague Hotel, Borough Market & Hawksmoor
If you’re just joining my London travel series, be sure to check out Day 2! I shared our visit to the Tower of London and the Crown Jewels, a beautiful afternoon tea at The Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon at Fortnum & Mason, some London shopping, and a delicious pub dinner to finish out the day.
➡️ Read London Itinerary: Day 2 | Tower of London, Crown Jewels & Afternoon Tea at The Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon
If you’re just joining my London travel series, be sure to check out Day 3! We packed so much into our final day in London, including Westminster Abbey, the Changing of the Guard, Big Ben, a stroll through St. James’s Park and Covent Garden, and an incredible dinner overlooking the city at Sky Garden.
➡️ Read London Itinerary: Day 3 | Westminster Abbey, Changing of the Guard & Sky Garden
If you’re just joining my Paris travel series, be sure to check out Day 1! We took the Eurostar from London to Paris, settled into our hotel, did a little shopping at Louise Carmen, enjoyed an amazing dinner at Sacrée Fleur and spent the evening exploring beautiful Montmartre and Sacré-Cœur.
➡️ Read Paris Itinerary: Day 1 | London to Paris by Eurostar, Montmartre & Sacrée Fleur
If you missed Day 2 of my Paris travel series, be sure to check it out! We started our morning with family photos near the Eiffel Tower, enjoyed a delicious brunch at Carette, visited the Arc de Triomphe and spent the afternoon on a Chocolate and Pastry Tour through Montmartre. We ended our evening with a delicious Italian dinner at Romantic Caffè!
➡️ Read Paris Itinerary: Day 2 | Carette, Arc de Triomphe & a Chocolate and Pastry Tour
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