After three wonderful days in London, it was time to say goodbye to England and head to Paris! We were so excited to start the second half of our European adventure and experience Paris for the first time. And, as an added bonus, we arrived on Bastille Day!
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
Once we arrived at London St. Pancras, we made our way through the station and got ready to board the Eurostar to Paris. We had to get all of our suitcases loaded onto the train, but once everything was on board and we were settled into our seats, we could finally relax and enjoy the ride!
We had such a nice, relaxing ride to Paris, and I actually ended up napping for most of it! We also visited the Eurostar Café and picked up sandwiches, chips and sodas for lunch to enjoy on the train.
From the train station, we took a private transfer to our hotel, and it was so wonderful to see Paris again after 14 years! Paris has such a distinct, elegant look with its beautiful white buildings, wrought-iron balconies and charming streets. We were staying at Le Cinq Codet, a beautiful boutique hotel in Paris’ 7th arrondissement, not far from the Eiffel Tower and Les Invalides. Once we arrived, we enjoyed a glass of champagne while we waited a short time for our room to be ready.
After getting settled at the hotel, we took an Uber to Louise Carmen, a leather journal boutique that Autumn really wanted to visit. The shop is tucked inside the beautiful Passage du Grand-Cerf, a historic Parisian passageway lined with little boutiques and topped with a gorgeous glass and wrought-iron roof. It was such a neat setting and felt like one of those hidden little corners of Paris!
Louise Carmen is known for its beautiful refillable leather journals that you can personalize by choosing the leather, cords, engraving and other special details. Autumn had been looking forward to visiting, so this was a fun stop especially for her!
After our visit to Louise Carmen, we headed back to the hotel to rest for a bit before venturing out again for dinner in Montmartre. On the ride there, we even caught a glimpse of Notre-Dame, where some restoration work was still underway. It was such a fun little Paris sighting along the way!
Dinner on our first night in Paris was such a treat! I found Sacrée Fleur, a small but incredibly popular restaurant in the Montmartre district, while planning our trip. They only offer two dinner seatings each evening, and reservations have to be made by email, so I was thankful I had secured ours well in advance! It was a warm evening in Paris, and like many restaurants in the city, Sacrée Fleur didn’t have air conditioning. Thankfully, we were seated near a couple of large fans, which kept us comfortable while we enjoyed our first dinner in Paris.
Sacrée Fleur has a fairly simple menu, with the focus definitely on the beef! I ordered the filet, which was served with a salad, a huge basket of homemade frites for the table to share, and their trio of homemade sauces: Roquefort, shallot and pepper. I absolutely loved all three sauces! This ended up being one of my favorite meals of our entire time in Paris. Of course, we had to save a little room for dessert to finish off the evening!
After dinner, we decided to spend some time strolling through the charming streets of Montmartre. I really wanted to make our way up to the Sacré-Cœur Basilica, which meant quite the uphill walk! Along the way, we came across this adorable purple door, and of course, I couldn’t resist stopping for a photo!
Here are a few photos of the kids as we made our way up through Montmartre toward the basilica. It was quite the climb, but there were plenty of charming streets and sights to enjoy along the way!
We finally made it to the Sacré-Cœur Basilica! After all of that uphill walking, it was such an incredible sight to stand at the bottom and look up at this beautiful basilica towering above us. Definitely worth the climb!
Once we made it to the top, we turned around to take in the incredible view of Paris below us. You could see the city stretching out for miles, and it was such a beautiful reward after our climb up through Montmartre!
At the top, we came across a wall covered in love locks, which immediately brought back such a special memory for Brian and me. When we visited Paris together over a decade ago, on the trip when Brian proposed, we added our own love lock to the famous Pont des Arts bridge. The locks were later removed from the bridge, so seeing all of these love locks in Montmartre brought back some sweet memories from that trip!
When we saw that we could buy a lock here, we knew we had to add a new one! We wrote our names on it and left another little piece of our story in Paris all these years later.
That’s a wrap on our first day in Paris! From riding the Eurostar from London and settling into our hotel to shopping at Louise Carmen, enjoying an amazing dinner at Sacrée Fleur, and exploring the beautiful streets of Montmartre, it was such a memorable start to our time in Paris. Ending the evening at Sacré-Cœur with those incredible views over the city and adding our own love lock made it even more special. I can’t wait to share everything we packed into our next day in Paris!
Missed Days 1–3?
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
I’d LOVE for you to follow me on the below platforms! Let me know if you decide to follow me on any of them in the comments, because I’d love to follow you back!
