We had never been to Paris so when the opportunity arose for us to see the city of lights through the eyes of Expedia local experts, our bags were packed before we could say merci beaucoup.
Through Expedia you can arrange a private standard car from Charles de Gaulle Airport to your hotel. The entire process was very simple. I went online, entered all the flight information, pre-paid ($63.00 from the airport to the hotel) and the driver waiting for us at baggage claim. Having never been to Paris before, this took the stress out of navigating from the airport to the hotel after an 8-hour red eye flight.
What the experts planned for us:
Gourmet French Food Tour of Paris
We stopped at a cheese shop, a patisserie, and an open-air market as we strolled through the streets of the 5th arrondissement. We gathered a little something at each stop, with our final destination being an award winning foie gras and wine shop. Our guide spread out our bread and cheese, poured the wine and plated the foie gras. It was delightful. If you like fresh-baked bread and local French cheeses, you’ll enjoy this tour.
While this wasn’t our favorite meal in Paris, we were able to check eating French onion soup and escargot in France off our culinary bucket lists. We did enjoy the piano player. He was very entertaining, playing classic French tunes as well as a variety of international favorites. At one point, our piano player was joined on the keyboard by a Polish tourist who was equally as talented, making for quite a show.
Paris Segway Tour by City Segway Tours
Rick especially loved the Segway tour, while Sandi feared for her life at every intersection. The Segway is a great way to cover a lot of ground in a relatively short amount of time. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable, sharing facts and anecdotes as we navigated past all of the major landmarks in the center of Paris. The tour allows for plenty of photo taking ops.
Montmartre Impressionist Walking Tour & Musée d’Orsay Ticket
This was one of the most informative and interesting tours we took. Our Expedia local expert took us up and down the streets of Montmartre, sharing stories of local artist like Renoir, Monet, and Van Gogh. We saw where they lived and worked and heard stories about their lives in Montmartre. It was personal, our guide was passionate and it made for a lovely morning stroll. It also included a skip the line ticket to Musée d’Orsay, which has one of the world’s largest collections of Impressionist art—all housed within a massive former train station.
Location! Location! Location! We loved that the Terrass Hotel where we stayed was in the 18th arrondissement, away from the hustle and bustle of traffic and tourists. Montmartre was the perfect place for us. It is a neighborhood with cobblestone streets dotted with shops and cafes. We’d go to the boulangerie for fresh baguettes daily, get cheese from the Fromagerie, fruits from the fresh market and wine at the wine shop. It was a local experience. The Terrass is the only 4-Star hotel in Montmartre and has just been renovated. Our rooms were small, but air conditioned and nicely appointed. The roof top bar has incredible views of Paris and the Eiffel Tower. It was a hearty walk, a simple subway or bus ride to get to the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Louvre or any of the other famous landmarks.
What would you most like to do in Paris?
I’d love to retrace your steps with my niece who lives there and hear what she thinks as a California girl gone French for twelve years.
I bet she would be an awesome tour guide. Take us with you – we’d love to retrace our steps as well:)
Nice One! A high-quality informative post, Thanks to suggest a tour guide.